What a Loading Screen Can Tell You

The other day, I opened my Desktop folder and Finder had a minor hiccup where it hung for about 5 seconds. In those five seconds, it showed the infamous "Beach Ball of Death." After it disappeared, my day went on as normal. This is rare for a typical Mac, but it made me think of Windows. In Windows 10, without fail, opening my Downloads folder will result in the same hang, often for around 15-20 seconds. But instead of an indicator that says something is out of the ordinary, the window just says "Working on it..." And I think that one difference can speak volumes about the differences in macOS and Windows. The Beach Ball of Death occurs when something is out of the ordinary, while "Working on it..." is an office worker before they've had their morning coffee. It leads me to believe that this is something that Microsoft knew the user would encounter often. Maybe not. Maybe my PC is just slow, but I now have to assume that the average user will face this screen often. I think it's a bit ironic that the rarity of this in macOS is what reminded me of how often it occurs in Windows. macOS is so quick with it, you don't even realize it could hang.

iTunes is coming to the Windows Store

With the announcement of Windows 10 S, having developer support for the Windows Store is critical. With this, Apple is returning iTunes support for Windows and adding it to the Windows Store. iTunes will be available on the Windows Store by the end of this year.

iTunes is coming to the Windows Store by the end of this year. #MSBuild pic.twitter.com/WHM533S7Sv

— Windows (@Windows) May 11, 2017

Microsoft Leaves the Smartphone Market

In my opinion, Microsoft's smartphones will not be missed. They were a modern testament of the now defunct Zune and failed to keep up in today's world centered around technology. They managed to make smartphones with 41-megapixels look bad, which is the technological equivalent to placing a 18-carat diamond on a plastic ring. The decision by Microsoft to leave the smartphone market behind is one long overdue [Source: The Verge]. You know something like this will happen when Microsoft supports the Android and iOS versions of their apps more than the Windows Phone version. However, this does mean the laying off of up to 1,850 people worldwide (who may or may not have owned the phone they worked on). To end this on a relatively positive note, let's hope that the Windows Phone is remembered as a lesson to other big name companies hoping to enter the smartphone market (I'm looking at you Amazon).