So?

I was simply pointing out what LEO (and OnStar themselves) is ALREADY doing with automatic (not user-controlled) "vehicle communications"..

I have a nice pair of wire cutters that says "OFF"...

Quite a bit different, depending on how far the transmission can be received.

For example, if your vehicle is equipped with OnStar, your location is Tracked and possibly SOLD, even if you have elected to NOT subscribe to the OnStar "Service".

Apparently, only pulling the fuse (or chopping the antenna wire), stops this ridiculous intrusion.

And worse yet, since OnStar isn't a Governmental Agency, by definition, it (technically) CANNOT abuse your Constitutional Rights, PERIOD.

According to this, it is already a "feature" of OnStar, just like the LEO ability to SILENTLY turn on the cabin microphone, which was (supposedly) outlawed by a Court decision, NOT because of privacy concerns, of course, (afterall, why should there be an "expectation of privacy" when having a conversation in your car with the windows up and the doors locked?), but because the designers of OnStar were so stupid they couldn't make the system do a manual override by the occupants in an emergency...

...and they will have a field in the protocol that will MASK the display of cops, so they can hide, even when they want you to NOT be able to hide...

Hacking the Protocol in 3... 2... 1...

Ok, I'll try and take this one "objection" at a time...

In OS X, there are two ways to see these same things, without polluting the APPLICATION LAUNCHER with information that has NOTHING to do with Launching Apps:

1. You can use Dashboard Widgets (what you Windows-Saddled people call "Charms", I think). With Mission Control, the Dashboard is a "Space" (Desktop) that is a mere "swipe" away (and you can set Keyboard Shortcuts to the Dashboard, too). And Dashboard Widgets can do many, many things, and even better, the User can create their own Dashboard Widgets in HTML/CSS/Javascript (Dashcode), or by simply "snipping" parts of webpages (maybe that is possible with Charms, too? Afterall, OS X has had the ability for around 5 years now...)

2.OS X has a "Notification Center" Pane (again, only a "swipe" away, that shows you the weather, calendar events, etc. And it pops up Notification Bubbles (if you wish) to alert you to things you really want to "track"/wait for.

And on OS X, the Dock icon for Mail (like some other apps) has a little "bubble" that shows the number of unread mail messages. That bubble takes about 1/100th of the Screen space of even the smallest Tile in "Metro". So, unless you are some sort of OCD person that just must CONSTANTLY know how your Stocks are doing (in which case, wouldn't you really be wanting a dedicated app?), or the Currency Exchange Rate (Yeah, right!), I see little use in cluttering an APP LAUNCHER (which is what the Start Menu is (or was), PERIOD) with that detritus. Again, it's something that "Demos" well, but isn't TRULY useful.

Next, you mentioned that Launchpad is more suited to Mobile applications, where only one app at a time is "Running" (I think you actually meant "Active", but anyway). Well, there's no arguing that "Launchpad" (Springboard's UI) was developed for iOS, and that iOS currently supports only "Fullscreen" Apps. BUT, Launchpad was aimed at the 90% of users (including most "Power Users") that, MOST of the time, really only run one app at a time (be honest).

And besides, since we are talking about the "Modern UI" (Metro) here, if there is a way to DISPLAY 20 overlapping Application Windows in that abominable interface, I SURE haven't stumbled upon it. I guess there is a way to "tile" up to 4 (far less than 20!) Windows; but the number of apps is LIMITED BY SCREEN RESOLUTION (FFS!!!!). Screens have to be at least 1024 X 768 to even Tile TWO apps, and to display FOUR apps, you have to have a fairly whopping 2560 X 1440 pixels. But I'll tell you what, "Discovering" that ability is as NON-intuitive as it could POSSIBLY be. I had to do some Research just now to even know it was POSSIBLE. So, that means that 99.99997% of Users will NEVER even know you can DO that in "Metro". EPIC FAIL!

Well, since Launchpad is essentially a carbon-copy of the Springboard interface from iOS, I'd say that pretty much anyone who has even used a smartphone of any type (which is obviously much higher than the number who are familiar with the Windows start Menu) would be instantly familiar with Launchpad.

And as far as stuff like having "live content" in the "tiles", while that "demos" nice in a 2 second video shot, it is actually an EPIC FAIL when it comes to human usability, especially on a smaller screen (regardless of resolution) of a phone or phablet.

So, Launchpad,like Springboard, is actually a fairly nice Launcher, and definitely not so garish and "crude-looking" as the Interface Formerly Known As Metro...

Ok, you asked for it:

Here's da facts

Actually, technically, the optional, not-free "Server Tools" kind of make it sorta, kinda two OSes; but for most use-cases you are correct.

Now watch some smartass AC bash you, like they did me theotherday, for OS X "costing $2000" (because they included the price of a Mac (as if the cost of a non-Mac was somehow "Free")).

But I digress...

...and because it's a Mac. (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

Oh, I disagree wholeheartedly on that point (and I use both every single day, and have for literally decades).

See This and This and This, and tell me, between Windows and OS X, who rules the small (and smaller) screens, especially as far as the 99.5% of "normal" computer users (and, in the case of Metro, in the case of ALL computer users)?

And you're right. System Preferences (Control Panel) has changed pretty much not-a-whit since OS X 10.0, whereas Windows Control Panel gets a (totally unnecessary) "Facelift" nearly each-and-every OS Release. Seriously, is that REALLY necessary?

And now with the "Modern UI", it's become even MORE of an unwanted Adventure to figure out where things have gone (if they haven't simply been done away with, like so many MS Server Tools)...

Ok you mean something like This?

This does cover your entire screen; but (unlike Metro), doesn't make you feel "simultaneously both Trapped and Lost" (like I feel every single time I have to admin our MS Server 2012 VM at work), because, unlike Metro, it is just a "swipe" away, to invoke and dismiss.

Seriously, what is the deal with that interface? Is it just the fact that I am using RDC to use the machine? I feel like I am constantly traversing in and out of 3 separate dimensions. One appears to be where your Apps and Taskbar lives, the second is a horrible, flattened version of the Start Menu (sort of); and the other is where the "Desktop-y" things go, and the Logout, and it is occasionally not exactly clear how to traverse the wormhole between these dimensions.

Jeebus! I have been using computers since 1976, and have at least some experience with most GUIs, and I have never seen something as blatantly counterintuitive as the Windows "Modern UI"...

You do realize, of course, just how many times, over how many decades, that exact, same statement has been made, right?

I do. It's called Apple Computer. Ever heard of them?

[Ducks]

So, a fully-qualified, Certified Unix system, based on a F/OSS XNU Mach/BSD Core, with one of the best integrations of a "Terminal" app into a GUI OS, "sucks huge gangrenous hyena balls."

Riiiiiight.

So, where is your Precious Linux' Certification? Oh, right... And yet, it is Mac Users are constantly and universally derided by Anonymous Cowards (only, it seems!) as delusional fanbois???

BTW, I have spent plenty of time at the Command Line of many OSes in my nearly FORTY years as a PAID Embedded Dev.

So, in one sense you are right: At 58 years old, I do consider Macs "great for grandpa."

Now get off my lawn; or that Router you threw over the fence is MINE!