While Windows dominates the desktop world, those who love macOS really love macOS. Apple’s robust operating system has a lot to recommend and is packed with hundreds of small, intuitive elements that make work and play more enjoyable.
This does not mean that Windows ignored this. While it may already be at the top, the folks at Microsoft are not averse to taking a good idea from their competitor and doing something similar in Windows 10. Hell, sometimes it’s just a converged evolution where two functions are similar because both provide good solution to the same problem.
While no one can argue that Windows and macOS provide the same experience, the following Windows features allow the king of PCs to take advantage of some of the most popular aspects of macOS.
Dark Mode
Ah dark mode. It seems like this is a feature these days that people want to see on every app and on every device. Basically, it turns all light UI elements into dark ones.
People have different reasons why they need Dark Mode functionality in the first place. Some think this will extend their battery life, while others dislike the brightness of the “light mode”. It is especially popular with those who like to sit in the dark and work at the computer. We don’t judge, but maybe we turn on the light from time to time?
Regardless of why you want dark mode, with the release of macOS Mojave, Apple users got a system-wide dark mode that included all native apps. This made a lot of people happy, and soon Windows 10 had its own dark theme. Which is almost the same. Now you don’t have to buy a new set of shades when switching from Mac to Windows PC.
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Your Phone is similar to iMessage for Android
Apple has done an amazing job of integrating various hardware devices with each other. iMessage on Mac is a great example of this. You can easily switch from iPhone to Mac and continue your conversation without missing a beat.
Windows 10 now has an app called Your Phone that does this and more. If you have an Android phone with mobile OS version 7.0 or later, you can connect two devices and basically transfer the phone’s functions to Windows computer.
This includes the ability to reply to text messages from your Windows computer, receive phone notifications on your computer, and have access to your desktop photos.
It’s an incredibly useful app, and if you don’t already have it on your Windows 10 PC, you can download it for free from the Windows Store.
Similar to AirDrop
AirDrop is one of the most useful features of Apple devices. This makes it completely useless for quickly sharing files between Mac and iOS devices over local networks.
People have long wanted to have a feature similar to AirDrop in Windows, and Nearby Sharing is pretty close. As of this writing, Android and iOS are in development, but so far they only work between Windows PCs.
With the addition of mobile OS support, there will be near-perfect parity between macOS and Windows when it comes to AirDrop functionality.
Xbox app can replace Quicktime Screen Recorder
Depending on the type of work you are doing, you may need screen recordings quite often. Whether you’re trying to show someone a problem, create educational materials, or simply create content to share, screen recorders are an essential tool for today’s digital life.
On macOS we have Quicktime Screen Recorder, a simple utility that lets you create video files from everything that happens on your screen. Well, it turns out that you can use the Windows 10 Xbox app to do much the same thing.
It has a built-in screen recorder that can be activated with a keyboard shortcut. First you need to activate the Xbox app game bar by pressing Win + G and granting it permission. From now on, you can start or stop screen recording simply by pressing Win + Alt + R.
The Windows taskbar is really docked now
For years, Windows users have been envious of MacOS docks. Earlier versions of Windows like RocketDock had a large number of third party docking apps.
However, you will not find any such Windows apps released recently. That’s because the taskbar in Windows 10 does a lot of the things that made the dock so popular from the start. You can pin all your most used applications to it. Several windows are stacked into separate icons, and you can view them by simply hovering over them.
It’s quite normal to have app launchers like Steam or Adobe Creative Cloud these days, so most people only need a dozen or so pinned icons to the taskbar.
Cortana as Siri
Siri a popular feature on macOS? We will never know how many people actually use Siri compared to macOS users, but we can say that Siri works incredibly well.
Apple was the first to use this conversational interface on the iPhone 4S, and it is now present on all Apple devices. Siri is intuitive, accurate, and fast. Simplifies many common tasks.
In Windows 10, we have Cortana as a voice assistant and smart search app. Cortana isn’t quite as perfect as Siri, but Microsoft is constantly improving the service. In fact, when it comes to clean brains, Cortana as a whole could be better.
In the beginning, users tended to disable Cortana due to its awkwardness, but if you haven’t tried using it for a while it is definitely worth downloading it again. You might be surprised.
The Best of Both Worlds
Competition is good. In a world dominated by only one operating system, there is no innovation. When Apple does something commendable with macOS, Windows users benefit, and vice versa.
While there will never be an equivalent user experience between the two, people who use both, or just those who show a little jealousy looking over the fence, can get the best of both worlds with equivalent features, both present and future.
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