(Column) - It’s so easy to get into the habit of focusing our operating system discussions on the operating systems themselves without giving any attention to the specific applications that are included with a particular OS. Sure, an operating system should be simple, functional, and elegant, but those standards also apply to the applications contained with the entire package. Without them, we’d have an operating system, but there’d be nothing to use on it until we installed some third-party software.

When was the last time that you were wowed by an original application included with an operating system? On the Mac side of things, Apple’s Leopard has opened our eyes with utilities like Time Machine and Spaces, but on the Windows side of things, there have been improvements, although many of them aren’t exactly worth writing home about. I think it’s safe to say that for the most part, innovation and usefulness has been lacking in this area, and more work could be done on improving these applications and utilities.

As a software developer, it may seem strange for me to say that Microsoft and Apple should improve the tools included with their operating systems so that people don’t feel forced to find alternatives. What’s included with the operating system should work suitably for most users, and if it doesn’t, then something is wrong.

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Developers try to expand upon and fill the gaps left by Microsoft and Apple in their applications, and while both of these companies accept and embrace third-party developers, they shouldn’t just surrender and create sub par programs because they know that other developers will fix what’s either missing or broken. Instead, the included applications should make the operating system shine, and if they do, then users will be much happier with the operating system right out of the box.

Of course, I’m not saying that Microsoft and Apple should take on third-party developers by trying to completely eliminate the need for their work. In reality, they all need each other, and if what’s included with an operating system is useful and complete to a reasonable extent, third-party developers can continue to build upon those ideas even further, and users who crave enhanced functionality will track their work down. Thus, the symbiotic relationship continues.

I know that the developers working on an operating system and the developers working on the tools included with an operating system are sometimes on entirely separate teams, but that shouldn’t be so obvious when you use an OS. I hate it when I’m using an operating system and then open an included program that looks and feels completely different from the OS that it’s running on. A lot of the time it just seems like the developers don’t care, and at other times, you have to wonder if they even knew what project they were actually working on.

The experience attached to an operating system should be seamless throughout, and this includes every nook and cranny of an OS right down to the applications and utilities that it contains.

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