Brent Kearney

The look and feel of Windows 7 is great. It reminds me more of a Mac than any previous version of Windows.

Don Reisinger’s recent review on C|Net had some praise for the Apple Macintosh-like user interface of the Windows 7 beta, which apparently makes it more attractive, but on the other hand, compared to XP it is “harder to perform basic functions”, and, “Microsoft has placed too much stock in Apple’s design and not enough in usability.”

Microsoft Vista, the latest version of Windows, was criticized for poor performance, annoying user interface, lack of compatibility, and ongoing susceptibility to Internet malware. This provided a major incentive for people to switch to Mac, and was the subject of much ridicule by Apple’s marketing team.

I found one thing interesting in Reisinger’s review: given the significant user interface changes in the upcoming Windows 7, large businesses will have to consider the training and support costs of the upgrade. I think that another consideration should be: if they’re going to have to learn a new user interface anyways — one that looks like a Mac — why not go for the real thing, and be spared the traditional Windows headaches?

The next version of Mac OS (10.6) is likely to be out before Windows 7, and according to Apple, it will “set a new standard for quality”. It will also feature even greater compatibility with Microsoft server products, adding to the all-in-one platform’s attractiveness for the corporate IT department.