You can pull up results from settings and files with a click, or search within apps, such as Internet Explorer for a Web search, or the Music app for a particular artist. Windows 8 also lets you search within an app while you have it open.
Just open the Charms menu and tap search. The Spotlight functionality in Mountain Lion works the same as it did before. You click the looking glass icon in the top right corner to search. Where Lion does Windows 8 one better is that you can preview your search results by hovering over them using the Quick Look feature. Spotlight also lets you drag results right out of this menu and drop them into another app. For instance, you can drag and drop a photo onto the Mail icon in the dock to send a message with that attachment pre-populated.
Windows 8 lets you start searching faster, but Mountain Lion makes it easier to sort through your results without multiple clicks, and you can do more with those results with less effort. So when you sign in to another PC, your personalized Windows 8 experience travels with you.
This includes your contacts, which reside in the People app. When you save a note, for example, it will automatically sync with your iPad or iPhone. All you need to do is sign in with your Apple ID to keep everything from mail and contacts to documents up to date across your devices. Photo Stream lets you automatically upload photos from your iPhone or iPad to the cloud for easy access from your Mac.
And iCloud works only with Apple devices. Mountain Lion makes productivity more seamless with Documents in the Cloud. Microsoft gives you more storage with SkyDrive than you get with iCloud 7GB versus 5GB , you can sync files with non- Microsoft devices and you can easily take your settings with you to another PC. Just tap the Share option in the Charms menu to share a Web article, and Windows 8 will automatically create a thumbnail image and link description to go along with the Web address.
Right now sharing options include Email as well as Twitter and Facebook, social networking options made available through the People app in Windows 8. The number of sharing options varies based on the app. Facebook will let you share items in a similar way, but this functionality won't be available until the Fall. Facebook integration will also add your friends to contacts and let you post updates from Notification Center. That includes LinkedIn, which already integrates with the People app.
Windows 8 will continue to run the plethora of desktop apps available today, provided you have a laptop with an X86 processor. These apps will be available to x86 and ARM-powered devices through the Windows Store and nowhere else. Meanwhile, the Windows Store will list desktop apps but take you somewhere else to download them. Yes, it is. The good news is that the Windows Store sports a clean tile-based interface.
Right up front are tiles for the top free, top paid and Spotlight. We like that you can try apps before you buy them. We're not fans of having to scroll to the right to discover other categories though. The USA Today app presents headlines and videos in an elegant grid. We also like the slick Slacker app, which lets you control audio playback while using other apps via a small panel in the upper left corner.
The People and Photo apps are particularly compelling because they tie into social networks. Messaging also works with Facebook. Three newer apps include Sports, Travel and News, which are slickly designed and integrate with Bing to provide the most timely information. Last but not least, the Metro version of the IE 10 browser now supports Flash.
The interface of the App Store is iTunes-like in that it's a little too dense with info. We like that the apps downloaded from the Mac App Store can run at full screen, which cuts down on distractions. And the quality is quite good, too. When it comes to desktop apps, Microsoft will still rule when Windows 8 debuts. Developers will have to hustle to bolster the Windows Store.
Just look at Xbox Live for Windows Phone. As with Windows Phone, you have the option of personalizing your own avatar. Game Center for OS X is very similar to the iOS version, a gaming social network that helps you discover new diversions and friends to enjoy them with, as well as see how you stack up against the competition.
Another welcome new feature is iCloud Keychain, which stores everything from usernames and passwords to credit card info and Wi-Fi credentials stored in the cloud. Everything gets encrypted and pushed to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. By the same token, the new Books apps in Mavericks syncs your progress and notes in books. Things will get more interesting once Apple launches iWork in the Cloud in limited beta now.
We continue to like appreciate the Bing News, Travel, Finance and Sports apps, with their sleek panoramic designs and customizable interfaces. You can also pin favourite items to your Start screen, as we did with the New York Yankees.
Creative types will dig the new Fresh Paint app for Windows 8, which includes oil paints, graphic pencils and watercolours and lets you paint via touch, stylus or dedicated drawing tablet. With the help of Photos app, you can now auto-fix and fine tune photos with a few taps.
In addition to a cleaner design, the Calendar app now offers an Event Inspector feature that will auto complete meeting locations as you type.
The app will show the cross street on a mini map and even the weather forecast for that appointment time. We also like that points of interest include Yelp ratings and photos.
From Microsoft: Microsoft recently passed the , app milestone for the Windows Store, and the company claims that the majority of top iPad and Android apps will be available for Windows 8. Those will include Facebook and Flipboard. The Windows Store continues to stock only modern style apps and not desktop apps, which results in a fragmented downloading and shopping experience.
But this face off is between Windows 8. Just as important, you can now snap two Modern apps side by side and have them both take up half of the screen. Multitasking on OS X Mavericks hasn't improved much, which is a shame. Mission Control provides only a dashboard as to what's open. You can't close any apps from this view. Why not let users swipe up on an app to close it, as you can on the upcoming iOS 7? For the most part, OS X is best for unitasking because of its ability to run many apps at full screen.
However, we like the improved multiple display support, which lets you see the dock and menu bar across screens. Winner : Windows 8.
An improved Snap function makes Microsoft's OS the better bet for multitaskers. Our issue with Live Tiles is that you don't land on a specific message or news story that you see flashing in the tile, just the start page for the related app. On the plus side, a new Quiet Hours feature gives users more control over alerts, letting them schedule when notifications should be inactive. You can reply to a message or email directly from within the alert, which helps save time and keeps you more focused on the task at hand.
You can also accept FaceTime invites on the fly. Mavericks will also support notifications from some of your favorites websites, such as CNN. While Live Tiles are more engaging, keeping track of notifications in Windows 8. Microsoft has stepped up its search game in Windows 8. A new Search Heroes feature delivers sleek results pages with interactive multimedia content. For example, searching a city returns a map, the current weather conditions and attractions.
Search Heroes also applies to music artists, offering sample tracks and videos via Xbox Music. When we searched for our name, Windows 8.
MORE: Windows 8. OS X Mavericks makes it easier to find your files by introducing a new Tags feature, which lets you apply tag names with their own colors. You can apply multiple tags to the same file, such as Family Budget or Big Project. Or just use the search field to find files based on tags or their color. Similar to a web browsing experience, you can open multiple tabs within the Finder to reduce window clutter.
You can also easily drag and drop files from one tab to another. Plus, you can preview your results by hovering over them. You can even drag and drop items out of the results view into an app, such as a photo into an outgoing email. That changes in Windows 8. The beauty of SkyDrive in Windows 8. Only when you open a file does SkyDrive retrieve it from the cloud. However, you can right-click files to make them available offline. Microsoft also updated the Modern-style SkyDrive app to let you access files that are both stored locally and in the cloud.
Moving files could be easier, though. Another welcome new feature is iCloud Keychain, which stores everything from usernames and passwords to credit card info and Wi-Fi credentials stored in the cloud. Everything gets encrypted and pushed to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. By the same token, the new Books apps in Mavericks syncs your progress and notes in books.
Things will get more interesting once Apple launches iWork in the Cloud in limited beta now. The omnipresent Charms menu lets you share everything from web articles to photos with a swipe in from the right, but the social networks are an extra tap away via the People option.
And even then only Facebook and Twitter were an option in the drop-down menu, not LinkedIn.
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