Study: Leopard satisfaction driving "explosive" Mac sales

[AppleInsider]

High levels of customer satisfaction with Apple's new Leopard operating system are spurring "explosive sales" of the company's Mac computer line, a new consumer spending survey has revealed.

The survey of 4,604 ChangeWave Alliance members, conducted January 2-8, revealed 17 percent of respondents bought an Apple notebook over the past 90 days, up 3 full percentage points from the firm's previous survey this past November.

Meanwhile, Apple desktop purchases came in at 16 percent over the same time period, up 6 percentage points, likely driven by robust demand for the Cupertino-based firm's new line of glass and aluminum-clad iMac all-in-one systems.

"The results represent an astonishing leap for Apple among consumer PC purchasers over the holidays," ChangeWave wrote in its report. "Looking at the next 90 days, a third of planned PC buyers (33 percent; up 4-pts) say they’ll purchase an Apple notebook -- a new all-time high for the electronics giant."

At the same time, 29 percent of buyers say they’ll buy an Apple desktop, matching the same all-time high percentage reported by the firm in its November study.

According to the latest report, Apple also maintained its commanding lead in customer satisfaction when compared to other major PC manufacturers, with nearly four-in-five Apple buyers (79 percent) over the past 90 days saying they are Very Satisfied with their purchase. By comparison, the Mac maker's two biggest competitors -- Dell and Hewlett-Packard -- had 59 percent and 58 percent satisfaction ratings, respectively.



"It comes as no surprise that Apple sets the standard in terms of customer satisfaction," said Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave Research, "but there’s a new twist on why they’re outperforming the rest of the industry -- it’s the amazing customer satisfaction rating on Apple’s new Leopard OS."

Smith said that more than four-in-five Apple buyers (81 percent) said they were Very Satisfied with Leopard, which is "an exceptionally high rating" for a new operating system. This compares to 53 percent and 51 percent for Windows XP, and just 27 percent and 15 percent, respectively, for the Microsoft Vista systems.

The high customer satisfaction in Leopard not only dwarfs its competitors, but is also having a direct impact on consumer intentions to purchase an Apple Mac, Smith added.

The study revealed that more than one-in-four consumers (26 percent) say the Leopard OS is making them more likely to buy a Mac in the future.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[CREB]

I'd be a lot more satisfied if Apple would get off its duff and release the 10.5.2 update.

[polar315]

First time buyer and I am loving this machine. Kids spend more time on photo booth than anything else but, nice to be able to have fun with it. I am really enjoying iPhoto08 and iMovie06. Like seeing all my photos and movies for the first time...

Find that Safari has lots of https sites that it barfs on. Appears to be from an older security release but, glad i have the PC as a backup. Nice to have both...

[nevenmrgan]

Originally Posted by CREB

I'd be a lot more satisfied if Apple would get off its duff and release the 10.5.2 update.

I'm looking forward to this update as well, but your post is a good reminder of the fact that the kvetching that goes in in these forums is in no way representative of the experience most users out there have with their computers.

[physguy]

Originally Posted by polar315

First time buyer and I am loving this machine. Kids spend more time on photo booth than anything else but, nice to be able to have fun with it. I am really enjoying iPhoto08 and iMovie06. Like seeing all my photos and movies for the first time...

Find that Safari has lots of https sites that it barfs on. Appears to be from an older security release but, glad i have the PC as a backup. Nice to have both...

Just install Firefox as an alternate browser to deal with the MS standard centric sites.

[tacojohn]

Leopard is a good update, but it's not nearly as stabled as 10.4.9 or whatever I had before upgrading.

Also, there are lots and lots of compatibility problems using programs that haven't been updated for leopard...

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by CREB

I'd be a lot more satisfied if Apple would get off its duff and release the 10.5.2 update.

There was a new developer build released today. No word yet on what the differences are and it's stability.

I'm thinking that 10.5.2 will come out either next week or the week after as Leopard's Time Machine needs an update to work with Time Capsule.

Originally Posted by nevenmrgan

I'm looking forward to this update as well, but your post is a good reminder of the fact that the kvetching that goes in in these forums is in no way representative of the experience most users out there have with their computers.

True. I have been hating these forums this week. If this the way it's moving then i don't think I'll be around here next MacWorld. Effective immediately, this is my 360 day notice.

Originally Posted by polar315

First time buyer and I am loving this machine. Kids spend more time on photo booth than anything else but, nice to be able to have fun with it. I am really enjoying iPhoto08 and iMovie06. Like seeing all my photos and movies for the first time...

Find that Safari has lots of https sites that it barfs on. Appears to be from an older security release but, glad i have the PC as a backup. Nice to have both...

Have you tried Firefox for OS X? There is also an older veriosn of IE for Mac around. It may come in handy for those sites that require IE. It's much of an issue anymore with FF's marketshare so high, but there are still some gov't sites that require it.

What sites and what exactly are the problems you are having? There may a solution. MacOSXHints.com is a great resource for getting issues resolved. Here we just tend to argue with each other.

[CREB]

Originally Posted by nevenmrgan

I'm looking forward to this update as well, but your post is a good reminder of the fact that the kvetching that goes in in these forums is in no way representative of the experience most users out there have with their computers.

Not kvetching as 10.5.2 was supposed to introduce HP drivers through Apple's Software Update as adverted to by HP. To date, and since the release of Leopard I cannot properly use my HP LaserJet AIO as there are no drivers that make use of all its features. I have loaded the older HP software and it only bonks my system with anomalies when called upon to run my HP peripheral's features.

So if actually wanting to be able to use my HP LaserJet for business reasons is "kvetching" then perhaps you should take another look at matters—a matter where dollars and cents are being lost on my end. Oh the uninitiated...

[CREB]

Many AppleInsider threads appear to try to be driving Apple stocks prices...it looks like many people had their asses handed to them here just recently. I still love AppleInsider though.

Since I started with Apple's first Mac OS, I have seen many an Apple OS. Leopard still needs work (anyone who says differently is simply lying) albeit it is very promising.

[The Hedon]

Originally Posted by CREB

I'd be a lot more satisfied if Apple would get off its duff and release the 10.5.2 update.

Right, because Apple is just sitting there spanking it, not doing any work on the .2 update. I am sure that most of us Apple users want Apple to release a buggy update with not enough testing. That would just make our day.

Seriously, we don't want this released until it's ready. I am confident they are hard at work on the update.

And yes, every single OS in the world needs work.

[backtomac]

Originally Posted by polar315

Find that Safari has lots of https sites that it barfs on. Appears to be from an older security release but, glad i have the PC as a backup. Nice to have both...

I've run into that problem as well.

Good alternative son the Mac are firefox (as mentioned earlier) or Camino.

Camino is similar to firefox but looks and feels like a Mac app.

Camino is a free app that can be downloaded at the Apple website.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by The Hedon

Right, because Apple is just sitting there spanking it, not doing any work on the .2 update.

It's been a whole 63 days since 10.5.1 came out. They are obviously being lackadaisical about Leopard.

[The Hedon]

Originally Posted by solipsism

It's been a whole 63 days since 10.5.1 came out. They are obviously being lackadaisical about Leopard.

No wonder the stocks dropped. LOL.

[nofear1az]

Originally Posted by CREB

I'd be a lot more satisfied if Apple would get off its duff and release the 10.5.2 update.

are you serious? do you not think Apple is working on it... it'll be out as soon as it's ready, relax.

[Abster2core]

Originally Posted by CREB

Not kvetching as 10.5.2 was supposed to introduce HP drivers through Apple's Software Update as adverted to by HP. To date, and since the release of Leopard I cannot properly use my HP LaserJet AIO as there are no drivers that make use of all its features. I have loaded the older HP software and it only bonks my system with anomalies when called upon to run my HP peripheral's features.

So if actually wanting to be able to use my HP LaserJet for business reasons is "kvetching" then perhaps you should take another look at matters—a matter where dollars and cents are being lost on my end. Oh the uninitiated...

Why the heck don't you contact HP. Apple isn't responsible to find every friggin driver for every printer. Apple can't update them if HP doesn't supply them.

Perhaps you should look here and quit the crying. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301175 and if that isn't sufficient check out http://h41140.www4.hp.com/mac_connec...ch_special.pdf (it tells you where to go)

[physguy]

Originally Posted by solipsism

True. I have been hating these forums this week. If this the way it's moving then i don't think I'll be around here next MacWorld. Effective immediately, this is my 360 day notice.

Have to agree 100%. Its become very unbalanced.

Originally Posted by CREB

Since I started with Apple's first Mac OS, I have seen many an Apple OS. Leopard still needs work (anyone who says differently is simply lying) albeit it is very promising.

Like any software, it need work but I think the issues are that the features brought outweigh the shortcomings. I've very glad they didn't delay the release further. Time Machine has already saved me twice. The speed up of Mail and searching has also increased its usefulness to me. And built-in screen sharing, including through iChat, has saved me tons of support time. So pros far outweigh cons.

Again, improvement and fixes are needed but.....

[jasenj1]

Originally Posted by solipsism

What sites and what exactly are the problems you are having?

My internal corporate site crashes Safari reliably; I think it has something to do with the security keys. Firefox works mostly, though. We use some Cisco meeting software that a) Doesn't like Safari and b) When using Firefox says to use Safari 1.2 or greater.

RE: The stock price.
I _really_ hope random postings to a fanboi web forum don't really influence the price of Apple stock. That seems like a serious fairy tale delusion.

- Jasen.

P.S. I got burned (a little) by the sudden drop after the keynote. I'm holding on hoping for a big bump when the earnings report comes out.

[DCJ001]

Originally Posted by jasenj1

My internal corporate site crashes Safari reliably; I think it has something to do with the security keys. Firefox works mostly, though. We use some Cisco meeting software that a) Doesn't like Safari and b) When using Firefox says to use Safari 1.2 or greater.

I had periodic Safari crashes. Then I maxxed out my RAM for $80 at newegg.com and Safari crashes occur very infrequently now. There are a few offers that are similar, but here's the one that I used:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231135

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by polar315

Find that Safari has lots of https sites that it barfs on. Appears to be from an older security release but, glad i have the PC as a backup. Nice to have both...

polar315,

The problem is likely caused by a mismatch between the security level of the website (older) and the what the browser expects (newer).

I had this problem with Firefox and a the control panel at one of my webhosting companies.

For example, I got this message in Firefox "Firefox cannot connect securely because the site uses an older insecure version of the SSL protocol". That is because the default setting in Firefox is to NOT support insecurity. The problem and solution are described at http://tinyurl.com/2ooh2e in the Firefox knowledgebase. With Firefox I had to manually adjust my browser settings to accept the older protocol.

My guess is that Safari has the same behavior. The browser developers don't want to support protocols that can be exploited. And, webmasters were supposed to "get with it" and upgrade to the newer protocols.
What I don't know how to do is change Safari's behavior as I can with Firefox. I suspect that you cannot change Safari as Apple tries to make things easy and not complicated.

,dave

[melgross]

Originally Posted by CREB

Not kvetching as 10.5.2 was supposed to introduce HP drivers through Apple's Software Update as adverted to by HP. To date, and since the release of Leopard I cannot properly use my HP LaserJet AIO as there are no drivers that make use of all its features. I have loaded the older HP software and it only bonks my system with anomalies when called upon to run my HP peripheral's features.

So if actually wanting to be able to use my HP LaserJet for business reasons is "kvetching" then perhaps you should take another look at matters—a matter where dollars and cents are being lost on my end. Oh the uninitiated...

Funny, I have no problem with mine. What model do you have? I have an older CLJ 8500N, and except for more options with Leopard in the printer driver than I had before, there's nothing amiss.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by DCJ001

I had periodic Safari crashes. Then I maxxed out my RAM for $80 at newegg.com and Safari crashes occur very infrequently now. There are a few offers that are similar, but here's the one that I used:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231135

There were Safari crashes with the first beta of the new Adobe Flash plug-in, but they fixed that a while ago.

there is sometimes a crash of Safari when using Adobe Acrobat Professional CS3. But, otherwise, I've found this to be the most stable version (3.0.4) yet.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

polar315,

The problem is likely caused by a mismatch between the security level of the website (older) and the what the browser expects (newer).

I had this problem with Firefox and a the control panel at one of my webhosting companies.

For example, I got this message in Firefox "Firefox cannot connect securely because the site uses an older insecure version of the SSL protocol". That is because the default setting in Firefox is to NOT support insecurity. The problem and solution are described at http://tinyurl.com/2ooh2e in the Firefox knowledgebase. With Firefox I had to manually adjust my browser settings to accept the older protocol.

My guess is that Safari has the same behavior. The browser developers don't want to support protocols that can be exploited. And, webmasters were supposed to "get with it" and upgrade to the newer protocols.
What I don't know how to do is change Safari's behavior as I can with Firefox. I suspect that you cannot change Safari as Apple tries to make things easy and not complicated.

,dave

I find that most software that has a Pc background will let you adjust many parameters, whereas most Mac based software won't.

It seems as though security is truly not a big concern in the PC world, as it's always so easy to turn it off.

[Booga]

Originally Posted by CREB

Many AppleInsider threads appear to try to be driving Apple stocks prices...it looks like many people had their asses handed to them here just recently. I still love AppleInsider though.

Since I started with Apple's first Mac OS, I have seen many an Apple OS. Leopard still needs work (anyone who says differently is simply lying) albeit it is very promising.

Sigh. It is possible to have differing opinions without "lying". I have owned and used every single version of MacOS since System 4.2 on a Mac Plus. Leopard has a few bugs, but is easily the best experience of any version ever, for me. If you've been hit particularly hard by a bug I can see why your opinion might differ, but please refrain from calling me a liar.

[Mr Underhill]

Actually my recent experience is the opposite.

My brand new Macbook Pro 2.4GHz running Leopard has been very flaky. Screen freezes which 10.5.1 didn't fix, recently upgraded (or supposedly Leopard friendly) apps crashing, Mail going offline without explanation and the dreaded spinny beach ball from my G3/G4 years is back.

I've now re-installed Tiger until Apple release the biggy, then hopefully we can start again.

If i wasn't a veteran of 15 years of Apple and was a newbie, i'd be a very dissatisfied customer indeed.

Just to add to that, my new 3rd gen iPod has gone back twice through lock-up failures and now my iPod Touch's Safari browser won't respond to certain touch commands since the recent update.

But i still love em!!

[jragosta]

Originally Posted by Mr Underhill

Actually my recent experience is the opposite.

My brand new Macbook Pro 2.4GHz running Leopard has been very flaky. Screen freezes which 10.5.1 didn't fix, recently upgraded (or supposedly Leopard friendly) apps crashing, Mail going offline without explanation and the dreaded spinny beach ball from my G3/G4 years is back.

How did you install Leopard? Quite a few people found that an 'upgrade' install caused a few problems, but when they did 'erase and install', things got better. If you have a separate hard drive to clone your old system to, you can use the migration assistant to move the data.

It may not work for everyone, but it helped for some - if you want to try Leopard again.

Personally, I don't think I'd bother. There aren't all that many 'must haves' in Leopard for my taste.

[anantksundaram]

Even I was surprised by the kvetching in the past few days, but on balance, I have to agree with the poster above (paraphrasing) that we have to take the good with the bad.

And, AI is still one of the best around. I am glad I found this community.

Couple of additional points:

1) For the record, I am **thrilled** with this year's product (and improvement) announcements. I will be buying @TV (40GB), TC (1TB), and the MBA over the next year, for sure.

2) For those suffering some angst on the MBA, I highly recommend Pogue today: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/te...h/17pogue.html

3) People complaining about the stock price are probably day-trader/short-termer types completely missing the fact that Apple ran up over 135% from the '07MWSF to the pre-'08MWSF peak, and despite the drop of 20% from that peak, the stock is still up nearly 90% from the price the day before last year's keynote. If they don't have the faith, then they should sell and move on. But here's some random comparisons of price gains (% change from day before '07MWSF to today):

Apple: +88%

MSFT: +8%
Intel: -11%
Palm: -62%
Nokia: +69%
Adobe: -11%
Citi: -54%

Dow: -3%
S&P: -7%
Nasdaq: -6%

Get a grip, folks!

[TBaggins]

Originally Posted by melgross

there is sometimes a crash of Safari when using Adobe Acrobat Professional CS3. But, otherwise, I've found this to be the most stable version (3.0.4) yet.

Unfortunately, for me, Safari is still crashing occassionally, and is beach-balling pretty often. I have 3.0.4.

Am looking forward to 3.0.5. But maybe more importantly, I'm waiting for Firefox 3, which isn't far off at all (they're already at beta 2, last I checked).

I love Safari's speed (when it isn't beach-balling for 30-60 seconds), but its definitely given me more hassles than I would've liked.


.

[Ronbo]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

Even I was surprised by the kvetching in the past few days, but on balance, I have to agree with the poster above (paraphrasing) that we have to take the good with the bad.

And, AI is still one of the best around. I am glad I found this community.

Couple of additional points:

1) For the record, I am **thrilled** with this year's product (and improvement) announcements. I will be buying @TV (40GB), TC (1TB), and the MBA over the next year, for sure.

2) For those suffering some angst on the MBA, I highly recommend Pogue today: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/te...h/17pogue.html

3) People complaining about the stock price are probably day-trader/short-termer types completely missing the fact that Apple ran up over 135% from the '07MWSF to the pre-'08MWSF peak, and despite the drop of 20% from that peak, the stock is still up nearly 90% from the price the day before last year's keynote. If they don't have the faith, then they should sell and move on. But here's some random comparisons of price gains (% change from day before '07MWSF to today):

Apple: +88%

MSFT: +8%
Intel: -11%
Palm: -62%
Nokia: +69%
Adobe: -11%
Citi: -54%

Dow: -3%
S&P: -7%
Nasdaq: -6%

Get a grip, folks!

QFT. Great post.

[jamiec]

What's particularly interesting here is not that OS X satisfaction is so high, it's that Vista satisfaction is so astoundingly low -- particularly considering that these are ratings based on NEW machines that meet or exceed the recommended requirements for Vista. Even when we throw out the ratings for Home Basic (which was intentionally designed by Microsoft to suck), it is amazing to me that Vista can't muster HALF the satisfaction rating of the more than six-year-old XP.

Imagine for a moment a bizarro world where System 9.2.2 was still kicking around (with Service Release 2, of course), and users were STILL more than twice as likely to be satisfied with it as they were with OS X.

Would you even want to own a Mac?

Would anyone?

[melgross]

Originally Posted by TBaggins

Unfortunately, for me, Safari is still crashing occassionally, and is beach-balling pretty often. I have 3.0.4.

Am looking forward to 3.0.5. But maybe more importantly, I'm waiting for Firefox 3, which isn't far off at all (they're already at beta 2, last I checked).

I love Safari's speed (when it isn't beach-balling for 30-60 seconds), but its definitely given me more hassles than I would've liked.


.

Just goes to show that each machine is different. All this depends on the other software available, the particular hardware, and even the setting of the prefs.

[Abster2core]

Originally Posted by melgross

Just goes to show that each machine is different. All this depends on the other software available, the particular hardware, and even the setting of the prefs.

Yep, and then there are those who will never say anything nice about Apple…

[lkrupp]

Interesting how selective people are in their acceptance or rejection of polls, studies, and analyses. If a study like this one says users are happy with Leopard it is immediately pounced upon by those who have already decided Leopard is crap, like this little tidbit from an earlier post ("Leopard still needs work (anyone who says differently is simply lying))" Wow what a statement!

Most Mac centric forums have become totally useless for discussion. It's like the Democrats and the Republicans. It's not about discussion or compromise. It's about totally destroying anyone who disagrees with their vision of the truth no matter what.

Leopard is great! Anyone who disagrees is an idiot.
Leopard is crap! Anyone who disagrees is stupid.
The MacBook Air is doomed to fail! Anyone who thinks otherwise is hopeless fanboy!
The MacBook Air will sell millions! Anyone who thinks otherwise is a troll!

[TBaggins]

Originally Posted by Abster2core

Yep, and then there are those who will never say anything nice about Apple…

If you're referring to me specifically... oh please. I'm typing this on my girlfriend's MacBook.... a Mac she got largely due to my urging. She had been considering a PC.

I've gotten several ppl on the Mac over the years. So, I think I don't have to smooch Steve's butt TOO damn much when I post on a forum, and can tell it like it is. Thanks.


.

[Abster2core]

Originally Posted by TBaggins

If you're referring to me specifically...

Nope!

[TBaggins]

Originally Posted by Abster2core

Nope!

Outstanding.


.

[guinness]

Originally Posted by jamiec

What's particularly interesting here is not that OS X satisfaction is so high, it's that Vista satisfaction is so astoundingly low -- particularly considering that these are ratings based on NEW machines that meet or exceed the recommended requirements for Vista. Even when we throw out the ratings for Home Basic (which was intentionally designed by Microsoft to suck), it is amazing to me that Vista can't muster HALF the satisfaction rating of the more than six-year-old XP.

Imagine for a moment a bizarro world where System 9.2.2 was still kicking around (with Service Release 2, of course), and users were STILL more than twice as likely to be satisfied with it as they were with OS X.

Would you even want to own a Mac?

Would anyone?

Not really - depends on the questions asked, who asked them, and the types of people polled. You could pull a bunch of Apple users, and get negative opinions of Microsoft, but it would statistically biased, and you could derive all sorts of conclusions from it. Same goes in reverse.

But I find more statistics bullshit to begin with, ever since I read "How to Lie with Statistics", which was written back in the 1950's. Or at least I see things from a more cynical view because of it.

I could tell you that, for myself, upgrading from Tiger to Leopard was absolutely terrible, whereas the clean install was fine. But I've upgraded other computers from Tiger, and it went off with a hitch. I've even upgraded Windows machines, which when fine, but never works for me.

Luck of the draw I suppose.

And as for Vista, the betas where terrible, but the final build was fine, and the RC betas of SP1 are even better.

My overall experiences with Vista and Leopard have been positive. Only driver issue I've had with Vista was my old scanner, and Nvidia drivers sometime early last year. Leopard loves to not pick up my Bluetooth mouse when I start up my Mini, and it's annoying as hell, but that's really about it.

The problem with Vista is a) 5 years for this, over XP, b) negative word of mouth, mainly due to piss poor drivers, although Leopard is not immune from all those troubles either, and c) 1 GB minimum RAM requirement. CPU doesn't seem to factor much, but it takes a lot memory to run well.

And as for Leopard, seeing as some users are clamoring for 10.5.2, it might have been rushed out of the gate too.

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by guinness

Not really - depends on the questions asked, who asked them, and the types of people polled. You could pull a bunch of Apple users, and get negative opinions of Microsoft, but it would statistically biased, and you could derive all sorts of conclusions from it. Same goes in reverse.

But I find more statistics bullshit to begin with, ever since I read "How to Lie with Statistics", which was written back in the 1950's. Or at least I see things from a more cynical view because of it.
.......
And as for Vista, the betas where terrible, but the final build was fine, .......
My overall experiences with Vista and Leopard have been positive. ......
The problem with Vista is a) 5 years for this, over XP, b) negative word of mouth, mainly due to piss poor drivers, ........
And as for Leopard, seeing as some users are clamoring for 10.5.2, it might have been rushed out of the gate too.

Here you are, lecturing people on "polling" and statistics being "bullshit," and in the same post, you say "some" users clamoring might suggest it has "been rushed out of the gate"?

Your post sounds to me like (Quote) 'bullshit' (Unquote).

[melgross]

Originally Posted by lkrupp

Interesting how selective people are in their acceptance or rejection of polls, studies, and analyses. If a study like this one says users are happy with Leopard it is immediately pounced upon by those who have already decided Leopard is crap, like this little tidbit from an earlier post ("Leopard still needs work (anyone who says differently is simply lying))" Wow what a statement!

Most Mac centric forums have become totally useless for discussion. It's like the Democrats and the Republicans. It's not about discussion or compromise. It's about totally destroying anyone who disagrees with their vision of the truth no matter what.

Leopard is great! Anyone who disagrees is an idiot.
Leopard is crap! Anyone who disagrees is stupid.
The MacBook Air is doomed to fail! Anyone who thinks otherwise is hopeless fanboy!
The MacBook Air will sell millions! Anyone who thinks otherwise is a troll!

If 100% of people were very satisfied about something, I would think that the question was biased in such as way as to force that answer.

81% is pretty good. I wouldn't argue with it.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by melgross

81% is pretty good. I wouldn't argue with it.

Even that number seems uncommonly high.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by guinness

Not really - depends on the questions asked, who asked them, and the types of people polled. You could pull a bunch of Apple users, and get negative opinions of Microsoft, but it would statistically biased, and you could derive all sorts of conclusions from it. Same goes in reverse.

But I find more statistics bullshit to begin with, ever since I read "How to Lie with Statistics", which was written back in the 1950's. Or at least I see things from a more cynical view because of it.

I could tell you that, for myself, upgrading from Tiger to Leopard was absolutely terrible, whereas the clean install was fine. But I've upgraded other computers from Tiger, and it went off with a hitch. I've even upgraded Windows machines, which when fine, but never works for me.

Luck of the draw I suppose.

And as for Vista, the betas where terrible, but the final build was fine, and the RC betas of SP1 are even better.

My overall experiences with Vista and Leopard have been positive. Only driver issue I've had with Vista was my old scanner, and Nvidia drivers sometime early last year. Leopard loves to not pick up my Bluetooth mouse when I start up my Mini, and it's annoying as hell, but that's really about it.

The problem with Vista is a) 5 years for this, over XP, b) negative word of mouth, mainly due to piss poor drivers, although Leopard is not immune from all those troubles either, and c) 1 GB minimum RAM requirement. CPU doesn't seem to factor much, but it takes a lot memory to run well.

And as for Leopard, seeing as some users are clamoring for 10.5.2, it might have been rushed out of the gate too.

The only time statistics lie is when some intend for it to, or some error has been made.

Most of the time statistics are fine.