sygeek
Technomancer
OS X Lion vs. Windows 8: Feature by Feature
- Lion's Mobile-like User Interface
OS X Lion's interface won't take on its iPad/iPhone-inspired guise until you run Launchpad. This gives the desktop a view that's nearly identical to the home screen of an iPad or iPhone, with pages of square app icons that you can swipe through. And just as on iOS, you can create folders of related apps by dragging one icon on top of another. And, of course, you can drag the apps around Launchpad's pages to place them wherever you want—doing so is actually easier on the Mac than on an iDevice.
- Windows 8's Mobile-like User Interface
Windows 8's overall interface shows more influence from Windows Phone 7 than OS X Lion does from iOS. It uses the Metro interface found on Windows Phone 7, with "live tiles" that give quick access to and display info from your apps. But we've also seen a legacy desktop interface, in which Windows 8 looks exactly like Windows 7. This showed up when Windows President Steve Sinofsky showed Windows 8 running Office at the D9 tech gathering. This brings us back to the point about Windows 8 doing double duty for desktops and tablets, in contrast to Apple's strategy of using the phone OS for its iPad tablet. The reason Microsoft is taking this route: It cares more about business users than Apple does. And business users use desktops primarily, and will want desktop capabilities on their tablets.
- Windows 8's Touch and Gesture Support
Both OS X Lion and Windows 8 have claimed greater multitouch and gesture support, but Windows 8 will actually support touch screens, whereas Lion won't let you use your screen as an input device, instead relying on touchpads that support multitouch and gestures. The OS will go so far as including a thumb-able on-screen keyboard for tablets without keyboards. Apple, in contrast, is adding a similar feature to its upcoming mobile OS release, iOS 5.
- Lion's Touch Gesture Support
Mac OS X Snow Leopard already includes a good deal of touch and gesture support on touchpads, and these are very well illustrated with video demos in the Mac's System Preferences' Trackpad section. For Lion, Apple claims that the touch experience with be even more direct and natural, featuring rubber-band scrolling, page and image zoom, and full-screen swiping. You'll be able to call up Mission Control , tap to zoom, and switch between full-screen apps.
- Processor Support
Microsoft has said that Windows 8 will run on ARM-based mobile processors as well as Intel and AMD x86 chips. While this may not make Intel too happy, it does fit with Microsoft's strategy of making Windows 8 suitable for both the most powerful desktop and the smallest tablet (not phone, though, yet). Apple's Lion will stick with Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processors.
- Switching Among Apps
For OS X Lion, Apple has revamped the Spaces virtual desktop feature, wrapping it into the Mission Control app switcher. But Spaces will likely be more frequently used in its new guise, since you'll be able to switch VDs through simple swipe gesture. Windows 8, too, has switching by swipe, but Microsoft's version is just app switching versus virtual desktop switching.
- Full Screen Apps
Both new OSes make heavy use of full screen apps. Windows programs have been able to run in full screen for many years, with a simple tap of the F11 key, while Mac OS has perpetually displayed its own menu atop the screen. That changes with Lion, which will let any program display on the entire desktop screen.
- The App Stores
Though the app store is already available on OS X Snow Leopard, it becomes an important built-in component of Lion. As we've seen with the Snow Leopard version of the store, you'll be able to purchase and app on one computer and download it to up to five more. The app-updating process is also handled by the store, and in Lion, apps will offer in-app purchases for additional features and content. Microsoft hasn't yet shown its app store for Windows 8, but they've made it clear that it will be a part of their desktop OS strategy.
- Backward Compatibility
With Lion, you can either launch an app from the Launchpad or just use the Dock as you would in Snow Leopard or its predecessor, Leopard. Though Apple hasn't specifically claimed backward-compatibility it's a safe bet that any Leopard and Snow Leopard apps will run on Lion. One issue for Macs running an earlier OS version than Snow Leopard is that the only way to get the $29.99 Lion upgrade will be through the Mac App Store, so users of versions prior to Snow Leopard will have to go through a separate upgrade process for that (bummer). Microsoft has clearly stated that Windows 7 apps will run in Windows 8, and that Windows 7 hardware will be compatible.
- Unique Features in Lion
We've seen more of Lion over a longer period of time, and it's obviously much closer to final release, so we know a lot more about its specific new features. Some of these are truly innovative and potentially useful. Lion's AirDrop feature stands out, here: this lets you transfer files to any nearby Lion machine without disks, USB keys, or even a WiFi connection. Other nifty capabilities outlined are Auto Save and Versions, which mean you never have to worry about losing a document because you forgot to hit Save. Microsoft hasn't said anything about counterparts to these cool capabilities.
- Unique Features in Windows 8
Windows 8 is certainly not without its own unique innovations. For one, the live tiles on its new start screen update with relevant information such as stock quotes or program messages, which can't be matched by Apple's Lion. Another is Windows 8's Snap feature, which lets you get a peek at a second app while running your primary app in full screen. Finally, Microsoft demonstrated a new capability that allows apps to retrieve files from other apps, rather than just from the OS's file system. But keep in mind that Windows 8 is in a much earlier state than Lion, so we can certainly expect more innovative goodies.
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