Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger" vs Aero

Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger" is the fifth major release of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Mac OS X x10.4 "Tiger" is included with all new Macintosh computers, The server edition, Mac OS X Server 10.4, is also available for some Macintosh product lines.

Apple advertises that Mac OS X x10.4 Tiger has over 200 new features, including:

• Spotlight - Spotlight is a full-text and metadata search engine, which can search everything from Word documents to iCal calendars to Address Book cards, as well as any text within PDF files. The feature is also used to build the concept of smart folders into the Finder. Spotlight will index files as they are saved, so they can be quickly and easily found through a search-as-you-type box in the menu bar.
• iChat AV - The new iChat AV 3.0 in Tiger supports up to four participants in a video conference and ten participants in an audio conference. It also now supports communication using the Jabber protocol. A Jabber server called iChat Server is included on Mac OS X Tiger Server.
• Safari RSS - The new Safari 2.0 web browser in Tiger features a built-in reader for RSS and Atom web syndication that can be accessed easily from an RSS button in the address bar of the web browser window. An updated version of Safari, included as part of the free Mac OS 10.4.3 update, can also pass the Acid2 web standards test.
• Mail 2 - The new version of Mail.app email client included in Tiger featured an updated interface, "Smart Mailboxes" that utilize the Spotlight search system, parental controls, as well as several other features.
• Dashboard - The Dashboard is a new mini-applications layer based on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which returns the desk accessories concept to the Mac OS. These accessories are known as widgets. It comes with several widgets such as Weather, World Clock, Unit Converter, and Dictionary/Thesaurus. More are available for free online. Its similarity to the Konfabulator application caused some criticism.
• Automator - A scripting tool called Automator to link applications together to form complex automated workflows (written in AppleScript, Cocoa, or both). Automator comes with a complete library of actions for several applications which can be used together to make a Workflow.
• VoiceOver - VoiceOver is an accessibility interface that offers the user magnification options, keyboard control and spoken English descriptions of what is happening on screen. VoiceOver enables users with visual impairment the ability to use applications via spoken commands. It also allows a user to work collaboratively with other users on a single Mac by allowing multiple users give voice commands to scroll text, etc. VoiceOver is capable of reading aloud the contents of files including web pages, mail messages and word processing files. The complete keyboard navigation lets the use control the computer with the keyboard rather than mouse, a menu is displayed in a window showing all the available keyboard commands that can be used.
• A complete built-in Dictionary/Thesaurus based on the New Oxford American Dictionary, Second Edition, accessible through an application, Dictionary, a Dashboard widget, and as a system-wide command.
• .Mac synching - Though this is not a new feature, .Mac synching in Tiger is much improved over Panther. Synching tasks in Tiger are now accomplished through the .Mac system preferences pane rather than the iSync application.
• QuickTime 7 - A new version of Apple's multimedia software has support for the new H.264/AVC codec which offers better quality and scalability than other video codecs. This new codec is used by iChat AV for clearer video conferencing. New classes within Cocoa provide full access to QuickTime for Cocoa application developers. The new QuickTime 7 player application bundled with Mac OS X Tiger now includes more advanced audio and video controls as well as a more detailed Information dialog, and the new player has been rebuilt using Apple's Cocoa API to take advantage of the new technologies more easily.
• New Unix features - New versions of cp, mv, and rsync which support files with resource forks. Command-line support for features like the above-mentioned Spotlight are also included.
• Xcode 2.0 - Xcode 2.0, Apple's Cocoa development tool now includes visual modelling, an integrated Apple Reference Library and graphical remote debugging.

Amongst others, WinSuperSite reviewer Paul Thurrott has noted many similarities between Aero and Aqua; he suggests that the use of translucency in the interface is going to make comparisons with Mac OS X's interface "hard to avoid."[11] Long-time Mac columnist and book author John Rizzo wrote in an eWeek article, "Microsoft seems to have taken many cues from Mac OS X with the user interface and features, right down to some of the terminology. Even some of Vista's icons are amazingly similar to those in Tiger