Apple's Mountain Lion and Microsoft's Windows 8 are now out in the real world. And this time more than ever, the two companies are taking the computer into two distinct directions.
After using both of the new operating systems, it's easy to see that each is more solid, more stable, and filled with more-compelling features than ever before. It's also true that Microsoft's radical new operating system is gorgeous, but this is not a beauty contest. Like I pointed out in my review for Mountain Lion, I still think Apple made the better choice in keeping the touch-screen and desktop OS separate. In applying Windows 8 to both tablets and desktops, Microsoft has added a significant learning curve for both devices, and ended up making the OS needlessly difficult and jarring, especially for desktop computer users.
In fact, I've realized that we're now at a place where we've never been before. In a big change from 11 years ago, Windows 8 is the slick upstart competitor, whereas Mountain Lion adds useful changes, but is the more familiar user experience. If you'll remember, when Mac OS X first arrived on the scene in 2001, it was a huge change from Mac OS 9. The Dock, the various graphical changes, and window animations were a big shift from what Mac users knew; Windows 2000 (an... [Read more]
via CNET http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cnet/NnTv/~3/SLtfypSRw_8/
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