Where Apple deserves the innovation credit

Steve Jobs once said that Microsoft stole Windows from Apple, but there has been plenty of idea-snatching on both sides over the years.

Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard each contain features that originated in the other OS. Some features were stolen so long ago that they’ve become part of the computing landscape, and it’s difficult to remember who invented what. Here we give credit to Apple where credit is due.

1. Taskbar makeover: Dock look and feel

The Windows 7 taskbar is decidedly Dock-like, with large, label-less icons. Like the Dock, the taskbar is now a place to launch programs as well as to minimize windows. You can drag an application icon to anywhere on the taskbar and drag to arrange them, as on a Mac. In Windows 7, a box around an icon indicates that a program is running; Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard uses a dot under the icon of running apps. Apple acquired the Dock from Steve Jobs’ NeXtstep OS, which stole it from Acorn’s Arthur OS of 1987.

2. Jump lists: Dock menus

Both the Taskbar and the Dock have had menus, but the menus of Windows 7 are similar the functionality of not only Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, but of Leopard before it. There are commands and access to files. What’s in a jump list (or Dock menu)? Some lists (such as those for iTunes) have more functionality in Mac OS X. Others have more in Windows 7. Web browsers in Mac and Windows provide similar functionality, depending on the browser. In both OS, a right-click brings up the menu.

3. Aero Peek: Expose

Read InfoWorld’s reviews of Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard . The Windows 7 Aero Peek feature that makes all windows vanish at once debuted as Exposé in 2003 with Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. The two platforms’ versions each has other things they can do, but Aero Peek and Exposé both let you quickly see the desktop of open windows and just as quickly bring the windows all back again. Aero Peek makes windows completely transparent, removing all content. Exposé slides them out of the way. Toh-may-toh, Toh-mah-toh.

4. File previews

File previews are all over Windows Vista and Windows 7, including the Preview pane in Windows Explorer windows and Taskbar previews, but Apple has always been ahead here. The Preview pane came from the column view in Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah in 2000. The Windows Preview pane has now caught up to Mac OS X’s with the ability to play audio and movies, but it still doesn’t display text formatting. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard added the Cover Flow view for rapid viewing of multiple previews, but the ultimate preview is its Quick Look, which is resizable up to full screen — and lets you look at every page of a document

5. Screen Sharing: Remote Desktop Connection

In Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Apple added the little-known but useful Screen Sharing program (found in /System/Library/CoreServices/), also usable through iChat. Screen sharing lets you view and control another networked Mac running Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger or later. Windows users have had this functionality in Remote Desktop Connection since Windows XP. In fact, Microsoft provided a free Mac version of Remote Desktop Connection before Apple added the functionality to Leopard.

6. Sticky Notes: Stickies

A handy new tool in Windows 7, though there have been third-party sticky notes in recent years. But Apple has had Stickies in its OSes since System 7.5 in 1994. Mac Stickies offer spell check and text formatting, too.

7. Saved searches: Smart folders

Smart folders, which first appeared in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger in early 2005, are actually virtual folders that show the results of searches. Microsoft took the idea and created Saved Searches in Windows Vista. In the OSes’ current versions, the two are similar in concept and in use. Both appear in the left pane of windows and act like folders.

8. Network shares automatically appearing in left sidebar

With Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Apple started placing autodiscovered network file shares in the sidebar at left. Microsoft must have liked the idea, because it added the feature in Windows Vista, dumping the Network Neighborhood of many previous versions.

9. RSS feeds

Microsoft introduced the ability to view RSS feeds in Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista. But an integrated RSS reader in a Web browser wasn’t Microsoft’s idea. Apple did it first in Safari 2 in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Apple’s Mail also supports RSS

10. Windows Disc Image Burner: Disk Utility

Before Windows 7, you had to use a third-party utility to burn ISO disk images to CDs and DVDs. In Windows 7, just double-click an ISO file to launch Windows Disc Image Burner. Nice feature, but the Mac’s Disk Utility has had the ability to burn as well as create disc images since even before Mac OS X.

RESOURCE:www.pcworld.com

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