5 ms·

Nothing exciting. Let me quantify this before I get shot by the Apple fanboys. I'm not a Microsoft fanboy either but I am not buying the hype and feature sheet.

• illumin8 15y ago
  OneNote only comes with Microsoft Office. Which you can also purchase for Mac. Xcode is free. A developer code signing certificate costs money whether you buy it through Apple or Verisign. Want to release trusted apps on Windows that don't throw up scary looking security warnings to your users that download them? Guess you'll need to pay $299 a year to Verisign or some other CA for that privilege. Gatekeeper is actually a cool feature because now any developer will be able to release signed applications without going through the app store approval process. If they do nasty things, their certificate gets revoked. You get the benefits to the user of running signed/trusted code, and the benefits to the developer of deploying for free, without app store approval.
  • hmottestad 15y ago
    Mind you though, to spare some confusion, there is no OneNote for mac, even though mac has a special edition of Word that implements a few of the features of OneNote.
  • masklinn 15y ago
    > A developer code signing certificate costs money whether you buy it through Apple or Verisign. According to Gruber, signing OSX apps will be free (which is sensible: it's really a service to Apple)
    • illumin8 15y ago
      Sorry if I wasn't clear. It still costs $99 for an ADC account to release signed apps through the Mac app store, however, now with Gatekeeper you will also have a free option in case you want to distribute signed apps on your own.
    • illumin8 15y ago
      Sorry if I wasn't clear. It still costs $99 for an ADC account to release signed apps through the Mac app store, however, now with Gatekeeper you will also have a free option in case you want to distribute signed apps on your own.
  • jaylevitt 15y ago
    FYI, Office for Mac doesn't include OneNote, which isn't available on Mac.
    • aiscott 15y ago
      Which is really too bad. OneNote is among the few windows apps I really like.
• gurkendoktor 15y ago
  Re: iCloud, Messages, Notes, Reminders: Apple has technically had all that for years too, these are all renamed apps. The thing is, now they have a massive mobile presence and they are working on integrating that with the desktop. That is the news. Feel free to compare when Windows grows a comparable mobile presence again, if ever. (Sadly, imho) > 10. Gatekeeper. Windows firewall is actually on par with this and is an application AND/OR system level firewall. Microsoft security essentials is the rest. Gatekeeper and the App Store is not about firewalling, but sandboxing. > 11. Chinese features. Windows is the mainstream OS in china for a reason (i.e. excellent language support). Maybe, in any case, that doesn't make catching up less interesting. I would also wager that most people in China use Windows for the same reasons for which they use IE6. I only know about Taiwan, but when your bank's customer support site only offers an ActiveX-powered video chat, then you have little choice. > Oh and I don't have to pay 99GBP to write software that works on it. Visual Studio is free. No, you can download Xcode for free, write unsigned apps and other people can choose to run unsigned apps.
  • ceejayoz 15y ago
    According to Gruber, signing apps will be free. http://daringfireball.net/2012/02/mountain_lion http://daringfireball.net/2012/02/mountain_lion "It’s a system whereby developers can sign up for free-of-charge Apple developer IDs which they can then use to cryptographically sign their applications."
• evan_ 15y ago
  > Oh and I don't have to pay 99GBP to write software that works on it. Visual Studio is free. Not sure what you're talking about, XCode is free. Visual Studio is $799.
  • sid05 15y ago
    He's referring to the fact you have to pay $99.00 to distribute your apps on the App Store. The IDE's on both OS's are irrelevant arguments. There are free versions of Visual Studio as well that work just as nice as the Professional editions. Those editions are for corporate enterprise architect roles etc.
    • bwarp 15y ago
      And us corporate solution architects tend to use ArgoUML if we have to delve into that crud. VS Express is actually pretty much fine for 90% of development work. If you are in a TDD environment, you don't even need the unit test stuff as NUnit ships with a GUI test runner.
    • Arelius 15y ago
      If you think Visual studio express works as well as pro, or that pro and the like are only for corporate enterprise architects and e like. You've clearly never used visual studio pro. Profiling and x64 support are two trivial examples of what's missing, both of which are features included in the free Xcode.
      • bwarp 15y ago
        x64 is only an issue if you do native interop. Profiling is solved by using ANTS profiler.
        • Arelius 15y ago
          > x64 is only an issue if you do native interop. I'm specifically speaking on my personal experience with Visual C++, in which x64 is much more important. Additionally I'm unsure if native interop can be done at all with Express editions, since there is a seperate Visual Studio Express for every language. I'm certain .Net languages have other limitations using the Express editions. > Profiling is solved by using ANTS profiler. If we are expressing equivalency with every free non Microsoft product with the similar Visual Studio pro feature the whole Discussion is moot, because you'll be able to find a Mono or GCC, or some other tool that has the same feature checkpoint. But that doesn't change the fact that Visual Studio Express doesn't have profiling among other things.
• joejohnson 15y ago
  I don't have time to refute all of your claims, but: >>> 1. iCloud. Have Windows Live ID and Live Mesh integration in windows for nearly 3 years now. Works across mobile devices already. It works across mobile devices, poorly. I think iCloud is a much better user experience, and has better app support even being the newer product. >>> 2. Messages. Windows Live Messenger has social integration already which is on par with this. Windows Live Messenger is not on par with this. iMessage will work across many platforms. Using Messenges you can chat with someone who thinks you are texting them. The list goes on... The point is, yes, Calendar applications have been around for a while. Reminder apps have too. All of these things are offered in lots of ways on lots of platforms. What Apple is succeeding at doing (albeit slowly) is simplifying and improving software offerings in all of these existing domains.
  • Someone 15y ago
    I think iMessage on Mac will be somewhat crippled relative to on an iPhone, ss there is no fallback to SMS. That makes sense, and also is what Apple says on its site: "it lets you send unlimited messages to anyone on a Mac or an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 5."
• ntkachov 15y ago
  You have to remember, Windows Live Essentials (what they call it) doesn't come standard with windows. You need to download it. That said, Apple has long been aiming at standard users and not power users. Apple knows that everything that power users need power users will make themselves or they will find. i/OS/X is geared toward the average consumer. ie. someone who knows nothing about how it works and probably won't find a feature if it isn't on the desktop. Don't confuse "features" with selling points.
  • wolfgke 15y ago
    I believe Microsoft doesn't add this by default, because otherwise it would get into trouble with cartel authorities.
    • bwarp 15y ago
      You are probably right. I prefer an additive process i.e. install what I want from a clean install. Every time I grab a Mac, I have to remove all the crap from it (Garageband, iPhoto etc). It's easier to drop the restore CD in and reinstall it from scratch without all the junk (and don't tell me to just leave it there as it takes up valuable space on an Air SSD).
      • evilduck 15y ago
        First, deleting iLife apps is as simple as dragging the particular app you don't want to the Trash and then emptying the trash, no significant uninstall process required. I'd hardly call that a significant issue to whine about. Second, you claim you have an Air and that you're dropping in a restore CD. Does not compute. Easy with the hyperbole.
        • bwarp 15y ago
          USB CD drive. TBH we lost the little restore stick in the sofa!
• k-mcgrady 15y ago
  I think you need to do a bit more research. I haven't used Live in a while so I'll only answer some of your points: 2. Messages integrates with iMessage which allows any iOS device (over 100mil) and now any Mac to message each other free. WLM is IM. There is a subtle but important difference I think. 4. I agree, OneNote is fantastic. But the Apple Notes app is not designed to complete with OneNote. 5. Don't put the system tray forward as a positive thing. System tray is terrible. 8. A better comparison would be Xbox Live (which is better than Game Center). 9. Airplay mirroring allows you to mirror the entire screen not just video. You can do games, apps etc. You don't have to pay 99GBP to write iOS/Mac apps. It's 59GBP for a developer membership. And the IDE Xcode is 100% free to anyone. Visual Studio is not free. It's several thousand dollars. Visual Studio Express is free. http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/en_US/list/size.24/ceid.172935600/categoryID.50804700/parentCategoryID.50804600/sort.listPrice/order.down?WT.mc_id=vssitebuy_buy http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/en_US/list/size....
• philwelch 15y ago
  Airplay mirroring. Woo yay etc. Windows media player (!) does this with my Sony Bravia with no complaints. Cool story bro, mind sharing how you can use WMP to mirror your whole display? You know, for things like presentations, VLC, games?
• ceejayoz 15y ago
  This post reads a little like saying about the iPhone release "my phone already can make calls, run apps, I can type notes and e-mails, add to my calendar, check the weather, etc." It totally misses the point.
• mrshoe 15y ago
  Don't fall into the trap of comparing Apple's feature list with that of other vendors. Apple makes these lists of new features to compare one version of OS X to the last, but they don't make those grids full of green check marks and red X's to compare their products to competitors'. There's a reason for that. New features might provide a reason to buy a $29 OS X upgrade, but they don't represent the reason people choose Mac over Windows. I choose Mac over Windows because the entire user experience is friendlier, more polished, and better integrated. It's the details of how the features are implemented and the way they work together that make for a superior product.
  • bwarp 15y ago
    It's only integrated if you use it in the way that Apple expect you to. Otherwise, the coupling and integration between the applications is horrible. And yes I know about Automator.
• aaronblohowiak 15y ago
  >4. Notes. NOTHING on this planet compares to Microsoft's OneNote. Scrivner and Evernote do compare, actually. That being said, OneNote is one of the least appreciated MS products.
• dasil003 15y ago
  I'm not particularly excited about this release, but I gotta think you'd have been better off not calling out the word fanboy here at all, because you really really come off as a Windows fanboy, much more so than any of the responses to you come off as any kind of fanboy, and frankly more than I've seen anywhere in quite some time.
  • bwarp 15y ago
    Sorry that was a "sarcastic" intent of the post i.e. to do the comparison as per Mac users do usually on here. In actual fact I sit in front of a Linux machine neatly occupying the neutral zone :-)
• riobard 15y ago
  1. iCloud. Have Windows Live ID and Live Mesh integration in windows for nearly 3 years now. Works across mobile devices already. So you have a Windows Phone for 3 years? Impressed. Must be a hard time. 2. Messages. Windows Live Messenger has social integration already which is on par with this. Like chatting with Jabber/Gtalk buddies? 4. Notes. NOTHING on this planet compares to Microsoft's OneNote. Bloat-wise, sure. For the rest of us who prefer simplicity, SimpleNote/Notation Velocity wins. But I still envy Notes. Why? Because it is synced automatically across all your iOS/OS X devices. You don't even have to keep any app open. 9. Airplay mirroring. Woo yay etc. Windows media player (!) does this with my Sony Bravia with no complaints. I can right click a video file and select "play on Bravia" and it appears on it straight away. This required NO CONFIGURATION and no special boxes. Both have wireless cards in them. No store or DRM available or required. What about showing your working desktop fullscreen to do a demo on your Bravia? 11. Chinese features. Windows is the mainstream OS in china for a reason (i.e. excellent language support). Don't get me started on this. It has nothing to do with language support.
• ImprovedSilence 15y ago
  I'm not an apple fanboi, and all those new osx 8 features don't really vibe with my needs. but osx=> unix (more or less), windows ~= unix. That's game over in my book.
• kalid 15y ago
  12. iPad. Windows has had tablets since 2001. The focus on feature-by-feature comparisons is why Apple is cleaning everyone's clock. I wrote this 2 years ago when the iPad came out (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1025200 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1025200): ------- In my head, I call this the "blender" comparison that many technophiles seem to use. Want to compare two meals? Put them in the blender and analyze the nutritional content of the resulting goop. What? You don't compare food by spec sheets? (Calories, vitamins, carbs, proteins). What are these subjective "texture, taste, style, temperature, presentation" variables you care about? They offer little or no nutritional difference!