Putting lipstick on Microsoft's pigs
Windows Mobile. Logo: Microsoft
At the end of a long report on the Apple Stores — and the corner he believes they have turned — Needham analyst Charles Wolf turned his attention this week to Microsoft (MSFT) and its plans to launch a fleet of company-branded stores of its own, complete with wall-sized digital screens, spaces for free public events and "Guru" bars to deal with customers’ software complaints.
Let's hope Steve Ballmer isn't on Needham's mailing list, because Wolf's two-page description of Microsoft's efforts and its products may be most dismissive ever produced by a Wall Street analyst. He even goes so far as to evoke the old lipstick joke that got Barack Obama in so much trouble with Sarah Palin during the primaries.
"Microsoft has always touted itself as an innovator," Wolf begins in a section entitled The Sincerest Form of Flattery. "But the company’s true genius has stemmed from its ability to copy the ideas of others."
And the company it's most fond of copying, he says, is Apple (AAPL).
"Introduced in 1990, Windows was a rip-off of Apple’s Macintosh operating system. Microsoft introduced the Zune MP3 player in 2005, a rip-off of the iPod Classic. However, the Zune, another instance of a failed copy attempt, has never been able to gain more than a few percentage points of market share compared to the iPod’s 70%-plus market share. Meanwhile, Apple has moved on to the iPhone and iPod Touch.
"Now Microsoft plans to copy the Apple Stores. In our opinion, Microsoft faces major challenges in this regard. It’s easy to copy the floor plan of an Apple Store as well as its fixtures. Leaked slides indicate Microsoft plans to do exactly this …
"But Microsoft will not find it easy to hire a staff that’s as passionate about the products its sells as the staffs in the Apple Stores. Indeed, given Microsoft’s reputation, it may be nearly impossible."
Apple hired Ron Johnson from Target (TGT) to design its stores under the critical eye of Steve Jobs. Microsoft, Wolf notes, turned to David Porter, a former vice president at Wal-Mart (WMT) — "a company that has consistently eschewed premium products."
"To convince customers that there’s more to Microsoft than the mostly lackluster me-too products it now sells represents the major challenge of its stores," Wolf continues. "The mantra of the campaign, according to leaked documents, is 'Engage, Educate and Excite.' Microsoft plans to focus on the 'user experience.' But typical Windows users are not interested in this. If they are, they most likely have already switched to a Mac."
To support that last point, Wolf offers the following chart. It shows the exponential growth of former Windows customers now using Macs. Wolf estimates that since 2004, 14 million Windows users have switched to a Mac, equal to more than 75% of the size of the Mac's 2004 user base. Of the 150 million customers who visited Apple Stores in fiscal 2008, he estimates that more than half were Windows users.
Yellow triangles = installed base of Windows switchers
According to leaked documents, Microsoft's stores plan to focus on six product families — Office, Bing, Windows, msn, the Zune music player and Xbox.
The company, says Wolf, has its work cut out for it in a few of those categories.
"Windows Mobile in its current incarnation," he writes, "is clearly the least user-friendly mobile operating system on the market. How does Microsoft put lipstick on this product? What Microsoft actually needs is a new mobile operating system that can compete with the iPhone OS, Android and BlackBerry. The same type of comments applies to the Zune. It’s a so-what product that’s now two generations behind the iPod."
"In our opinion," Wolf concludes, "Microsoft’s venture into retail is conceptually equivalent to an oxymoron."
And then he closes by quoting John Dvorak: “Now comes the latest fiasco: Microsoft wants to open retail stores, all of them next to or near an Apple store.”
See also:
Apple?
They're that company that does reasonably OK for a small concern in the US but has virtually no real presence in the rest of the world's computer market, right?
I just love people that love windows… they think its Jesus, and Bill gates, they always think he is God. I also find it funny, how a mexican stole his richest man in the world title for a bit.
I also find thoes commericals- we gave Lisa $1500 for a computer, and then they buys a $500 computer… Im sorry if someone comes up to me, and is from Windows and said we will giveyou $1500 for a computer, Im buying the most expensive i can while staying under $1500…
Also I find it funny how they tried to brag about Vista for the longest time… like ohhh Vista, look cool name, and look at what it can pretend to do! Now Windows 7 is the big one.
Another thing i find funny about microsoft is they always try to fight with every company bigger then them, or smarter then them. They want to go agianst Google, and Apple, and Sony, and all these other companies… and the only thing of quality (maybe) is the Xbox 360, but I would still buy a PS 3.
Haha. Anyway Windows will not get my business again. I will quit computers all together if I nhave to buy another Windows product. I will not even buy Word, just programs than are compatible with word. Windows SUCKS!
I think Microsoft's biggest problem is the same one that GM faced… GM pretty much owned the market and had no place to go but down. Then someone came out with a better product and instead of putting out something better, they just put out more features and rebates that made their stuff cheaper. Even when GM was able to make machines that were comparable, their reputation made the sale impossible. We all know the result and are living through it.
What is worse… Now the market place is shifting to cellphones and netbooks and again, Apple in innovating but others like Palm, RIM, Nokia and Google are becoming players with new products that actually work.
One other thing that MS missed is that the "cheap" computers also are missing features or quality. If you are going to buy a product that you spend a lot of time on, a 10% or even a 50% premium is not bad compared to the time you waste trying to keep your broken system running or trying to workaround features that your PC does not have.
Bad idea? I disagree!
Opening copycat MSFT stores next to existing Apple stores is another great idea from Apple.
This will surely boost Apple sales & market share by another percentage point or two.
Why is everyone so surprised? Gates started it when he originally copied Steve Jobs ideas, concepts, designs etc…and now he's taught his employees to do it. Not a creative or original idea in his body, never has been. The only way to stop this is for Apple to go under…which I doubt will ever happen. All it would take to bring down Microsoft is for Apple to lower their price.
Something I'd throw in there, my school uses many MacBook Pros and they are all running Microsoft Windows, not OSX. Just something that I thought was funny 
What does iPod have that the Zune does not? Not bashing just wondering out loud, how is it two generations behind. (NOT THE TOUCH).
Customers and iTunes? Point isn't to have feature list competition. Zune may well have more features than classic iPod, but that doesn't matter if the product doesn't appeal to the consumer.
One example how to make consumers vary of Mircosoft Zune would be Microsoft PlaysForSure DRM that Zune cannot play. Microsoft makes the consumer buy music from one Microsoft store and force them buy again from another. The iTunes does things perfectly when comparing to this kind of mess.
What does iPod have that the Zune does not? Not bashing just wondering out loud, how is it two generations behind. (NOT THE TOUCH).
He is sooo correct.
Never looked at it quite that way. As well they hired a guy from Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart last I checked is far from premium, high quality appearances…and a totally different mantra about products and business. Wal-Mart is cheap cheap cheap. Apple is not. I also agree on the employee aspect. People will go to the MS stores to complain and fix problems, not to check out the latest device and feel the experience.
I just watch how people feel about their computers. PC people are so fustrated and angry with their PC. And Mac users love their mac so much. It doesn’t take a mental giant to figure out which is better quality and better to their customers.
Posted By Boka, Springfield, PA: August 6, 2009 1:00 PM
LOL, so true. Some will adjust and see the light though a hopeless idiot won't know better and will make the same mistake over and over again.
I guess that it's understandable for many of the Windows users to be sounding so bitterly defensive in light of this particular group of published articles.
I cannot speak for gaming, I'll disclose that up front. I am, however, a fourteen year fairly heavy creative graphics user that switched to Mac in November 2007. I also work with or otherwise utilize a fair amount of video.
Having said that, here's my bottom line: If someone walked in here right now and handed me a brand new Windows anything, I would have to catch myself from throwing it out the window, instead of quickly selling it off to buy more Apple products. If that sounds like I'm being smart or inflammatory, well, please excuse my fourteen years of frustration before finding out that a computer can actually WORK!
Look, two years ago, in the midst of running three utilities daily to keep crap off, BUYING Windows registry-fixer programs, utilizing the previous twelve years of being a Forced Computer Mechanic, and ultimately having to bug my MCSE friends to help me look here, download there, repair this, .cab .dll .rat .rot. whatever…. SIGH… I was just sick of it and near out of my mind trying to buy, build or repair a Windows computer into working for two days in a row. Then… I got wind of the new wonders of Intel Macs.
My memories of 12 years of Windows are the keywords: Fear. Anguish. Fury. Bile. and "My head is on Fire".
Ask me to paint you a picture of the past 2 years with a Mac? Picture a high cliff ocean overlook on the Pacific north coast… 72 degree day, ocean mist in my face, and clicking away.
Oh— and my downtime due to crashes, failures of any kind? — 0
Time spent running virus this, adware that, malware that? — 0
My biggest downside? I don't learn enough about the Mac OS and machine because the darned thing KEEPS WORKING!
As for any price difference between a Mac and a PC? A Mac is a bargain at three times the price. Not only that, but the illusion that Macs are more expensive is mostly an illusion. I bought my daughter a new laptop last week. There was no question what I was going to buy her — a Macbook Pro. Along the way to making that purchase, I looked up a Dell and Asus (I think) that looked comparable. It seems like around $1,200 for the Windows machine, $2,000 for the Mac. BUT, by the time I upgraded the video, memory, hard drive, I was over $1,800 on the Windows. Of course, there was no upgrade on the Windows machine that gave me a case machined out of a solid block of aluminum, and I know the display needed upgrading on the Windows.
BUT! Let's Just Say The Windows Machine would be $1,200 for EXACTLY the same Macbook for $2,000. I would buy the Mac without flinching. What if the Macbook were $3,000? Macbook without flinching. $3,500? Oh, a little harder. $4,000? I would tell my daughter to use an abacus until I could save a little more for the Mac.
I'll tell you one last thing: I'm 53 years old. Who do you think is the most pleasurable, reliable, responsive, pleasant and satisfying Company I've ever dealt with on any level for any thing? You got it. Apple, hands down.
Perfect? No… just the best in 54 years.
Like I said at the start, I can't speak for every use of a computer, and I'm sure all situations differ. But if I sound like my computer use is similar to yours, Make The Switch to a Mac! I'll guarantee that you'll love it, spend less time working on computers and more time having them work for you. I'll also guarantee that you will smile More often and swear Less often.
The Microsoft store is going to fail just like all the other PC stores. Microsoft relies on 3rd party hardware so much that you can't just make a store entirely dedicated to Microsoft. They will only end up competing with Best Buy if they have to sell hardware and that is a losing battle unless they find a way to get the hardware at deep discounted prices from the manufacture to make a profit. Apple stores work because everything is in house. They control every bit of the consumers experience on the computer. Secondly Microsoft should at least wait until they have products that generate some buzz. No one is going to want to come into these stores to see mediocre products. Microsoft would be better off putting professionals in a best buy, staples or office max similar to the geek squad already at Best Buy. It would better fit the nature of what Microsoft is. The nature of their company is they compliment already existing technology. They are not a stand alone entity like Apple.
If they do still open a Microsoft store I hope that the MS board finally asks Balmer to step down otherwise the company is going to lose a lot of money.
Excuse me? Apple's OS was a ripoff from Linux innovative platforms at the time, so this is like the pot calling the kettle black. Apple and Microsoft did NOT originate their own operating systems, they used what was available and tweaked it to make it their own. Get the facts straight.
Much as I agree with the tone of the article, that is certainly not an exponential growth displayed in the chart – it's practically linear. Way to go on skewing how it sounds.
Wikipedia:
"Apple work extended [Xerox] PARC's considerably, adding manipulatable icons and a fixed menu bar and direct manipulation of objects in the file system (see Macintosh Finder) for example. A list of the improvements made by Apple to the PARC interface can be read here:
One of the biggest lies of the IT industry is the one that Apple copied Xerox. That lie is constantly repeated by people who have absolutely no clue of what was the Xerox system and what was the first Lisa OS (before the Macintosh). That idea was partly generated by the "Pirates of Silicon Valley" but that does not make it any more valid.
The Xerox system had a mouse, local menus and a graphical screen with icons, but that's it. The thing is, none of these were really new. The PARC GUI was known as WIMP: windows, icons, menus and pointer.
What made the Lisa system and then the first Mac OS are miles ahead of that: Apple invented the menu bar, pull-down menus, invented dragable and resizable windows, nice fonts, and the trash can, to name a few, but none of these were part of the system developed by Xerox.
Now to say that Apple copied Xerox the same way Microsoft copied Apple is by far the most uneducated recurrent comment spread over the web.
It would be like saying Apple copied Nomad when it made the iPod, or Blackberry when it launched the iPhone. Yes, they took elements of what was around, but they created something completely new.
In contrast, put the two Zune models next to the iPod Classic and the iPod Nano and you will see what copying is.
Ballmer and Microsoft truly hate Apple because they have been made fools of. But they dearly need Apple so that they can copy them.
Microsoft opening stores is hilarious. What the heck are they going to show? Zunes? HAHA. Microsoft Office? That will be exciting. No. I know People will travel from afar into the Microsoft stores so that they can get educated and marvel at the new Bing search engine. Microsoft is very ignorant to think this thing is gonna fly. No need to worry about underestimating MS. They are truly idiots trying to throw everything at the wall to see what might stick.
Anyone who uses their products at home or takes them seriously when Apple products are available needs to get their head examined. So glad I no longer follow the sheep and use their buggy low rate products.
When someone claims computers are "just a piece of office furniture," it proves my point that there are those who just don't understand why anyone would value the aesthetics or engineering of the hardware and software in a computer, both the function, form, and aesthetic of a Mac unibody laptop or Mac Cocoa application.
Tom from Merced California, though rejecting the idea that Macs are overpriced, still falls prey to the common thinking that we're all just exactly like Tom from Merced California. Just like PC owners think all users are just like them, some being really confounded that some of us choose Macs.
To them I must explain further, by saying that for those of us who use and love our Macs, "IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SOFTWARE," aesthetics notwithstanding.
I love that I can simply drag an icon to the hard drive to install an application (or, of course, just unzip the app from a download). Just drag the icon wherever on the drive you want — even the desktop! No, not just some shortcut, like in Windows; on a Mac you can truly put the app anywhere you want.
I especially love being able to uninstall an app simply by dragging it to the trash — no orphaned entries in a Windows registry hive, or countless code scattered around multiple directories, like so much buckshot. In a Mac, seldom is there more than a preference or support file, which are so small most Mac users don't bother searching for and deleting them (easy to do, actually) when they uninstall an app.
Some Windows geeks enjoy the Registry hive because one can hack! (Which I, myself once enjoyed). Yet OS X is Unix and Cocoa is Objective-C. One can crack open Application bundles, manipulate plist files, inject code into applications, and all the myriad things one normally can on Unix. The configuration files are text files, one has access to DTrace, one can also add kernel extensions, and so on.
For those Mac users who aren't power users, that stuff is hidden out of view, out of mind. In Windows, one can "feel" that stuff, even at the surface.
Just look at a Mac drive: Library, Applications, System, Users. That's it.
Now Windows: a dozen or so "directories" named Inetpub, DCMIS among the useful ones like Documents and Settings, and Program Files. (That last directory, Program Files, is where only SOME of that application you just installed, using an installer, is kept.)
That lack of clutter, and ease of use, is just come of the esthetic that Mac users appreciate about how clean the Mac GUI. But using the actual applications is what's great, with the toolbar/sidebar layout, and not being as menu-driven as Windows. Some of the applications on that platform are truly unbelievable, and I've tried hundreds of apps on both the Windows and Mac sides.
The fuss is warranted, yet nobody can really know or believe until they've brought a Mac home. In the store, they're configured with ultra-slow mouse setting, tap-to-click turned off, etc., and with way too many apps in the dock.
Most Mac users, who use such a huge array of apps, are able to fix that problem. My wife, for instance, puts her most used apps are in the Dock, but the rest are either in separate, Dock folder categories (Internet, Graphics, Work, etc.), or the Apple menu (like the Start Button). I do the same, but use even more apps, so I also use the right side of the Menubar (via a free gem called Butler that's equivalent to the Windows Taskbar Quick Launch area, only on steroids).
If you loved your first Mac, when you go to buy another you get a big surprise! All you do is DRAG & DROP your apps (most users keep it in a folder named "Applications") and your home folder (whatever you named it) to the new drive. DONE.
This simple act migrates your apps, their settings, and any data those apps created, along with any files you created using those apps. Simple. (If you're new drive is, say, Leopard, and you're migrating from Tiger, AND you have a lot of weird power user stuff like Preference Panes, you might want to use Mac's migration tool.)
I know it boggles the Windows mind, but yes, when you drag your Applications folder to a new drive that means you're installing, like, 50 or whatever apps in one fell swoop. Got a Mac friend who wants to try your software? Drag all +/- 50 apps to their drive in one fell swoop, and just like that, they're installed. If they like the way you set up your toolbars and layout, etc., just drag the Preference file over!
That's some of the "Mac simplicity" you hear about, but don't quite get just by standing over a MacBook at the Apple Store.
I've not even mentioned the lack of "viruses" in the wild. (A "trojan" is different, as one needs to willfully install it for it to do its business, and even then there are no self-replicating malware or viruses in the wild, to date.) Sure it might be because the thieves are ignoring the tens of millions of comparatively wealthy Mac users.
But they are, and the end result is freedom to buy online, or surf anywhere without having to later hunt and peck to get rid of malware your defenses missed, the majority of the time due to haggard users not keeping up with all the burdensome rigmarole.
So when you read these anti-Apple comments, decide for yourself whether or not (1) the hardware and software aesthetics and/or (2) ease of use is worth the Mac price of admission. $599 for a desktop, $999 for a laptop. If you don't really care enough about the look and feel of a unibody, aluminum or polyurethane laptop and clean GUI — buy a less expensive PC. If you know your way around Windows, are technically oriented so as to not mind or even prefer the added complexity, of course, buy a less expensive PC.
If you simply can't afford a Mac, and a PC is good enough for your simple needs then, by all means, buy a PC. Just because you buy a PC, even if you'd enjoy a Mac more, doesn't mean you won't enjoy a PC! Especially now that PCs are more attractive and safer than ever, even if they still lack that magic, much of which Mac users find difficult to explain.
If you're curious about that Magic you can also buy a cheap used Mac. My old PowerBook's most robust and powerful apps still start in one or two seconds because the Mac's software is so lean. Though, one can still get one of today's MacBooks for under a grand, as well.
Finally, don't forget you can run Windows on a Mac, in case you get a job that requires a proprietary business app. These highly specialized apps, by the way, are the only things a Mac can't do that a PC can. If you want to believe a myth, believe the Mac are too expensive one, not the Mac are underpowered one.
By the way, I've worked as both a network administrator, and systems analyst. I've used every OS on the planet, from DOS to BeOS.
@ NEAL in MSP,
You wrote:
"MSFT can copy the Apple Store down to the last detail and put it right next door. You’ll still be able to tell them apart. The Apple Store will be the one with people in it."
I see your point but I have to disagree. Both stores will have lots of people, it's just that MSFT's store will be where you will find all the angry and frustrated ones.
Hope no one minds me sharing this, cause what seems to never go away, the whole PC -v- Mac "thing" is more than just computers, or software, or stores. And not sure many understand.
Been lot of iPhone, FCC, FTC, yada yada "talk" this week that got my curiosity, so watched the 2007 MacWorld iPhone Intro Video again to refresh memory about some predictions for iPhone. But was also interesting to watch that Keynote for what might have been missed originally, kind of like a good movie.
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/mwsf07
And yes, will be at least 5 years, or longer, before anyone else even gets in The Game, much less catches up to iPhone.
But, a few special things jump out to show how Apple, Steve and the Team will always byatch slap Microsoft, or probably anyone when it comes to Computers, Software, Stores, you name it.
Look at how Steve broke the ice about iPhone – 3 new things – iPod, Phone, Internet something device (huh?)
Yea, always liked that last one, the audience not sure how to applaud or for what. Then the rotating graphic "Do you get it?" Well, even Ballmer should get it now. But bet he's still using that other graphic Steve showed a minute later, "And here it is" (if you know what I mean)
So here we are with the iPhone, in middle of Demo, and Steve is talking with Phil Schiller and Jony Ives. Then as they get ready to finish that first ever public call on iPhone Steve asks, almost in passing, "So Jony, what do you think?"
"Not too shabby"
What? Not too shabby? Is he kidding us ?
No, he's not. Ives knows Apple has "it". No need to hype. Relax, it's ok, will always get better, but for now ?
"Not too shabby"
Then later, showing Google Maps, Steve finds a Starbucks and makes that other famous call.
"4,000 lattes to go"
WTF?
CEO of a Multi-Billion Dollar Company out to Change The World and he's making a prank phone call ?
Well, yea, is how he and Woz got started way back when. If it ain't broke, no need … etc
As we move forward in this Digital Age, which is still just a child, always remember those little glimpses that show the DNA of Apple. Yes, a lot of Steve, but Ives, Shiller – all of Apple has it, and also having fun with it.
And anyone can have it – and that joyous fun – when we know and understand Apple, Mac, and Think Different are a never ending process more than just some slogan, more than just computers or phones or stores or whatever.
And we refuse to settle for lame mediocrity from the Microsofts of this World with their pigs and lipstick.
Oh yea …
Wonder if the clerk in Starbucks that day ever found out what that call was really about, and who made it ?
RA: Um, no, Apple did not rip off Xerox. First, they licensed some of Xerox's ideas. Second, they dramatically improved on them, with things like menu bars, non-contiguous selections, more efficient icon manipulation, etc, etc, etc. Microsoft ripped off the Mac interface and de-improved it in ways that have taken a decade to fix (sometimes simply because developers simply decided to stop doing something the Microsoft way).
Check out:
http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=On_Xerox,_Apple_and_Progress.txt
if you want to read what ACTUALLY happened, instead of your rewritten history that tries to make Apple look like Microsoft.
It is really funny to see how people are so work up on a piece of office furniture. Its a computer and allows you to do things. That's it. I don't see the Hyundai people complain about BMWs being over priced fad because they are cater to different markets. I would agree Apple product is pricier, but they don't skim on quality for cheaper parts. In the end, you get what you pay for. What is the lifespan of a Windows machine vs a Mac? And don't get too excite about Windows 7, usually it takes couple patches before they make it right (see XP SP3).
Look at the prices of any PC company who makes a laptop model that's particularly "thin and light" and especially that's made of something other than plastic; it's often just as expensive as Apple. I know that sounds wrong, considering what you've always heard. But, take Dell's Adamo for instance:
Dell 1.2 $1500 / Apple 1.86 $1500
Dell 1.4 $2300 / Apple 2.13 $1800
Yet I applaud Dell. It's one of the few high end laptops that doesn't have a bunch of holes bored and slots cut out for peripherals, with stickers aplenty, tons of crapware violating the desktop (or even hidden in the Start Menu), various other ugly decorative elements and/or logos, and in a case that doesn't flex and feel plastic-ey.
In fact, Dell has finally been putting out decent looking machines, though their cheapest models still bring to mind bathroom scales . . .
Yet I understand that most people don't even so much as think about such things. However, Mac users, I've noticed, are more into the aesthetic of things than most, almost to the point of having an actual esthetic of living in general.
Most American home have white walls, no paintings (and when they do, they have 6" wide matting, and frames that look like kitchen cabinet trim), and have matching sets in their living rooms and bedrooms. In other words, normal.
Whereas, when my wife and I lived and visit abroad, we noticed they have painted walls, hang paintings, and generally have eclectic furniture that compliments instead of matches.
When Vista came out our Euro buddies remarked at how attractive it finally was (no more Fischer Price Toys XP), whereas hardly any of our American friends mentioned it. Yet most all our Mac friends did, though some noticed that it's too visually noisy, a complaint echoed by some Windows users too, though Windows 7 might address some of that. But that's a typical Mac user, and not just the graphic artists and designers.
Mac users have always enjoyed very attractive GUI, icons, layouts, etc. And large, millions of color icons, beautiful toolbars and sidebars since before Windows XP. That alone is an appeal to which my Windows friends just shrug their shoulders.
Sorry, we can't help it. Call it shallow, but it pleases us. We derive enjoyment from it and that weighs into our buying decisions. We're just different. Is that so bad?
(And forget the huge icons and pretty affects, the way OS X actually functions is another story, altogether.)
So back to price; the Adamo versus Air was just one example, but now go price the unibody MacBook Pros against its equals = materials, design, the feel, and the aesthetic, unibody, OS X, and all the supposed intangibles . . .
And Apple’s Macintosh operating system is a rip of of Xerox Parc's work on the GUI and the mouse. I love how they omit that part.
ex ped: Don't mean to get defensive — especially of Apple — but how is that a rip off? Apple paid Xerox for the right to use those ideas.
Windows was first introduced in 1984 and Zune was introduced in 2006. This analyst seems uninformed.
ex ped: You're right about the Zune (Nov. 2006). The version of Windows released in 1994 was pretty lame; it ran on top of DOS. Wolf seems to be talking about Windows 3.0 (1990), although I don't know why. For my money, the first version of Windows worth using was Windows 95 (1995), but it still drove me nuts.
A Bill from some place up north asks: "You got dust mice there in Texas?"
Yeah, we got 'em Bill. Be careful or you might find one in your dictionary as well:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dust%20mouse?r=14
They eat your yankee "dust mites" by the handful for breakfast. With black coffee stewed in a frying pan. Trust me, you don't want them anywhere near your keyboard.
I completely agree with what MOTJ franklin said earlier..most of those problems about macbooks I have read about on-line.
It is ridiculous how you guys think so highly of your macbooks when you're comparing them to Dells. Set a budget, search on all laptops with performance and reliability. Don't just buy into the hype. There are a crap load of other companies that make way better laptops running efficiently on windows. I am happy owner of a budget-gaming $900 laptop from ASUS that is equivalent to a $1500 macbook pro in terms of performance. I'm not defending all MS products because I think Vista is a piece of shit but win XP has become pretty stable with all the flexibilities it gives you. With win XP, I could do a million things more than os x. More BitTorrent clients to dl, more game options, game hacks all work, all gadgets connect to a PC nicely, never have a problem with connecting the laptop to any projector for presentations at work. My coworker with a mac pro can only get it to work on a couple of projectors (we don't know why, he has the right connectors and everything).
Oh yea for desktop you can build a PC but have you heard of building your own Mac? No, because it's difficult you need to be the geekiest expert, buy the right parts, and know all the tweaks. It is super easy to build a PC as I've built 3 for home since 2004 =D
@mprice, LA
You say that you would look at other boxes if they could run OS X. Thing is, if other generic computers could run OS X, then you would run into the exact same issues that you claim Windows has. OS X is stable only because it runs on limited, underpowered (and overpriced) hardware. Users can't have a computer the way they would like, only the way Apple says they should have.
RE: post from "Tom, Portland ME"
oh, please! get a clue before you post something.
AAC is NOT some Apple Proprietary technology. By definision it is open standard. Go on, google it!
Or have a look at the wiki page…
Snip >>>
“AAC was developed with the cooperation and contributions of companies including Fraunhofer IIS, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Dolby, Sony Corporationand Nokia, and was officially declared an international standard by the Moving Pictures Experts Group in April 1997.” >>>
@Madgunde
"Mac OS X’s underpinnings are BSD open source unix. Windows is based on a closed proprietary source."
OK then. Try to install OS-x on a home built rig or a dell. Go ask apple for their source code like you would any other linux fan. See if they'll give it to you! LOL!
Oh that's right you can't put os x on a generic pc because apple won't let you. Even though it's the exact same hardware, so instead you must pay through the nose for a pretty enclosure.
That's why I say F apple. I downloaded one of the many cracked os x ISOs out their on the web via bit torrent and installed it trouble free on my new home built rig.
Sent from a HACKINTOSH!
"…“Macs are clearly a “boutique” laptops – hip and appealing to a certain clique, but with a very hefty price premium…"
I do pay a premium for Macs. Not because the Mac is more expensive than a Windows laptop, because to build a comparable Windows laptop, is just as expensive, but because there are few low cost Mac choices.
The big reason I pay the premium though is to AVOID having to use Windows. Mac OS X is the Mac. Not the hardware. If Apple were to allow OS X to legally run on other hardware, I'd look at other boxes. Since they don't, I pay through the nose to not have to deal with the sheer crap that is Windows.
Apple OR Microsoft. Both have their fair share of copying and stealing others ideas. I think, Fortune ran an article about Steve Jobs and gave some insights into his thinking and attitude.
It is not about who is better. It is all about who is more greedy, cunning and shrewed.
Hmm, so according to the graph up to 40K people switched to Mac? Out of 100 million people or so?
It's interesting how image defines everything nowadays (even journalists articles). Copying facts: Apple's iphone is a copy of a smartphone / pocket pc that existed for years. MP3 players also existed long before Apple's MP3 player and indeed MacOs is not a first either. Also Apple had to pay royalties inm the past for the iPod interface to Microsoft.
Now Google will give it a try to copy Browser/OS/Phone and no one calls Google a pig…
ex ped: Where did you get 40,000 switchers? The chart shows 14 million.
allow me to summarize all past and future comments on this article:
MACS ARE BETTER
NO WINDOWS IS BETTER
NO MACS ARE BETTER
NO WINDOWS IS
which is a pointless exchange because real men use linux.
@cynik
Don't call someone a liar when you don't know them or their story. You look like a total ASS! Macs have well documented hardware problems and software problems. Every mac user (even the most die-hards) complain constantly about the spinning pinwheel of death. It's as well documented as Microsofts blue screen.
Google image "crackbook"
http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&safe=active&sa=1&q=cracbook&aq=f&oq=&aqi=&start=0
this happened to my macbook twice. Apple still makes the white macbook with this defect even though they know it will happen and refuses to correct it.
Google image "macbook frayed power adapter"
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=macbook+frayed+power+adapter&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=&aqi=&safe=active
this is another problem that continues with their products and they refuse to correct it by keeping their design constant.
The seagate hard drive problem is also well known and documented, as is the battery problem. Apple fixed it with a firmware update but it took them 2 YEARS!
Then theirs people like yourself who act like apple is perfect and their products are so reliable. Forget about those overheating ipod batteries causing them to catch fire…. or the overheating iphone 3gs…. the powerbooks inferior screen hinge that is very prone to breaking,,, the ibooks screen inverter which routineley broke,,, and now the screen hinge wear issue the new aluminum macbooks have….
Apple products are inferior. I speak from personal experience. I got burned by them big time. Never again. I reccomend others to do the same and if you don't like microsoft use linux.
I just watch how people feel about their computers. PC people are so fustrated and angry with their PC. And Mac users love their mac so much. It doesn't take a mental giant to figure out which is better quality and better to their customers.
"Macs are clearly a “boutique” laptops – hip and appealing to a certain clique, but with a very hefty price premium. And most of what Microsoft copied, it provided in an OPEN format, not closed like iTunes aac files or proprietary hardware.
Posted By Tom, Portland ME: August 6, 2009 9:46 AM"
Wow, just wow man. Please tell me you're joking. Microsoft's stuff is provided in an OPEN format?!?!?????
Let me count the ways you're wrong:
AAC is an open standard. Look it up. WMA (Microsoft's alternative) is not.
MP4 is an open standard. WMV is not.
Java, open standard. ActiveX, closed Windows only.
OpenGL, open standar. DirectX, closed Windows only.
PDF, open standard. ??? sorry, Windows doesn't include an equivelant.
Mac OS X's underpinnings are BSD open source unix. Windows is based on a closed proprietary source.
The list goes on. Thanks for the laugh btw.
Philip Elmer-DeWitt, you get the fanboy of the decade award. This is arguably the most tainted article I have ever read in recent memory. I would expected to find something like this on some Apple forums but on CNN?? That’s a surprise. Both MS and Apple copied their respective OS from Xerox, only difference being MS made the smart business decision to license their OS and focus on enterprise. Zune is only a copy of iPod as much as iPod is a copy of Creative and host of other MP3 players before it.
ex ped: Two points: A) Charles Wolf wrote that report. You are shooting the messenger. And B) I believe you have your GUI history wrong. To my knowledge, Window's designers never made the pilgrimage to Xerox Parc.
Having worked at Microsoft through the boom years, I can say that I completely agree with the copy-catter dirty ratter tone to this article. Do you remember Windows 3.0 and the flying toaster screen saver – cute. I was at a sales meeting where there were several hundred sales people in the room. We were being pitched the new products that were coming out and there, lo and behold one product group puts up a fly (something, not toasters) for us – a clear rip off of a great idea. The whole crowd boo'd them.
I am calling LIAR on this story:
"Got a macbook in August 06. Here is my “It just works” experience.
Software:
Constant spinning pinwheel of death
Kernel panics forcing a restart
Frequent “this app has unexpectidly quit” errors.
Slow – Multitasking boggs this system down. with 2gb of ram it’s pathetic how slow it is.
Hardware:
Cracked keyboard twice(common with macbooks, apple refuses to correct this design flaw)
Frayed power adapter cord (another common flaw that apple refuses to correct, this one is a fire hazard fyi)
3 killed batteries (if you let your macbooks battery fully drain it dies)
2 broken hard drives (apple says it’s segates problem,, but they keep using segate drives AND it was proven it was due to the macbooks innefective cooling)"
I'm sorry, i just don't believe this story. There are a couple of things that just don't seem feasible.
First off, what is a "spinwheel of death"? I assume you mean when a program hangs, and needs to be force quit. But you make it sound like when the OS freezes and you need a restart, as is common enough with XP.
Constant? Constant with what programs? If you are using a very badly written program from a third rate developer, sure it might hang. But Apple software is constantly updated, and very seldom hangs unless it is a brand new release and is waiting for all the bugs to be ironed out.
Second, "Kernel panics forcing a restart".
? I have been using macs for more than 20 years, and this has never happened to me. Never. It sounds to me like you have been messing around inside the OS files, trying hard to make the system crash.
Thirdly, the cracked keyboard flaw that Apple "refuses to correct". I presume you mean that Apple have brought out an aluminum chassis in an effort to perpetuate the cracked keyboard design flaw? See, you're making claims that border on the hysterical. This is what makes me doubt your whole story.
Then you talk about another "common flaw", being the frayed power cord. Again, I have never experienced this, and I have never heard of it. Never. Not one time have I heard of this "flaw". Now I am not saying you can't fray the power cord. I'm sure you can, if you give it a shot.
But a "common" flaw? Where did you get the mass of data that allows you to decide this is a "common" flaw?
And then you claim you went through three batteries and 2 hard drives.
At this point, I have to call liar and fabricated story. Lithium batteries do fail over time, but Apple batteries are not known for their inferior quality, and to go through three in a short time you must have been doing something odd, like leaving the computer sitting on a heater all day.
So all in all, I think your story is just a big fabrication. It wasn't a few things that went wrong with your Apple, it was EVERYTHING that went wrong, and multiple times.
What really gives it away is that you never once mentioned the differences in the OS, which most switchers find annoying, and that you only had 2 gig of RAM, but you are complaining about speed.
You never bought a mac. You knew someone with one, and you want to tell a big story because one time it wasn't perfect.
Apple are not a company which has a patent on virtue, but they did not get their reputation for reliability and quality software and hardware because of some gigantic conspiracy.
Have you ever watched a kid doing something dangerous? Some people run over and try to stop their stupid behavior. They usually give a lecture on playing safe that the kid ignores. Then they walk away feeling better about themselves.
Me, I just let the stupid kid play dangerously and watch the carnage evolve. It can be quite entertaining. AFV comes to mind.
That's how Mac users feel when they see a Windows user. Some try to get the idiots to switch. Me, I just sit back and enjoy the show.
I finally switched to Apple despite not wanting to be associated with hippies. I had 2 PC laptops in the last 2 years, both crashed. I also got tired of having to buy a new operating system every year and a half to keep up with Windows (which gets expensive). I like everything so far (it has been about a year)….have had no problems.
I think they will certainly get a chance to engage and educate. Four of the six products are software. They will be having lines out the door with "How do you print in Word?" "How do you download a driver?" and "I can't get to the internet." Those of us who have had to answer user questions for years are laughing our heads off.
The GUI was indeed first conceived at Xerox PARC. They were going to use a simple version for their copy machines. But when they lost interest in the project, they let Jobs hire key members of the same team to turn it into a useful computer OS. It was not copied, borrowed or stolen. It took a full year to perfect it after it left Xerox.
What a ridiculous graph. How could it possibly be based on any kind of factual data? Just goes to show you that people will believe anything if you show them a picture. Ludicrous.
ex ped: Apple reports on a quarterly basis how many Macs it sold and what percentage of those sales were to people new to Apple.
Apple people are sooooo emotional.
Posted By Bill
Really? After listening to how Patrick was driven to tears by the iPod interface? He was driven to frothing hate because he's an idiot and you don't think that's emotional?
Amazing. I have read every comment here. The number of fabrications, utter inaccuracies of historical facts spewed forth by the Windows fanbois is astonishing. Prickly bunch, they are.
Before you accuse me of being a Mac fanboi, I frankly use both platforms. But I use the Mac by choice. It is simply easier to use, better thought through and far more reliable in every way than Windows. Period.
Oh, and @MOTJ, what on Earth were you doing to screw up so badly? If you had kernel panics on your Mac, you likely had some bad peripherals plugged in. From the sound of the problems you encountered, you had no business using a Mac. Your problems have the hallmarks of cluelessness. Sorry, but I am being frank, and it's because I administer both Macs and PCs for a Fortune 100 corporation.
Truth be told, people are switching to Macs in droves. It did not have to be this way. But the Microsoft you love so passionately is not the Microsoft that dominated the 80s and 90s. The company is simply poorly managed and has lost vision. I wish it weren't so, but that's the truth. And deep inside, you know that. You simply don't want to admit it.
I would say to never underestimate Microsoft. I still remember selling to cusotmers who would say " We will never switch from 123 and WordPerfect "
Lets pray the never go into retail like apple. Every time I visit an apple store I want to throw up. Genius….not! Reinstalling an OS doesn't make you a genius.
And need I begin on the wanna be hippi's in the store….barf.
Apple store….M$ store….no thank you.
Retail is lame.
@NotSoSmartGuy
Get your facts straight:
http://www.folklore.org
BTW if you think Microsoft copied the mac you should look up Digital Researches GEM. Apple sued them into submission, in fact thats what they tried doing to all software companies that made a comparable GUI for the PC. In essence they were fighting microsofts battle for them, They couldn't cut microsoft off because the success of the mac largely depended on Microsoft's office software,,,, so when it came to who won the OS war for the PC you can thank Apple. Suing companies out of business since 1985 =)
I learned how to program Fortran and APL on an Apple IIc. Then I learned Basic and Pascal on a PC. I could never understand the 8.3 file naming after coming from a 25-character file naming of the Apple.
I currently have only one iMAC in the house (I use PC's and NetWare 5.1 for File Serving), but until Windows NT 3.1 came out, Long File Names were a myth to the MS world. The MACs I supported were beloved by their office users due to the document names making sense. Even the Unix and VMS platforms I worked on periodically had long file name support back then.
Now, will the store work? It depends on the quality of the Hardware they pair up with. Pick one Vendor (HP, for example) that has all the pieces and support under one roof along with all the MS software, it might work. Mix and match, and there could be serious problems, which would hurt their public image.
I stopped by an Apple store for the first time just last weekend. It was nice that they had all the "toys" out to play with. I figured it would be neat to get my first experience playing with an iPod since they are usually in a glass case at the big-box stores and they will almost never let you try a live one. Grab iPod, put on headphones, try to navigate through menus with the four way cursor just like my TV, DVD player, Home Theater, and nearly every electronic device I have ever touched (including my PS2, Gamecube, Xbox, etc)…no dice. WTF? I thought this thing was supposed to be intuitive but the damn thing refuses to navigate through the F-ing menus. 8 minutes of frustration and then I accidentally "brush" the wheel and notice it finally navigates the menu. Well, that is a completely anti-intuitive interface. Why do people laud it as being the greatest thing ever? Now I am finally navigating the menus and finding a great deal of frustration as it takes several tries to get the "wheel" to land on the proper entry- I want to click on over to the entry I want, not lazily float and hope I can time it just right. I like discrete steps and inputs – not this fuzzy pseudo analog interface.
Getting the trackpad on a macbook to accept my input was also an interesting experience – no thanks, too much frustration in re-learning everything. I only really need the cheapest mac-mini that I can use for development anyway for porting applications from Windows to Mac.
You guys are funny. Apple is no expert and neither is microsoft. Just so you know the chain of the gui goes like this.
Xerox – then – Apple – Microsoft.
Same for networking and on and on. If you can find I believe it is conquest of the geeks or nerds on PBS you can see Steve Jobs even talking about it and the 3com guys and on and on.
Apple's real genius is not in their products but in their ability to market their products and perception management.
It's sad to see what Microsoft has become. In some areas they are innovators, but starting with the Internet and Netscape, followed by PlayStation, iPod, OS X touch, Apple Stores etc., they have clearly been followers. And where they have been leaders — Windows Mobile, UMPC, tablet computers, WIFI in media players, music subscriptions — they have failed to attain a first mover advantage, each time missing what the consumer really wants while appealing to a small tech-oriented niche. So much talent there being wasted by horrific leadership. I'm one of those switchers on the chart and I will not go back.
It's amazing how many of the comments here merely reflect the rhetoric of defending ones current platform rather than reason. Macs are less expensive than WinTel if you consider your time in the least bit valuable; it has nothing to do with "boutique status". I made the switch to reliability this year and it was Microsoft XP that drove me to it, thank you very much.
Intelligent article.
MSFT can copy the Apple Store down to the last detail and put it right next door. You'll still be able to tell them apart. The Apple Store will be the one with people in it.
I see the Microsoft apologists are out in full force today.
Too funny. 
)
Loving my new Macbook Pro. Dumped my Dell in the dumpster the other day. Goodbye forever Microsoft.
@RJ Cambridge
Speaking of getting your facts straight. MS originally licensed the GUI from Apple and it goes way deeper than just the "file menus." Because of J Sculley's poorly negotiated contract with MS it allowed them to have that right and derivative rights in perpetuity.
Microsoft mainly sells software, whereas Apple mainly sells hardware. What would you be going into a Microsoft store for? To test Office 2008 (on which manufacturer's PC?)or play games on the Xbox? I could do that at Best buy as well.
My ideal Microsoft "store" would be a huge Apple-style Genius bar which is only dedicated to helping people get MS software working correctly on their hardware: hardly a revenue proposition for Microsoft.
You guys are all crazy. Linux distributions are where it's at. Try Ubuntu, and Open Office. That is what I am currently using on my old Laptop. The Best part is the software was free.
If Apple wants to rule their ecosystem with low-quality hardware components and with a mean-streak that rivals Soviet dictators, let them. I've stopped using Apple products. I've bought 2 copies of Windows 7 to upgrade my computers on launch day. –Happy Windows User
Yo, sean in Philly, it was P.T. Barnum who said "There's a sucker born every minute."
And Joe in Texas, they're dust mites, not mice, at least up here in the North. You got dust mice there in Texas?
Pretty lame article. Calling MSFT a copy-cat is so old school. You can say the same thing about many products of many companies. I am sick and tired of this stupid rant, so much so that I started hating AAPL ads and products. Anyway, AAPL is moving into its monopolistic behavior by blocking Google voice and shutting iTunes from PALM. Hope the author realizes that there is no "saints" here, everyone wants to rip off consumers and competitors.
I switched back
I drank the kool aide and gave the mac a shot. Got a macbook in August 06. Here is my "It just works" experience.
Software:
Constant spinning pinwheel of death
Kernel panics forcing a restart
Frequent "this app has unexpectidly quit" errors.
Slow – Multitasking boggs this system down. with 2gb of ram it's pathetic how slow it is.
Hardware:
Cracked keyboard twice(common with macbooks, apple refuses to correct this design flaw)
Frayed power adapter cord (another common flaw that apple refuses to correct, this one is a fire hazard fyi)
3 killed batteries (if you let your macbooks battery fully drain it dies)
2 broken hard drives (apple says it's segates problem,, but they keep using segate drives AND it was proven it was due to the macbooks innefective cooling)
So there ya have it. Meanwhile my 2nd computer, Dell Latitude D630(same hardware specs) running Vista Busines.
No hardware problems
No software crashes
It's fast
No OS problems at all
So there ya have it. I switched back and sold the macbook on ebay. Don't buy the hype. Apple products are not reliable no matter how loud the fansoldiers (fansoldiers because apple fanboys act as assault soldiers for apple) scream.
PED, it's not your fault, but that graph is horrible. What does the yellow line, the one with all the growth mean? I read the legend as "18 of Windows Switchers". Huh???
ex ped: The yellow triangles represent the installed base (IB) of Windows switchers (the total that have accumulated at the end of each quarter. The pink squares represent new Mac purchases in any given quarter by loyal Mac customers and the blue diamonds are new Mac purchases by customers who just switched from Windows that quarter. The data come from Apple's quarterly reports.
Macs are clearly a "boutique" laptops – hip and appealing to a certain clique, but with a very hefty price premium. And most of what Microsoft copied, it provided in an OPEN format, not closed like iTunes aac files or proprietary hardware.
But trendy hipsters prefer to pay twice as much for the tag on their jeans – if everyone could afford it, it wouldn't be cool…
Hey Sean from Philly:
"MSFT gained it’s dominate position by convincing people Windoze was better than Mac.. finally people are catching on.. better late than never I guess"
The mac was never a standard the way the PC is. Mac marketshare at it's peak in 1990 was still only 15%. So microsoft convinced 10% between 1990 and today that the pc was better, not what I call domination. If you can't figure out why that's your problem.
this Microsoft doesn't innovate stuff is tiresome. Microsof does, Apple does, Google does….and they all learn from others and acquire technology along the way. to paint one as an innovator and another as a photocopy shop is easy but inaccurate.
if and when Apple brings out a tablet I suspect the market will forget Microsoft has worked at that market for some time. the commentators will point and say "oh but Microsoft didn't sell a boatload and APple did ergo Apple is the innovator".
oh and go do a search for Anthony Michael Fadell and iPod.
Will the Microsoft Guru be able to hand me a brand new laptop if they decide my laptop is beyond repair? Because the Apple store did that for me when a trackpad repair came back still not corrected 100%. Brand new machine, brand new warranty, replacing a two year old out of warranty machine.
I think the Apple store is going to have a highly visible advantage over the Microsoft store. Too many differences for a cheap MS copy to just work.
One of Microsoft's claims to fame is being all things to all people. How are the Gurus supposed to be able to support the infinite combinations of hardware and software they'll see?
Putting these stores next to Apple stores will only highlight the advantages of Apple's model. Just in terms of layout, fixtures, and procedures, Microsoft will never put the pre-work into their store that Apple put into theirs.
I still like to read the Cliff Edwards story about Why Apple Stores Won't Work. from time to time.
Count me in as a soon to be Mac convertee. I have had enough of Microsoft and its change for the sake of change crap while delivering crap. When this computer crashes (it will -as it is a Windows PC) its replacement is going to be a Mac. My daughter in college did just that after her windows based laptop repeatedly froze, and she could not be happier with her new Mac.
Might want to get your facts straight before you quote someone. Windows 1 was released in 85.
I get irked when mac fans complain about how much windows 3.0 stole from mac os. Other than the file menus they're not much similar. You don't hear microsoft fans bashing linux fans on all the MS Gui clones of windows there are out there,,, nor do you hear them bash the ideas apple stole from Microsoft (finder preview,,, copied from windows 98 as one example). Think about what classic was like in 1990. It constantly crashed, few hardware upgrades aside from ram available, if you wanted color you had to cough up major $$$ for the Mac 2 series. Plus mac os was soooooo restrictive to the user back then that the vast majority of computer savy users rejected it outright. Microsoft gave users the tools they wanted and needed to make their systems more effective, efficient, and customized to their liking… as opposed to locking the user out and forcing them to do all things the Apple way like apple has always chosen to do after releasing the mac.
One bit of historical irony, apple 2 fans switched to PC because with the PC you had what you were never allowed with the mac,,, open architechture,, expansion slots, your choice of OS (yes there were multiple PC OSs back then).
It's taken the press a very long time but finally MSFT is being exposed for exactly what it is a company that proves what WC Fields said years ago "There's suck born every minute".. MSFT gained it's dominate position by convincing people Windoze was better than Mac.. finally people are catching on.. better late than never I guess
What they need to put on those "wall-sized digital screens" is a loop of Ballmer on one of his rants. No sound necessary. The new face of Microsoft will do.
Meanwhile, I don't see Google on that chart. Maybe it's not a big enough blip. Yet.
Or is it because it's not a "platform"? You know, something big enough for spilled coffee and dust mice?
I think that for Microsoft, Windows 7 is their last-ditch effort to retain their current customers before they realize the unequivocal difference between Microsoft and Apple.
Just as Microsoft has always disappointed (Windows Millennium, Vista anyone?) so will they again with Windows 7. They will always produce a poorly crafted version of Apple's OS.
In about five years, I believe, Microsoft, will surrender its inevitable defeat, just in time for Apple to release its newest, most unstoppable, most revolutionary operating system, one that will be ubiquitous throughout the home and business spheres.