And yet, every release of OS X since Lion seems to pull in more features from iOS. Launcher, the notification bar, even some of the apps are starting to make an appearance.
1) Some of the apps only make sense to appear in OS X. Why shouldn't OS X have a messages app (which actually is just iChat integrated with the Messages protocol)? Or a Notes app? Nothing special here.
2) The notification bar was needed in OS X even before iOS appeared. Even Windows Vista introduced a notification sidebar. So, no surprise OS X adopted one too.
3) Launcher is indeed an idea borrowed from iOS, to add something OS X needed, namely a quick way to launch apps (and that is not by browsing with the Finder in the Applications folder). OS X user used a lot of similar apps, and the folder Dock "stacks" was half-way there.
So: apps and ideas are gonna be exchanged between the two.
The important thing is:
OS X and iOS ALREADY ARE the same OS. The share the same Mach/BSD kernel, the same services, most of the same runtimes, the same filesystem, etc. They are like two different "distros" of the same OS, for a different architecture and with a different UI.
So, whether OS X and iOS are "united into onto" will not be on the OS level (they are already the same kernel etc), but at the UI/runtime level.
At the level, there are some signs that the two Cocoa runtimes are converging (for example, iOS used to not have garbage collection, whereas not it has (sort of, with ARC)).
But there are no signs that OS X UI and iOS UI are gonna get reunited in the most important distinction, the touch UI thing. Apple has added touch gestures through the trackpad, but there won't be a touch screen. The way monitors/laptop screens work it's just not possible to hold your hand and touch one for stretches of time --you can even get cramps. That cannot be changed: it's the laws of how our body works.
What we CAN get, is some kind of laptop with a detachable screen that turns into an iPad --and then supports touch interaction.
Until something like that is available, OS X will not get like iOS UI-wise in the only thing that matters: the touch UI. Borrowing some concepts like notification screen, a launcher, or sheets and stuff, does not matter. They could just as easily have been developed for OS X in the first place.
>But there are no signs that OS X UI and iOS UI are gonna get reunited in the most important distinction, the touch UI thing.
Keep in mind, with Launcher, you're basically 75% of the way there. The apps are mostly compatible (look at the number of straight ported iOS games on the MAS for confirmation here) with no UI rework done.
Bringing in Notifications brings it to ~%80ish, IMHO. It's becoming that the only real difference between the two systems is Finder.
The apps are mostly compatible (look at the number of straight ported iOS games on the MAS for confirmation here) with no UI rework done.
The games ported from iOS and Launcher, maybe, but most apps are not "mostly compatible".
A few examples: Safari, Mail, Photoshop, iTunes, iPhoto, Pages, Numbers, Garageband, etc. Also everything third party: Chrome, Photoshop, Word, Evernote, etc etc...
Non of those are designed with touch interaction in mind. This shows in the layout of the menus, toolbars and buttons, and is even more evident in the size of buttons and control elements. They are not made to be controlled by a coarse pointer, such as a finger.
Exactly. The ways they differ are nearly entirely those ways in which Apple intends for them to differ. (Or, as in the case of most of the publicized Mountain Lion changes, just hasn't gotten around to adapting recent features from one platform to the other.)
Comments
And yet, every release of OS X since Lion seems to pull in more features from iOS. Launcher, the notification bar, even some of the apps are starting to make an appearance.
1) Some of the apps only make sense to appear in OS X. Why shouldn't OS X have a messages app (which actually is just iChat integrated with the Messages protocol)? Or a Notes app? Nothing special here.
2) The notification bar was needed in OS X even before iOS appeared. Even Windows Vista introduced a notification sidebar. So, no surprise OS X adopted one too.
3) Launcher is indeed an idea borrowed from iOS, to add something OS X needed, namely a quick way to launch apps (and that is not by browsing with the Finder in the Applications folder). OS X user used a lot of similar apps, and the folder Dock "stacks" was half-way there.
So: apps and ideas are gonna be exchanged between the two.
The important thing is:
OS X and iOS ALREADY ARE the same OS. The share the same Mach/BSD kernel, the same services, most of the same runtimes, the same filesystem, etc. They are like two different "distros" of the same OS, for a different architecture and with a different UI.
So, whether OS X and iOS are "united into onto" will not be on the OS level (they are already the same kernel etc), but at the UI/runtime level.
At the level, there are some signs that the two Cocoa runtimes are converging (for example, iOS used to not have garbage collection, whereas not it has (sort of, with ARC)).
But there are no signs that OS X UI and iOS UI are gonna get reunited in the most important distinction, the touch UI thing. Apple has added touch gestures through the trackpad, but there won't be a touch screen. The way monitors/laptop screens work it's just not possible to hold your hand and touch one for stretches of time --you can even get cramps. That cannot be changed: it's the laws of how our body works.
What we CAN get, is some kind of laptop with a detachable screen that turns into an iPad --and then supports touch interaction.
Until something like that is available, OS X will not get like iOS UI-wise in the only thing that matters: the touch UI. Borrowing some concepts like notification screen, a launcher, or sheets and stuff, does not matter. They could just as easily have been developed for OS X in the first place.
>But there are no signs that OS X UI and iOS UI are gonna get reunited in the most important distinction, the touch UI thing.
Keep in mind, with Launcher, you're basically 75% of the way there. The apps are mostly compatible (look at the number of straight ported iOS games on the MAS for confirmation here) with no UI rework done.
Bringing in Notifications brings it to ~%80ish, IMHO. It's becoming that the only real difference between the two systems is Finder.
The apps are mostly compatible (look at the number of straight ported iOS games on the MAS for confirmation here) with no UI rework done.
The games ported from iOS and Launcher, maybe, but most apps are not "mostly compatible".
A few examples: Safari, Mail, Photoshop, iTunes, iPhoto, Pages, Numbers, Garageband, etc. Also everything third party: Chrome, Photoshop, Word, Evernote, etc etc...
Non of those are designed with touch interaction in mind. This shows in the layout of the menus, toolbars and buttons, and is even more evident in the size of buttons and control elements. They are not made to be controlled by a coarse pointer, such as a finger.
OS X and iOS ALREADY ARE the same OS.
Exactly. The ways they differ are nearly entirely those ways in which Apple intends for them to differ. (Or, as in the case of most of the publicized Mountain Lion changes, just hasn't gotten around to adapting recent features from one platform to the other.)