Mock OS X: Five ways to make your PC more like a Mac

AnonymousMon 26 November, 2007 11:32am

Just a couple of so called Mac feature's that have been around in Windows for ages

Mac feature: Exposé
A much better version of this is available from Microsoft, simply by installing Intellipoint

Mac feature: Spaces
This has been available through a Microsoft power toy for Windows for years

closebuttonontheleftFTWMon 26 November, 2007 12:45pm

Expose has been around for Microsoft for years has it? That's IF you install the power toy. OSX does it straight out of the box. Everything in this article is stuff that OSX does straight out of the box. Apple rules.

StephenMon 26 November, 2007 2:16pm

Everytime I tried to use a Power Toy feature consistently it bugs out. There is a reason this thing ships as a separate download and isn't the the core OS. And it isn't the "feature" of giving users fewer configuration options.

AnonymousMon 26 November, 2007 2:27pm

I use Power Toys screen at work to make life bearable. However, it's doesn't "just work". Many applications fail when minimized (how XP really does the switching) e.g. Totalrecorder, realplayer. Of all the multi viewport implementations that I've used over the last 15 years (under Unix, Windows and Mac) from "fvwm" to "spaces", I have to say that spaces integrates the cleanest, is the fastest and incredibly easy to use. Pop into an Apple store and try it out if you want to see how to "do it right." I wish that Linux/Solaris/Windows had something similar...

AnonymousMon 26 November, 2007 2:39pm

Seems to me that all of these little so-called "MAC Experience" items are nothing more than fillers and resource thieves to me. Why would I want to waste computing resources on things as frivolous as widgets/gadgets. Seems to me that these items would slow a computer down and make it even more useless to me or anyone working on the computer. In this day of bloated OS's and overly complicated software and the requirement to get more out of your computer for less, these items appear to be some of those to stay away from. If you want the "MAC Experience", save your money and buy yourself one.

AnonymousMon 26 November, 2007 2:47pm

Well... That was a total waste of time. I know all those grown-up kids who like flashy lights and blinky things love thier macs but come on. Why would I want to slow down Windows just for a bunch of junk that doesn't even do what it claims it can. Were are the Multi-tasking uses for these five worthless apps?

Typical Mac garbage.

AnonymousMon 26 November, 2007 2:57pm

No matter what you do to a 'pc' you'll still have a pc. Adding some bells and wistles doesn't make it any more reliable, safer or functional just prettier. If you want a mac then buy a mac, if you want your existing pc hw to be a safer then run linux.

AnonymousMon 26 November, 2007 2:58pm

Congratulations, by the second sentence of the second page I was completely disgusted with this article. You claim that your favorite feature of the dock is that it can be hidden out of the way, unlike the windows task bar. Either you know nothing about the taskbar (which can be easily hidden in the same manner as the dock) or you're a rabid mac fanboy with an ulterior motive to your writing of this article. Either way you do the world a dis-service by shoveling such uninformed tripe onto the internet. I'm a long time Mac User, love them, but that still doesn't mean I'll turn a blind eye to such sloppy "journalism". Please research your sentences before you type them.

MDVMon 26 November, 2007 3:06pm

"Konfabulator features a mac-like set of widgets"?

Maybe you want get a clue and figure out which one came first. Konfab was the inspiration (some say outright theft) for Apple's dash.

AnonymousMon 26 November, 2007 4:36pm

This article demonstrates the fundamental difference between Mac and Windows. There is so much more to the Mac experience than a few visual features. On the Mac, the user is in control. On Windows, Windows is in control.

No visual tweaking will bring the menu of apps to the top of the screen to provide infinite target for Mac menus, vs. the 20-30 pixel high target of Windows menus.

No visual tweaking will bring drag-n-drop install to application. No visual tweaking will remove the Registry Database and all the issues surrounding it.

Yes, you PC "looks" like a Mac, sort of.. but then it always has "sort of" looked like a Mac. Sadly, PC users put up with mediocre results all the time.

DonMon 26 November, 2007 4:37pm

What an incredibly silly idea! If you want a Mac, get a Mac. If you want Windows, get a computer with Windows. Your article is basically suggesting that if you've bought a pig, and you put a bow tie on it, you'll get Prince Charming. Sorry, but you've only got a pig with a bow tie.

If you get Windows, live in a freakin' Windows world.

MaggardMon 26 November, 2007 4:43pm

I long ago 'Mac-ified' my XP for consistency: I go back & forth between it & a Mac all day, putting interface parts in the same places makes life easier. As I feel the Mac has the better GUI I made XP match it rather then the other way 'round..

FlyAKiteOS is indeed remarkable for doing 99% of the change, but some caveats:

It's abandonware - the developer has moved onto other projects so the applications bundled with it are stale. Therefore after installing FlyAKiteOS do go and get updated versions of the included softwares, ones without (fixed!) issues like memory leaks.

Also if you install the large icons into USER32.DLL the resized DLL no longer fits within it's memory specifications. Therefore using the 48x48 icons is recommended, not 128x128. If you do 'go big' you'll notice things like the Windows Calculator no longer loads, many installers will fail, etc. A workaround is to rerun the FlyaKiteOSX installer, undo the changes to USER32.DLL, install whatever applications you like, then rerun the FlyAKiteOS installer to re-edit USER32.DLL. Me, I just put up with the MS trashcan, folders, etc.

(It is also possible to edit USER32.DLL to specify a larger, more accurate, memory allocation, but the process of doing so is a bit much to ask of most folks.)

Finally, as to all of the GUI eyecandy - yes, the do take some extra cycles and memory. This is a debate that has been going on since GUIs were introduced: "Balderdash - I can do that all with my trusty command line!".

Well, maybe.

But a richer, more responsive interface does pay off in productivity. Also for most of us there's enough power and memory in our computers they're doing little more then sitting there waiting for us 99% of the time anyhow. The trivial extra overhead of some judicious GUI enhancing is hardly a problem, and if some folks prefer it why begrudge us?

ResunaMon 26 November, 2007 5:16pm

Konfabulator predated Dashboard and knocks it out of the park - and it works on PC and Windows (not generic free UNIX yet, though). I've completely disabled Dashboard on my Mac and use Konfabulator instead.

AnonymousMon 26 November, 2007 5:44pm

I can't wait to see this in wider implementation: https://lg3d.dev.java.net/

Beats the living s**t out of... well.... everything.

AnonymousMon 26 November, 2007 5:53pm

Make a PC more like a Mac?

Find a PC that's half the CPU speed of a current entry-level PC, then pay four times as much as the going rate for it.

SteveMon 26 November, 2007 6:02pm

Konfabulator brought back Apple Desk Accessories that were in the MacOS since 1984 but were left out of OS 8 and 9. I know that because I probably have shoes older than you are.

Matthew ChaboudMon 26 November, 2007 6:17pm

Try clicking on the Alt+tab windows in Vista, or the Win+Tab windows... better still, try holding ctrl for a "ctrl+alt+tab" or "ctrl+win+tab" for a window that hangs around.

Do all of this before saying that you can't view all of your applications and click on them in Windows.

Expose is sweet, but this article is stupid.

PepeMon 26 November, 2007 7:40pm

Regarding "Spaces", the article says, "Linux fans were quick to point out that the ability to create multiple desktops, separating your groups of applications and tasks, has been available for a while" as if this functionality was previously unavailable to Windows and Mac. Leopard does have it built in now, but there've been addons that provided it. And there've been addons for Windows too - Microsoft has provided it for XP and Vista in the Windows Resources package (whatever it's called) and even in the Win3.1 days, Xerox made a product called "Rooms" that provided "spaces" for Win3.1.

*sigh*Mon 26 November, 2007 7:57pm

The comments about Macs being slow (half the speed of an entry level PC) are cute. Run Vista on a Mac Book Pro and the fastest PC laptop you can find and tell me if the Mac is slow. HAHA! Don't post if you don't know what you're talking about. Macs use Intel better now than Microsoft ever has been able to. It isn't more expensive, either, tool. Check comparative hardware specs and prices.

AnonymousMon 26 November, 2007 8:50pm

Oooor you could just install OSx86 and not have to worry about the shittiness of windows any more.

SolarisFanboyMon 26 November, 2007 9:06pm

Back in the day when Linus Torvalds was just a happy little user and bin Laden was just another civil engineer, Solaris and the other Unix flavors had virtual desktops. Spaces; like OMFG, Brandi!! Look, it's, like, little mini-desktops!! When I loaded up 10.5 the day after it was available, I had a look at Spaces and was, ummm, underwhelmed. I'm sure there must be some way to move an app from space to space like I can in Solaris or any linux distro I've ever seen, but I haven't figured it out yet. It's a mouse click or two in Solaris, but that option seems to be missing on the secondary button menu presented in OSX 10.5.1 so far. Maybe Apple should pick up an old Ultra 10 Creator on eBay for $75, load up Solaris 10 and check it out.

AnonymousTue 27 November, 2007 1:09am

SolarisFanboy -- you simply drag a window to the edge of the screen and it/you move to the next space.

AnonymousTue 27 November, 2007 1:46am

SolarisFanboy you can move a window to another space by dragging it to the border of the screen (that has another space next to it) and hold it there.

John DavisTue 27 November, 2007 3:05am

Expose? Spaces? These are not what make the Mac so special? The iLife apps, iPhoto, iDVD, iMovie, iTunes, iCal and tons more all integrate nicely. In fact the whole thing, OS and applications all meld together beautifully. The keyboard shortcuts are (mostly) the same for the OS and any appropriate - Adobe, please take note! The way it all integrates together and the fact that it's rock solid stable and virus free make it fast, reliable and easy to use.

Expose and Spaces are just part of this. You can't take a few features and imitate the MacOS.

John Davis

RouveriusTue 27 November, 2007 3:10am

Make a PC more like a Mac? One word... Ubuntu (or the like).
Assuming you're not just talking about adding a few bells and whistles to trick yourself into believing that your not still dependent on a non-Unix based OS.

AnonymousTue 27 November, 2007 5:23pm

I own both a PC and an iMac. Can someone tell me why on the Mac I can only resize a window from the bottom right corner? Sometimes I have to move the window left and/or up in order to resize it while on my PC I can just go to any side of a window to resize it?

Also, is there a tool or shell for the Mac that will let me do things in dialog boxes? For example, on my PC I can click file/open or file/save as, and spot a file I want to delete or rename in a folder and I can right-click it and do the operation...even cut/copy/paste to a different folder. On the Mac I'm limited to opening or saving the file and no manipulation of the files are allowed. I have to go to the extra steps of opening finder and getting to the file and then performing an operation on it. A lot of extra time spent...

To me, this is a clear Mac O/S runs my life for me and Windows has greater flexibility to let me do what I want to.

I would appreciate someone telling me how to get around these problems on the Mac (besides just sticking with Windows :)).

Oh, also, I'm running 10.5.1 now and it still loses a mount to a network drive within a day or so of mounting to my NAS. I can see it and connect and tell it to use a picture folder on the device for my backgrounds, but then it unmounts all by itself and I have to constantly remount it. Very frustrating.

Any help is appreciated.

Oak

JonnanTue 27 November, 2007 11:52pm

Ummm - I'm not seeing anything here that's not available on an Ubuntu default setup (Under 7.10 anyway). Correction - I've seen people use a dock feature, but haven't ever used it myself, so I'm not sure if it's available by default.

So we can kinda bring this down to *1* step - Install Ubuntu. Between Wine and built-in Virtual Machines, it can do everything you need for XP except Games anyway (I confess, I just finished setting up Dual booting just for games - <G>).

Jonnan

AnonymousThu 29 November, 2007 9:59am

I was using virtual desktop (Spaces) on OS/2 warp 4 a long time ago, back when stardock was an OS/2 software developer. It's an idea that has been around a long time and probably better executed in OS/2 that on Leopard

AnonymousMon 3 December, 2007 1:54pm

All of these things go a long way toward making your PC act like a Mac. Before I got a basic MBP, I had Stardock with WindowBlinds on my Dell. I'd heartily recommend Stardock for anyone who wants to have a Dock with a Start button. Otherwise all these things just made my 2.16 Core Duo Dell feel more like an old Athlon. You're asking it to load Windows plus all this stuff to make it feel Mac-like.

And you still don't get the Mac's main, non-widget usability features: bright gamma and smooth, non-pixelated text.

AnonymousFri 7 December, 2007 4:18am

1: ObjectDock takes up more space than the windows taskbar. Also, the icons are larger so you can't fit as much stuff.

2: You can click on Alt-Tab in vista.

3: Windows Sidebar can do all of the useful stuff. Most of it isn't useful anyway, though.

4: The only one that actually looks useful/interesting.

5: I personally prefer aero's look.

FredcaiMon 10 December, 2007 5:48am

I've used windows for most of my life until this year when I started using a Mac at my part time job. I'll admit its a quality piece of equipment, but I honestly don't understand the big deal. I found it a massive dissappointment after all of the hype I had heard for years. The interface is not amazing or revolutionary, it is clumsy. Its a pain to hunt all over the screen for an application i have in a window, and the facade is clumsy as well. Sure, maybe it just works once you are aclimated to the interface, but in switching back and forth, i far prefer my laptop with XP professional. I will admit to have added the objectdock to ease my pain, but everything else about Macs isn't worth copying.

Why would I want something that everyone else has? I can very easily modify XP to look however I want (as clearly shown in this article) and I do that joyfully. When I re-oriented my GUI after being inspired by this article, I was able to create something that made people double take and ask what OS I was running. If mac fan boys are going to rave about being so creative, why do so many of them keep the default desktop? (I see enough macs daily at school to notice). Sure the synchonization between programs is nice, but I don't need it, as I quickly discovered at my part time job. Its just another near useless feature the Apple uses to declare itself revolutionary.

And could someone please explain to me why iTunes is using more memory than Word and Outlook (2007, too) combined? It is a quality program (though songbird will kill it when it comes full release).

AnonymousMon 3 March, 2008 4:26am

i have NEVER got power toy t owork on my computer

AnonymousThu 13 March, 2008 1:59am

Oh ye of so little faith! Tisk Tisk, Someof you still think Microsoft's OS (read Wannabe a Mac from way back) is superior to Apple's. What a joke! Why not just ADMIT you have your "I have learned enough to get by and don't want to learn anything new" blinders on? I have been using Flyakite OS X for a long time and completely LOVE IT. It guts Windows like a fish (which is gratifying to watch all by itself) gives you a great dock and makes ridiculous Windows habits go away like the shutown dialog box staying stuck on the last used command (reboot for example) that when in a hurry gives you a reboot when you wanted a shutdown. The MS ethos here must be "well you rebooted last time so you must want to do it again right?" WRONG! Please download Flyakite OSX and move a bit further into the next century already. It certainly takes the ugly off of XP AND makes it FASTER, not slower!! My PC's video frame rate WAS 31 before Flyakite OSX and after it is 72. Ever watch NOVA and see specials about NASA? Do you see all those Macs behind them? Are you even paying attention? They use them because THEY ARE BETTER. Stop whining about Macs being more expensive. To do a thing properly it often costs more. Cry me a river, build me a bridge and GET OVER IT!

AnonymousSat 5 April, 2008 3:49pm

Try being an administrator for more than five computers... Then a Mac can't do **** out the box.

AnonymousWed 23 April, 2008 3:11am

Also another note:

If you really want an amazing feeling, actually go and explore the fun world of Hackintosh. Running Macintosh software on your Intel and previously Windows computer. An HP computer actually running Apple OS X Leopard. You can't beat emulation like the real deal! The scary thing is how much more stable it can be than Windows...