As I've mentioned before, I really don't know why I ever chose to dual-boot my HP Mini 311. Is it to avoid being left out by a trend that somehow marks belongingness to geekdom? Maybe. Or perhaps I'm just tired of reading questions in comments regarding Snow Leopard Windows 7 dual-boot that to contain the issue once and for all, I succumbed to be able to say that I do know what goes under the hood in a dual-boot.
So I don't really completely regret having Redmond stuff inside my beloved HP Mini 311 but the fact remains that the most opportune moment to find Windows 7 useful is yet to come. It's a 30 GB worth of little used space on the 311's 250 GB Seagate hard drive. What to do to brighten up things a bit?
On a particularly "paresseux" afternoon, I stumbled upon this on Cult Of Mac: Snow Leopard Transformation Pack.
Ok, now you probably want to throw up and reach for that X button to close your browser window on this decidedly disgusting post, but please not before you see these screen caps:
Internet Explorer 8 trying to pass off as Safari sends shivers up my very spine
Oooh. It's got Stacks too. Nice graphics.
Now this here is what I'd like to talk more about.
It's always struck me that managing my files in Windows 7 is now more pleasant than it ever was in previous versions of the OS. Isn't it the same Windows Explorer app that has always been long in the tooth??!?
I adore Mac OS X Finder a lot. But I never realized to what extent until I played with this Snow Leopard Transformation Pack and now, it's ever more obvious; it's Sidebar!
My first cross over to Mac OS X was from Windows XP and going back to my office PC, which at that time still had Win XP installed, I felt it was going back to an Auberge de jeunesse after spending a weekend at the Ritz! Right, that may be an exaggeration but I needed to drive the point home and I'm sure I couldn't do better than that, not because I believe it to be the best rhetorical device but simply because my imagination is limited.
The Sidebar has always been a feature of OS X Finder, even traces back to the older big cats. So I think it's fair to say that Microsoft copied the concept in Windows 7. And unlike most Apple fans like me with the same reality distortion ailing them as does Stevie J, I'd say thumbs up to MS for the copy-cat effort; it's made their OS better.
After a couple or so of restarts (wow, I really am in Windows!) and after 5 minutes of taking screenies, I uninstalled the Snow Leopard Transformation Pack. The reason? It just felt disturbing to discover myself responding with my Mac OS X reflexes inside Windows 7 and being frustrated in the end because the reflexes didn't quite give me the results expected. Imagine me reaching for the Alt button (location of OS X Command key equivalent in a PC keyboard like that of the Mini 311's) instead of Ctrl.
Ewww.
1 comment:
I've seen 100s of themes for windows, including themes to imitate other Operating Systems, but when it comes to Mac OS X, the few themes I actually bothered to look at just enhanced the look of an already fantastic UI. I've never really bothered to look because I'm already so satisfied with it. Many people who use Windows want to get rid of it, but are stuck with a less than satisfying theme, that never really seems complete or up to the standard expected
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