When most people think of Apple in those days, products like iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch are probably the first thing that comes to mind. This makes a lot of sense, thanks to those cellular platforms, Apple, with Google with its Android cellular operating system, has fundamentally replaced the way other people interact with the generation on a foundation.
Although laptops don’t go anywhere, no matter how many classified ads Apple has posted asking what a computer is, there’s actually a lot to say about locating tactics to fuse the user’s fun between those other devices.
This has already been attempted, either with Windows 8 and ChromeOS, with combined effects in terms of usability. However, it is with macOS 11 Big On that Apple possibly just cracked the code. This is partly due to the new upgrade design elements and Mac Catalyst, which will necessarily bring all iOS and iPadOS apps to Mac.
When the iPad was introduced 10 years ago, I don’t think anyone expected it to be as massive as it ended up being. I had a lot of friends who just laughed at a “diluted” computer, than anything that could cause a pill revolution. And, to be clear, it wasn’t actually the first pill, but you can’t tell me that the iPad didn’t popularize the form factor.
A couple years later, Windows 8 was released, with its touch-friendly UI, doing away with the start menu that so many people have grown used to over the years. This was largely done to allow Windows tablets, phones and computers to all operate on the same platform, in theory boosting compatibility between the three.
However, Windows tablets have never taken off in the same way as iOS or even Android tablets. In practice, this meant that desktop users were trapped with an interface that was extraordinarily inept for desktop use. Microsoft, however, has alleviated some of this pain by reintroducing the Start menu with Windows 8.1 and then Windows 10, but there are still a lot of people who aspire to the Windows 7 and Windows XP era.
Just to give credits where they should be, Microsoft has come a long way in comparison to Windows 8. However, in the interest of making the Windows 10 touchscreen, it is rarely as easy to use as Windows 7 or XP. There are a multitude of modifications and software to return the old windows interfaces to Windows 10, and that says a lot about the fact that some users would like to get rid of touch usability completely.
Ideally, Microsoft would make a touch interface optional, such as a transfer somewhere in settings that can turn the tile interface on or off in the new touch menu, without users having to browse the Internet to locate potentially harmful software. But, for now, it turns out that Windows 10 is stuck in that ‘whether touch or not’ limbo.
When macOS 10.14 Mojave arrived, it brought with it 4 iOS apps: Home, Apple News, Bag and Voice Notes. None of them are exciting, but it gave us an idea of what might look like a unified, or more unified, Apple ecosystem. Apple evolved this with macOS 10.15 Catalina with Apple Catalyst, which provided Apple developers with a full set of equipment to bring mobile apps to macOS.
This is even more extensive with macOS 11 Big On, and Apple claims that the iOS app will be compatible with your Mac, which is definitely massive. Add to that the switch to Apple Silicon later this year, and there’s a massive replacement in the way Macs work, even though they will functionally serve the same purpose.
But it’s more than just the compatibility of the programs here. The great user interface of Sur macOS is greatly encouraged through the iOS design philosophy. This may worry flashbacks about the union of Windows 8 between desktop and cell design, but there’s one thing to keep in mind: there won’t be a touchscreen mac yet.
Now, this would possibly be a hot output, however, I think the touch screens are a little promoted on Windows devices. Even after using lots of touchscreen laptops, none of them literally seemed to me to need a touchscreen. In fact, there are devices for artists, but it turns out that drawing tablets are often the way to go if you need to create art on your device, a less expensive solution as well.
Apple, however, still refuses to launch a touchscreen MacBook, which means a number one way to interact with a PC, and is with a keyboard and mouse (or trackpad). This means that the user interface is specially designed around it and that there is no real growth pain.
So when Apple brought in many iOS design elements, it looks more like the iOS design of anything like the center, and twisted it to have support for a desktop setup.
On Big On macOS, when you click to open Control Center, it doesn’t take the full screen as it does on your iPhone. Instead, you only get a small drop-down menu that has a layout, but doesn’t take up too much space.
In the existing beta version, it’s not the most beneficial menu in the world, but it’s beneficial to have a quick way to turn Bluetooth on or off, Wi-Fi, replace volume and brightness, especially if you’re using a MacBook Air. or Mac Desktop that doesn’t have simple access to cursors like this via the touch bar.
Plus, it’s incredibly useful to have easy-to-use widgets that I can use anywhere by swiping two hands to the left. Right now, the only widgets I have on this bar are the World Clock, because I paint with other people around the world, and a weather app, so I can tell at a glance whether or not I’ll merge into New York. Sun as soon as it passes outside.
It is also a feature very inspired by the cell phone, once again, it is implemented in a way that does not interrupt what it is running. The notification bar where the widgets are located is transparent with Big Sur, which means they take up as much or as little as you want from your screen. It’s huge when you only check the time when you’re running a Photoshop project.
And yes, you can do the same on a Windows laptop. But don’t even take a look to tell me that Windows trackpads are almost as responsive or easy to use as a Mac trackpad. Apple nailed the trackpad years ago, and no one has clung to it, even though Dell and Razer are starting to approach.
The only genuine challenge I have with either so far is the lack of customization of the center. What I like most about the feature on iOS is that I can load shortcuts to parts like the screen recorder, camera or calculator. But again, we’re still at the beginning of the macOS Big Sur public beta, so that might change.
There’s no way I’ve exhausted all the smart things that will come in a big way on macOS, and in fact there are many. But my time with the new operating system, I can’t help yet thinking about Windows 8.
I’ve had positions in the afterlife to protect Windows 8 and, to this day, I think the operational formula is a little criticized. But Apple has merged the design of mobiles and desktops somehow here, and I’ll say it.
And I’m sure Apple needs to sell you a MacBook and an iPad for users who need this touchscreen experience, and a touchscreen MacBook would outweigh that. But hey, it’s one argument every day.
For now, however, Apple deserves a compliment for bringing this new design philosophy to macOS falling into the same traps that made Windows 8 the joke it is today.
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