Why is everyone writing about Windows 11 rather than the Apple betas?

Seriously….is everyone waiting for the public betas? Or are the Dev betas just running so smoothly that there’s nothing new to say?

I do not see very much that really drives me into installing the betas. I am fine and happy with the public releases as of now. The on-device Siri is interesting. Apart from that, there are a lot of improvements that are interesting. But nothing that is that interesting that makes me want to install the betas.

Disclaimer: I never saw a developer beta worthwhile as I am no developer. I am fine with Public Betas. Then again, I do not see myself installing them either any time soon. :slight_smile:

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I think there is usually little chat about the developer betas, that’s my recollection anyway and I think that’s the way it should be.
Public betas tend to get more chat going.

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Non-public beta users (at least some of them) are under NDA, so don’t chat about them

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And it basically costs $99 per year to have access to dev betas, whereas public ones are free for people to play with - so it makes sense that public betas get more attention. :slight_smile:

Subjectively, Windows 11 is much more exciting than the snoozefest that was WWDC21. Windows just had its “macOS Big Sur” moment.

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The headline features of the Apple betas (SharePlay, Shortcuts-on-the-Mac, ‘free range’ Widgets on the iPad, etc), for the most part, will require apps that support them.

Until those apps are updated, there’s not a whole lot to say.

ShortCuts on the Mac was pretty unstable / unusable in the Dev Beta 1 and some of the functionality hasn’t even been enabled yet.

iOS 15 and Monterey are definitely not as splashy as some of the other years (which I am perfectly happy with, hopefully it’ll be a good year for bug fixes and refinements).

OTOH, Microsoft is threatening to make significant changes to Windows 11. Whether those changes will actually ship is another question, but they’re definitely getting media attention.

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Surprisingly a lot of them have already started to come to fruition. New apps are beginning to show up in the App Store, and the betas are surprisingly polished. I’m still not a huge fan of Windows, and it’s going to take a while before developers come back (if they ever do), but I think they’re on the right track. :blush:

That’s funny. I came here to mention how Zoom and OBS Studio just appeared on the Microsoft Store. Everybody’s excited. The same thing can’t be said for macOS Monterey though.

Apple should take some notes. The Mac App Store is great and all, but it doesn’t exactly have Zoom and OBS Studio. :wink:

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What’s the benefit of Zoom being in the App Store?

Apple is definitely taking notes. They’re noting that Microsoft is so desperate to get devs in their store that they’ll forego all opportunities for profit. :slight_smile:

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This. Come on Apple, fix some bugs! Even (or maybe especially) the dev tools are rife with bugs! I’ve got enough “cool” new features to last a lifetime - if they would work.

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Thanks for making my day. This is a silly remark obviously. :rofl:

What’s the benefit of the App Store itself? It exists for a reason.

Answering a question with a question isn’t an answer. :slight_smile:

Normally the benefit of an app store is convenience and discoverability. Zoom in particular though is probably one of the single most discoverable apps on the planet. If somebody wants to meet with you on Zoom, you just click the link and the client installs itself.

In the case of Zoom, unless you’re being proactive, it’s actually more inconvenient to go to the app store.

Windows just had its “macOS Big Sur” moment.

Indeed it did… as it looks even more like macOS than it did previously :stuck_out_tongue: :wink:

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Amen! That’s what we’re also hoping for. :slight_smile:

Apple is definitely killing it on the hardware side. QA on the software side has been lacking since Cook (a salesguy, not the visionary champion and protector of Apple Jobs was) took over and put everything on a short schedule to appease shareholders.
We’d appreciate going back to a 18-24 month release schedule with great QA.

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Microsoft’s App Store is more permissive (essentially pass a malware test, collect payments through MS’ system, pass an inappropriate/illegal content review, and agree not to be a bad actor) so that’s why a call client can easily port to it. The Mac App Store is attempting to make certain quality and restriction assertions that Zoom can’t pass. So it would actually be a benefit to users if Zoom did make a Mac App Store client, but I don’t think they could do it without serious engineering effort, and possibly compromising their feature list.

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Totally agree. It’s not important or a portent of anything. It’s just another place people might happen to search first to look for an app. Zoom won’t be meaningfully more popular because of it.

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Yes. About 2 seconds after you learn you need Zoom, you have an installer right there in your face. Just click the link.

That’s kind of how I feel. “We’ve dramatically lowered our standards - aren’t you excited?” Um…no? :smiley:

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