My workload doesn’t allow me to exclusively use macOS, so I’m forced to use both macOS and Windows 11 for my daily productivity. Both naturally excel in different ways. However, during my Windows usage, I find myself wanting to reach for a few creature comforts offered by macOS. There are just certain things that Microsoft has yet to get right with Windows, and they can definitely take some inspiration from their competitors. Here are the five macOS features I’m hoping Microsoft brings over to Windows 11.
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5 Spotlight Search
Windows Search is woefully inadequate
I may be preaching to the choir here, but Windows' search functionality has been bad for years. Like, inexcusably poor. I need Microsoft to understand that nobody ever wants to search with Bing when they click the Start button. Spotlight Search on macOS is so much more intuitive. The top result is almost always what I’m actually searching for, and if it isn’t, I’m able to type another couple of characters in, and it will find exactly what I mean. I feel like Windows search doesn’t properly index with priority. It doesn’t seem to catch on to my search tendencies like macOS does. If it does find what I’m looking for, it feels like a complete accident.
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4 Live wallpapers
The little details go a long way
The live wallpapers that Apple implemented back when Sonoma released are gorgeous. They did a great job capturing unique footage that's easy on the eyes. It’s a very small touch, but I enjoy having it randomly select a wallpaper for me daily. Microsoft has been behind Apple for a while in terms of default wallpaper selections, and they could really step up their game by implementing some live options natively.
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3 Folder color tags
Absent from File Explorer for far too long
I don’t use them as much as I probably should, but the color tags that Finder offers have always been something I wish I had on Windows. A lot of my workflow on my PC includes photos and videos, which is somewhere I’d actually like to use a lot of color tagging. It’s always felt like something that File Explorer should have, but doesn’t. Currently, I do prefer working inside of File Explorer though, but that's only because I'm far more familiar with its intricacies.
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2 Borrow some inspiration from iCloud for OneDrive
No, Microsoft, I do not want to back up my entire desktop
If you're on a fresh Windows 11 install, OneDrive makes an effort to be helpful to you by backing up the contents of your user folders, like Desktop and Documents. If I save something to either of those locations, I'd really rather not have it be done in a "cloud-first" fashion. If I wanted to save a file to the cloud, I'd do that deliberately.
iCloud's default behavior isn't far off from OneDrive's; by default, your Desktop and Documents folders are set to sync with your other devices via iCloud. The difference is it's a one-button fix. After turning the behavior off, you can still decide to save things to iCloud, you just have to do so deliberately. Microsoft's suite of apps also always default to saving to OneDrive instead of saving to a local location on the machine. If I turn off OneDrive, it shouldn't even be a possible location to save to at all.
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1 Shortcuts
An underrated part of the Apple ecosystem
One part of macOS I wish I had explored sooner was the Shortcuts. With Shortcuts, you can create your own automations that perform actions on your machine, either on-command or on a timer. It's a great way to automate tedious things or speed up parts of your workflow. One of my favorite default Shortcuts available in Apple's library that I use all the time is "Stop Distractions," which exits all applications except for ones you choose, and turns on Do Not Disturb. Windows doesn't really have this, especially not for the average user.
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Both operating systems have their strengths and weaknesses
macOS excels in ease-of-use and, in my opinion, appearance. Windows 11 lends itself well to productivity and gaming, and can generally be more customizable. Whichever you use day-to-day, both have their downsides, but they can both borrow a lot of inspiration from each other. I'm not married to either OS; I love it when they both make big leaps in innovation, because competition is an excellent driver for better products overall.