90 percent to 10. will it ever change?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
PC's are about 90 percent macs are about 10 percent of the (I cant think of the phrase) but you know what I mean. Will it ever change, or will people always fall into the pit of windows?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    It's more like 5% North america, 2.5% world. !0% was the beige days before everyone had a computer. I could see the Mac getting up to 25%, but not with the "our way or the highway" attitude they exhibit now.
  • Reply 2 of 16
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BenRoethig View Post


    It's more like 5% North america, 2.5% world. !0% was the beige days before everyone had a computer. I could see the Mac getting up to 25%, but not with the "our way or the highway" attitude they exhibit now.



    That's the market share. The installed base is bigger I think. Software sales are 18% of the total market, as of 2005.



    Your last point is very vague. As much as I agree Apple can be arrogant, I don't think that's affecting market share. Microsoft is simply a beast of a company. It's hard to overcome such a massive obstacle.
  • Reply 3 of 16
    doh123doh123 Posts: 323member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SDW2001 View Post


    That's the market share. The installed base is bigger I think. Software sales are 18% of the total market, as of 2005.



    Your last point is very vague. As much as I agree Apple can be arrogant, I don't think that's affecting market share. Microsoft is simply a beast of a company. It's hard to overcome such a massive obstacle.





    Apple needs to give users more options, not make a few machines and just tell the user to make due with what they choose to make.... They think that if the user wants a Mac theyll get the mac that fits them closest, even if its not totally what they want. That actually rarely happens, mostly in long time Mac users only. Most people just say... nothing there for me, and buy a Windows based machine from someone else.
  • Reply 4 of 16
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by doh123 View Post


    Apple needs to give users more options,...



    I don't necessarily agree with that. I think there's way too many PCs to choose from. The average PC buyer can walk into Best Buy and see no less than 15 different laptops to choose from, all with very similar specs. I bet that the consumer ends up buying basically on price and looks alone since any of them will offer pretty much the same thing otherwise.
  • Reply 5 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SDW2001 View Post


    That's the market share. The installed base is bigger I think. Software sales are 18% of the total market, as of 2005.



    Your last point is very vague. As much as I agree Apple can be arrogant, I don't think that's affecting market share. Microsoft is simply a beast of a company. It's hard to overcome such a massive obstacle.



    The 18% is photoshop user base. They have a disproportionate amount of professionals in the creative fields. I would think general consumer and business user base is a lot closeer to Safari's 4%.
  • Reply 6 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CosmoNut View Post


    I don't necessarily agree with that. I think there's way too many PCs to choose from. The average PC buyer can walk into Best Buy and see no less than 15 different laptops to choose from, all with very similar specs. I bet that the consumer ends up buying basically on price and looks alone since any of them will offer pretty much the same thing otherwise.



    But they are all pretty much the same PC or laptop with a different shell.
  • Reply 7 of 16
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by doh123 View Post


    Apple needs to give users more options, not make a few machines and just tell the user to make due with what they choose to make.... They think that if the user wants a Mac theyll get the mac that fits them closest, even if its not totally what they want. That actually rarely happens, mostly in long time Mac users only. Most people just say... nothing there for me, and buy a Windows based machine from someone else.





    Apple has a fairly diverse product line with BTO options. I don't really see where you are going with this. They have consumer and pro desktops and portables, a plethora of iPod choices, etc. What's the issue? No manufacturer has unlimited configuration possiblities. And personally, I find Dell's choices (for example) to be byzantine. Look at their notebook page. You have to first select what you'll use the computer for before you get the choices. Just show me what you have available and let me BTO. I don't need to sort by 47 different variables. http://www.dell.com/ Seriously...check it out and tell me that many choices are needed.
  • Reply 8 of 16
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BenRoethig View Post


    The 18% is photoshop user base. They have a disproportionate amount of professionals in the creative fields. I would think general consumer and business user base is a lot closeer to Safari's 4%.



    Support those figures? And, why is that relevant at all? Like creative professionals don't count?
  • Reply 9 of 16
    pt123pt123 Posts: 696member
    It isn't so easy just to change. Say if you want to change from a PC to a Mac, you need new software along to go with your computer. Years of data - Quicken, Turbotax, Word and Excel files. Yeah there are Mac versions, but are the file really compatible on the Mac?
  • Reply 10 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pt123 View Post


    It isn't so easy just to change. Say if you want to change from a PC to a Mac, you need new software along to go with your computer. Years of data - Quicken, Turbotax, Word and Excel files. Yeah there are Mac versions, but are the file really compatible on the Mac?



    A resounding yes to each and every program you listed I did it already (6 years of Outlook emails!) when I switched and I do it every week since I still have to use both platforms. It's really incredibly easy. In addition, you get the advantage of all the free or cheap excellent software (e.g. iLife, iWork, Disk utilities, etc.) built into OSX which you have to pay for on XP or for which there are only poor equivalents.
  • Reply 11 of 16
    royboyroyboy Posts: 458member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pt123 View Post


    It isn't so easy just to change. Say if you want to change from a PC to a Mac, you need new software along to go with your computer. Years of data - Quicken, Turbotax, Word and Excel files. Yeah there are Mac versions, but are the file really compatible on the Mac?



    Yes for Word and Excel files. Don't know about the other ones you mentioned as I have had no experience with either of them.
  • Reply 12 of 16
    Not enough options? You think the average computer customer goes in thinking "I need a 2.16 ghz core 2 duo with 2.5 gigs of RAM _____ graphics card so that my computer can get those words I type on the screen and load those websites faster!!!



    Trust me, buying the right Windows computer is almost intimidating. Especially when on a budget and you want to get something good. When you have literally millions of different configurations to chose from, from a lot of different companies...it gets confusing. And then you try and find the weak spot in your system to plug it up and realize that it is impossible to do that because then you would create another weak spot.



    Apple has more than enough options IMHO.
  • Reply 13 of 16
    I wouldn't find it hard to change to a Mac, most software I would use runs on both Windows and OSX, but there is not as much choice in hardware. That's basically it for me, more options never seemed like a bad thing to me.



    Apple just doesn't offer comparable machines for the mid-level/advanced PC user that doesn't want to spend $2500 but wants more than an iMac. There is such a huge gap that they aren't capitalizing on.



    I like Macs and I'm getting more accustomed to OSX, but the way Apple is going, I'll probably sit on the fence forever, or just give up and stick with Vista.



    (And I will say, that when I was beta testing Vista, it seemed like the best reason to switch to OSX, regardless of limited choices. However after running Vista Business for a few weeks, the disgust I had with the beta builds has vanished, and by the time Leopard comes out, most drivers issues will be ironed out.)



    I don't know what Apple is waiting for, they have an awesome device in the iPod, and a good idea with the iPhone, but I don't see a lot of growth in the desktop market, unless a few new models come out and/or break the software stigma.
  • Reply 14 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CosmoNut View Post


    I don't necessarily agree with that. I think there's way too many PCs to choose from. The average PC buyer can walk into Best Buy and see no less than 15 different laptops to choose from, all with very similar specs. I bet that the consumer ends up buying basically on price and looks alone since any of them will offer pretty much the same thing otherwise.



    Mac needs to offer a smaller tower based on a single Core 2 spec.



    Not everyone wants a mini which is based on laptop parts, or a all in one if they have a nice monitor.



    They do not have to offer rock bottom systems, just units priced in the 900-1800 dollar range depending on components (ie videocard,ram,cpu,hd)



    I bet the would gain a lot more customers who want a Mac but do not want to pay for a full blown Mac Pro workstation.
  • Reply 15 of 16
    pt123pt123 Posts: 696member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lfe2211 View Post


    A resounding yes to each and every program you listed I did it already (6 years of Outlook emails!) when I switched and I do it every week since I still have to use both platforms. It's really incredibly easy. In addition, you get the advantage of all the free or cheap excellent software (e.g. iLife, iWork, Disk utilities, etc.) built into OSX which you have to pay for on XP or for which there are only poor equivalents.



    Yes the programs are available, but how can I seamlessly migrate the data from the PC to the Mac? A friend asked and I couldn't give him an answer. As for iPhoto, I think Picasa is a bit better and free. I really wish it was available for the Mac. Thank goodness I can use Parallels and get the best of both worlds.
  • Reply 16 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pt123 View Post


    Yes the programs are available, but how can I seamlessly migrate the data from the PC to the Mac? A friend asked and I couldn't give him an answer. As for iPhoto, I think Picasa is a bit better and free. I really wish it was available for the Mac. Thank goodness I can use Parallels and get the best of both worlds.



    I'm going to give you the very short version of how to do this but you'll get the idea.



    There are 6 ways to physically move files and folders from the PC to the Mac:



    1--Disks, as in external USB hard drives, key disks, Ipods

    2--Nerworks, as in ethernet or wireless

    3--The web, as in uplink stuff to a website from your pc and then download back to your Mac

    4--iDisk, a part of the .Mac service (really a subset of #3)

    5--Bluetooth

    6--Special USB cable and software called Move2Mac, costs $50.



    Let's discuss #1. You hook a USB drive up to your pc. Next, move your stuff (not apps! like *.exe files or *.DLL kaka files) on your pc you want to move to the Mac onto the USB drive. You then take that USB drive and plug it into your Mac. The drive will show up on the Mac desktop as an icon. Double click the icon and voila, you see your pc files and folders. Drag the files and folders onto your Mac. Put the stuff where you want, like your documents folder or a new folder called MyPC_Stuff.



    On to #6. You buy Move2Mac which has a special USB cable that connects at one end to Mac and to pc at the other end. The software from a CD that you will install on the mac and the pc has Wizards that guide you thru the selection process for pc and Mac. I recommend this if you don't mind spending $50--fast and easy. Go here to check it out:



    http://www.detto.com/mac-file-transfer.html



    All of these physical transfer methods are discussed in detail and very nicely in David Pogue's Missing Manual book, "Switching to the Mac". All the network options, #2 thru #5 above, are explained thoroughly. Highly recommended for any switcher.



    As to files, *.doc, *.xls, *.pdf, *.txt, *.rtf, *jpg,*.gif,*.ppt,*htm, etc. (i.e. all the usual suspects) are read directly by Mac programs since those are the same file formats used by Mac as well.



    For Outlook emails, contacts,etc., there's a nifty $10 program called Outlook2Mac (O2M)



    http://www.littlemachines.com/



    that does all the work. Here's the promo quote from the site:



    "O2M may be the fastest way to move your Windows® Outlook® email, contacts, and calendar appointments from your PC to your Macintosh® computer! (1) Just fire up O2M on your Windows PC, pick the Outlook folders you want to export, choose the filtering options you want to use, and click Start ? O2M does the rest, automatically exporting your Outlook data into portable files you can import directly into your Apple® Mail, Address Book, iCal, Microsoft Entourage, or other Macintosh-compatible programs. Back up all of your PC's email and email attachments to your Apple! Copy your Outlook contacts from work to home and vice-versa! Migrate all of your calendar appointments from your old PC to your new Mac! The possibilities are endless!"



    If your email program is Eudora, that's much more difficult but doable.



    So you see, it's not that hard. And except for the odd-ball pc program that outputs funky file formats, Mac programs can read all the common pc file formats.
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