HariSeldon Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 Before you read this message, be aware it is a rant (or rave?) :D There is one thing that really disturbs me about our friends at Microsoft. Specifically, the lack of support for their own operating system! What, you may ask, brought about this wild accusation? It was, simply, the post on NeoWin's news page that Microsoft had released Windows Media Player for Mac OSX. Here's the part that bothers me: Windows Media Player for Mac OS X was built on Apple Computer Inc.'s new Carbon APIs to run natively in the OS X environment. The new player features the new Aqua interface, which provides a look consistent with many other new Mac applications. That's nice. Windows Media Player is on Mac. But guess what? The Mac people get a media player that's skinned natively *and* looks good! Can you say the same for WMP8 that came with XP? (It looks nothing like Luna) This has been nagging at me ever since I saw pictures of Office:mac compared to Office XP. Let's use an interactive demonstration: Compared to (Microsoft has next to zero pictures of Excel XP on their server) Which one looks more clever? My vote goes to the mac interface. Compared to Office XP, which *doesn't* support the native skinning functions of Windows XP, Office:mac is the automatic winner. Other smaller problems bother me. Like Word Count in Word. As most of you know, you can set up a tool bar to display the wordcount. In Word XP, you must click on the Recount button *any* time you make a change to view the updated word count. But in Word:mac, the word count updates automatically. It's the little things like this that set my teeth on edge. What is Microsoft trying to do? Convert us all to Mac users? Well, that's the end of my rant/rave. :D I hope you feel inclined to comment ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toxikk Veteran Posted January 9, 2002 Veteran Share Posted January 9, 2002 office v.x is totally awesome! i love the way that OS X is starting to come along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertobaggio2k Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 where can i see screenshot for the windows media player for the mac and the office thign for the mac? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HariSeldon Posted January 9, 2002 Author Share Posted January 9, 2002 Do you currently use Office v.X? I'd be interested to hear testimony/rants from a user. I've never gotten the chance to try it, so my rants are based on feature specifications and pictures (does any one else salivate at pictures of Office v.X?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HariSeldon Posted January 9, 2002 Author Share Posted January 9, 2002 Here's Windows Media Player for the mac: Compared to: (Again, Microsoft is strangely lacking in pictures of Windows Apps...) Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toxikk Veteran Posted January 9, 2002 Veteran Share Posted January 9, 2002 v.x is totally awesome. so is the photoshop 7 beta. The office version is really stable and fairly fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurting101 Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 Damn that looks good... maybe there's an Office emulator? EDIT: here's the link to some more pics: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/officex/prodi...of_whatsnew.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tajddin Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 You know what guys, I couldn't agree with you all more. I believe OS X to be the most beautiful operating system in the world. HOWEVER, back in the good old days, when I was dying to get my hands on a copy of windows xp, I wanted it because it was prettier, had alpha blending, and had all the eye candy, and had stability. BUT! Now that I've had it for a while, as most of you have as well, I've realized that that isn't really everything... I no longer care about the skinning and all of that in XP or the shadows under the menus or mouse pointer or whatever. So even though we Windows Users envy the beauty of the Mac OS, we've go to realize that once we have it, we'll get use to it... and it won't be a big deal. Besides, I've got a feeling that, there's more in store for us... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underscorebios Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 We (windows users) can allways argue office xp has a more "professional" look... (i'm gonna get me a mac :)~~) lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tajddin Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 True...true... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurting101 Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 Originally posted by underscorebios We (windows users) can allways argue office xp has a more "professional" look... (i'm gonna get me a mac :)~~) lol Professional (prO?Fess?i?O?adj>adjgly<gly Note: this excludes whistler :)emes :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X Posted January 9, 2002 Share Posted January 9, 2002 Originally posted by Toxikk office v.x is totally awesome! i love the way that OS X is starting to come along. *Note Im just playing with you :p Most users bitch about MS but you love how MS has taken over not just the pc but your mac lol... " I love that OS X is starting to come along" How many years has apple been around? Longer than the PC correct? And its just starting to come along? lol.. So what your saying is that, what the mac really needed was not just a new OS but for its rival to come out with products for that OS? Isnt the whole point of having a rival, to lower prices and make the software better each year or am I missing something? There can only be one, #1. Look at the three little pigs, they wouldnt be alive today if they let the wolf in the door, now would they? :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me101 Veteran Posted January 9, 2002 Veteran Share Posted January 9, 2002 OK, I was bored, so here's my rant... on WinXP and on OS X... Let me see, I may have some details out of place but this is the general picture... Steve jobs leaves Apple, forms NeXT, best OS at the time and for quite some time then on..., display PostScript, proper Unix based OS, produces two versions, 680x0 and PC version, goes like ****e of a shiney shovel! If you've every used it, you would know... believe me, I have and it still rocks! NeXT does not do so well (no-one is ready... :( ) Apple is in the dog house, so Apple hire jobs back (his jet needs an overhaul!) Jobs gets Apple back on track (this is jobs at his best) with the launch of the iMac and other assorted goodies, and decides that the only way that Apple will survive is to evolve the Mac OS past v7 and v8, as they have done evolving the Mac from their 680x0 platform to the PowerPC processors. Has the brainchild, hey, I still have access to the codebase of that really robust and far reaching OS I helped found a while back, aka NeXT, why not use that and put the Mac UI on top of it, codenamed Rhapsody. It's now 1997. The lightbulb of OS X is born. Takes a few years to get to the level it is now, but along the way things change as the computing world changes, themes, different looks and feels for programs and OS's, you know the drill... But essentially, an updated NeXT codebase, new Apple GUI (they took their sweet time but certainly worth it, Apple was always good at the visual stuff), they replace Display PostScript with Display PDF and hail to the world a "New OS". Unix for the masses under a new "lollipop" look and feel GUI. Don't take me wrong, what I think jobs has done with Apple and OS X is fantastic, I'm actually a fan of jobs and the OS X movement, (Unix for the masses, at last a robust Mac!), but it's software that will make or break OS X and it's new GUI. We've already seen that Microsoft have gotten in on the act, IE for OS X, Office v.X, and by the looks of it, Microsoft have done a great job bringing WMP from the PC to OS X. Everything is fluid, sleek, am I starting to like OS X instead of WinXP??? Wait and see what happens when Adobe EVENTUALLY get Photoshop v7 for OS X, you think hype surrounded the past San Francisco MacWorld show was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet! WinXP is still a great OS, with a great new look and feel. I will still continue to use PC's but the attraction of another really robust and nicely crafted OS does make others in the computer field stand up and pay attention. Certainly the Mac has take a "while" to evolve into the computer it is today, but you can successfully say that about Windows, look at Win31 vs WinXP. Steve Jobs is an excellen spin master... It's a wonder he doesn't run for political office, I can see it now, in the future, voting using the new "Aqua 'colour coded' lollipop voting system"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HariSeldon Posted January 9, 2002 Author Share Posted January 9, 2002 Thank you for thank interesting bit of history, me101 :D I guess what bothers me is the fact that Microsoft has *never* been consistant in terms of their GUI. Compare Office '97 with Windows 95. The closest was probably Office 2000 and Windows 2000. All of these little bothers are making a Mac look very attractice. And *when* Photoshop makes an appearance... well, the Mac fans will go mad :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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