#1. Local backups are still itunes based on windows. #2. Stateing everything is still not quite true. The OS is not backed up, since old versions cannot be restored. and unless things have changed since a few versions back, local backups deliberatly omit some data if it can be downloaded on restore. For example, the actually apps just have their names and versions recorded so they can be redownloaded. Which is not really a problem, except in those rare cases where an app has been completely deleted from Apple's servers, which typically only happens for malware or for legal reasons. (I suspect that any apps not in the store at the time of the backup are included in the backup, so hitting this case should be incredibly rare.)