July 30, 2015 at 7:06 p.m. PST
The Windows 10 launch has impressed many tech writers. With its similarities to OS X and the addition of Cortana, even some die-hard Mac fans are considering moving back to Windows.
Windows 10 is a slavish copy of OS X in some respects. Despite the criticism that OS X 10.11 El Capitan copies Windows 10, side-by-side window arrangement is nothing new to the Mac. The original 1984 Mac could display multiple windows on one screen. Apple didn’t invent this, but took the technology from Xerox PARC. After all, the Alto was never going to see the light of day. They did hire the key engineers at Xerox who created the Alto.
OS X lacked the ability to automatically position windows side-by-side. It wasn’t explicitly supported, but there are freely available AppleScripts that have been around for years. Also, with multiple desktops and the ability to save the state of your desktop between boot cycles, it’s easy enough to configure different desktops with windows positioned and sized as needed. You can have a desktop designed for every use case and quickly switch between them. The Mac never really needed a side-by-side Windows management feature. Nonetheless, this feature has been added in OS X 10.11 El Capitan.
Previous versions of Windows didn’t handle multiple windows very well. When I right-clicked on the task bar and selected to tile windows, it would bring up minimized windows, which shouldn’t be the case. They improved this in Windows 7 with a “windows snap” gesture.
Windows 10 offers a new side-by-side window management feature. When one window is pushed to the side, Windows will suggest other appropriate apps. There is intelligence in this design and implementation. Many tech writers feel it is better than anything iOS or OS X have to offer.
With Windows 10, Microsoft has slavishly copied Mission Control, but who cares?
Consumers care mostly about price. Most have never used a Mac. The masses of Windows PC consumers will get a $200-$500 PC with Windows 10 and when they see it on a Mac, they will figure Apple copied it. They don’t read tech blogs. A lot of people just grab a computer at Costco (after their last one dies), along with their groceries and a rotisserie chicken. There’s nothing wrong with that.
I care a lot about technology, but I realize that most people don’t. Just like Android is the dominant mobile operating system, Windows is the leader for desktop and notebook computers. Sometimes Apple fans forget they are still the minority. It’s as delusional as a BMW owner believing that everyone drives a BMW.
We see countless Apple devices placed in movies and TV shows, but that is far from reality. Living in the Silicon Valley, most of my friends, colleagues and neighbors don’t own an iPad or a Mac, but the iPhone is remarkably popular.
Windows 10 Offers Cortana.
There is innovation in Windows 10. The Cortana personal assistant is available to all Windows 10 users. Why hasn’t Apple added Siri to the Mac? There’s no good reason, other than perhaps to drive adoption of iOS devices. Perhaps it would add too much load on their servers. This would increase costs in the data center, but there aren’t that many Mac users.
Most of Siri’s logic is run on servers. When you issue a Siri request, it sends your voice, as an audio stream, to a server for processing. You get a response back. If you doubt this, try using Siri in Airplane mode or with WiFi and cellular data turned off. Siri can’t do much at all. It will just tell you to connect to the Internet. This is true of all personal digital assistants.
It is completely possible to add Siri to the Mac. It takes some development effort, but Siri’s “brain” is external to the device. Apple would need to put some engineering into handling the response — adding a Calendar appointment, playing a song. It’s not trivial, but the heavy lifting is already done.
I Will Stick With the Mac
Windows 10 doesn’t have me feeling envious at all. At its core, Windows is still a rattle-trap of various technologies. It is usable, but does not offer he stability and performance of OS X, which is a rock solid Unix operating system. Early adopters of Windows 10 are having problems. It’s best to wait for the dust to settle before upgrading.
I do think Windows 10 will be successful. For a few hundred bucks, you can pick up an ersatz Mac at Costco, along with a Polish sausage and soda. Tim Cook pointed out that the slump in iPad sales will change, as users upgrade their iPad. This might not happen, as Windows 10 is hitting the market before new iPads are released.
Windows will also be able to run iOS apps, using the Windows Bridge for iOS. This isn’t an emulator or virtual machine. Instead, iOS developers will be able to easily recompile their apps into native Windows code. Microsoft already has this technology for Android. A cheap Windows machine can run Windows, iOS and Android apps and costs about half the price of an iPad.
Keep in mind, it is up to developers to recompile the iOS or Android app to work on Windows. You can’t just use the same iOS app you bought in the App Store. I expect many developers will deliver their iOS and Android apps onto the Windows platform.
Apple fans need to get used to being owners of a luxury product. Even the most successful Apple product, the iPhone, has been supplanted by the multitudes of Android devices. Fanboys may claim these devices mostly run an older operating system. That’s not the point. Most consumers will buy the inexpensive version. They don’t care if it is a copy. They don’t care if it is better or worse. They will take a free phone or $200 notebook computer over a $700 iPad or iPhone. In the case of Windows 10, an inexpensive notebook computer can do much more than an iPad. Fanboys may applaud the iPad’s new Slide Over or Split View multitasking. These are features that have been available on real computers since the 1980s. If anything, it underscores the cult-like adulation of Apple fanatics.
I own a Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod classic and even an Airport Extreme. I am not an Apple fanatic. That may seem surprising, given how many Apple products I own. I can’t get excited about Split View multitasking on a device that costs $500-700. At best, it is slightly more portable than a notebook, if you don’t opt for a cover and external keyboard. For an extra $100 you can turn your iPad into an ersatz notebook computer that runs watered down apps and can now run two apps on the same screen. If you opt out of a physical keyboard, half of your screen disappears any time you type something.
Windows 10 will not affect Mac sales, but it will recharge the upgrade cycle for Windows PCs and detract from the tablet market. Tim Cook contends that iPad sales are slumping, but an upgrade cycle is coming too. (Is this why iOS 8.4 has rendered my 2G iPad virtually unusable?) Windows 10 will also usher in an upgrade cycle. Windows PC consumers are not known for camping out to get the next PC. If you show them something new and offer it to them at a low price, they will buy it. People will overwhelmingly choose a $200-300 Windows notebook over a $700 iPad. Corporations will do the same. Windows is good enough for most people and the price is right. I will likely replace my obsolete (after just three years) iPad with a Windows 10 notebook computer.
For your viewing pleasure, please enjoy this demo of the 1982 Xerox Star computer system. Notice how so much of what we do today is based on this design. Modern computers are far more capable, but the basic design of user interfaces is over 30 years old. In the grand scheme of things, everyone copied Xerox, yet this system never saw the light of day. Split View and Slide Over multitasking on an iPad in 2015 is not very exciting.