I was jealous of MacOS 26 users, until I realized Windows PCs already had these 4 features
Apple's latest MacOS 26 has a slew of useful features - but a few of them appeared on Windows first, including one that dates back decades.
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
Apple this year launched MacOS 26 Tahoe, with some of the most compelling visual UI designs from the company to date, more cross-device compatibility, and Apple Intelligence features that greatly improve productivity. However, not all of the features were entirely new; in fact, a handful of them had already been available in Windows (some for many years).
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One thing Apple does well is deliver a clean, sleek UI, and the latest "Liquid Glass" design theme looks undeniably good. But Windows beat Apple to these four features, even though they're new to Mac.
1. Window tiling
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One thing MacOS could learn from Windows is its window management. Apple introduced native enhancements to window snapping relatively recently, with MacOS Sequoia last year getting a comprehensive set of window arrangement options, and the iPad just now getting it in iPadOS 26.
If you like to have Slack, for example, in a separate window tile next to your browser, you can do this in MacOS by clicking and dragging the window to a different part of the screen to snap it into position. There are a handful of other ways to do this, including simply assigning the position from the Window dropdown menu in the app itself.
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However, Windows' approach is arguably better. Simply dragging a window to the top of the screen activates the grid preview, allowing you to choose from a variety of positions, which has been the case for many years now.
2. The Game app
Kerry Wan/ZDNET
Apple introduced Game Mode with the release of MacOS Sonoma in September of 2023, and at WWDC this year, we got a new Games app for MacOS, iOS, and iPadOS 26. It's sort of like a recharged Game Center, acting as a unified gaming hub and launcher across devices.
The Games app features a dedicated tab for Apple Arcade, as well as a Library tab that displays all games downloaded from the App Store. The "Play Together" tab shows what your friends are playing with combined scores, and it supports additional social features like messaging and invites.