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Flappin' Windows (& Gums) (5/19/03)
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Oh, for cryin' out... Okay, could Microsoft's look-and-feel thievery get any more blatant? Is the company finally going to take that final step and just start reselling Mac OS X boxes with "Mac OS X" crossed out and "Windows" scribbled on the box with a Sharpie?
Here's what's got us all riled up. We already mentioned how Phil "The Man" Schiller dissed Microsoft's recent demo of its upcoming "Longhorn" version of Windows (due in 2005) by saying that its graphics architecture is "almost a direct copy of Quartz." Well, we never knew exactly what prompted that comment-- we figured it was based on a technical rundown of Longhorn's core technologies in a WinHEC panel discussion or something. But faithful viewer Jan Adriaenssens just tipped us off to a short QuickTime movie over at Extreme Tech that illustrates just what was sticking in Phil's craw.
Look beyond the fact that the windows shown have a familiar Aqua feel to them; it's the flappy way the windows move that must have prompted the comparisons to Quartz. Drag a window by the title bar to a new location and the rest of the window just sort of dangles along in its wake like a limp piece of spaghetti. Looks kinda neat, right? And it's so reminiscent of the Genie Effect that come 2005, Windows users should check their interfaces to see if the original serial numbers have been filed off.
One important distinction: once again, Microsoft reveals a certain cluelessness about form following function. The Genie Effect doesn't just look nifty; it gives the user valuable visual feedback about where a window goes when it's minimized. In stark contrast, as far as we can make out from this short video clip, Microsoft's flapping windows don't do anything except drive the sale of hardware upgrades. We admit we're looking at a very short clip out of context, so we could be wrong. But honestly, folks... when are we ever? (Don't answer that.)
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SceneLink (3960)
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 5/19/03 episode: May 19, 2003: Rumors surface that the Cube may reappear as a special edition to celebrate the Mac's 20th birthday. Meanwhile, Apple's notebook sales in the UK grow faster than the industry overall, and we finally get to see what Phil Schiller meant when he called the graphics in Microsoft's next version of Windows a ripoff of Mac OS X's Quartz...
Other scenes from that episode: 3958: Cube 2: Fanless Vengeance (5/19/03) So, uh, what have you got planned for January 24th? You do have something planned, don't you? After all, it's going to be the Mac's twentieth birthday, and any celebration with appropriate levels of hoopla and debauchery is going to take at least six months to orchestrate... 3959: We Few, We Happy Few (5/19/03) You bought an iBook or PowerBook this year, right? You haven't? Well, why the fuzzy heck not? Completely aside from the fact that Apple's latest portables are a great value and the coolest kicks in the cave, you're surely aware that Steve Jobs proclaimed 2003 to be the Year of the Notebook-- and we're pretty certain that means you're required by law to buy one, so don't come crying to us if you get tossed in the slammer...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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