It doesn't matter when they release this. Apple is ahead on many areas of the OS war already. Redmond, start your copiers for Windows 8!
Correct in many ways. BUT OSX is a decade behind Windows Vista/7 in regards to handwriting recognition...something which I use on a daily basis to input Japanese. OSX's handwriting recognition is an absolute embarrassment.
hey Ouragan, are you really an MS fanboi, or just putting us on with that silly stuff?
it ain't 1995 no more. the platform of the future is mobile, not desktop, and Win Mobile is dead man walking. if iPhone OS X, RIM, Palm, or Android don't kill it, Symbian finally will. talk market share about that ...
If someone wants to reduce the border around the window in aero- right click the destop, choose personalize, click where you change the colour (window colour), advanced setting, you are presented with a drop down menu. The border padding is the one you want to reduce. The 'x' minimize and maximize gets smaller as well.
You can change the font and colour text in the titlebar from here.
Thank you. I was clicking on the window border, which is already at it's minimum '1'. I didn't know about there was a Border Padding hiding in there.
Now if Windows could get on screen display of fonts to look better. All the cleartype settings are just variations of still not quite right. Maybe Microsoft could hire an Apple employee or two since Apple just picked up 2 AMD and 1 MS employee.
Ive been a windows and mac kid my whole life. Ive run both and enjoyed some of windows stuff.
Win 7 is NICE. I really have enjoyed it from day one, much better than testing Vista. Its not even fair to compare Win7 to Vista, but sadly Vista did come to existance. While I am much happier with OS X, I wouldnt discredit Win 7 too much. The beta was solid and its only getting better. I dont foresee this to take back the lost windows users, but I do see this helping keep the cutomers. I hope this one is successful and lasts as long as XP.
I have been a windows and mac user all my life and I have never ever enjoyed using Windows. I was forced to use it.
Microsoft has a winner in the sense they're giving Apple a run for their money. Microsoft are really playing catchup and learning a LOT from Vista. When Vista came out, they still had the vision of XP times - that Apple wasn't a competitor and anything Microsoft released would be an instant hit.
Not true now and it seems MS knows it.
Personally I find Snow Leopard great to use, but certainly unpolished and in dire need of it. QuickTime X for example - YUK! The concepts there... but they desperately need to get some polish on that thing.
Microsoft has done great work in the plastic surgery on Vista to make it quite good, and their OS is adapting well to the new touch paradigm they're hoping will take the world by storm. It won't, but Bill Gates isn't practical, he's damn ignorant, and his ignorance is still the figurehead of MS. They're doing a good job of working with that though.
Apple needs to do what they promised at the beginning. Nothing new. Just polish.
Lets hope they work fast and bring Snow Leopard to the table without bringing bugs galore and without making their OS a fugly mess... QuickTime X especially.
Windows 7 can be the most awesome MS upgrade in the history of mankind, it doesn't matter to me. I will never ever use Windows again.
Don't get me wrong, Tauron, I would never switch back to being an everyday winblows user. I love the Mac. The point I'm making is that Microsoft is playing a lot of catchup and fast. Apple needs to work hard at keeping their platform out in front.
I'm not putting down anything on Snow Leopard. They just need to work hard to get SL really purring really well...
By all accounts, I don't see Win7 as actually adding value to PCs. It'll sell "because it's Windows" and not for any other real reason. Microsoft has already done enough damage to itself through its products and its marketing. They've lost a reasonable amount of consumer confidence, but they're nowhere near to feeling the pinch yet, let alone hurting.
However, if you really want to get inside the skull of Microsoft, just look at the business decisions they've been making lately. It's clear they're scared of Apple and F/OSS simply because they've either tried to attack them or they've been trying to appeal to those who use those products (or might be potentially lured by them). And you've got that jack-a-napes Ballmer for a CEO who is a complete idiot. Doesn't mean Apple, F/OSS and the rest of us shouldn't fear him at all, but it does mean we need to see him for what he is, and get on with our lives accordingly.
It would be great to see Apple compete with PCs, but the timing here is everything. The last thing I think Apple should do is to allow it to look like they dropped their prices because Microsoft said it would be a good idea. That makes them come off as not "better" so much as "knowingly over-priced". Now, make what arguments you will about being "under-spec'd" or "under-featured" or "over-priced" but you can't argue with the success Apple has had in selling their hardware, which of course is really just a platform for them to sell their OS.
So basically Microsoft is where it should have been two years ago.
Apple's main advantage with SL will be performance. Grand Central, OpenCL and a full 64-bit OS will fly once applications have been released to support these features.
Apple will be ahead of Microsoft in 64-bit computing for a while as Apple's implementation is a lot more seamless. Users won't even notice the transition, which is how it should be. It just sucks that the first Intel machines were 32-bit as that was a step backwards and they'll still need to support them for the next couple of years.
It seems Windows 7 will be a decent release. But it won't be Windows 95. Time has changed since 1995 and it will never turn back.
A decade ago everybody believed that Microsoft can do whatever they want. They were able to kill a competitor just by announcing that they are going to enter a new market. By 1998 just about any tech company was struggling to be recognized as a Microsoft partner of some sort. Some analysts were predicting that a decade later there will be no other OSes on the market.
Everything is different now. Microsoft feels strong competition on all fronts. Their expansion is over and even their main territory is in danger. With Google, iPod and iPhone Microsoft met it's Stalingrad. Whether they are in a strategic retreat right now or they are already loosing the war remains to be seen.
A feature-by-feature comparison may show that Windows 7 or Mac OS X Leopard is better, depending on who you ask. No matter who is the winer this time around, I think that the big picture shows Apple's advantage:
- With Vista, Microsoft set the base for the next decade for Windows development (or, considering the their development pace, more like two decades). Windows 7 is the completed implementation of the first release. Leopard marks an end of the first Mac OS life cycle. Although SL is publicly downplayed as a featureless polishing/improvement of Leopard, it is the first release which starts a gradual move towards the next-generation OS (some technologies showed up in Leopard in their prenatal development). I think that Apple has a clear strategy for the future now but Microsoft does not. They are just "adding features". The problem with "adding features" approach is that it may turn into "adding patches" approach pretty soon.
- One of the most important aspects of Apple approach is inter-application integration as well as providing it's developers very a friendly access to the OS features. The way you add or open a picture, movie or an audio in Leopard remains almost unnoticed. From the media tab of the open dialog you can access your iPhoto, Photo Booth, iMovie, iTunes, Garage Band and Aperture library, along with smart folders, events or whatever arrangement you made in the respective app. This is available for all third-party applications. I mean not only the availability of the Media group in the open dialog but also the ability to add third-party application to the list, along with it's custom way of presenting and organizing it's content. Same for automatic address and date recognition etc. Many of those features, along with the time machine, are an actual implementation of the much-touted a couple of years ago (before Microsoft gave-up on this idea, that is) "Database filesystem". I mean, how many of you access or search a photo by it's file name?
- Contrary to the popular believe a decade ago, Apple showed that for the mobile devices device/OS integration approach is by far superior to the generic runs-on-every-box approach. Even the mobile OS vendors that want to have wide hardware support try to build a showcase device that features this kind of integration. There are signs that Apple is going to push a hardware/OS integration on computer platforms to a new level during the next decade.
- For more than a decade Microsoft struggled to get Windows everywhere - on computer boxes, big-iron machines, handheld devices, cash vending machines, you name it. The idea was to put the familiar brand everywhere and in many cases the brand was almost the only thing in common. They importance of seamless integration was left unnoticed by Microsoft, however. Today, Linux pushed Microsoft away from the embedded market and Apple is on its way to capture a significant part of what is left on consumer side. That is, to get where Microsoft wanted to be. The iPod and iPhone were a smashing success against Microsoft. No mater how hard Balmer tries to downplay the iPod "over-saturated" market, it needs to keep shrinking for a decade to get to the size of the presumably successful Xbox, especially in terms of profits. Wait, but there is those iPod touch thingy. Ouch!
- Apple has a very flexible codebase. The processor platform independency of this codebase was tested and polished by a couple of successful transitions (Intel -> PPC of the original NEXT code then PPC -> Intel for the MAc OS). With Snow Leopard, Apple is extending multiprocessor/multicore and GPGPU support and more. The important part of Apple's approach is that it abstracts the nature and specific capabilities of the hardware from the code. Figuratively speaking, Apple is building the outlets for any new technology which could be plugged in. The best thing Apple can pray for is a major breakthrough in non-Intel compatible processor technology including any kind of co-processors. Microsoft will need 0.5 - 1 decade to adopt. Apple will be done in 1.5-2 years.
- Related to the point above, from the other side of the table. A decade ago promising processors died without Windows support. Linux was late for the rescue. The widespread assumption within the industry was "No Windows" == "No Future". Not true anymore.
Note the air story selling for $999 and it's stillnover priced. Apple rapes you anyway they can as they could use non EEC memory I'd i7 chips but do not so they can have these huge margins.
All of this will change though and I am seeing proof all the time. I talk about apple prices, get flammed then apple sells the air for $999, a vendor anyway. Ha ha LOL.
The thing applenhas to worry about is:
A) Millions of iPhone users with expired contracts soon and the palm pre, maybe
unlike vista, win 7 is becoming adored by IT departments which means upgrades, upgrades, upgrades and all the mom, boys, and girls that work in an office will go from XP to win 7. This will be much bigger than vista as many corprate still use XP. Personally, it's better than vista but could still uses few things. I enjoy the mac more but win 7will be a lot larger than apple fans probably believe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ouragan
Price will stop Apple. Price has led to a 4% Mac world market share.
BTW, Microsoft is the largest Mac software developper outside of Apple. Like every developper, it is provided with regular seeds of Mac OS X. To say that Microsoft is unaware of Mac OS X Snow Leopard's features is a stretch.
IMO, Microsoft knows all that it needs to know about Mac OS X or Snow Leopard, including that price matters.
I agree. Windows 7 on Core i7 computers will be the new Windows 95. Apple will be slaughtered, once more.
Apple's greed and contempt for the "not made in Cupertino" will be its demise.
Most buyers don't accept a $500 or $800 price premium for Macs. And most buyers want a quad-core desktop or quad-core mobile CPU with more RAM for a lower price than an outdated, lower spec, slower, dual-core mobile CPU iMac with a relective glass screen.
There is only so much that Mac OS X can do for Apple. Macs must be competitive when comparing price, performance and features. Price, performance and features matter to most buyers.
OS X is a far more refined operating system than Windows will ever be. However Microsoft are hardly going to be 'squaring off against Snow Leopard'. Windows 7 will ship more copies and be installed on more systems than Apple can make in a year and thats just a fact of life.
So far all of the big OEM's have stated that they are impressed with the performance of Windows 7 from Netbooks to Workstations and if Microsoft is doing an October Launch you can bet that all new dells will be shipping Windows 7 Ready from mid August onwards and offering the Windows 7 free upgrade for purchasers.
Regardless of how good or bad Windows 7 is it will ship many many more copies than Vista did at its launch purely down to the marketshare of PC's out there.
Does Apple care? Probably not. Snow Leopard is OSX Optimised. The next big leap will come a couple of years down the road.
(I have been running Windows 7 on my wifes Acer One netbook with no issues since the public Beta. She doesn't really see any difference between it and XP and she is a classic example of an average PC user.)
In the end, most buyers look at what they can get for their money.
From Staples' weekly flyer, here's what you get for $999.95 Canadian dollars:
One HP Pavilion Elite computer with:
+ Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 quad-core desktop CPU;
+ 4 GB RAM;
+ 500 GB Hard drive;
+ 802.11n wireless network;
+ Blu-Ray drive for High definition;
+ TV tuner;
+ keyboard and mouse; and
One HP 21.5 inch liquid crystal monitor; and
One all in one HP printer-scanner-copier.
Staples is an office supply store with branches in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. Check their web site if you didn't get their flyer.
In the end, Windows 7 may not be such a deciding factor in buying a new computer. Price will determine what buyers want.
P.S.: I'm pretty sure that HP didn't pay $2 billions in stock option bonuses to its senior management.
It is not that simple.
If one needs to by something for a one man company the configuration above is a good choice. But when one buys a computer to manage his digital life it may not look that compelling.
How I would look at this configuration:
+ Intel Core 2 Quad - good! I like more speed!
+ 500 GB Hard drive; + 802.11n wireless network; - that's OK. Nothing to write home about, though.
+ Blu-Ray drive for High definition; - I don't care (honestly!). May be in 2-3 years I will, but right now - NO! It is not clear if that thingy can write, but my last pack of 50 pcs DVD media was bought 2 years ago and sits largely unused in a cabinet. I am making backups on an external hard drive and saving temporary stuff to a USB stick, using MobileMe or yousendit for sending large files.
+ TV tuner; - I don't care. I am not watching or going to watch TV on my computer. I am not that big TV fan. Even when I do watch TV, I prefer the large screen. And when there are no friends or family watching with me, I am sitting with my laptop browsing the net in front of the said TV.
+ keyboard and mouse; and - yes, sure!
+ One HP 21.5 inch liquid crystal monitor; - good, is this a decent one or a piece of crap you will want to replace?
+ One all in one HP printer-scanner-copier - I kind of dislike those all in one devices, and I already have a printer and scanner anyway.
Let me see what I want:
- does it run iPhoto?
- does it run Aperture?
- how well the mail, calendar, contacts and photo library will integrate with my iPhone?
And yes, the aesthetics and emotional part: does this piece of hardware make me want it?
Don't get me wrong. I am not rich, and I may think: FU you Apple, couldn't you make something as affordable as this? But I will not by the above configuration.
I think that the average computer user is not illiterate these days and knows what he or she is looking for. And it definitely does not boil down to the price tag only. These was more or less the case when the people thought that ALL computers run Windows and you only need to choose a lowest price for a max clock speed. Not true anymore.
Note the air story selling for $999 and it's stillnover priced.
No it is not. Mac OSX leopard makes your mac run with the efficiency of a 2x8-core overclocked monster with dual graphics card and 1 TB of RAM.
Windows, on the other hand, can make a supercomputer run like an abacus just for the sheer amount of time that is wasted getting rid of viruses and bloatware.
In the end, most buyers look at what they can get for their money.
From Staples' weekly flyer, here's what you get for $999.95 Canadian dollars:
One HP Pavilion Elite computer with:
+ Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 quad-core desktop CPU;
+ 4 GB RAM;
+ 500 GB Hard drive;
+ 802.11n wireless network;
+ Blu-Ray drive for High definition;
+ TV tuner;
+ keyboard and mouse; and
One HP 21.5 inch liquid crystal monitor; and
One all in one HP printer-scanner-copier.
Staples is an office supply store with branches in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. Check their web site if you didn't get their flyer.
In the end, Windows 7 may not be such a deciding factor in buying a new computer. Price will determine what buyers want.
P.S.: I'm pretty sure that HP didn't pay $2 billions in stock option bonuses to its senior management.
That is because 99% of consumers are stupid. I would rather have a last gen mac MINI running leopard than a computer 2-times better than what you described running any winblows OS.
Don't get me wrong, Tauron, I would never switch back to being an everyday winblows user. I love the Mac. The point I'm making is that Microsoft is playing a lot of catchup and fast. Apple needs to work hard at keeping their platform out in front.
I'm not putting down anything on Snow Leopard. They just need to work hard to get SL really purring really well...
For the average joe consumer yes. To me, the only way MS could play catchup is if they completely burned windows and started with a completely new OS concept from scratch employing new engineers. Otherwise it is lipstick on a pig all over again. I don't care how many problems they say they have fixed. In the end it is Windows and it has fundamental flaws that are deal breaking and they will never be able to fix.
The Mac had a perfect storm the last few years - the unpopularity of Vista combined with a roaring economy, so people can afford a bit nicer computer.
Things are a bit different now - Windows 7 is better than Windows 6, and people's standard of living has fallen a bit. It will be hard slog for a while.
The Mac had a perfect storm the last few years - the unpopularity of Vista combined with a roaring economy, so people can afford a bit nicer computer.
Things are a bit different now - Windows 7 is better than Windows 6, and people's standard of living has fallen a bit. It will be hard slog for a while.
Windows 6? I guess you are talking about Vista, even though it's not called that. If you are right people just won't upgrade, who really wants to spend $300 on a OS upgrade which is just going to give them hell and not actually allow them to anything more than what they can currently do?
Vista users will be the most irritated since they will be paying for basically bugs fixes.
Comments
It doesn't matter when they release this. Apple is ahead on many areas of the OS war already. Redmond, start your copiers for Windows 8!
Correct in many ways. BUT OSX is a decade behind Windows Vista/7 in regards to handwriting recognition...something which I use on a daily basis to input Japanese. OSX's handwriting recognition is an absolute embarrassment.
it ain't 1995 no more. the platform of the future is mobile, not desktop, and Win Mobile is dead man walking. if iPhone OS X, RIM, Palm, or Android don't kill it, Symbian finally will. talk market share about that ...
How the hell is Windows 7 going to "square off" versus Snow Leopard?
If someone wants to reduce the border around the window in aero- right click the destop, choose personalize, click where you change the colour (window colour), advanced setting, you are presented with a drop down menu. The border padding is the one you want to reduce. The 'x' minimize and maximize gets smaller as well.
You can change the font and colour text in the titlebar from here.
Thank you. I was clicking on the window border, which is already at it's minimum '1'. I didn't know about there was a Border Padding hiding in there.
Now if Windows could get on screen display of fonts to look better. All the cleartype settings are just variations of still not quite right. Maybe Microsoft could hire an Apple employee or two since Apple just picked up 2 AMD and 1 MS employee.
Ive been a windows and mac kid my whole life. Ive run both and enjoyed some of windows stuff.
Win 7 is NICE. I really have enjoyed it from day one, much better than testing Vista. Its not even fair to compare Win7 to Vista, but sadly Vista did come to existance. While I am much happier with OS X, I wouldnt discredit Win 7 too much. The beta was solid and its only getting better. I dont foresee this to take back the lost windows users, but I do see this helping keep the cutomers. I hope this one is successful and lasts as long as XP.
I have been a windows and mac user all my life and I have never ever enjoyed using Windows. I was forced to use it.
Personally, I have access to both betas.
Microsoft has a winner in the sense they're giving Apple a run for their money. Microsoft are really playing catchup and learning a LOT from Vista. When Vista came out, they still had the vision of XP times - that Apple wasn't a competitor and anything Microsoft released would be an instant hit.
Not true now and it seems MS knows it.
Personally I find Snow Leopard great to use, but certainly unpolished and in dire need of it. QuickTime X for example - YUK! The concepts there... but they desperately need to get some polish on that thing.
Microsoft has done great work in the plastic surgery on Vista to make it quite good, and their OS is adapting well to the new touch paradigm they're hoping will take the world by storm. It won't, but Bill Gates isn't practical, he's damn ignorant, and his ignorance is still the figurehead of MS. They're doing a good job of working with that though.
Apple needs to do what they promised at the beginning. Nothing new. Just polish.
Lets hope they work fast and bring Snow Leopard to the table without bringing bugs galore and without making their OS a fugly mess... QuickTime X especially.
Windows 7 can be the most awesome MS upgrade in the history of mankind, it doesn't matter to me. I will never ever use Windows again.
I'm not putting down anything on Snow Leopard. They just need to work hard to get SL really purring really well...
However, if you really want to get inside the skull of Microsoft, just look at the business decisions they've been making lately. It's clear they're scared of Apple and F/OSS simply because they've either tried to attack them or they've been trying to appeal to those who use those products (or might be potentially lured by them). And you've got that jack-a-napes Ballmer for a CEO who is a complete idiot. Doesn't mean Apple, F/OSS and the rest of us shouldn't fear him at all, but it does mean we need to see him for what he is, and get on with our lives accordingly.
It would be great to see Apple compete with PCs, but the timing here is everything. The last thing I think Apple should do is to allow it to look like they dropped their prices because Microsoft said it would be a good idea. That makes them come off as not "better" so much as "knowingly over-priced". Now, make what arguments you will about being "under-spec'd" or "under-featured" or "over-priced" but you can't argue with the success Apple has had in selling their hardware, which of course is really just a platform for them to sell their OS.
"Always in motion is the future." -- Yoda
From Staples' weekly flyer, here's what you get for $999.95 Canadian dollars:
One HP Pavilion Elite computer with:
+ Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 quad-core desktop CPU;
+ 4 GB RAM;
+ 500 GB Hard drive;
+ 802.11n wireless network;
+ Blu-Ray drive for High definition;
+ TV tuner;
+ keyboard and mouse; and
One HP 21.5 inch liquid crystal monitor; and
One all in one HP printer-scanner-copier.
Staples is an office supply store with branches in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. Check their web site if you didn't get their flyer.
In the end, Windows 7 may not be such a deciding factor in buying a new computer. Price will determine what buyers want.
P.S.: I'm pretty sure that HP didn't pay $2 billions in stock option bonuses to its senior management.
Apple's main advantage with SL will be performance. Grand Central, OpenCL and a full 64-bit OS will fly once applications have been released to support these features.
Apple will be ahead of Microsoft in 64-bit computing for a while as Apple's implementation is a lot more seamless. Users won't even notice the transition, which is how it should be. It just sucks that the first Intel machines were 32-bit as that was a step backwards and they'll still need to support them for the next couple of years.
A decade ago everybody believed that Microsoft can do whatever they want. They were able to kill a competitor just by announcing that they are going to enter a new market. By 1998 just about any tech company was struggling to be recognized as a Microsoft partner of some sort. Some analysts were predicting that a decade later there will be no other OSes on the market.
Everything is different now. Microsoft feels strong competition on all fronts. Their expansion is over and even their main territory is in danger. With Google, iPod and iPhone Microsoft met it's Stalingrad. Whether they are in a strategic retreat right now or they are already loosing the war remains to be seen.
A feature-by-feature comparison may show that Windows 7 or Mac OS X Leopard is better, depending on who you ask. No matter who is the winer this time around, I think that the big picture shows Apple's advantage:
- With Vista, Microsoft set the base for the next decade for Windows development (or, considering the their development pace, more like two decades). Windows 7 is the completed implementation of the first release. Leopard marks an end of the first Mac OS life cycle. Although SL is publicly downplayed as a featureless polishing/improvement of Leopard, it is the first release which starts a gradual move towards the next-generation OS (some technologies showed up in Leopard in their prenatal development). I think that Apple has a clear strategy for the future now but Microsoft does not. They are just "adding features". The problem with "adding features" approach is that it may turn into "adding patches" approach pretty soon.
- One of the most important aspects of Apple approach is inter-application integration as well as providing it's developers very a friendly access to the OS features. The way you add or open a picture, movie or an audio in Leopard remains almost unnoticed. From the media tab of the open dialog you can access your iPhoto, Photo Booth, iMovie, iTunes, Garage Band and Aperture library, along with smart folders, events or whatever arrangement you made in the respective app. This is available for all third-party applications. I mean not only the availability of the Media group in the open dialog but also the ability to add third-party application to the list, along with it's custom way of presenting and organizing it's content. Same for automatic address and date recognition etc. Many of those features, along with the time machine, are an actual implementation of the much-touted a couple of years ago (before Microsoft gave-up on this idea, that is) "Database filesystem". I mean, how many of you access or search a photo by it's file name?
- Contrary to the popular believe a decade ago, Apple showed that for the mobile devices device/OS integration approach is by far superior to the generic runs-on-every-box approach. Even the mobile OS vendors that want to have wide hardware support try to build a showcase device that features this kind of integration. There are signs that Apple is going to push a hardware/OS integration on computer platforms to a new level during the next decade.
- For more than a decade Microsoft struggled to get Windows everywhere - on computer boxes, big-iron machines, handheld devices, cash vending machines, you name it. The idea was to put the familiar brand everywhere and in many cases the brand was almost the only thing in common. They importance of seamless integration was left unnoticed by Microsoft, however. Today, Linux pushed Microsoft away from the embedded market and Apple is on its way to capture a significant part of what is left on consumer side. That is, to get where Microsoft wanted to be. The iPod and iPhone were a smashing success against Microsoft. No mater how hard Balmer tries to downplay the iPod "over-saturated" market, it needs to keep shrinking for a decade to get to the size of the presumably successful Xbox, especially in terms of profits. Wait, but there is those iPod touch thingy. Ouch!
- Apple has a very flexible codebase. The processor platform independency of this codebase was tested and polished by a couple of successful transitions (Intel -> PPC of the original NEXT code then PPC -> Intel for the MAc OS). With Snow Leopard, Apple is extending multiprocessor/multicore and GPGPU support and more. The important part of Apple's approach is that it abstracts the nature and specific capabilities of the hardware from the code. Figuratively speaking, Apple is building the outlets for any new technology which could be plugged in. The best thing Apple can pray for is a major breakthrough in non-Intel compatible processor technology including any kind of co-processors. Microsoft will need 0.5 - 1 decade to adopt. Apple will be done in 1.5-2 years.
- Related to the point above, from the other side of the table. A decade ago promising processors died without Windows support. Linux was late for the rescue. The widespread assumption within the industry was "No Windows" == "No Future". Not true anymore.
Note the air story selling for $999 and it's stillnover priced. Apple rapes you anyway they can as they could use non EEC memory I'd i7 chips but do not so they can have these huge margins.
All of this will change though and I am seeing proof all the time. I talk about apple prices, get flammed then apple sells the air for $999, a vendor anyway. Ha ha LOL.
The thing applenhas to worry about is:
A) Millions of iPhone users with expired contracts soon and the palm pre, maybe
Price will stop Apple. Price has led to a 4% Mac world market share.
BTW, Microsoft is the largest Mac software developper outside of Apple. Like every developper, it is provided with regular seeds of Mac OS X. To say that Microsoft is unaware of Mac OS X Snow Leopard's features is a stretch.
IMO, Microsoft knows all that it needs to know about Mac OS X or Snow Leopard, including that price matters.
I agree. Windows 7 on Core i7 computers will be the new Windows 95. Apple will be slaughtered, once more.
Apple's greed and contempt for the "not made in Cupertino" will be its demise.
Most buyers don't accept a $500 or $800 price premium for Macs. And most buyers want a quad-core desktop or quad-core mobile CPU with more RAM for a lower price than an outdated, lower spec, slower, dual-core mobile CPU iMac with a relective glass screen.
There is only so much that Mac OS X can do for Apple. Macs must be competitive when comparing price, performance and features. Price, performance and features matter to most buyers.
So far all of the big OEM's have stated that they are impressed with the performance of Windows 7 from Netbooks to Workstations and if Microsoft is doing an October Launch you can bet that all new dells will be shipping Windows 7 Ready from mid August onwards and offering the Windows 7 free upgrade for purchasers.
Regardless of how good or bad Windows 7 is it will ship many many more copies than Vista did at its launch purely down to the marketshare of PC's out there.
Does Apple care? Probably not. Snow Leopard is OSX Optimised. The next big leap will come a couple of years down the road.
(I have been running Windows 7 on my wifes Acer One netbook with no issues since the public Beta. She doesn't really see any difference between it and XP and she is a classic example of an average PC user.)
In the end, most buyers look at what they can get for their money.
From Staples' weekly flyer, here's what you get for $999.95 Canadian dollars:
One HP Pavilion Elite computer with:
+ Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 quad-core desktop CPU;
+ 4 GB RAM;
+ 500 GB Hard drive;
+ 802.11n wireless network;
+ Blu-Ray drive for High definition;
+ TV tuner;
+ keyboard and mouse; and
One HP 21.5 inch liquid crystal monitor; and
One all in one HP printer-scanner-copier.
Staples is an office supply store with branches in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. Check their web site if you didn't get their flyer.
In the end, Windows 7 may not be such a deciding factor in buying a new computer. Price will determine what buyers want.
P.S.: I'm pretty sure that HP didn't pay $2 billions in stock option bonuses to its senior management.
It is not that simple.
If one needs to by something for a one man company the configuration above is a good choice. But when one buys a computer to manage his digital life it may not look that compelling.
How I would look at this configuration:
+ Intel Core 2 Quad - good! I like more speed!
+ 500 GB Hard drive; + 802.11n wireless network; - that's OK. Nothing to write home about, though.
+ Blu-Ray drive for High definition; - I don't care (honestly!). May be in 2-3 years I will, but right now - NO! It is not clear if that thingy can write, but my last pack of 50 pcs DVD media was bought 2 years ago and sits largely unused in a cabinet. I am making backups on an external hard drive and saving temporary stuff to a USB stick, using MobileMe or yousendit for sending large files.
+ TV tuner; - I don't care. I am not watching or going to watch TV on my computer. I am not that big TV fan. Even when I do watch TV, I prefer the large screen. And when there are no friends or family watching with me, I am sitting with my laptop browsing the net in front of the said TV.
+ keyboard and mouse; and - yes, sure!
+ One HP 21.5 inch liquid crystal monitor; - good, is this a decent one or a piece of crap you will want to replace?
+ One all in one HP printer-scanner-copier - I kind of dislike those all in one devices, and I already have a printer and scanner anyway.
Let me see what I want:
- does it run iPhoto?
- does it run Aperture?
- how well the mail, calendar, contacts and photo library will integrate with my iPhone?
And yes, the aesthetics and emotional part: does this piece of hardware make me want it?
Don't get me wrong. I am not rich, and I may think: FU you Apple, couldn't you make something as affordable as this? But I will not by the above configuration.
I think that the average computer user is not illiterate these days and knows what he or she is looking for. And it definitely does not boil down to the price tag only. These was more or less the case when the people thought that ALL computers run Windows and you only need to choose a lowest price for a max clock speed. Not true anymore.
Agreed.
Note the air story selling for $999 and it's stillnover priced.
No it is not. Mac OSX leopard makes your mac run with the efficiency of a 2x8-core overclocked monster with dual graphics card and 1 TB of RAM.
Windows, on the other hand, can make a supercomputer run like an abacus just for the sheer amount of time that is wasted getting rid of viruses and bloatware.
In the end, most buyers look at what they can get for their money.
From Staples' weekly flyer, here's what you get for $999.95 Canadian dollars:
One HP Pavilion Elite computer with:
+ Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 quad-core desktop CPU;
+ 4 GB RAM;
+ 500 GB Hard drive;
+ 802.11n wireless network;
+ Blu-Ray drive for High definition;
+ TV tuner;
+ keyboard and mouse; and
One HP 21.5 inch liquid crystal monitor; and
One all in one HP printer-scanner-copier.
Staples is an office supply store with branches in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. Check their web site if you didn't get their flyer.
In the end, Windows 7 may not be such a deciding factor in buying a new computer. Price will determine what buyers want.
P.S.: I'm pretty sure that HP didn't pay $2 billions in stock option bonuses to its senior management.
That is because 99% of consumers are stupid. I would rather have a last gen mac MINI running leopard than a computer 2-times better than what you described running any winblows OS.
Don't get me wrong, Tauron, I would never switch back to being an everyday winblows user. I love the Mac. The point I'm making is that Microsoft is playing a lot of catchup and fast. Apple needs to work hard at keeping their platform out in front.
I'm not putting down anything on Snow Leopard. They just need to work hard to get SL really purring really well...
For the average joe consumer yes. To me, the only way MS could play catchup is if they completely burned windows and started with a completely new OS concept from scratch employing new engineers. Otherwise it is lipstick on a pig all over again. I don't care how many problems they say they have fixed. In the end it is Windows and it has fundamental flaws that are deal breaking and they will never be able to fix.
Things are a bit different now - Windows 7 is better than Windows 6, and people's standard of living has fallen a bit. It will be hard slog for a while.
Maybe Microsoft could hire an Apple employee or two since Apple just picked up 2 AMD and 1 MS employee.
Microsoft are in the shitter somewhat and are actually laying people off.
The Mac had a perfect storm the last few years - the unpopularity of Vista combined with a roaring economy, so people can afford a bit nicer computer.
Things are a bit different now - Windows 7 is better than Windows 6, and people's standard of living has fallen a bit. It will be hard slog for a while.
Windows 6? I guess you are talking about Vista, even though it's not called that. If you are right people just won't upgrade, who really wants to spend $300 on a OS upgrade which is just going to give them hell and not actually allow them to anything more than what they can currently do?
Vista users will be the most irritated since they will be paying for basically bugs fixes.