{"id":3267,"date":"2013-08-23T12:35:43","date_gmt":"2013-08-23T16:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=3267"},"modified":"2013-08-23T12:35:43","modified_gmt":"2013-08-23T16:35:43","slug":"how-windows-os-x-and-ubuntu-are-slowly-turning-your-pc-into-a-smartphone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/08\/23\/how-windows-os-x-and-ubuntu-are-slowly-turning-your-pc-into-a-smartphone\/","title":{"rendered":"How Windows, OS X, and Ubuntu are slowly turning your PC into a smartphone"},"content":{"rendered":"
The glorious era of PC stardom is over. Once the belle of the technology ball, desktops and laptops now share the spotlight with smartphones and tablets, and the embrace of mobile devices by consumers has provoked deep changes in the computing landscape.
\nNo, PCs aren\u2019t dying out, but they are shifting form to more closely resemble the Hot New Things. And there\u2019s good reason for it.
\n\u201cConsumers are mainly driven by simplicity and familiarity,\u201d says Carolina Milanesi, Gartner\u2019s research vice president of consumer technology.
\nIn a word, people yearn for\u00a0consistency<\/em>. And as the industry struggles to satisfy that demand, mobile design is bleeding over to the desktop\u2014though the Big Three PC operating systems are approaching the convergence in drastically different ways.
\n\u201cMicrosoft\u2019s philosophy is \u2018Okay, we want to be consistent across our operating systems,\u2019 and the way it worked in their brains was to just make one,\u201d says Ben Bajarin, the director of consumer technology at Creative Strategies. \u201cWhereas Apple said, \u2018Well, we\u2019ll make two [operating systems], but we\u2019re going to have gestures and some UI consistencies [across iOS and OS X] so that you have a consistent experience.\u2019\u201d
\nAnd that\u2019s not even getting into what Linux is doing, via Canonical\u2019s audacious Ubuntu for Android<\/a>. But let\u2019s get into it! Follow along, dearest desktop diehard, as we examine how mobile elements are creeping into Windows, OS X, and yes, even Linux.<\/p>\n

Windows 8<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Dell’s XPS 27 AIO.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

C\u2019mon now, you know where we had to start.
\nDetermined to jump-start its mobile ambitions, Microsoft infused Windows 8 with tablet-friendly modern apps, gesture controls, and the Live Tile\u2013infused Start screen. But hey! The traditional desktop is still around for PC aficionados. It\u2019s the best of both worlds, right? Not quite.
\nDesigning a single operating system to run across multiple hardware form factors has led to some glaring usability problems. Rather than feeling like one OS, Windows 8 is more akin to a patchwork Frankensystem, with the traditional desktop and the modern UI awkwardly bolted together instead of working together as a cohesive whole.
\n\u201cWhen Microsoft first started talking about Windows 8…there was a lot of optimism around it, because we\u2019re a mobile-first generation and mobile computing is important, and Microsoft was trying to bring unification with that to the table,\u201d says Bajarin. \u201cThe problem is they failed at the implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Having one UI to rule them all has spurred the creation of hybrid-style Windows 8 devices, but as yet none of them have been truly compelling. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While desktop jockeys can get by in the modern UI<\/a>, its large buttons and vast empty spaces were clearly built more for swiping and prodding than for keyboarding and mousing. All of that wasted space requires a ton of extra scrolling, and the relative dearth of onscreen information requires a ton of extra menu clicking\u2014two burdens that are anathema to traditional PC users. Likewise, while hidden menus and charm bars work wonderfully on tablets, they\u2019re far less natural-feeling on desktops.
\nThe problem isn\u2019t limited to PCs proper. Trying to use the Windows desktop on slates is an exercise in frustration, given the small fonts and even smaller menu buttons of classic desktop software (the millions of programs built with a mouse in mind).\u201cPart of the problem when you use a touch device is, the second you leave Metro, you can\u2019t even use touch,\u201d says Bajarin.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Look at all that wasted space! (And Package Tracker Pro is one of the least-egregious offenders.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some crucial settings and programs work only<\/em> on the desktop, and some work only<\/em> in the modern UI. Because of that, Windows 8 has a bad habit of ripping you out of one UI and dropping you into the other\u2014a jarring experience, to say the least.<\/p>\n

On the plus side, once you\u2019ve overcome its substantial learning curve, Windows 8\u2019s consistent experience permits you to jump in and use any hardware the OS calls home. (Windows 8.1\u2019s usability improvements will help<\/a>.) And don\u2019t forget\u2014the (cough<\/em>) relatively few<\/a> (cough<\/em>) apps available in the Windows Store work just fine across the wide spectrum of Windows 8 devices out there.
\nIn the long term, those benefits may outweigh today\u2019s rough patches. But in the short term, Microsoft may be forcing its desktop customers to bite off more than they can comfortably chew.<\/p>\n

OS X<\/h2>\n
\"\"
The MacBook Pro with Retina Display.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the flip side of the convergence coin is Apple. Given the company\u2019s strength in mobile devices, you might think Apple would be rushing to merge iOS and OS X, but thus far it has taken a fairly cautious approach.
\nThe extensive reach of the iPad and iPhone is definitely affecting Macs, but in a much more subtle way<\/a>. OS X Lion introduced iOS-like elements such as the LaunchPad, the Mac App Store, and full-screen and sandboxed apps. OS X Mountain Lion added a wider range of multitouch gestures, a Notification Center, iCloud, a Messages app<\/a> that plays nice with iMessages, and some native apps that first appeared on iDevices. The upcoming OS X Mavericks<\/a> drags Maps and iBooks along for the ride.
\nThese are all baby steps, rather than a single, traumatic, Windows 8-style leap into the new and unproven. And each step of the way, Apple has tried to integrate the iOS features fully into OS X\u2019s desktop context, rather than simply forcing a round mobile peg into a square desktop hole. The OS X Notification Center<\/a> is not a mirror image of the iOS version, for example\u2014though it feels<\/em> largely the same.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The updated Notification Center in the upcoming OS X Mavericks is really, really like the one in iOS, but different. (Click to enlarge.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The downside to this approach, of course, is that Apple doesn’t have the\u00a0exact<\/em>\u00a0same apps and UI across all hardware, unlike Windows 8. Experts argue that that’s a good thing, though.
\n\u201c[Windows 8] just feels like two drastically different operating systems and two drastically different UI paradigms struggling over the same thing,\u201d says Bajarin. \u201cApple lets a PC be a PC, and a mobile device be a mobile device. Shared similarities and consistencies exist, but they\u2019re not breaking the paradigm.\u201d
\n\u201cI like that Apple was more gentle about the \u2018phasing in\u2019 [of mobile elements],\u201d says Wes Miller, a research vice president at Directions on Microsoft. \u201cI\u2019m not going to say there will never be a touchscreen Mac\u2014but if there is, I think Apple\u2019s going to make sure the App Store\u2019s there, first.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Apple<\/small>
Apple’s Magic Mouse and glass-coated MacBook touchpads set the touch-enabled standard. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Both experts admired the way Apple integrated multitouch elements into Macs via the touchpad, rather via than actual touchscreens. Touchpads let you use gesture controls in a way that feels much more natural than lifting your hands from your keyboard or mouse to poke your monitor, thereby minimizing the physical impact of touch on your PC workflow. (Windows 8 technically offers the same, but most laptop touchpads just plain suck.)
\nDon\u2019t expect the Mac\/iPad convergence to stop with OS X Mavericks, either. As Miller points out, the iCloud website was recently updated with \u201ca very iOS 7 look and feel<\/a>. That makes me think we can expect OS X in 2014 to have a flat, new look.\u201d
\nBaby steps.<\/p>\n

Ubuntu Linux<\/h2>\n
\"\"Canonical<\/small>
A mockup of the Ubuntu Edge running Ubuntu for Android.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Put down your pitchforks! I know Linux is a complex and varied ecosystem woven from a near-endless number of distributions and interfaces. But for the purposes of this article (and my sanity), I have to focus on just one Linux iteration\u2014and that one is Ubuntu, which is making headlines with its audacious (and doomed) Ubuntu Edge crowdfunding campaign<\/a>.
\nIf anything, Ubuntu for Android<\/a> and the Ubuntu Edge smartphone are even more<\/em> forward-looking than Microsoft\u2019s and Apple\u2019s ecosystems. Ubuntu for Android functions pretty much like any other smartphone when you use it as a smartphone\u2014with apps, gesture controls, all that. But when you connect a phone running Ubuntu for Android to an external monitor and mouse, the device seamlessly switches to the full desktop Ubuntu Linux distribution, sudo apt-get<\/em> and all.
\nRather than trying to merge portable and PC operating systems, Ubuntu for Android adjusts to offer the best experience for your needs, with the help of some hefty internal hardware. Contacts, photos, videos, and other files are accessible from either side of the OS wall. It\u2019s insanely ambitious\u2014a glimpse into a future where one device can handle all our computing needs. But it faces two problems.<\/p>\n

\"\"Canonical<\/small>
The Ubuntu Edge: Imagine a future where your smartphone is also your PC\u2014and your socks are also your shirt. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First and foremost, no hardware manufacturers have stepped up to actively use Ubuntu for Android. And the reason they haven\u2019t is likely tied to the second issue: We aren\u2019t living in a one-device kind of world just yet.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s a very future-centric [UI] paradigm,\u201d says Bajarin. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s something we\u2019re going to see go big right away…I can see someday, when we\u2019ve got so much processing power in our phone or tablets that there\u2019s no reason why it can\u2019t power all these other displays and be all these different PCs. And I think what Ubuntu\u2019s doing with the dual-modal software is very interesting.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a very intriguing concept, and one could make a could case that over the next five to ten years, all the technological bits will be there to make that an equally good experience as what you get today with a notebook or a desktop.\u201d
\nBut again, today is not tomorrow, and it\u2019s no surprise that the Ubuntu Edge campaign floundered<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To infinity, and beyond!<\/h2>\n
\"Lenovo
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Don\u2019t let Ubuntu\u2019s jumping of the technological gun fool you, though. Like it or not, we\u2019re on the cusp of something different<\/em>, as the computing industry struggles with a titanic shift that\u2019s dragging the monolithic PC into a future where multiple screens and consistent, cohesive multidevice experiences are the norm. And man, has that shift come quickly!
\n\u201cIf you look back five years, we\u2019re in 2008, and the iPhone is still this young thing that people aren\u2019t sure is going to take off,\u201d says Miller. The first iPad was still two years off at that point. \u201cTechnology is shifting so incredibly fast that the form factors [and interfaces] we\u2019ll be using in five years <\/a> we may not even think of right now. We\u2019ll just look back and laugh at what we were using in 2013.\u201d
\nChange is a-coming, friends, and while Apple\u2019s kiddie-glove approach to merging mobile elements with desktop operating systems may be the most comfortable for consumers in the short term (sorry to break it to you, Microsoft), don\u2019t be surprised to see Macs and Windows PCs end up in similar places a few years down the road. The strategies differ, but the goal remains the same: consistency.
\nWho knows? Microsoft and Apple might even wind up where Ubuntu is trying (and failing) to go today.
\nvia PCWorld<\/a>
\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The glorious era of PC stardom is over. 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