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Could we stop laughing at Microsoft?

oreillynet.com — "Since January of this long, very long year, Microsoft has been the target of all laughs and criticism. Vista is late, the Zune is a disaster, the company does not innovate … The list of all they do not do, in the eyes of the public, seems to grow daily. Yet, we seem to have forgotten to ask ourselves what we, in the Mac world, have done."

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  • TheRedCoat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19You don't have to stop yourself laughing at someone because someone else is just as bad. Laugh at both, double the fun, it's good for you: I read it on digg somewhere...
    • schestowitz, on 10/12/2007, -7/+10I think the word "laughing" is a misfit. Laughter is different from doubt and criticism. To name just one thing that burns my bagel...

      Bill Gates lends cash to buy newspapers - $350 million to MediaNews

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | Gates involvement has been very behind the scenes. In fact many of
      | those involved in the deal didn'teven know he was one of the investors.
      | It was carried out through the Gates Foundation, the world's largest
      | philanthropy outfit.
      `----

      http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33849

      If I give too many examples, I'll get modded down for length (seen it before). Something tells me that MS apologists will mod me down either way.
    • threepio, on 10/12/2007, -11/+4Could we stop laughing? Yes.

      Will we?

      Well?


      BWAHAHAHAHAHAH! That's a Good one!
    • Quix, on 10/12/2007, -10/+16"Laughing at Microsoft?" I have to use Windows 40+ hours a week at work. I'm not laughing at Microsoft. I'm weeping.
    • concept03, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@schestowitz

      >> Bill Gates lends cash to buy newspapers - $350 million to MediaNews

      As your quote mentions, it was given (in part) by the Bill and Melina Gates foundation. You seem to imply that this is a detestable act. Also, the Bill & Melinda Gates didn't give 100% of the $350 million gift, only a portion.

      The Inquirer article uses biased and opinionated language (e.g. "SOFTWARE OLIGARCH Bill Gates was behind a recent MediaNews scheme". Note the use of the word 'scheme', implying that his foundation had devious motives. Again, his foundation being the " world's largest philanthropy outfit".

      My research on this issue shows that it is likely a prudent investment by the "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation" to further increase its assets in order to give more away. Of course, I didn't just use the Inquirer as my only source:

      http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/15326353.htm
      /*Quote
      The foundation's loan to MediaNews is part of a broad investment portfolio designed to fund the endowment. The foundation's assets include more than $4 billion in stock in companies including oil behemoths BP PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp., club warehouse chain Costco Wholesale Corp., and pharmaceutical makers Merck and Co. and Schering Plough Corp., according to a recent SEC filing.
      */

      Stop spreading FUD and misrepresenting an extremely important and charitable organization.
    • Speed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@schestowitz

      Before you start bad mouthing a person or organization, try quoting someone CREDIBLE. No The Inquirer.
    • schestowitz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1All right, guys, here is some food for thought, about bias in media and Microsoft's involvement:

      Microsoft Traps and Hunts for Bloggers in India !!

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | Microsoft has announced the "Microsoft BlogStars" contest, to Hunts
      | for Developer Bloggers in India. After feeling the power and increase of
      | the Bloggers community in India, Microsoft tries to trap and hunt Bloggers
      | in India to buildup the blogging community, for writing blog posts
      | supporting towards Microsoft Technologies.
      `----

      http://i5bala.blogspot.com/2006/10/microsoft-traps-and-hunts-for-bloggers.html


      NY Times rattles IT industry with analyst ban

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | Speaking of which, let's see what triggered the Enderle/Microsoft
      | ban.
      |
      | In a story about Microsoft's XBox, Enderle described the direct
      | relationship between the game console, download services and the TV.
      `----

      http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/12/analyst_nytimes/


      Microsoft Press Releases: Read Between the Lines

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | We have a game we play around the office here with Microsoft press
      | releases. The game is called Find the words that make the headline
      | true. It's not always easy.
      |
      | [...]
      |
      | Our point: Microsoft has a long history of using press releases top
      | romote their product momentum in shall we say interesting ways,
      | using words like "fastest growing" (meaning, the number we started
      | with was really really small) to redefining words such as "sold."
      | It's not good marketing practice. Why? Because once consumers and
      | press people figure out you are playing lawyer, they stop believing
      | you and your brand. And that's more likely to do you harm than good.
      `----

      http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/061211/22190_id.html?.v=1


      Microsoft's Xbox 360 US sales-NPD story withdrawn

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | The Los Angeles story headlined "Microsoft's Xbox 360 US sales
      | top first Xbox--NPD" is withdrawn because the data supporting the
      | story may be inaccurate. Reuters is waiting for an update from the
      | company. A new story may be issued.
      `----

      http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20061208:MTFH45656_2006-12-08_01-12-52_N07221320&type=comktNews&rpc=44


      Microsoft Xbox to Join the Battle for Video Downloading

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | Editors' Note: November 10, 2006, Friday An article in Business Day
      | on Tuesday described a decision by Microsoft to offer movies and
      | episodes of television shows for downloading through its Xbox Live
      | online service in the United States.
      |
      | The article quoted Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle
      | Group, discussing the features that set Xbox Live service apart
      | and its position in the market.
      |
      | But the article did not note that Mr. Enderle had Microsoft as a client,
      | a fact later pointed out by a reader. Mr. Enderle does consulting work
      | for several of Microsoft's product groups, though not for the one
      | developing the Xbox; still, had The Times known of Mr. Enderle's work
      | for Microsoft, it would not have sought out his opinion on the product.
      `----

      http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50713F83A5B0C748CDDA80994DE404482
      http://tinyurl.com/y3avsv


      Wrong Yesterday Wrong Today Wrong Tomorrow

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | I just got through watching a segment on the Today Show on NBC
      | highlighting the launch of the Microsoft Zune.
      |
      | First of all, I thought journalists were suppose to reveal their
      | affiliations with any product if such an affiliation exists.
      | Microsoft owns a stake in NBC ie MSNBC News Network.
      |
      | [...]
      |
      | Second, all the side by side product comparisons showed 4th Gen iPods
      | with monochrome screens with no song selected or playing, while the
      | Zune was playing a video.
      |
      | [...]
      |
      | This isn't the first time NBC has misled its morning viewers with
      | puff pieces about the Zune.
      `----

      http://fixyourthinking.com/2006/11/wrong-yesterday-wrong-today-wrong.html


      Should MSNBC really be "reviewing" (Microsoft's) Gears of War?

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | MSNBC recently reviewed Gears of War, calling it the Xbox 360's first
      | killer app.... Nowhere on the page is any indication of the possible
      | ethical issue MSNBC is "Microsoft-NBC", and the site is hosted as a
      | subdomain of msn.com (a major Microsoft portal). Is this really balanced
      | journalism?
      `----

      http://www.thisisby.us/index.php/content/should_msnbc_really_be__quot_reviewing_quot__gears_of_war_


      Has Demetri Martin Jumped the Shark by Getting Into Bed with Microsoft?
      Clarification on "Clearification" Marketing Campaign

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | When I first saw the Clearification website, I just thought it was
      | Demetri's new project. But I did wonder why the videos were of such
      | high production value. Turns out that Microsoft is footing the bill
      | to not only this site, but are also underwritting his current tour.
      `----

      http://www.themodernage.org/2006/11/12/demetri-martin-bring-clearification-to-the-web/


      ,----[ Quote ]
      | In 2001, the Los Angeles Times accused Microsoft of astroturfing
      | when hundreds of similar letters were sent to newspapers voicing
      | disagreement with the United States Department of Justice and its
      | antitrust suit against Microsoft. The letters, prepared by Americans
      | for Technology Leadership, had in some cases been mailed from
      | deceased citizens or nonexistent addresses.
      `----

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing


      A new Microsoft-commissioned anti-Linux study debuts

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | Microsoft seemingly has backed off from trumpeting its "Get the
      | Facts" studies, as of late. But that doesn't mean the company has
      | ceased commissioning research outfits to perform its anti-Linux dirty
      | work.
      |
      | On September 25, Mercer Management Consulting released a new
      | Microsoft-backed study. The study is entitled "Driving Lower TCO and
      | Rapid ROI through UNIX Migrations." The synopsis: "Microsoft Windows
      | the preferred choice for UNIX migration when IT organizations migrate
      | servers as part of a focused effort to improve business processes,
      | deploy critical applications or restructure their IT architecture."
      `----

      http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/index.php?p=12


      IDC pronounces Linux unimportant to European economy

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | A recent IDC white paper on the economic impact of Microsoft's super
      | soaraway new Vista operating system seems to be lacking one crucial
      | ingredient -- other operating systems.
      `----

      http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34542


      ToorCon ("Firefox security is a mess") sponsored by Microsoft

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | Lately, I read the headline: "Open Source browser Firefox is so
      | critically flawed that it is impossible to fix, according to two
      | hackers." Further on, in the ZDNet article I read: "The hackers claim
      | they know of about 30 unpatched Firefox flaws. They don't plan to
      | disclose them, instead holding onto the bugs."
      |
      | Since that sounds suspicious, I decided to start searching for
      | connections with MS. Easy enough, here it is...
      `----

      http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/70873/index.html


      ,----[ Quote ]
      | Could there be more bad news? Of course! Even Paul Thurrott isn't
      | impressed with the Zune, calling its pricing strategy the "makings of
      | a disaster." Misery! Not only has the Zune suffered a horrific wreck of
      | a product introduction, but Annie Wilkes is at the foot of the bed saying
      | she doesn't approve of how things are going.
      |
      | If your number one fan is sending you hate mail, you have a problem.
      | So what's with all the Zune related web sites carefully repeating the
      | same talking points? It's called astroturfing.
      |
      | Instead of inspiring actual interest in a grassroots fashion, Microsoft
      | has resorted to spreading fake grass, crafting each site to suggestt
      | he appearance of something other than the advertisement it is.
      |
      | This is similar to the scam Microsoft pulled with its own imitation of
      | Apple's Switchers ad campaign. Titled "Confessions of a Mac to PC
      | Convert," the ad portrayed a professionally dressed woman complaining
      | about her Mac, but ended up being a canned picture pulled from stock
      | photography and voiced by a professional writer.
      |
      | Similarly, Greenpeace staffers have assigned to post astroturf comments
      | on websites saying "I'm a Mac user and gosh darn it I think that
      | Greenpeace is alright with all their concern about the ecology!" More
      | on that scam later!
      |
      | One would expect a certain level of interest and excitement out of
      | Microsoft's own users, but that isn't really happening. Nearly every
      | Zune site on the web is carefully stepping around the piles of problems
      | to spend a lot of time on Microsoft supplied bullet points, including
      | the "celebration of music," the slightly larger or at least
      | stretched display, and how wireless DRM sharing is such a
      | brilliant idea.
      `----

      http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Home/9F60D74A-0E27-4F5F-B88D-835974628809.html


      MSN Is Spamming The Blogosphere

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | Mr. Youth LLC is a marketing firm and lists MSN as a customer. Their
      | website is here: http://www.mryouth.com/ Their phone number is
      | (212) 779-8700.
      |
      | I've talked to a couple of other bloggers who said they are receiving
      | similar comments on their blogs. This pisses me off because MSN/Mr.
      | Youth should 1) be more upfront about their true identity, and 2)
      | provide a real e-mail address so that I can request they take my
      | blog off their marketing campaign.
      `----

      http://www.scott-o-rama.com/2006/12/06/msn-is-spamming-the-blogosphere/


      FTC Moves to Unmask Word-of-Mouth Marketing

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | The Federal Trade Commission yesterday said that companies engaging
      | in word-of-mouth marketing, in which people are compensated to
      | promote products to their peers, must disclose those relationships.
      |
      | [...]
      |
      | Word-of-mouth marketing can take any form of peer-to-peer communication,
      | such as a post on a Web blog, a MySpace.com page for a movie character,
      | or the comments of a stranger on a bus.
      |
      | As the practice has taken hold over the past several years, however,
      | some advocacy groups have questioned whether marketers are using such
      | tactics to dupe consumers into believing they are getting unbiased
      | information.
      `----

      http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/11/AR2006121101389.html?nav=hcmodule



      ,----[ Quote ]
      | Long before it employed bloggers to do the job for it, Microsoft hired
      | sympathetic members of the public to make its case in online forums,
      | posing as disinterested citizens. Things got much more professional as
      | the antitrust trial unfurled. After hiring DCI in the late 1990s,
      | Microsoft created two new trade groups, the Association for Competitive
      | Technology (ACT), and the Americans for Technology Leadership (ALT),
      | and marshaled campaigns such as "Freedom to Innovate" - encouraging
      | Windows users the chance to make spontaneous gestures of support for
      | Chairman Bill.
      |
      | These weren't always too successful. A campaign in 2001 to petition 17
      | state's Attorney Generals - who had pooled resources to bring their
      | own antitrust action against Microsoft - resulted in supportive letters
      | being written by dead people.
      |
      | And the astroturf taint continues today.
      |
      | Most recently, a spoof video portraying Al Gore as a Penguin was reported
      | to have originated from a computer registered to the DCI Group, although
      | the lobby group said it did not fund or approve the video.
      `----

      http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/14/google_lobby/


      ,----[ Quote ]
      | "Some years back, Microsoft practiced a lot of dirty tricks using
      | online mavens to go into forums and create Web sites extolling the virtues
      | of Windows over OS/2. They were dubbed the Microsoft Munchkins, and it
      | was obvious who they were and what they were up to. But their numbers
      | and energy (and they way they joined forces with nonaligned dummies who
      | liked to pile on) proved too much for IBM marketers, and Windows wont
      | he operating-system war through fifth-column tactics"
      |
      | Mr Dvorak wonders if Microsoft is today using reverse-dirty-tricks
      | to promote the Xbox 360: pay people to create Web sites that slam the
      | gaming computer in order to provoke a barrage of defenders.
      `----

      http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/2005/11/2_grassroots_an.html


      ,----[ Quote ]
      | Instead of inspiring actual interest in a grassroots fashion, Microsoft
      | has resorted to spreading fake grass, crafting each site to suggest
      | the appearance of something other than the advertisement it is.
      |
      | This is similar to the scam Microsoft pulled with its own imitation of
      | Apple's Switchers ad campaign. Titled "Confessions of a Mac to PC
      | Convert," the ad portrayed a professionally dressed woman complaining
      | about her Mac, but ended up being a canned picture pulled from stock
      | photography and voiced by a professional writer.
      |
      | Similarly, Greenpeace staffers have assigned to post astroturf comments
      | on websites saying "I'm a Mac user and gosh darn it I think that
      | Greenpeace is alright with all their concern about the ecology!" More
      | on that scam later!
      |
      | One would expect a certain level of interest and excitement out of
      | Microsoft's own users, but that isn't really happening. Nearly every
      | Zune site on the web is carefully stepping around the piles of problems
      | to spend a lot of time on Microsoft supplied bullet points, including
      | the "celebration of music," the slightly larger or at least
      | stretched display, and how wireless DRM sharing is such a
      | brilliant idea.
      `----

      http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Home/9F60D74A-0E27-4F5F-B88D-835974628809.html


      NY Times bans Microsoft analysts from Microsoft stories

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | The New York Times continues to perplex with its analyst- quoting
      | policy. Rather than having analysts declare their ties to clients,
      | the paper would prefer to quote analysts that have no experience
      | with a client - a protocol which seems to undermine the very point
      | of citing analysts.
      |
      | The Register this week started pushing the Times to explain its
      | quoting stance after noticing that Rob Enderle - the most quoted
      | technology analyst on the planet - had been blocked from commenting
      | on companies with which he has a financial relationship. The ban
      | against Enderle appeared odd, given that Times reporters continue
      | to cite analysts from larger firms who also have financial
      | relationships with the companies discussed.
      |
      | [...]
      |
      | Just days after banning Enderle from discussing Microsoft because
      | he has Microsoft as a client, the Times quoted Gartner analyst
      | Michael Silver and AMR Research analyst Jim Murphy in a story
      | about Microsoft's Windows and Office software.
      |
      | If the paper would prefer not to quote an analyst who has
      | experience with a client, it did a poor job. Silver is Gartner's
      | vice president in charge of client computing. Microsoft happens to
      | do lots of business with Gartner and also happens to have a
      | client-software monopoly. We're guessing that Silver knows
      | Microsoft's products well and has direct involvement with the
      | company.
      |
      | And, sure enough, he appears a number of times on Microsoft's
      | own site and thousands of times in stories about Microsoft.
      |
      | Jim Murphy - wait for it - covers Microsoft too and is even more
      | prolific than Silver.
      |
      | [...]
      |
      | Part of the problem stems from the reticence of companies such as
      | IDC and Gartner to reveal their clients. That should make everyone
      | nervous, but it doesn't. So called objective technology publications
      | keep publishing material bought by vendors without telling you this.
      | They're also too lazy or scared to ignore the likes of Gartner and
      | IDC until the firms change their disclosure rules.
      |
      | As it turns out, there's a cottage industry devoted to Rob
      | Enderle, where Linux zealots fire off this form letter to editors
      | whenever Enderle appears talking about Microsoft. Perhaps the Linux
      | crowd could put its fabled collective mind toward creating letters
      | for all the major analysts. Lord knows, the Times could use
      | some help.
      `----

      http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/15/nytimes_ms_ban/

      Shill season

      ,----[ Quote ]
      | It's often difficult to figure out the motivation behind a particular
      | study - until one finds out who has commissioned and paid for it.
      | The so-called tech consulting companies would love it if the consumer
      | believes that they have conducted an "independent" study. The worrying
      | thing is that not many people blow their cover.
      `----

      http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/8109/1090/
  • superkendall, on 10/12/2007, -11/+4I have not used the final Vista release.

    But as for the other questions he asked - I own (and use daily) a 1st gen iPod, and I've used a Zune in the stores.

    Now it's a little unfair as the firmware has been updated a few times over the years - but if I had to choose between the Zune today and the 1st gen iPod, I'd still go with the iPod - I still like the scroll wheel more, and I find being able to store any files I like on the iPod indispensable.

    What has Apple done this year?

    * Actually made the Intel switch painless. I thought we'd see a lot more compatibility issues, but mostly - it Just Works. And even some people who use Photoshop a lot are satisfied with Rosetta performance on the Mac Pro. That is really, really amazing to me - and I think under-appreciated just how much work it took for no-one to notice it was exciting.

    As for other things:

    Aperture went from a program that a lot of people criticized to a program a lot of people loved, in short order with a great RAW conversion update that every program on the OS gets to take advantage of.

    Magsafe.

    General increase in marketshare with a great series of ads that people really respond to.

    Convinced the music companies to let Apple keep selling music at the same price for at least a few more years.

    Brought TV show resolution up to a watchable level in ITMS.

    It may not look like much, but it was a hard work to the place we are today to make things better for the consumer for at least a few years more. Apple has plenty of reason to be proud, while Microsoft did very little in the way of efforts to help the consumer - they rolled over on the three-play sharing thing, and also the fee-per-player thing that Universal will probably now seek from every other player on the market - goodbye Creative! Not to mention the overbearing activation requirements in Vista and lack of license support for VM instances, far from consumer friendly.

    What looks like standing still was Apple setting up a base for another push forward. What looks like Microsoft floundering is just that, and has set up very little of a base for them to move forward, even with the launch of Vista at hand. Microsoft has earned the jeers it gathers now.
    • sleepyness, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Intel switch painless my ass. A lot of third party stuff lagged behind Apple's Intel release of OSX. Making installers, etc, run like *****, or even not run at all.

      I think Adobe's RAW converter still has the edge over Aperture's, but of course why wouldn't Apple update Aperture seeing as the first version sucked massive balls.

      Magsafe connectors are soso, the one on my Macbook keeps falling off. They should of made it just a bit deeper. It pops off to easily...

      Their PC vs Mac ads are freaking annoying when they have it on their front page, there is no way to shut them up. That's some obnoxious marketing.

      The RIAA is greedy either way, they still make a decent amount of money off sales. The artists do not..

      TV show resolution should have started at 640x480 to begin with, 320x240 looks like *****.

      Microsoft's activation is pretty essential as they don't sell the hardware to go along with the software...think about it. If Apple only made OSX and it worked on all PCs, they'd have activation too, or else you'd see like a billion pirated copies of OSX for PCs. -.- The situation is different between Microsoft and Apple. Open your eyes and stop being retarded.
    • johlin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1@sleepyness: Exactly. Apple don't have to innovate, they are innovative by nature or at least so it seems.
  • starmanjones, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2na... i'm enjoying the i told you so's after all these years of telling... so. :D
  • Inara, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1Hmmm, let me think about that..... Nah.

    I love when people ask me what's wrong with their computer... "It's Windows".
  • alej744, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1No!
    Macs rule!
  • plgonzalez, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5In a word... NO.
  • Aleman360, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11Isn't it ironic that the biggest thing to happen to Macs in the last year is that they can now run Windows?
    • newbyx86, on 10/12/2007, -9/+9It is. Now I can get a quality laptop with a quality operating system on it.

      No, I don't mean OS X. ;). I mean XP or even Vista, which I'm using currently, and I must say, it blows OS X out of the water. I'm subjected to OS X use 5 hours out of the week minimum for school, and I hate it. I don't care if the core of OS X is Unix, I've got SUA (Subsystem for Unix Applications) (pre-Vista I think it's called SFU, check it out) in Windows. I love having a C Shell in Vista. It's like I never left Slackware.

      Article dugg. It's nice to see someone who claims to affiliate with the Mac fanbase coming to reality.
    • trylleklovn, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5@newbyx86

      If you hate OS X, then why the ***** did you buy a Mac?

      Those two statements indicates that your IQ is rather low.
    • newbyx86, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@ trylleklovn: I don't own a Mac. Learn to read. I have to use one at school in my mac lab. I said "I *can*" which means if I feel like it, I can get a Macbook Pro and install XP/Vista on it.

      @ cheeseboy001: I never tried my hardest to make Vista act like Linux. In fact, I like having compatibility with nearly every piece of hardware on the market. I also have automatic updates, and don't have to recompile my 2.6 kernel every day when a patch comes out.

      I just like having a C Shell, which beats cmd.exe. Something Windows could never do was provide a good shell (I don't think I'll get PowerShell when it's released) and Unix did that well.

      Thoughts, you two? You'll have to try harder than that. :)
  • mpancha, on 10/12/2007, -7/+4Wow .... one of the best articles I've read on a Mac site ever.

    Alexman360 >> I whole heartedly agree with you. One of the biggest things on a Mac these days, is they can run Windows. For some reason, that's is hailed as a huge achievement. Not that WindowsXP, out of box... can run on any Intel based Mac. Funny how that part is always skimmed over... the part that makes Windows king amongst all other options for Operating Systems.

    Apple may be nice and shiny, and next generation... and whatever other marketing term you want to call it. They still can't do what Windows has done since 3.1. Work on most pieces of hardware you throw at it. "All" windows has done is... get better at working on any piece of hardware currently available, and in many case old hardware long been available.... without a glitch.
  • jonathan4465, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5"The Ipod Shuffle is a jewel"

    Only a Mac Fanboy would pay $100 for an MP3 player that doesn't have a screen. For $25 less I can buy a Creative Zen Micro that has a color screen, voice recorder, AM/FM tuner and can also be used as a USB key storage device.

    I administer a Windows network for a living, and even I admit that Mac's have their place. We have Mac G5's on our network for desktop publishing (photoshop, Quark etc.) Yes, they are nice machines, but I'll never trade my custom built PC for a Mac. I'm a gamer, and I don't see CS Source, Day of Defeat, Half -Life2, FEAR Combat etc. etc. for the Mac.

    Mac Fanboy: "But what about booting Windows on a Mac? You can play those games then!"

    Try booting those games on a Mac with Boot Camp then joining a deathmatch at a LAN, it just doesnt work.

    One is not BETTER than the other, they just each have things they do better than the other. Get over it...
    • darkenigma, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5I'm going to have to disagree with your Boot Camp comment. I do home recording on a Mac Pro, but whenever I get the (daily) itch to play Battlefield 2142, a reboot is just a couple clicks away. Oh..... and the Mac Pro smokes my old home built PCs when it comes to gaming by far and that isn't even what I bought it for.
    • newbyx86, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Oh, say it isn't so, darkenigma! A new computer outperforming an old computer!
    • darkenigma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow. All sarcasm aside the point I was making was that a stock Mac was faster than a machine I built less than a year ago specifically for gaming purposes, but I don't like to write a book or give my life story on the internet.

      All people want are one sentence soundbites. I'll give it a whirl.....

      New Mac > New-ish PC.
      Your ego > My pride.
      Leopard > Vista.

      Dick.

  • Samtherocker, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7"Intel chips may be into every Mac but they have been into every PC for a long time, without anyone cheering or applauding innovation."

    Yeh... I think he forgot that the entire operating system and all Apple apps had to be ported to run on a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ARCHITECTURE! This has got to be pretty high up on the list of computing achievements. And as if that's not enough... on the way, Apple invented a way to create apps that could run on two completely different architectures and invented something that could translate (not sure if that's the technically correct word) PowerPC apps on the fly so that they could run almost normally on the new processor architecture!

    What has Apple done this year... A HELL OF A LOT a$$hole!
    • sleepyness, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8You may not know this..but every build of the old PPC versions had an internal Intel build, it just wasn't released to the public. They didn't just start porting it over recently. If they had just recently started, it would of taken them forever. Get off your high horse and get your facts straight.
    • OneAndOnlySnob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Darwin had existed for x86 since before OSX 10.0 came out. The ability to build apps for multiple architectures was practically there from 10.0 on. Most Cocoa apps, if designed well, can be rebuilt for a new CPU architecture without changing any code. If I recall correctly, the PPC emulator is something they bought from another company.

      Get over it. Apple really hasn't done much in the last year. That said, who cares. Why are they required to do something amazing every single year? Apple fans are fickle.
  • jonathan4465, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@darkenigma

    Right....
  • barthosch, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I'm not reading all that crap. Summarize it in one word!
  • rheaume, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Love them vanishing posts

    dig this down
  • HonoredMule, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Targeting a niche market fosters creativity and innovation, while Microsoft's wide audience and Linux's wide objectives mire them down. There's something seriously wrong if Apple ISN'T ahead of the curve. Also, Apple as a company tends to get an evaluation based on all they do, while Microsoft gets evaluated based on their OS. Granted, it's their cash cow, but they're radically more diverse than that, and while the OS MAY be getting a role shift (I don't find the popular direction hypotheses very believable or credible), Microsoft's forays into other markets over the last decade should suggest that they saw it coming, in some form.
  • 0KonTroL0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Give me a break. It is like saying coke is the worst beverage because it is the most popular. geez get a life people and find something constructive to do. Microsoft isn't "magnificent", but just admit it. It gets the job done for a lot of people.

    And yes, LINUX RULES.
  • Vermifax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Apple Forever. FTW!
  •  

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