Desktops: Dell's Window 7 vs iMac's OS X

In the last topic I did a visual comparison of the iMac i7 27” and the Dell i5 8100 with a 27” Dell monitor.  The iMac that arrived has already been configured for a few days.  Compared to the old Dell Dimension 3000, it is a quiet powerhouse.  As discussed in previous topics of this forum, configuring the iMac to work correctly with web browsers, other Windows computers, including a 2003 Exchange server, is a work-in-progress, but so far nothing has been impossible.

I am anxious to compare it to the Dell Studio 8100.  Once I have all the peripheral connected, I turn it on.  The first thing I notice is the lack of noise.  Those extra vents and fan work.  The Dell 8100 is very quiet compared to the old Dell, and equally as quiet as the iMac.  That beat my expectation and is a point for Dell!

Windows 7 loads and I see the default light blue background with white traces.  There is a little icon in the middle with “Mitch Cohen” that Dell was nice enough to create before sending me the 8100.  I wonder, “Did Dell made any further customization?”, but the tab only opens to a set of generic folders – contacts, desktop, downloads, favorites, etc. 

In contrast to the Window 7 calming blue background with white tracers of plants, The default OS X desktop pictures an Aurora.  The subtle messages say that the iMac OS X system is “spectacular!”, and the default desktop of Windows 7 says, “calm – easy”.  Well, I suppose after VISTA “calm” is a good image for Microsoft.  Needless to say, you can personalize the desktop image easily in both systems so the default desktop is neither a significant pro nor con just a little insight into their makers.

Prior to Windows 7 most reviews of the two systems agreed that OS X was the more elegant and less fussy of the two systems.  With Windows 7 that changes.  Overall, I find the desktop experience of the iMac and Dell very comparable.  The “Aero” desktop experience with Windows 7 and the Exposé and Spaces utilities in OS X provide some very useful desktop features.

Docks

There is a dock and taskbar on Dell’s Windows 7 desktop and a dock on the iMac’s OS X.  As I compare the two, I find the dock in OS X and the taskbar in Windows 7 are more alike than the two docks.  The Windows 7 taskbar is for managing open applications and is pretty comparable to the OS X dock.   There are several technical explanation available comparing the two, like http://gizmodo.com/5131933/giz-explains-why-the-windows-7-taskbar-beats-mac-os-xs-dock.

The dock on the iMac is used for opening applications and managing them once they are open.  It is pretty straightforward.  My most frequently used applications appear in the dock.  But some, like my FTP program FileZilla, need to opened using the Applications folder.   Once it opens, I right click on the icon, cursor down to “options” and decide to “keep it in the dock”.   I decide  to “open at login” for other applications and for some appliI choose to “show in Finder”.

For the iMac, I customize the look of the dock under “System Preferences” -> “Dock” or when I right click on the dock on the hashed lines and click on “Dock Preferences” . I choose to place the dock on the bottom, use a fairly small size, and magnify slightly when I put my cursor over it.  I like the Genie effect for minimizing a window, as I watch the document disappear into the dock (like a Genie in a bottle) versus just dropping into the dock.  I choose “animate opening applications” to see the application icon bounce when I click on the to open it.  I don’t hide the Dock (thank you 27”), and I don’t know whether minimizing the application into the icon or just the dock is better.  For now, I leave the option unchecked.  I suppose if you minimize lots of applications, minimizing it into the icon saves space. 

When an application is open on the iMac there is a small white dot near the icon in the dock.  This highlights one of the big differences between Windows and OS X.  In OS X when you exit an application it does not shut it down.  On the Dell, Windows 7, when you end an application you also quit it.  This hints at a more basic difference in the two operating systems as explained in detail in this article by Peter Bright. http://arstechnica.com/software/news/2009/01/dock-and-windows-7-taskbar.ars.

On the Dell, Windows 7 has the familiar taskbar and, for XP users like me, a new dock.  With its translucent icons, the Windows 7 dock is for opening applications, and it is also an organizational tool that does not have a parallel in OS X.  It allows the user to cluster applications under more generic heading, and click them to  open a specific application.  When I right click on the dock I see a number of options for customizations.  I place it on the right, include some animation, and add some new clusters.  I don’t play with color or the multitude of other options.

In the Windows 7 taskbar and OS X dock, when I click and hover over the icon I see all the open windows in that application previewed in a thumbnail.  To one-up OS X, Dell’s Windows 7 shows a full size preview in a light box effect when you cursor over each thumbnail.  This is particularly useful for web applications where there may be several tabs open.  This is one feature that OS X could copy from Windows 7.

The hovering to see open applications usually works fine, but there is a problem with the Firefox browser that previews only the active tab.  Fortunately, a little Google search reveals a solution where all the open browsers in one session are previewed.  See http://www.blogsdna.com/6799/thumbnail-previews-for-all-opened-tabs-in-firefox-3-6-on-windows-7.htm. Follow these steps to enable thumbnail previews for all opened tabs in Firebox 3.6 on Windows.

1. Open Firefox 3.6 and type about:config in the address bar. Click past the warning dialogue box and open the preferences page.
2. Use the filter box to search for the entry browser.taskbar.previews.enable. By default it is set to false. Double click this entry to toggle the setting to true.
3. That’s it. Now restart your Firefox browser and open multiple tabs. Now minimize the window containing these tabs. Now when you aim the pointer at the taskbar again, you will get the thumbnail for all opened tabs simultaneously.  

The Windows 7 taskbar, like the OS X dock, can be customized.  I don’t lock it, don’t auto hide, or use small icons.  I leave the location at the bottom.  I add a few applications to the taskbar.

iMac OS X Exposé and Spaces and Window’s Aero

The iMac and Dell systems both have a number of options for visualizing applications on the desktop. 

On the iMac I access the Spaces and Exposé features through the Systems Preferences App.

The options for Exposé  are:  see “all windows” open, see all “application windows”,  “show desktop”, and toggle “dashboard”.  I can do this by using “active screen corners”, that is, moving my cursor into a corner, using function keys, and/or a button  on my mouse.(if  they are available)

As I try to configure the iMac  I run into problems.  I want to see the desktop using the default function key, F11.  It does not work.  When I set an “active corner” to view the desktop it works, but not the default function key. 

My first call to Apple Care

I use this opportunity to set up Apple Care – the online help that comes with the iMac.  It is easy to activate from the set up disk and I made first call.  You leave a number for Apple to call back and they do! 

When the technician calls back he is polite and knowledgable.  He says the function keys on the keyboard are programmed and can’t easily reprogram.  However, he inadvertently identified the problem … I have a full size keyboard.  The default F11 key is recommended for the wireless smaller keyboard.  In the full size board the F11 key is already programmed for decreasing volume.  However, using the Expose option, I set F13 to show the desktop.  That works fine.

The other features I add are using the left corner to put the iMac to sleep, using F9 to see thumbnails of all windows, F16 to see application that are open (just like hovering on the icon in the dock), and F18 to toggle the desktop utilities that display a calendar, calculator, and weather.

OS X Spaces

The iMac OS X spaces feature is a way to organize windows into groups to reduce desktop clutter.  I often open many windows, and my desktop resembles a shopping mall on Black Thursday.  Even with expose features that display all open applications or all application open in a program, I sometimes can’t find the window I want to work on. 

So far I am a neophyte to spaces, but I see its advantages.  The default view of spaces gives 4 separate  “desktops”.  The easiest way to use spaces is to drag all similar open windows to a desktop, and I move all my Word documents to “desktop 2” and my EyeTV on “desktop 4.  I move between desktops by using control-> arrow keys.  I also checked the “show spaces in menu bar” option so I can chose the “desktop” from the top menu bar on my iMac.  It is possible to create up to 16 different desktops.

I plan to do even more.  This link below has several good suggestions on how to configure spaces to allow efficient use of the desktops and, I hope, will allow me to focus on a specific tasks with less disruptions -- http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/optimizing-your-mac-workspace-with-spaces/

Windows Aero – Shake, Snap, and Peek

We have already seen one feature of Windows Aero that reveals a thumbnail of the open desktop when we hover over an icon in the taskbar.  In addition there is a “shake” function that quickly minimizes every open window except the one that is being shaken.  I don’t want to be distracted by the many open windows in the background of my Word document.  I grab it with my mouse around the top and shake.  The other windows are minimized.  Here’s a helpful video on “shake”: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/shake.

I use “snap” to focus on a window by dragging an open widow to the edges of my screen.  I drag it to the top for full screen and to the right for full vertical on the right and visa versa for the left.  This is helpful, if not awe-inspiring.  Here is a helpful video on on to use “snap”: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/snap.

“Peek” is like the “reveal desktop” feature is OSX.  I hover the cursor over the little transparent rectangle in the lower right corner of my screen, and all the windows turn transparent, revealing the desktop.  If I click on it, the desktop is revealed.  Here is a helpful video on Peek’s use: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/peek

Dell Windows7

The items on the desktop in the lower left deserve mentioning.  There is a little up arrow, that “shows hidden items”.  These include important services, like removing external devices, contact information for the dell Support Center, Virus definition information, and some other useful utilities.

Next to that is the utility for the speakers, and then next to that an icon for the wireless settings.

Dell Windows 7 or iMac OS X Desktop?

After using the iMac and Dell for a few days, the experience with both desktop is good.  The dock and taskbar compare favorably.  The Dell Window 7 feature of showing open windows and then using a lightbox feature to show them full size is better than the thumbnail feature on the iMac.  I can see where the organizational features of the Windows 7 dock might be useful, but so far it has not been critical for me.  For me, the iMac expose and spaces features are more functional than Windows 7 Aero features.  To me these features give the OS X a slight advantage… but so slight that the decision to purchase an iMac OS X or Dell Windows 7 should not rest on the functionality of the desktops.

In the next topic I discuss how the Dell and iMac can play more nicely together.