Apple's switcher commercials never worked. This isn't gonna work either. The iPod side-stepped the PC/Mac war. iPhone and iPad changed what computers and general electronics are; and thrust in Apple's dominance.
I think some of you guys need to get out more... Windows 8.1 is great 'cause it's quick and easy to learn - and so versatile. I have a little Dell Venue 8 Pro (you know, like a mini-eyepad) that does everything from being a Kindle reader to running Adobe's Photoshop. Even has an active stylus. And I can extend the desktop to a TV (wirelessly!) or a monitor. Switching from the tiles to desktop is a snap. The Surface Pro 3 looks awesome and could probably replace my workstation but, alas, it's too expensive. My Dell tablet cost $99 at a Microsoft store last Christmas and I've been using it daily ever since. Where do I shop for Apple's bargains?
<span style="line-height:1.4em;">Aren't Macs around 10% of marketshare? So MacBooks are even less... what does it mean that these companies are targeting such a small part of 10% of the marketshare!</span>
I get the feeling that the real considered threat is the iPad, but the MacBook Air is an easier target, and the iPad and Apple in general is a convenient collateral damage.
To speak up a bit for the Surface, it's screen wipes the floor with my MacBook Air. Really nice. Not much else I can say that favours the Surface over the MBA, but the screen is definitely a plus.
You may be right that the iPad is the real target. That said, while the whole line of Mac products accounts for about 10% of computer sales, Apple is eating Windows lunch in laptops, with the MBA leading the charge in education, enterprise and government sales. It's fascinating how well the MBA is doing since it started out as an overpriced and under-powered niche laptop. It's only weak point is, as you pointed out, is the lack of a retina screen. While we are on the topic of screen quality, The Surface is designed for text to look BEST in the landscape mode. Unlike Apple products which favor both modes. This is why you never see the Surface being advertised in portrait mode; always with the screen propped up in landscape and the keyboard attached. For a "laptop," Microsoft has never shown the Surface on an actual Lap! Nor have I ever seen anyone use it on their lap...
Where do I sign up? I've always dreamed of replacing my trusty Macbook Air with a device that has a shittier OS, a shitty keyboard, crappier battery life, a smaller screen, and can't even stay stable on one's lap.
On another note, I can hardly believe that we have a website begging Mac users to switch to windows, and facilitating the transition. My, how times have changed.
Given the lesser of all the evils, I'll take (and use) Windows Defender than the Nortons, or Symantecs, or etc.... At least Microsoft's version is free and for the most time, relatively transparent to the user. Can't say the same for the others that have since day one, been nothing but a pain in the backside, and would all by themselves, corrupt the PC, or bring it to its knees due to the A/V crap slowing it down.
I agree! Noting that Norton is a Symantec product. It was actually really good for a while in the early 2000s but it became garbage. Today it bloats a system and isn't as effective as it should be in detecting/removing malware, and it can also cause some serious headaches if it's corrupted after or during installation. But there are plenty of other choices out there, and information is available to make educated choices.
Personally, my favorite is ESET's Nod32 for a balance of effectiveness, price, and resource use. And Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is also a fantastic tool to have on hand for dealing with a potential infection. But it is absolutely stupid (or in this case, probably just disingenuous—attempting to downplay one of the platform's most glaring issues to would-be customers on a Macintosh) to suggest to customers they don't need anti-virus on Windows.
Windows Defender traces its roots back to an excellent program called GIANT AntiSpyware. It was very good in its time. But today Windows Defender does an absolutely terrible job of detecting/mitigating an infection as it is taking place (all anti-malware programs struggle with new and sophisticated threats, but Windows Defender is particularly poor) and it also does a very poor job of cleaning up an established infection. It is also good at particular cleaning up what it does recognize potentially making it more difficult for other anti-malware programs to clean up and leaving room for those programs to re-install themselves later through hooks remaining on the computer.
It is simple - if you talented and know how to draw get a surface pro... If you untalented and can't draw get any other laptop. If you do any drawing what so ever there is nothing like a SP.
It is simple - if you talented and know how to draw get a surface pro... If you untalented and can't draw get any other laptop. If you do any drawing what so ever there is nothing like a SP.
I am in the exact opposite camp right now. For about 5 years I have been using an iMac at home and a MBP with Windows 7 at work.
Now that my actual coding has reduced, I have removed Windows completely. I just have an AWS setup for the occasional debugging, but now I work on OS X and it is amazing!
Sure, I still am tied to MS services like TFS, Outlook and Office. But working with them on the Mac environment is probably the best compromise.
All said and done, MS software and services are paying for all my Apple stuff, so I wouldn't diss MS too much!
Most interesting is the price. The SurfacePro is between 30% to 60% more expensive than the same processor with more ram, hard disk and bigger display in a typical Windows PC laptop clone. There is no way windows users are going to buy these. Microsoft created the commodity computer by putting hardware manufacturers at each other to scrape a profit out of very low margins. This stifled innovation and quality over comparing pure numeric specs on products.
The end result is that the Surface Pro looks like someone built a mansion dead in the middle of a large low cost apartment complex. To get a visual on this, go to Microcenter. It is painful.
If the surface pro price was cut in ½ ($600) it would sell against other windows laptops. As is, the only market they can target is the Mac Book Air.
Microsoft is desparate and flailing around without direction and gasping for relevance and searching for a market. They spent 25 years convincing the world that hardware was just commodity plain white bread stuff and that all the value was in the warm, buttery software. They surrounded themselves with dozens of hardware clone armies who were willing to fight it out to the death amongst one another with near zero margins at stake all the while Microsoft slurped up all the profits in the PC market with its mandatory, bloated, and overpriced OS and office apps. Then the iPod, iPhone, and iPad came along and turned Microsoft's monopolistic world upside down with a resounding thud.
Hardware matters again!
Devices are king!
Software is low cost, commodity, and ubiquitous.
Now Microsoft is alone in the world. They starved out and disenfranchised all of their PC hardware "partners" and are trying to establish a hardware basis with their own devices. Problem is they are still hung over from the protracted partying they did when they were king of the PC world and are so late to the hardware and devices party that they have missed the train completely. The Surface is a wild swing at getting back into a relevant market built on two devices. Since they were so damn late they fudged and munged and sloppily threw together a Frankenstein hybrid between a MacBook clone and an iPad clone. They are trying to get into both the truck market and the car market by building an El Camino device, astroturfed bed and all.
The Surface is doomed and Microsoft knows it. The Windows Phone is doomed and Microsoft knows it. But devices (and the cloud) aren't going anywhere anytime soon and Microsoft knows it. Over the next few years you'll see what's left of Microsoft slowly refocus on device level software and the vast cloud services and infrastructure needed to bring all of these devices together into a secure, cooperative, and collaborative computing environment. The sooner the better. The more time and money they continue to waste on dead-end ventures like Windows Phone and Surface the longer it'll take them to turn it around and focus on what they can do best. Time is not on their side. But at least with Balmer gone they won't be wasting time and money trying to turn back the clock and deny that the last 7 years of computing evolution ever took place. At least Satya Nadella seems to have a much better grip on reality, something that was sorely lacking in his predecessor. The Windows Phone and Surface are artifacts of the Balmer Era and like their creator need to be retired. Maybe there's a BASEketball league that can find a use for them - if Microsoft pays them enough money - like many El Camino beds full of cold hard cash.
I love this article, because it details the next step in Microsoft's stupid, stupid, STUPID Surface marketing strategy. The Surface is a decent product to be sure. It has some real advantages over an iPad, and a few over a MacBook Air. But here's the problem: The Surface's competition isn't the MacBook Air. But don't try to tell Microsoft that. They are married to their "the tablet that can replace your laptop" strategy. They are going to MAKE that be the Surface's market! Their hubris is legendary, and this is no exception. In reality, no one is going to switch from a MacBook Air to a Surface Pro 3. No one. So M$ is running around spending millions on a failed market strategy because that's what they want the market to be. Meanwhile, they have a pretty decent product that they should be putting up against the iPad and other tablets. But no..they're busy making Unpictured Fat Guy Singing Christmas Carol commercials and websites that no real consumer will visit.
" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" /> You can't make this stuff up.
Comments
Apple's switcher commercials never worked. This isn't gonna work either. The iPod side-stepped the PC/Mac war. iPhone and iPad changed what computers and general electronics are; and thrust in Apple's dominance.
My Dell tablet cost $99 at a Microsoft store last Christmas and I've been using it daily ever since. Where do I shop for Apple's bargains?
You may be right that the iPad is the real target. That said, while the whole line of Mac products accounts for about 10% of computer sales, Apple is eating Windows lunch in laptops, with the MBA leading the charge in education, enterprise and government sales. It's fascinating how well the MBA is doing since it started out as an overpriced and under-powered niche laptop. It's only weak point is, as you pointed out, is the lack of a retina screen. While we are on the topic of screen quality, The Surface is designed for text to look BEST in the landscape mode. Unlike Apple products which favor both modes. This is why you never see the Surface being advertised in portrait mode; always with the screen propped up in landscape and the keyboard attached. For a "laptop," Microsoft has never shown the Surface on an actual Lap! Nor have I ever seen anyone use it on their lap...
On another note, I can hardly believe that we have a website begging Mac users to switch to windows, and facilitating the transition. My, how times have changed.
I agree! Noting that Norton is a Symantec product. It was actually really good for a while in the early 2000s but it became garbage. Today it bloats a system and isn't as effective as it should be in detecting/removing malware, and it can also cause some serious headaches if it's corrupted after or during installation. But there are plenty of other choices out there, and information is available to make educated choices.
Personally, my favorite is ESET's Nod32 for a balance of effectiveness, price, and resource use. And Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is also a fantastic tool to have on hand for dealing with a potential infection. But it is absolutely stupid (or in this case, probably just disingenuous—attempting to downplay one of the platform's most glaring issues to would-be customers on a Macintosh) to suggest to customers they don't need anti-virus on Windows.
Windows Defender traces its roots back to an excellent program called GIANT AntiSpyware. It was very good in its time. But today Windows Defender does an absolutely terrible job of detecting/mitigating an infection as it is taking place (all anti-malware programs struggle with new and sophisticated threats, but Windows Defender is particularly poor) and it also does a very poor job of cleaning up an established infection. It is also good at particular cleaning up what it does recognize potentially making it more difficult for other anti-malware programs to clean up and leaving room for those programs to re-install themselves later through hooks remaining on the computer.
The website in this article... Microsoft. Giving that advice...
Edit: Here, even snatched up a screenshot for ya.
But it's easy enough to find just by scrolling down to the virus-related question.
The surface didn't steal from Apple's iPad.
So now they are attacking Apple's lovely MacBooks.
Windows 8.1 is disliked by the Windows community, they prefer Win7, which saved them from terrible Win Vista. Many are switching to the Mac.
Not much chance Mac users are going to go for the Surface 8.1.
It is simple - if you talented and know how to draw get a surface pro... If you untalented and can't draw get any other laptop. If you do any drawing what so ever there is nothing like a SP.
Anyone do a direct comparison to a Cintiq?
I am in the exact opposite camp right now. For about 5 years I have been using an iMac at home and a MBP with Windows 7 at work.
Now that my actual coding has reduced, I have removed Windows completely. I just have an AWS setup for the occasional debugging, but now I work on OS X and it is amazing!
Sure, I still am tied to MS services like TFS, Outlook and Office. But working with them on the Mac environment is probably the best compromise.
All said and done, MS software and services are paying for all my Apple stuff, so I wouldn't diss MS too much!
7 years later...
The end result is that the Surface Pro looks like someone built a mansion dead in the middle of a large low cost apartment complex. To get a visual on this, go to Microcenter. It is painful.
If the surface pro price was cut in ½ ($600) it would sell against other windows laptops. As is, the only market they can target is the Mac Book Air.
Microsoft is desparate and flailing around without direction and gasping for relevance and searching for a market. They spent 25 years convincing the world that hardware was just commodity plain white bread stuff and that all the value was in the warm, buttery software. They surrounded themselves with dozens of hardware clone armies who were willing to fight it out to the death amongst one another with near zero margins at stake all the while Microsoft slurped up all the profits in the PC market with its mandatory, bloated, and overpriced OS and office apps. Then the iPod, iPhone, and iPad came along and turned Microsoft's monopolistic world upside down with a resounding thud.
Hardware matters again!
Devices are king!
Software is low cost, commodity, and ubiquitous.
Now Microsoft is alone in the world. They starved out and disenfranchised all of their PC hardware "partners" and are trying to establish a hardware basis with their own devices. Problem is they are still hung over from the protracted partying they did when they were king of the PC world and are so late to the hardware and devices party that they have missed the train completely. The Surface is a wild swing at getting back into a relevant market built on two devices. Since they were so damn late they fudged and munged and sloppily threw together a Frankenstein hybrid between a MacBook clone and an iPad clone. They are trying to get into both the truck market and the car market by building an El Camino device, astroturfed bed and all.
The Surface is doomed and Microsoft knows it. The Windows Phone is doomed and Microsoft knows it. But devices (and the cloud) aren't going anywhere anytime soon and Microsoft knows it. Over the next few years you'll see what's left of Microsoft slowly refocus on device level software and the vast cloud services and infrastructure needed to bring all of these devices together into a secure, cooperative, and collaborative computing environment. The sooner the better. The more time and money they continue to waste on dead-end ventures like Windows Phone and Surface the longer it'll take them to turn it around and focus on what they can do best. Time is not on their side. But at least with Balmer gone they won't be wasting time and money trying to turn back the clock and deny that the last 7 years of computing evolution ever took place. At least Satya Nadella seems to have a much better grip on reality, something that was sorely lacking in his predecessor. The Windows Phone and Surface are artifacts of the Balmer Era and like their creator need to be retired. Maybe there's a BASEketball league that can find a use for them - if Microsoft pays them enough money - like many El Camino beds full of cold hard cash.
Surfaces I have no idea of the success of, but I'm noticing more and more of them around, and they seem well liked.
Like it or not, Microsoft are a giant and are going to remain relevant for a while yet.
Doomed? Windows Phones are selling more each quarter aren't they, and seeing increased market share in some big market.
Surfaces I have no idea of the success of, but I'm noticing more and more of them around, and they seem well liked.
Like it or not, Microsoft are a giant and are going to remain relevant for a while yet.
LOL. Windows phones? Tell me, where? I've never seen one used by a real person. I kid you not. Ditto on the Surface.
I love this article, because it details the next step in Microsoft's stupid, stupid, STUPID Surface marketing strategy. The Surface is a decent product to be sure. It has some real advantages over an iPad, and a few over a MacBook Air. But here's the problem: The Surface's competition isn't the MacBook Air. But don't try to tell Microsoft that. They are married to their "the tablet that can replace your laptop" strategy. They are going to MAKE that be the Surface's market! Their hubris is legendary, and this is no exception. In reality, no one is going to switch from a MacBook Air to a Surface Pro 3. No one. So M$ is running around spending millions on a failed market strategy because that's what they want the market to be. Meanwhile, they have a pretty decent product that they should be putting up against the iPad and other tablets. But no..they're busy making Unpictured Fat Guy Singing Christmas Carol commercials and websites that no real consumer will visit.
It's easy to outsell zero units. Haha. MS can only go up from where they are in terms of mobile unit sales.