Kevin Marsh

So, Microsoft has released some more details of what they have in store for Vista. Let’s do a quick rundown of the features, shall we? I think I’ve seen them somewhere before…

Let’s start off with the major features, as listed here, and work our way down (because of some lame Javascript on the page, I can’t directly link to each section.)

• Virtual Folders, looks like a Smart Folder to me
• Quick Search, find anything right from a unified search bar! Oh yeah… Apple did something like this in Tiger… I think it was called Spotlight. Next!
• Aero, use the GPU to render fancy graphical GUI elements! Oh yeah… Apple did something like this in Tiger… pretty sure it was called Quartz (Extreme)
• Live taskbar thumbnails, previews of minimized windows while hovering over their icon in the taskbar. Looks pretty similar to the Dock’s minimized windows to me, but the Dock’s are visible even if you don’t hover over them (read: more than one at a time)
• Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D... use the awesome power of Aero to show each window all at once, so you can pick from a miniaturized version rather than just an icon. Hey! I know this one. Exposé!

Let’s move on to Security, surely Microsoft has done something innovative here, I mean… Microsoft is known for great security, right? Right?

• User Account Control (UAC), so basically while using a “normal” account and doing something that requires administrative privileges, a box will pop up asking for the administrator password. Uuuh, OS X has been doing this forever.
• Better protection from malware, ok… so we got Automatic Updates (should be standard for any operating environment), firewall, Windows Defender and the Malicious Software Removal Tool (OK, I’ll admit… OS X does not have the Malicious Software Removal Tool. But, in its defense, it does not require it either.)

How about Internet Explorer? Surely there is some room for some innovative improvements, no? Hey, where ya going? Come back…

• Tabbed browsing, just like we’ve seen in Firefox and Safari for years
• Built-in RSS reader, more catching up to Firefox and Safari…
• Live Preview view tab’s contents in a thumbnail preview, just like Omniweb!

At this point, it’s getting pretty ridiculous, but I trudge on…

• Gadgets and Sidebar, ya know… small applications that connect to the web and a place to put said apps. Just like Widgets and Dashboard… But—the Sidebar will take up about 20% of the side of your screen! Even when you don’t want it…
• Windows Calendar, ok… the thing that gets me about this one is the rounded event box. Totally screams iCal ripoff. But you can share calendars! Ya know, like iCal.
• Windows Photo Gallery iPhoto.
• Windows Movie Maker iMovie.

Performance is an area where I’m sure we having something of merit… Really.

• Sleep Damnit. Guess not.
• SuperFetch, ya know. Memory caching. Like any modern operating system has done for the past, 10 years.
• External memory devices, cool! Now I can connect a USB flash drive and have it add to my system memory! Except it will be about 15% of the speed…

Windows Backup and System Restore... nothing new to see here, either.

In short, Vista is nothing but a late facsimile of Tiger. Some features are a bit more obscure, while others are glaring and its really unnerving how Microsoft can get away with it.

Embrace, yes. Extend? Not so much.