Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 1st Sep 2008 08:55 UTC, submitted by Dan Warne
A common topic of discussion in the Windows world - in fact, in any operating system - is boot performance. Many systems take a long time to reach a usable desktop from the moment the power switch is pressed, and this can be quite annoying if it takes too long. In a post on the Engineering 7 blog, Michael Fortin, lead engineer of Microsoft's Fundamentals/Core Operating System Group, explains what Microsoft is doing to make Windows 7 boot faster.
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RE[4]: Comment by Kroc
by Thom_Holwerda on Mon 1st Sep 2008 20:15
in reply to "RE[3]: Comment by Kroc"
Member since:2005-06-29
It's not as if Windows is unconfigurable. In addition, there are a number of alternative window managers that can be used in place of the default one on Windows.
Back when I still did Windows customising, Litestep wasn't a window manager, but a desktop manager, which is a slightly different thing. In other words, Litestep didn't theme the windows/borders, you needed Windowblinds or a hacked uxtheme.dll for that one.
That's what always held me back later on. Just too much hassle. Now we have Vista which looks just fine, as far as I'm concerned.
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Member since:
2006-11-12
It's not as if Windows is unconfigurable. In addition, there are a number of alternative window managers that can be used in place of the default one on Windows.
Here is a screenshot of a theme from the Litestep window manager:
http://customize.org/screenshots/55110/download?v=53313
Note the existence of virtual desktops (the widget labeled "Desks"), and note the lack of a system tray.
Here is a theme from Blackbox for Windows:
http://www.boxshots.org/screenies/4975.jpg
The virtual desktop widget shows workspace "alpha" and it appears that this user has chosen to have a system tray. Both the virtual desktops and the system tray are optional, as neither are enabled in this user's Blackbox theme:
http://www.boxshots.org/screenies/4960.png
Look at "Hypn's Desktop" from the SharpEnvironment window manager for Windows:
http://www.sharpe-shell.org/e107_plugins/autogallery/autogallery.ph... Four virtual desktops and system tray are visible in this theme.
OSX has a lot less configurability for its typical user. There are options such as Oroborox and running X11 on OSX, but probably 95% of Mac users aren't capable of taking even the first step to set those up. Shapeshifter is another option, but it is not that configurable in regards to the desktop elements.
The GUI that has the greatest usability is the one that best suits the particular user's needs. Configurability helps many achieve their own, individual, optimum usability.
Edited 2008-09-01 19:53 UTC