Microsoft yesterday
announced Windows 10 for its users and for the first time, this upgrade will be
free of charge. Of course, it’s not hard to miss the similarity with Apple,
which had announced that OS X Mavericks (the OS launched for MacBooks and iMacs
in 2013) would be a free upgrade. The OS following that OS X Yosemite was also
a free upgrade for Apple users. Also iOS updates have always been free.
Now Microsoft has caved
in and made its Windows OS free as well. Let’s not forget that Google’s Chrome
OS is also free of cost on its Chromebooks, even though Google’s Chrome OS is
yet to take off in a big way. Android, the most popular mobile OS in the world
has been a free one.
But other than the free
upgrade, Windows 10 has taken quite a few ideas from Apple and we take look at
some of them.
Mailbox gestures
As post on CultOfMac points out Microsoft has given Windows
10 gestures to clear up your inbox. On iOS 8, you can just swipe to the left to
either archive or trash a mail. However as the piece also points out Apple
stole the swipe left to delete gesture from Mailbox in the first place and at
least Microsoft”s Joe Belfiore acknowledged during the demo that these might
appear familiar to users.
Continuity and Continuum
Apple’s Continuity
allows users to keep their iOS and Macs connected, enabling them to take phone
calls, SMS and even pick up work on the iPad or the iPhone from where they left
off on a Mac or vice-versa.
With Continuum,
Microsoft is giving a new spin to the whole idea and allows Windows 10 users in
2in1 devices to easily navigate between keyboard/mouse and touch/tablet as it
detects the transition and conveniently switches to the new mode.
Windows 10 will also
ship with Microsoft’s universal apps for Photos, Videos, Music, Maps, People
& Messaging, and Mail & Calendar and according to Microsoft they will
have the same look and feel from app to app and device to device and content will
be stored and synced through OneDrive, enabling you to start something on one
device and continue it on another.
This is what Apple
already offers. Macs have their own app for Photos which is iPhoto, iMovies for
video-editing, etc and Apple allows users to sync all documents, photos from an
iPhone to a Mac on iCloud. Microsoft may have changed the specifics a little
bit but the idea is essentially the same.
Action Centre and the Notification Centre
Apple had already
introduced a Notification Centre to OS X Mavericks and it was improved in
Yosemite and iOS 8. Microsoft has now bought the Action Centre from Windows
Phone to Desktops as well. Action Centre will enable users to see notifications
from apps like Skype, Calendar alerts, emails, etc. The Action Center can be
accessed via a new icon in the notification area.
Interestingly
Microsoft’s voice-assistant Cortana is a part of the Action Centre as well,
unlike Siri which has pretty much been restricted to iOS 8. We haven’t see Siri
come to the Mac yet, and Microsoft has gone ahead of Apple by bringing Cortana
to Windows 10 desktop as well.
Spartan browser and Safari
As this post on Infoworld points out, “Spartan Web
browser shamelessly copies longtime Safari behaviors, such as Reading List
(including its local save capability) and Reader mode.” The reader mode shows
an article like you would view a document, without any ads, etc.
According to Windows,
Spartan’s reading view is distraction free and displays the article in a
simplified layout and allows both online and offline viewing. This is exactly
what Safari already does. Other features of Spartan include the integration of
Cortana, something that Safari hasn’t got.
Skype and iMessage
Skype is going to be a combination of FaceTime plus iMessage. On Windows 10, Skype detects if the person you’re texting has a Skype account and then the message is sent over Skype. Sort of like in iMessage where the phone automatically detects if the other person has an iPhone or iOS-enabled device and ensures that users send each iMessages instead of regular SMS texts.
Skype is going to be a combination of FaceTime plus iMessage. On Windows 10, Skype detects if the person you’re texting has a Skype account and then the message is sent over Skype. Sort of like in iMessage where the phone automatically detects if the other person has an iPhone or iOS-enabled device and ensures that users send each iMessages instead of regular SMS texts.
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