Microsoft has been accused of “ripping off” Apple with their new Windows 10, sao what’s new?
The hostility between the two Companies is not new Bill Gates and Steve Jobs use to go head to head in the old days especially when Microsoft was launching a new OS.
A visit to various forum sites reveal that the chatter is all about the similarities between the new Windows 10 and Apple initiatives.
Steve Jobs once said of Microsoft in 1995 “The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste.”
He added “They have absolutely no taste and what that means is – I don’t mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way – in the sense that they don’t think of original ideas and they don’t bring much culture into their product. They just make really third-rate products.”
On one occasion Apple slapped a legal action on Microsoft in an attempt to stop Microsoft using interface elements it deemed too similar to those used by the Lisa and Mac in 1988 (Apple lost).
Now Apple fans are claiming that key elements of the new Microsoft operating system are similar to those offered by Apple
The first and most notable of these was the fact Windows 10 will be offered as a free upgrade for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and Windows Phone users for 12 months from release.
In the past Microsoft has always required its customers to pay for Windows, so the new change of direction has some observers claiming that Microsoft is attempting to make up for the universally-dislike of Windows 8 by millions of consumers who have refused to budge from the Windows 7 OS.
Apple’s iOS updates for iPhone and iPad have always been free.
Apple’s software Continuity allows seamless transition across Apple devices.
An email started on an iPhone can then be picked up on an iPad, while Macs can now make calls via an iPhone.
Windows’ newly-announced Continuum allows users with convertible devices to switch between tablet and desktop modes, swapping between touch and mouse-optimised capability thus removing the need to change to another physical device.
Project Spartan is Microsoft’s first new web browser for 19 years, and has been designed to “enable greater reliability and better discoverability” via integration with digital assistant Cortana.
Its reading list feature allows saved pages to be read later, reader mode and offline mode have been available in Apple’s Safari for several years.
The way Cortana ‘learns’ from the way you use the way and predicts your likely behaviour could also be seen as advancement on Apple’s Spotlight contextual search, which considers location, related books or apps and further information when returning results. Whether Apple chooses to integrate Siri into future browser upgrades remains to be seen.
Skype and iMessage
Windows 10 will detect if the contact you’re texting has a Skype account and divert the message through it, this is similar to Apple’s iMessages that are automatically sent to other iOS devices via regular text messages, and Apple has also had FaceTime for video chatting.
