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Apple Named Hardware Company of the Year by PC World Magazine

ipodobserver.com — PC World magazine on Wednesday issued its 2006 Hardware Company of the Year award to Apple, which had five products land on its list of the 100 Best Products of 2006: the iPod nano (#4), Boot Camp (#10), the Mac mini (#35), the iPod (#36), and iTunes (#43).

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Who Dugg It?

monkeyrun, on 10/12/2007, -15/+42you can't get any better than this.

a 100% hardware/software switch within 12 months.
- zweben, on 10/12/2007, -14/+35Apple FTW!
  
  I agree. I thought I was being optimistic thinking that they would finish the hardware switch in a couple years. Not only have they done that, but they've ported almost all of their software too, and made Boot Camp for Windows XP booting. Very impressive year for Apple.
  
  ....now get back to work on my widescreen video iPod.
- spiderland, on 10/12/2007, -4/+28Link to actual PCWorld article:
  
  http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,125706,pg,12,00.asp
- mscamara, on 10/12/2007, -15/+11That's somewhat inaccurate. For one thing, there's still not no g5 equivalent, for another, Steve Jobs said that the first version of OS X was already running on Intel hardware from the beginning, not to mention that many software in OS X are based on open source programs that run on Intel and are very mature.
- geekee, on 10/12/2007, -13/+5"you can't get any better than this.
  
  a 100% hardware/software switch within 12 months."
  
  Yeah, buying off-the-shelf pc hardware and putting it in a box is a real challenge. The biggest challenge was probably designing their software so it won't boot on other pc hardware.
Various, on 10/12/2007, -15/+21Agreed. Way to go Apple. You really can't go wrong with that.
devindotcom, on 10/12/2007, -10/+35I'm no Apple fanboy, but Apple has released some excellent products this year. I can't think of a consumer electronics company that can compete with the nano, the new iPod, and Boot Camp running on a shiny new (er.. matte) macbook pro.
- Various, on 10/12/2007, -14/+24Unfortunately Apple will probably never take back much control over the computer industry, but it's nice to have excellent products out there for everyone to use. Choice is a good thing.
- dobesov, on 10/12/2007, -23/+16not to be a nay sayer... because I do believe apple has done a great job, but I would like to highlight some of their competition. I have found the new Sanyo Sansa to be much nicer than the nanos and at a much better price...
  
  Also, ignoring laptops spontaneously bursting into flames I have to say the macbooks are one heck of a great product and I look forward to laying my hands on one after a few revisions. I also cant wait to run Vista on one one day.
misfit410, on 10/12/2007, -56/+20They deserve it, for conning so many people to buy thier crap
- cockmaster, on 10/12/2007, -49/+11LEARN TO SPELL, MOMMY'S LITTLE FAILURE.
- miketrin, on 10/12/2007, -49/+15You forgot to mention, over priced crap.
- brennankeller, on 10/12/2007, -37/+10leave if you have nothing better to say, commenting just to say something is just stupid
- elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -28/+10Umm, what else do you comment for besides 'saying something'
gregmo, on 10/12/2007, -25/+25How do they already have a 100 best products of 2006 when its june 1st?
- NeCtUr, on 10/12/2007, -5/+24best products of the fiscal year? or if you RTFA they mentioned "For eons, we doled out trophies during the midyear PC Expo show. The show died, but the awards still flourish. Call them 'The Best Products at This Particular Moment,' if you prefer..."
miketrin, on 10/12/2007, -72/+9blah, apple. Apple with their proprietary crap, boo to apple, reported as lame, no digg, mod my comment down.
- gregmo, on 10/12/2007, -28/+9best hardware company = google?
- miketrin, on 10/12/2007, -28/+6oops, my bad, sorry.
- fatdog789, on 10/12/2007, -26/+8Agreed. Last I checked, a hardware company had to be able to make quality products that didn't f*cking break every few days. Apple's customer service may be great, but I don't want to have to use any company's customer service ever.
- birch25, on 10/12/2007, -5/+27i've never once used apple customer support in 15 years of owning macs. do you even own a mac?
- mrmidgetman, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0
  
  "Agreed. Last I checked, a hardware company had to be able to make quality products that didn't f*cking break every few days. Apple's customer service may be great, but I don't want to have to use any company's customer service ever."
  
  I know so many people who have said the same thing. I know around 15 people with iPods. 1 person with the iPod hasn't had it break. Another has bought 4 iPods but doesn't seem to mind. The rest have either upgraded to a better brand mp3 player or gone through the customer service. I have good things about their replacement policy. One person I know finally gave up after he had to get 3 new iPods from them. He didn't like having it replaced routinely. I was smart enough to buy a Toshiba gigabeat player (10 gigs) and it has held up very well and only cost $150.
- bradleyland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"i've never once used apple customer support in 15 years of owning macs. do you even own a mac?"
  
  I have a few times. They spoke clear English and were competent and helpful every time.
Swift2, on 10/12/2007, -18/+14There. Dugg you down. Happy now?

I do think this has been a remarkable hardware year for Apple. I mean, how about if Dell said it was making a transition to the Power PC in one year. How well do you think that would have gone?
- boredzo, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2Dugg who down?
- mateo60, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8"I agree. Why should they get an award for a product (Bootcamp) they won't even demo at their own stores?"
  
  Because it's BETA. I guarantee that when its official, they'll be demoing the hell out of it.
VulnoX, on 10/12/2007, -26/+15I dont get why they would get an award for bootcamp. It was well done, but they are basically saying "Here is an award for making a workaround to use another operating system". Something most anyone with the right experience could have done, and would have never been given any recognition of.

Also, screw iTunes. I do NOT like iTunes and dont see how people can say bad things about MS products and use that buggy ass software. Holy crap, slow response, crashing, wont eject the iPod a lot of the time after transfering files, even if its just been sitting there for 10 minutes. Cant redownload things you own, only for iPod copy protection, a lot of annoying quirks in the search function, I mean I can go on here.

I like a lot of Apple stuff, and love my iPod, but those two I dont see how they could make a list of best products, I hope it was a slow year.

Before I get bashed, I have an iPod 5G and got my girlfriend a Nano, and if it wasnt for the super big price bend over I would have bought a Macbook Pro. I am not against Apple, but think they get a lot of credit for poor products.
- titlesaysitall, on 10/12/2007, -16/+6Then why did you buy them if you think they suck?
- gregmo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16"Something most anyone with the right experience could have done, and would have never been given any recognition of."
  
  What about that guy who won like $13K(?) for making a dual boot system before bootcamp. He had 15 minutes of fame..
- VulnoX, on 10/12/2007, -16/+7I wish people would read.
  
  I NEVER said they sucked. Ever.
  
  "I am not against Apple, but think they get a lot of credit for poor products."
  
  *rips hair out at ignorance of some*
- VulnoX, on 10/12/2007, -8/+5""Something most anyone with the right experience could have done, and would have never been given any recognition of."
  
  What about that guy who won like $13K(?) for making a dual boot system before bootcamp. He had 15 minutes of fame.."
  
  You are right, I actually forgot about that.
  
  I was thinking more along the lines of making it into the top 100 products though. More national news than stuff you heard about more in the Digg/Slashdot/Insert Here community.
- sembetu, on 10/12/2007, -11/+6if you are using your iPod on a Windows Machine, your iTunes problems probably stem from the nature of your system. I have three iPods, three macs, one Windows laptop, and a former windows desktop - now permanently dedicated to Linux, and I have no trouble interfacing my iPod with any hardware/software I have in my home network. I suggest you check your remodulated conplsturation regrofulator settings before you blame the hardware.
- awhiteflame, on 10/12/2007, -13/+8"Also, screw iTunes. I do NOT like iTunes and dont see how people can say bad things about MS products and use that buggy ass software. Holy crap, slow response, crashing, wont eject the iPod a lot of the time after transfering files, even if its just been sitting there for 10 minutes."
  
  Using Windows? I found the Windows iTunes isn't that great, but iTunes on the Mac works wonderfully.
  
  To the people that say Apple products are overpriced, I can see why you'd think that, because it would appear that it's overpriced looking at the plain specifications, but in actuality, it's not.
  
  However, I won't reiterate what's been said hundreds of times over.
  
  "I am not against Apple, but think they get a lot of credit for poor products."
  
  Care to explain?
- Swift2, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9You really don't understand the strategy behind bootcamp, do you? Or the virtualization software now available, and which many think will be a standard part of 10.5 Leopard. See, the lure is there: I can buy a Dell, and run Windows or Linux. I can also maybe pirate OS X, true, but you've got to be a hacker to do that. Whereas, with a Mac, you can run Mac, Windows, Linux, even OS/2. (Check the Parallels website.) For years, people wouldn't buy a Mac because it only ran a minority system. Now it runs anything. And depending on the machine, it's not too expensive, either.
- minipri, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8Man... it seems that you have trouble with your PC! ...NOT with iTunes. I use iTunes sins the beginning and never, I repeat never did I have the ***** you're facing. ...did I say never?
  
  And Windows 2000 isn't the latest thing now is it? :) And on my fathers PC with XP... no problems at all.
  AND... I'm saving to get me a MacBook Pro... I'll let you know how that works out in combo with iTunes. Deal?
  
  Clean install would be my answer. ...
- djdole, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4@VulnoX
  I agree. Why should they get an award for a product (Bootcamp) they won't even demo at their own stores?
- HackWithRamzi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11iTunes.app on Mac is a lot better. But I never had any trouble with iTunes on Windows.
- JuliusErving, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Vulnox, first of all you have to read. Apple was named best HARDWARE company of the year, not software. If iTunes sucks, that has nothing to do with the fact that Apple makes great hardware.
  
  Then in reference to boot camp you said, "Something most anyone with the right experience could have done, and would have never been given any recognition of." No recognition? What about the 2 people who figured out how to boot windows on a mac before boot camp was released? You don't call the $13,000 reward recognition? Jeez. (I just realized someone mentioned this above)
- VulnoX, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1"Man... it seems that you have trouble with your PC! ...NOT with iTunes. I use iTunes sins the beginning and never, I repeat never did I have the ***** you're facing. ...did I say never?
  
  And Windows 2000 isn't the latest thing now is it? :) And on my fathers PC with XP... no problems at all.
  AND... I'm saving to get me a MacBook Pro... I'll let you know how that works out in combo with iTunes. Deal?
  
  Clean install would be my answer. ..."
  
  Yeah, I have one app that does not work well across several PC's so its my fault.
  
  It does the things I mentioned under:
  Dell Dimension running Windows XP Pro SP2 (Work Computer, totally clean except Office and Novell/work stuff)
  Dell XPS M170 x 2 (Happens with my G5 and my girlfriends Nano on either of our XPS')
  Homebuilt PC with XP Pro
  
  Its the software, thats all there is to it. I have talked to many other people who have experienced the same thing, its not news, dont act like I am the one at fault because you want to protect your precious Apple.
  
  "Vulnox, first of all you have to read. Apple was named best HARDWARE company of the year, not software. If iTunes sucks, that has nothing to do with the fact that Apple makes great hardware."
  
  Ugh, in the same article it names iTunes one of the best in the top 100. So yeah, what the hell are you talking about.
  
  Also, how is a company one of the best at hardware when it converts itself over to the same stuff every other computer uses? Even manages to have overheating problems in the process? Thats funny.
  
  As for the iPod, if thats why they are best hardware then thats nothing to be proud of. Its a great unit, but that should not be the basis of an award.
- JuliusErving, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Maybe it's the poster's fault that you sound like an idiot. Again, what does itunes have to do with apple being selected as the best hardware company? The poster should have linked to this article:
  
  http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,125706,pg,12,00.asp
  
  In it, there is no mention of itunes whatsoever. Read the article. And what are you talking about when you say Apple's "converting itself over to the same stuff every other comp uses"? They don't even promote bootcamp through ads, and the only apple software that runs on windows is itunes and quicktime.
  
  They're giving you the OPTION to dual boot windows. You can't legally do that on a PC. All of apple's iLife software and pro apps are OS X native. They're not leaving OS X for windows.
titlesaysitall, on 10/12/2007, -14/+9The folks at PC world must've spent a little too much time at the Apple Store.
- ChickenOnAStick, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3Yeah.. I thought that too.. I mean, its "PC" World. Oh well.
- incongruity, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3Didn't you see them? They were at the Fifth Avenue store in NYC, in that little glass box... ;-)
- minipri, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5@ChickenOnAStick
  > " Yeah.. I thought that too.. I mean, its "PC" World. Oh well. "
  
  Did you mean "Personal Computer" with that ? :P
- kevinmotel, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9macs are PCs
snypa, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8pcworld magazine chat a load of crap most the time, but props to apple.
mtmjc, on 10/12/2007, -24/+11Apple= terrible overpriced products
- sembetu, on 10/12/2007, -12/+8Quality is worth the price
- soopafly, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9mtmjc = retard
shadedream, on 10/12/2007, -15/+9cue windows fanboy's flaming and ensuing fanboy warfare...
- VulnoX, on 10/12/2007, -15/+10Why does it always have to be a fanboy? Why cant someone point out the flaws in a company without being a Fanboy for another.
  
  I mean, what if people hated Apple and MS but loved Linux.
  
  For good reason though, not just to be a Linux Fanboy.
  
  I am not an MS fanboy, but at the same time I have no problem with XP, it never crashes on me or gives me any real trouble, I run it all the time with no viruses or spyware or any of that BS. So therefore, I dont hate MS, but at the same time Apple does not work for me because I like to play games and use some other apps only available on the PC.
  
  Also, my PC is a lot faster than any mac available while being half as much, but thats what you get when you are with a freely traded market.
paradoxic, on 10/12/2007, -15/+10Proving once again that award lists mean absolutely nothing.
- Geterix, on 10/12/2007, -14/+2Why would PC World give a Mac an award? thats like Mac World giving Gateway an award for the best hardware. Then again PC world has morphed as of recent into a general tech magizine anyway, so Im not at all susprised.
- grendelwraith, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7PC = Personal computers.
  All Intel Macs can run XP or OS X. How about explaining how they are not a PC?
  Oh right can't do that either.
  Geterix maybe if you could start actually evaluating things without bias, you could grow and learn.
  Based off your comments I won't be holding my breath for that to happen.
Ramble, on 10/12/2007, -11/+16The hardware company of the year apparently doesn't know how to apply thermal paste.
spoonard, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4All that, but only AFTER the switch to intel...(excluding the ipod)
- deweyhewson, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3What, no Core Duo iPod?
dwemer, on 10/12/2007, -13/+9What a stupid list.

Bootcamp is the 10th best product of 2006? It's not even out of beta yet. Something that brings functionality to a Mac that a PC has had for years and years is the 10th best product this year?
- deweyhewson, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14That's interesting, I didn't know PCs could boot Mac OSX natively.
- stringycheese, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3"That's interesting, I didn't know PCs could boot Mac OSX natively."
  
  His point was that it brings Windows to Mac and PC has had windows for years. If you want Windows, why buy the overpriced Mac hardware? Just buy a Dell. If you want Mac OS X, then buy a Mac. I can't really imagine that more than %.01 of the population actually needs both OSs.
- dwemer, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4"That's interesting, I didn't know PCs could boot Mac OSX natively."
  
  I'm talking about the ability to dual boot, thats all.
- incongruity, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Um... since when can you get windows XP to boot a 32 bit EFI based machine (other than the other mactel XP hacks)? Yeah... I say it deserves that award.
- JuliusErving, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Wow, stringy, you don't think more than .01% of people prefer OS X, but want to run windows also so they can play games and possibly run certain windows only apps? Where do you get this idea from?
- djdole, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3dwemer
  I totally agree that BootCamp shouldn't be on that list.
  If the manufacturer isn't even willing to display the product in their own stores, then it shouldn't be on any awards list. Once it's OUT of beta and IN their stores, THEN they can consider it for a list.
  
  You shouldn't have to buy a mac to try out BootCamp's public beta.
  I say, if their commercials are going to claim that Macs can do EVERYTHING PCs can, then when I walk into their store they should be ready to prove it with a running demo of a mac running everything from MS Visual Studio to Half Life 2.
- stringycheese, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3"That's interesting, I didn't know PCs could boot Mac OSX natively."
  
  I have two coworkers with Dell Notebooks dual booting to XP and OS X. Maybe they should get an award from the magazine as well.
cmer, on 10/12/2007, -8/+15Apple sure is the "hottest hardware" company of 2006... if you have a MacBook or MacBook Pro, you know what I mean!
Chordonblue, on 10/12/2007, -6/+12And rightfully so - Apple deserves the cred. Why should PC World give Apple an award? Because they are PERSONAL COMPUTER magazine. That doesn't necessary mean 'no Apples'. Besides, who the hell else could you possibly give it to - Dell? Hp? Gateway? Where is the innovation over there? Hell, Dell can't make up their mind which PROCESSOR to use let alone innovate anything.

Think about it - what would happen if Windows users everywhere suddenly switched processor tech - from X86 to something else. And yet, Apple did it with little trouble this time (unlike the 680XX to PPC move). Brilliant marketing, on time execution, good products. Damn right they deserve it.
- Geterix, on 10/12/2007, -14/+9I guess it begs the question:
  
  What exactly is innovative about Apple's hardware?
  
  Other than the new Intel chips and sticking cameras and remotes on the thing (which are'nt unique to Apple), It really isnt doing very much more than most other PCs. Form factor alone does not equal innovation
- stringycheese, on 10/12/2007, -9/+4"What exactly is innovative about Apple's hardware?"
  
  It is interesting to me that you are getting modded down and yet nobody will respond with a legitimate answer. People seem to disagree with you, yet the have no argument or evidence. I will answer that question. Nothing is innovative about the hardware.
- UnderWurlde, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I guess the innovation for me is how they integrate the hardware with their software. Made for each other, easy interface. Yes, that's software, not hardware. As a professionnal looking at it, the motherboard design is always spot on, the integration of the different components and its direct optimization certainly are worthy of a nod - a look at the breakdown of an Apple computer on Kodawarisan should satisfy your curiosity. The build quality and attention to detail to make it aesthetically appealling are also noteworthy, and have influenced the industry as a whole to steer away from the "beige box" and be a bit more fun, funky, sexy even. So that it's not seen just as a geek pastime, and that people don't hide the computer in a room locked up in the back of the house, but a showpiece just like the venerable hi-fi stereo was back in the days. I'm sure others will come up with better answers than mine, but that's my POV.
- lnxaddct, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Actually a lot is innovative about the hardware. Let me begin by stating that not all hardware is created equally. The hardware that Apple chooses is top-notch. Their ram is the best, motherboards, even the LCD screens are some of the best in the industry. That is just the hardware though, which I feel is important to point out because most people think you can buy a $600 Dell with similar specs and think you're getting the same thing... which is absolutely not true, and it'll be noted in the performance of the machine. But anyway... specifically for the Macbook Pro, the case is aircraft grade anodized aluminum (most laptop cases are plastic), it can take a beating and still be ticking years later. The machines are pretty light 5~6 pounds. Great battery life (4.5 to 6 hours depending on what you're doing and what model you have). They come with a built in nice resolution camera, also a great mic that records like a mic in a radio station or professional studio (although my understanding is that some processing is done in OS X to get rid of noise and to make it clearer). They support *optical* and analog sound output (the sound port looks cool because of the optics if you ever get a chance to look at it). Firewire (only the upper models support Firewire 800 though). The laptop has ambient light sensors that dim the screen in accordance with the surrounding light (bright screens in dark areas strain the eyes), there is also a backlit keyboard so when typing in the dark, your keys are lit. There are accelerometers in the laptop that detect if the laptop is accelerating too fast in any one direction (i.e. if you drop it) and will lock the harddrive platters before it impacts so that the there is no data corruption from something being written to disk on impact. Other little custom things like magsafe are nice too. You won't find a hardware company that pays more attention to detail than Apple does. The single most underhyped feature is the front row integration, I could never see myself buying another laptop without it. It is absolutely phenomenal. The macbook pros still have all your other typical features too like wi-fi, bluetooth, dvd burner, etc... and the software that they come with is great. The software alone would be worth paying $700 to $800 for. Out of the box your machine is video conference ready (literally boot up the machine and you're a click away from being in a video conference), and you can create pretty professional sounding music with GarageBand (and export it externally to another device using the optical sound port, making sure that your sound is always of the highest quality). A lot of these features you don't find in normal laptops, and this is what makes Apple's products so great. They are the best deal you can get (and the macbook pros are 1 inch thin and light, making it easy to carry around). The integration alone between the software and hardware is enough to make someone never use a generic pc again. As far as heat goes, it is a non-issue. The macbook pros were always running cooler than a similar generic laptop, and the macbook pros were always running well within the temperature spec. They did run a little hotter than the powerbooks though, so most Apple users weren't expecting it. The heat was something hyped up by MS fanboys for no real reason. Regardless, the latest update that Apple sent out has the macbook pros running significantly cooler.
- axemachine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1So why other companies that are using the same "best" hardware parts aren't innovating too!?
  
  Then again you just could be as well describing the Philips DVDR3455H/37 with all that talk or any other appliance that it's well made.
stringycheese, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2Why would they give out awards for anything for 2006 when it's only 5/12ths over? I would think they would at least wait until January 2007 to give out 2006 awards. There's still plenty of time for new products and services.

Also, it seems like Apple is way overrated. Their products are nice, but contrary to popular belief, they are not perfect or bug-free. Itunes is really slow and buggy and their hardware is ridiculously overpriced. $400 for an ipod with no features like FM radio and the screen gets scratched the first time I put it in the case that came with it. My $129 DS gets used 10 times as much even with a stylus on one screen and has less scratches than my ipod.
- Chordonblue, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9"My $129 DS gets used 10 times as much even with a stylus on one screen and has less scratches than my ipod."
  
  Heh.. Considering the screen is hidden behind about a pound of plastic.. Yeah, I'd say it gets no scratches. :)
  
  Get a case - plastic screens scratch.
- stringycheese, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2But my point is my $400 device that I take extra good care of scratches more easily than a different $129 device that I touch directly with a stylus and with my fingers. I shouldn't have to pay extra for something it should have come with in the first place.
  
  I used to work with Macs in a university computer lab and they crashed/hung 10 times more often that the windows machines. I just don't see where the "Apple Quality" everyone talks about.
jdtanner, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3Erm, direct link anyone?

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,125706,00.asp
- djdole, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Finally. Thank you!
  I thought it was kinda biased to have to drudge through the iPod apple fan-page to get to the list.
  
  I don't know why people are modding you down. You provided this forum with the direct link that the submitter wasn't smart enough to do. :-\
  Keep the OS page propaganda, give me the list content. (Now watch me get modded down because I’m not stroking the ‘fanboi’s ego.)
lonnieh, on 10/12/2007, -8/+6Grrr.... that list is *****. Creative and Real can suck it.
dwemer, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Proof this is a dumb list:

Bootcamp is number 10, Firefox 1.5 is number 12, Google (the search engine) is number 17, Blogger is number 30, Tivo is number 31 and flickr is number 77.

The stupidity of those rankings speaks for itself.
- DanielKongos, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0mistake...
- rileyjt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5
  Even if you take into consideration the futility of trying to rank beta software against a commercially sold hardware product, this list is pretty stupid.
  
  14. Toshiba HD-A1 - Apparently they havn't actually tried this yet to see how poorly it performs.
  89. Microsoft Xbox 360 - This should easily be in the top 20, probably higher if you consider XBox Live as part of the "product".
  
  DS Lite - where was this product? Too late to make it on the list? Top 10 for 2007 maybe.
- mrmidgetman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0yeah its obvious its biast. It gave windows 3 of the worst 10 products of all.
cybersamurai, on 10/12/2007, -11/+5I used to like PCWorld magazine.

I will NOT be renewing my subscription.
- DanielKongos, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4Good for you. Way to fight the system. I'm sure you've got pcworld quaking in their boots. YAY FOR CAPITAL LETTERS.
- lonnieh, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2@DanielKongos: Feel better?
- DanielKongos, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Maybe. Is this question serious? Coz my comment wasn't.
- lonnieh, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Nah, just pulling your chain.
UnderWurlde, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Well, I remember how a friend of mine kept telling me "Get a real computer!" when I was complaining about camcorders and digital photography on the PC a few years back, and I loved Linux but the instability was killing me; Macs had the same core, more pizzazz, and everything just _worked_. I got an iMac G4, and fell in love with Macs ever since, although I really thought I was going to be stuck in a small backyard with no software. I have gotten to love the Mac community, bought my 2nd iMac (G5), got a few iPods, and I'm looking forward to a newer Mac in a year or less. I never played PC games as I always preferred the living room experience of a console, so it wasn't a big penalty for me. Macs got the creative side of me working more, just as Amigas had done in the 90's. Happy to have "switched", could never go back... Happy to see Apple get a nice recognition here.
- mrmidgetman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0so you were too dumb to work the pc. I've personally made short films on a pc and an ibook and there was no comparison. We had so many problems with the ibook that even the mac fanatic teacher couldn't fix. It just liked to complicate things and make new problems. We started over on a pc and it was easy.
  
  Wait. did you say you've gotten a FEW ipods? why a few? I bought ONE toshiba gigabeat player and it has served me fine.
firemillen2, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3lotsa circle jerking fanboys! what is it now? 4% of the PC market?
- mrmidgetman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0less
cpawl, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9my favorite band probably sold 15,000 albums when Clay Akens sold 1,600,000
America's most sold food is hamburgers... I never eat them.
Walmart's market share is greater than the clothing store(s) I shop at but I prefer my stores
BMW has less market share than Ford

-
Market Share means nothing.
wilf_brim, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1This, I think, has less to do with Apple and more a comment on the SF echo chamber that is the computer media. Almost all of the journalists are based there, and tend to have very similar views of the world. The PC Mag guys have been wishing they could be "cool" and have macs. Now they can and are taking advantage of it.

Personally, I use iTunes for podcasts, but I'm not wild about the program. It is sluggish in my 3GHz machine, and (really annoys me) starts an iPod service which uses 4MB of system resources, and it doesn't unload after the program terminates. Very annoying when I don't have an iPod, and there is no way to turn it off; just have to the the 3 fingered salute, select the service and hit "stop". I shouldn't have to do that.
- Fett101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Start>Control panel> Administative Tools>Services
  Right click Ipod Service, choose disable and Stop. Bam biggity. it is absurd that it's on by default.
- grendelwraith, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ok go to services.
  Double click the iPod service.
  Change startup from ManualAutomatic to Disabled.
  Click apply.
  Done.
  
  Not so tough.
- mrmidgetman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0mine was on by default. I completely removed itunes. Those 10 free songs I got were not worth putting itunes on my computor by ANY stretch.
bsinclair2006, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3uhhh its not Google or Microsoft!
diggnationdevon, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3Apple didn't deserve the hardware award. They never have the best hardware for computers.
- supersteve, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Its all good
- generic109, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Lack of hardware innovation? PowerBooks had trackpads before PCs, Firewire, standard DVI before PCs, embraced USB before PCs, MagSafe, automatic backlit keyboard, better sleep function than PCs, etc. etc. Apple hardware is always innovative. It is true that Macs have faults, but they are always innovative at the time they appear. I also like the minimalist styling. No multi-colored ports, legacy ports, stickers, etc.
supersteve, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Apple Rules
hunchback, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1hey how come the iMac is not in there, and Macbook and Skype and Digg and WoW and Gmail and awww ...
mc7winkie, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0One thing, are macs even PCs...
untzboy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3This doesn't change that Macs are still an over heating rainbow mess of gayness. Haha, I have F.E.A.R. Arent they all running some Apple version of the Voodoo graphics cards?
untzboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3theres no body but fanboys here! Screw this place. Look at the comment diggs!
- xswag, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I know. This site is becoming a joke. The articles that I find are great but the comment section of this site is a joke. Its always a Fanboy War. Mac comments get modded down by Windows Users and Linux Users. Windows comments get modded down by Mac users and Linux Users. Linux comments get modded down by Windows users and Mac Users. Its a constant revolving door of people talking sh*t about each others computers.
  
  I use all three OS's and prefer Windows and Linux.
- generic109, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Yes, but the difference is that almost all mac users have PC experience. We are forced to. But a lot of the PC trolls clearly haven't used a mac since OS 9, and are clearly speaking out of their asses. And there is a big difference between criticizing a monopoly and criticizing a company that makes no difference to PC users. You are also wrong in the belief that Mac users mod down Linux comments. Mac users have gained a lot from the success of Linux. Universal standards can only hurt MS. If you "use all three OS's," and prefer Windows, what the heck do you use OS X for? Makes no sense.
- axemachine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not to mention that a lot of "inane" articles about the fanboys lust objects make the front page taking a valuable spot from what could be a good article.
- axemachine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ generic109
  
  Excuse us mere mortal. We didn't know you could read minds and know it all.
- mrmidgetman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I find it very ridiculous when articles are reported as inaccurate even when they aren't. I saw two articles (the macbook that caught on fire and the glass elevator that malfunctioned) that were removed from the front page because they were negative towards Apple.
CapnKidd, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1No doubt this will be used by Apple as a reason to increase their computer prices.

Either way, they dont deserve it. This year they have put out products underpowered and overpriced
u8myfoood, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1i agree with everyone of those product except the ipod...
the computers are eye catching thus deserve to be there and so is the mini due to its small size, but the iPod too much of a fanboy product... BLAH >P
- xswag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think the iPod is more of a status symbol. Everyone wants to be seen with the little white earbuds. The price is coming down for the 60GB Video iPod though on eBay. If it ever plays Flac and Ogg I may get one.
geekee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"That's interesting, I didn't know PCs could boot Mac OSX natively."

They would if Apple didn't purposely prevent it.
heydigital, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Submitted buy a guy with an Apple logo next to their name.
AwesomeMonster, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Here's my thoughts on apple....
Apple is a good computer company and makes solid products, but never innovates, just solidifies. While company's like windows innovates with things like Windows live, xbox live, direct X and so on. Apple simply takes alot of these technology's and improves upon them to a degree. As for the ipod, the first series were in fact top f the line solid product, but now, creative and the like have improved upon the ipod itself. Lastly, try running F.E.A.R on a mac.
- thepharmacist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Huh ? Windows is a company ?
- AwesomeMonster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1microsoft, terrbily sorry, ill go eat a frisbee and kill myself because of this tasteless error
wyrdness, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2As well as naming Apple "Hardware Company of the Year", look at who they named "Worst Company of the Year"...
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,125706,pg,12,00.asp
- mrmidgetman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0um... how did yahoo beat google? That fact alone should disprove the credibility of this article.
thepharmacist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The word "fanboy" is used wayyy to much here.
xswag, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@generic109

I use OS X just to be familiar with it. I should have said "I USED all three OS's in the past". I don't own a Mac at this moment. If I owned a Mac I would probably only use it to pay my credit card bills and do other transactions but instead I have a FreeBSD Desktop (I've yet to try PC BSD) that I setup and Ubuntu for that. I think OS X is a great OS. I love FreeBSD but it makes an Unstable desktop unless your using OS X and even OS X has probs with plists at times. I've got friends that have plists that mysteriously disappear or become corrupted. Thats my only complaint about it.

Does that make more sense?
- TheTSArt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2xswaq, have your friends upgraded to Tiger? I remember a lot of problems with plists prior to it, but since I hardly ever encounter those anymore.
techmaster7b, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4People who use apple computers should not even be allowed to "hook" up to the internet.
bi0metric, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH APPLE FINALLY WON A AWARD HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAH I'm sorry to say this but the technology award that apple is being awarded has been around even before apple was even thought of.
- crossthread, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1PC World was giving out this award prior to 1976?
  
  AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH You're an idiot. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
techlinks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I love m iPod, but the next MP3 player I buy won't be one. They are over-priced and under-featured. $50 for a radio add-on? Umm...what?
xswag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@TSArt

Yes they are fully patched and running Tiger. Its not an everyday occurance but they do complain about it.
matt.rubin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Wa??? Not AMD!?!??!??!?!??!

AMD frekin stole the desktop market from the big nasty intel so much that intel is being forced to stick to notebook processors like core duo. In about 1 year. I mean what the hell PC Magazine. If you trully are PC magizine wouldn't you look at PC companies more, What did apple do?!??! Sell some more ipods to once again gain the MP3 market. Cause if you get rewards for keeping your gain in user dominence how come Microsoft gets ***** for it.Oh my bad apple made a intervention. OMFG its black and has a removeable hard drive.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Insprion-7500-laptop-500mhz-128-ram-6ghd-cd-floppy_W0QQitemZ6888233820QQihZ013QQcategoryZ31541QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Theres a computer with a removeable hard drive. Then don't say performace becasue they still haven't released a successor to the G5. I believe Apple doesn't desirve this at all.
Zaldabus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I just did a lot of research on Apple for this case study I did for a course I'm taking, and I must say I'm not surprised. The question is, will they top themselves next year?

With well over 200% growth in iPod and iPod related accessories sales in the last fiscal year, Apple has performed quite impressively, and has set a high standard for them to maintain. I think it is not only possible for them to maintain this performance, but with the addition of such things as the Intel-based Mac Units, and the Window-integrated systems, it is very probable that they will exceed their current standards.

In terms of iPod sales, a lot will hinge on the release of their next generation iPod. As of now a lot of hype has been set, so if the expectations of consumers are met this could result in explosive sales for Apple, but if they're let down that could result in a drastic decline in iPod sales for Apple.

In conclusion: Buy Apple stock. It may be expensive now, but it's a pretty safe bet to say that it will continue to go up in value for at least the next two years.
ThankTheCheese, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1cool, though that table down the bottom is an accessibility nightmare. A screen reader would read that in a horribly confusing order.
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Apple Named Hardware Company of the Year by PC World Magazine

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