Why Microsoft Should Fear Intel Macs" 523

ShapeShifter has "theme support"? Which ShapeShifter are you referring to? I wouldn't call Unsanity's ShapeShifter "theme support". Compare it to a product, for instance, like WindowBlinds by Stardock Corp. THAT is "theme support", not ShapeShifter, which almost NEVER changes even the color of the MenuBar with its "themes". What a laugh. But even THAT is better than the so-called "theme support" Apple provides. At least Microsoft provides a full-blown themeing engine with XP, which third-parties can hook into. Stardock uses this themeing support provided by Microsoft, and works intimately with Microsoft engineers.

I don't think Apple really WANTS users to be able to change the appearance of the Desktop beyond a few pretty pictures. Almost ALL OSes allow that. Apple is certainly not unique in "allowing" it.

But apparently, Mac OS X users don't even LIKE to change the color of the MenuBar, considering all the "themes" for ShapeShifter which do not change the color (why in God's Name I cannot fathom. How I HATE that MenuBar's crappy-butted white.) You can't even expand the size of the MenuBar, or display the full date without a HAXIE. At least XP's TaskBar can be expanded, so that the full date will display. And the third-party Notification Area (formerly System Tray) clocks-out do the Apple third-party haxies by leaps and bounds. Even TGT Software's StyleXP does a better job of "themeing" XP than ShapeShifter does for OS X.

And the Dock is another "different" thing (remember, Mr. Jobs says "think different"?). It's a good idea, but a very poor implementation. It can't be moved anywhere. It can't float. It just SITS there, static. Oh, yeah, the icons expand or contract when you pbutt the mouse pointer over them. Woo! Hoo! Hell, man, even Stardock can make a better "dock", and does, with ObjectDock, including expanding and contracting icons. And it can be "docked" anywhere on your displays.

From my way of thinking (remember, "Think Different"?), all that talk by Steve Jobs a few years back of "think different" either wasn't really MEANT, or it never sank IN those hard, hard, HARD heads of Mac Fanatics. Personally, I think it was just a promotional scheme thought up by Apple Merchandising people, who didn't realize what it even MEANT. Mr. Jobs doesn't "think different". His in-house programmers do not "think different". And his DEVELOPERS do not "think different". They are ALL in LOCKSTEP with one other, like a bunch of mindless ants, stuck in the original Apple command-line, and they CAN'T change, even if they wanted to. They never caught sight of what a graphical user interface IS, or COULD be.

And if you don't think like them, you just "don't think", in their minds.

"Think Different" to a Mac Fanatic actually means "Don't think like anyone else but me."

Notice that I did not say that it was chaotic, just that someone ELSE said it was. (But they evidently have no idea what "chaos" even means. After all, even "chaos" can be reduced mathematically, to a degree).

OS X's desktop is most definitely poorly designed. But I do admit some things about the Windows Desktop need changing. Making it static like OS X is certainly not one of the needed changes. It does need to be simplified to a degree. Personally, I believe Microsoft went the wrong way with Vista in making it even MORE complex, rather than simpler.

Heck, man, even MICROSOFT fell in line with Apple LOCKSTEP when it designed Entourage. They took a great PIM (Microsoft Office Outlook), and made it into a piece of horse-hockey when they listened to Apple interface designers. Yeh, Microsoft surely "thought different" when they designed THAT GUI, I bet.

And I bet some of the programmers at Microsoft went home each night and wept for hours after forcing themselves to work all day with Apple engineers in designing Entourage. They probably started kicking the cat around in frustration after a day spent with Apple engineers.

Hopefully, Mr. Gates gave them a good return for their prosbreastution -- er, "labor". I hope they "spit" in the code (metaphorically, of course), like cooks spit in the food of customers they can't stand (and I know they do, having worked as a Line Cook in many restaurants over the course of many years).

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Donald L McDaniel Please Reply to the Original Thread. ========================================================