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Windows 8 vs OS X Mountain Lion (Part 4)

9/21/2013 11:38:14 AM

Bundled apps

Email

One of the first things you'll set up when moving to a new computer is your email account. Both Windows 8 and OS X request that you create an ID during setup that will enable them to automatically configure the relevant applications.

This doesn't tie you to a Microsoft or Apple email account both operating systems allow you to also use Gmail, Yahoo or whatever provider you like - but it does afford you access to other parts of the wider ecosystem. One notable exception to the 'other providers' rule is that Windows 8's Mail app doesn't support POP3 accounts.

Attempting to open an image within Windows mail proves to be futile

Attempting to open an image within Windows mail proves to be futile

There aren't many services that operate solely in this format, but if yours does then Windows 8's Mail app won't be much use.

In use, the two Mail apps are very different beasts. The OS X version is powerful and offers functions such as Smart Mailboxes, which filter content by parameters set by the user. You can also mark different email addresses as VIPs, and these are separated from the general pack and more easily seen in the sea of email.

The various menus offer a high degree of control over the behavior of your mail, and the unified inbox seamlessly draws together all your correspondence from various accounts.

Conversation threads are neatly grouped, text is intelligently examined so that events mentioned in emails can immediately be added to your calendar ('lunch at 12pm tomorrow', for example), and contacts can be added in a similar fashion.

The design of the app itself is a little bland and industrial-looking, with barely any color and a blockish three-column layout. As the environment gradually becomes a sea of grey it can feel rather stark. Even the icons eschew decoration.

Events mentioned in OS X Mail can be immediately added to the Calendar

Events mentioned in OS X Mail can be immediately added to the Calendar

By contrast the Windows 8 Mail app is pretty. There still isn't much in the way of color, but the use of fewer hard lines gives the app a softer, more elegant appearance that is very much in keeping with several other Windows 8 apps.

Unfortunately, Windows 8's Mail app doesn't have the brains to go with its beauty. For sending and receiving emails it functions perfectly well, but if you want to create groups, filter messages by flagging, have a unified inbox for all your accounts, or do anything remotely intelligent then you'll be frustrated: none of this is possible.

Mail struggles with images, too, failing to automatically download them even when you select that option in the settings. And you can't view a large version of the thumbnail unless you save it to the hard disk and access it from the Photo app.

Attempting to use the Open With option increases the sense of futility (it doesn't work). We wonder whether this basic approach is a ploy by Microsoft to steer users toward OutLook.com, which is very powerful and far more like the classic Outlook experience many people expect from Microsoft Mail.

Photos

If there's one situation in which using an application in full-screen mode makes the most sense then it's when photographs are involved. The Windows 8 Photos app takes advantage of this with an image-heavy layout that sucks in pictures from your hard disk alongside (if you allow it the necessary permissions) Facebook, Flickr, SkyDrive, OneNote and, provided you have the SkyDrive app installed, even your smartphone.

Albums are displayed in a strip format, and you can swap the background image for one of your choosing. Navigating this app is very easy with a touchscreen, and for the most part it feels and behaves like a tablet app. You can also share images with friends, but unless you link your contacts to Facebook or Twitter, which can make them somewhat unwieldy if you have a lot of online friends, this is an email- or SkyDrive-only affair.

The Windows 8 Photos app takes advantage of this with an image-heavy layout that sucks in pictures from your hard disk alongside

The Windows 8 Photos app takes advantage of this with an image-heavy layout that sucks in pictures from your hard disk alongside

The app is merely a viewer, and to edit images you'll need to switch to the desktop environment, browse to the image in File Explorer, then click Edit'm the Ribbon menu at the top of the window.

This will launch Paint, a desktop application as ill-suited to editing photos as chocolate is for making teapots. Paint remains very similar to its implementation in Windows 95, with very basic tools that are barely any use for enhancing photos. It's a far cry from even the simplest photo-editing apps available to most smartphones and tablets these days. It's a missed opportunity, but if all you want to do is look at your pictures then Photos is a fine way to do it. In Mountain Lion the Preview app is the default viewer for JPEG image files (among others), and it includes some powerful editing tools that let you adjust color, size and rotation. It also lets you annotate images, check their EXIF data and create contact sheets.

One of the standout features of OS X has always been the iLife suite of apps that comes with every Mac. iTunes will be familiar to most Windows users, Garageb and is an excellent audio-creation studio, and iPhoto is Apple's photo- management and -editing program.

iPhoto is a great app that sorts into date order your various pictures and allows you to apply a decent level of effects and corrections to your images.

You can retouch blemishes, crop, straighten, fix red-eye, use a combination of filters, and even delve into the histogram to adjust exposure levels and a good deal more. iPhoto doesn't allow advanced Photoshop- style manipulation such as layers, but for the majority of users there is more here accounts you connect.

You can easily create than you'll ever need, and it's certainly a world away from Windows' poor offering.

iPhoto doesn't allow advanced Photoshop- style manipulation such as layers, but for the majority of users there is more here accounts you connect.

iPhoto doesn't allow advanced Photoshop- style manipulation such as layers, but for the majority of users there is more here accounts you connect.

Contacts

Windows 8's People app is easy on the eyes, with a list that scrolls left to right through your various contacts in Hotmail, Outlook, Google or social-media sites, depending on which accounts you connect.

You can easily create new contacts in the app, but images aren't an option. Searching is easy, and you simply begin typing to bring up the search bar. Connecting your Facebook contacts also brings in your friends' status updates and any photos they upload. This can be useful, letting you immediately see what someone's been up to recently.

iCIoud integration so you're always backed up and can access the information from almost anywhere

iCIoud integration so you're always backed up and can access the information from almost anywhere

Apple's Contacts app is in keeping with the overall business feel of Mountain Lion, styled as a traditional leather contacts book. It offers impressive functionally, with plenty of detailed fields; iCIoud integration so you're always backed up and can access the information from almost anywhere; very clever blending of Facebook and normal contacts so that duplicates are merged together to form one contact without changing the original data; and the ability to create groups in a number of ways.

Other  
  •  Acer C7 Chromebook - A Good Cheap Laptop
  •  Windows 8 : Managing Local Logon (part 3) - Recovering Local User Account Passwords, Controlling Logon
  •  Windows 8 : Managing Local Logon (part 2) - Creating Passwords for Local User Accounts
  •  Windows 8 : Managing Local Logon (part 1) - Creating Local User Accounts in a Homegroup or Workgroup, Granting Access to an Existing Domain Account to Allow Local Logon
  •  Windows 8 : Managing User Account Control and Elevation Prompts
  •  Windows 8 : Understanding User and Group Accounts
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  •  Windows Small Business Server 2011 : Working with Permissions (part 3) - Understanding Effective Permissions
  •  Windows Small Business Server 2011 : Working with Permissions (part 2) - Using NTFS Permissions
  •  Windows Small Business Server 2011 : Working with Permissions (part 1) - Using Share Permissions
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