Microsoft: Windows 7 will trump Chrome OS, Apple

Although the conventional wisdom is that the rise of the Netbook is hurting the Windows business, a Microsoft executive said Tuesday that lower-cost laptops can actually be a good thing.

Speaking at an investor conference, general manager Charles Songhurst said that overall, most people buying Netbooks are either multiple PC owners in developed markets or first-time PC buyers in emerging markets.

"From what we see they are incremental," Songhurst said. "They are new scenarios."

Even if that is true, the fact is that Netbooks have been growing in numbers, while traditional PCs have slumped--a shift that has undeniably hurt the average amount of money Microsoft is getting for each copy of Windows.

One of the opportunities, Songhurst said, is if Microsoft can gain additional revenue on high-end PCs, noting that Microsoft has tended to get about $50 in Windows revenue for the standard $1,000 PC. (Microsoft tends not to talk about how much it charges PC makers for Windows, so it was interesting to hear him mention that figure a couple of times during his chat, which was available as a Webcast.)

Songhurst

(Credit: Microsoft)

Asked about Google's forthcoming Chrome OS, Songhurst said that while it could be a threat if it is demonstrably better, just being cheaper won't offer much of a threat, saying the quality of Windows 7 will help the company fend off new competition. Microsoft plans to launch Windows 7 on October 22, while Google's Chrome OS is not expected until next year.

As for whether Apple might gain ground inside corporations, Songhurst said that Apple isn't winning over the key executives that make technology purchases, such as chief information officers.

"If they are not compelling to the CIO, they are not going to make inroads in the enterprise," he said.

On the Bing front, Songhurst acknowledged that even if Bing is getting good results in the U.S., the company faces an even larger hurdle in the global market, where Google has nearly 70 percent share. Songhurst said that although Bing's engine is available globally, it has yet to put the same kind of marketing dollars overseas as it has in the U.S.

"That marketing push makes a (big) difference," Songhurst said.

One of the other things Microsoft has done is sign deals with companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo to make Bing the default search engine on new PCs. Asked if Microsoft is eying more such pacts, Songhurst said yes.

"Always we'll do distribution deals for Bing," Songhurst said. "We're quite active in getting out and competing for those."

[mistasandman]

Windows 7 is a really great OS.... We already know Snow Leopard was a flop, and I really don't see a Google being able to level the playing field.

[El_Gringo_Guapo]

Flop? You're kidding.

[protagonistic--2008]

I might lend a bit of credence to your statement, but since you did not provide any links as to where you came up with that little gem I can only presume you are just another Windows fanboy.

And before you reply, yes, I did use the Windows 7 beta and RC for a few months. And I will say that if you intend to stick with Windows and are running Vista it will be a worthwhile upgrade. It will finally bring to Windows users what those of us in the rest of the computing world have been using for several years now. Windows 7 might stem the bleeding for MS somewhat, but it is not going to convince those who have already jumped ship to come back.

I recently nuked my Windows 7 HD to install a beta of BSD 8.0 and do not regret it. There was just nothing compelling enough in Windows 7 to convince me to keep it. My everyday work is done with Leopard and anything else is better done in BSD/Linux as Windows is not particularly adept at doing things from a command line.

Anyway, this Songhurst seems to be trying to put a really positive spin on a bad situation for MS. Netbooks have to be hurting their bottom line.

[CDubber]

Having both Snow Leopard and Windows 7 RC on my Mac (and having used both), here's the truth:

Snow Leopard > Windows 7. Windows 7 is, no question, the best version of Windows ever, but OS X is still superior.

Oh, and it's funny how Microsoft with one hand is pushing the sales of "premium" PCs to extract more profit, yet with the other hand runs ads to tell consumers that they can get crappy PC laptops for a pittance compared to Apple stuff.

So what is better, Microsoft? Premium stuff or bottom-feeder junk? Seems you can't decide.

[renGek]

How many websites are hosted on a server running a mac OS??
Thats why windows win.
See all those pages with the extension .ASPX thats all microsoft.

[Magallanes]

Having both Snow leopard and Windows 7 in my macbook pro, here's the true.

leopard = snow leopard < windows 7.

With the exception of xcode, i don't find any reason to use osx, and frankly, os looks a bit outdated.

[Lennron]

@ CDubber

"Having both Snow Leopard and Windows 7 RC on my Mac (and having used both), here's the truth:"
This must be hardware specific. I finally upgraded my Mac to SL last week. I compared it to the Windows 7 RC running on my Optiplex and Windows out performs Mac at nearly every program I've ran on both. (And in case you're wondering, they both have 2GB of RAM and 3GHz processor). I'm wondering if Windows 7 just performs poorly on Macs.
And as for Microsoft picking which is better, premium or bottom line? I'm pretty sure they're happy if you buy either as long as it has Windows on it. lol

[protagonistic--2008]

@ renGek

And just how many web servers are running Windows 7? Using your logic I expect to see you running Linux instead of Windows. You might want to do a bit of research before posting.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Here's the solution for people who seem to obsess over which OS is best:


Use what works for you.

It's not a hard concept. Just use what works for you.

[JoeF2]

@renGek:
How many websites are hosted on a server running a mac OS??
Thats why windows win."

That's why Linux wins...
Most webservers run a *nix variant, not Windows.
Based on your own logic, that means Linux won.

[Dust_Puppy]

Yup, Unix fell flat on it's face too. Don't even get me started about Linux . . . talk about setting the resource bar low . . . doesn't run on old computers, not scalable to large amounts of memory . . .

Kool aid anyone? :)

[FormerPCwonk]

Mistasandman:

If you're going to make ridiculous claims, at least be certain their gramatically correct i.e. "We already know Snow Leopard 'is' a flop" and "I really don't see a Google 'OS'". In case you're wondering, the first error was one of tense, and the second was an adjective without a noun. Sadly, you're inability to draft two simple English sentences is itself proof that you don't have a clue about what you now claim to know.

You should've stayed in school.

[baconstang]

At least be certain 'their' is 'they're'.

[LXGarcia]

@FormerPCwonk

"Sadly, you're inability to draft two simple English sentences is itself proof that you don't have a clue about what you now claim to know.

You should've stayed in school. "

you're = you are
your = possesive.

Perhaps you should take youR own advice. =^^=

[sickbag]

FormerPCwonk, if you're going to pull someone up on their grammar you should at least know the difference between 'their and 'they're', and also 'your' and 'you're'

To make a mistake like that once is unfortunate, to make it twice is downright stupid

Sadly your inability to differentiate between two commonly used words renders the rest of your paragraph worthless and vapid.

I loook forward to your response

You should've stayed at school.

[ecotopian--2008]

FormerPCwonk-

If you're going to be criticizing people's grammar on the net, your posts need to be good examples. At least be certain they're gramatically correct. Sadly your inability to compose a paragraph free of errors similar to those you criticize is itself proof that you don't have a clue about what you claim to know.

[cp1951]

you're inability? Come on, you are joking, right?

Novel idea: address content, not delivery. Grammar nazis seem to be everywhere, hacking and attacking everything but core ideas that actually should get the time and effort involved in a response.

[eadeguzman]

Very funny FormerPCwonk... Are you kidding?

You might want to comment on Readers Digest or something. Folks in tech don't really mind other people's flavor of English. For some of us here (including myself), English is not our first language.

Try speaking in grammatically perfect Spanish or Mandarin. Plus typos do happen...

But having said that, not that I am endorsing this comment, what's grammatically wrong with "We already know Snow Leopard *is* a flop."?

Are you saying that the right sentence should be "We already know Snow Leopard *was* a flop."? With my limited knowledge of the English language, I believe that both are correct but have different meanings...

Speaking is "communication art" -- there is no absolute right or wrong... Many famous phrases are actually grammatically incorrect, like President Reagan's (*the* great communicator himself) famous line: "You ain't seen nothing yet."

[djames42]

Yes, it's a great OS - compared to the previous crap that Redmond has put out. However, compared to every other modern OS out there, it's anything but. I ran it for a few months at home and got tired of applications randomly shutting down so I installed Ubuntu. I gained about a 30% speed bump *and* have yet to have a single failure.

But yes, Windows 7 will succeed - because it's better than previous versions of Windows, and because there are millions of sheep out there unwilling to try the alternatives. Microsoft's advertising campaigns try hard to prevent people from looking elsewhere, because they know most people who try something else realize just how pleasant their computing experience can be.

That said, I'd hardly call Snow Leopard a flop. Particularly when compared with the wonderful success that was Vista.

[phatose]

Windows 7 will succeed the same reason windows itself has been successful. Massive support in terms of software and hardware.

Ultimate, Microsoft is simply the best at what they do - covering a huge variety of hardware configurations, creating a relatively easy platform to develop on, and making it work well enough. Apple doesn't cover anywhere near the sheer quantity of hardware possibilities Microsoft does, and goes to great lengths to make sure that no one else supports non-mac hardware on OSX. Linux and other Open source OSes are driven by the highly technical dev communities, with very iffy support for anything that isn't cool, an outright hostility to non-technically inclined users and a chip on their shoulders that ain't exactly ingratiating to anyone who hasn't already swallowed their rhetoric wholesale.

Apple's success practically requires it being a small market, and the Linux people are utterly clueless about making an OS palatable to the masses.

[gggg sssss]

easy to not have random applications shutting down by installing an OS that there are no useful applications for.

[nitespark]

"But yes, Windows 7 will succeed - because it's better than previous versions of Windows, and because there are millions of sheep out there unwilling to try the alternatives. Microsoft's advertising campaigns try hard to prevent people from looking elsewhere, because they know most people who try something else realize just how pleasant their computing experience can be."

Wow you just described how the iPod line is still a success.

[mstatton]

Actually Microsoft has been a good business company. Even the famous talk between Gates and Jobs in the earlier years showed it. Remember the one where Jobs told Gates "You know we have the much better product." to which Gates replied "It doesn't matter.".
BTW, Wndows 7 is just a re-hash of Vista fanbois. It'll flop just like Vista (aka the largest failure in the history of Microsoft). I already know of many very, very large businesses who will not be upgrading. They're sticking with 2000 and/or XP. Sad when they still use the outdated version, eh? Oh BTW, look at the numbers of businesses still using the above. That shows the respect Microsoft has in regards to OS.

[djames42]

"easy to not have random applications shutting down by installing an OS that there are no useful applications for."

You do realize the open source community lives and breathes Unix, right? And as MacOS sits on top of Unix, it gains the benefit of both native application support *and* access a vast library of open source software.

To say there are no applications for other platforms is ignorance at its best.

"Wow you just described how the iPod line is still a success."

I believe the iPod is a success in part because people want a consumer device that is easy to use. I have several of them which have been used over the years primarily for listening to podcasts. No other device is as easy and seamless for that. I do recognise the shortcomings of iPods, and also have a few Sansa and Archos players. They both support far more formats than the iPod, and support drag-and-drop of files in HD mode (people complain about how bloated iTunes is, but how anyone can use the atrocity that is Windows Media Player to manage their devices is absolutely beyond me) and yet despite their additional flexibility, they are rarely used.

"BTW, Wndows 7 is just a re-hash of Vista fanbois. It'll flop just like Vista (aka the largest failure in the history of Microsoft). I already know of many very, very large businesses who will not be upgrading. They're sticking with 2000 and/or XP."

Having run both Windows 7 and Vista, I agree that 7 (on the surface) appears to be little more than Vista SP2 (and should, I believe, be priced as such). However I disagree that it will be a flop. The millions of Windows users who have never used anything else will see it as a breath of fresh air. They'll enjoy the stability (relative to previous Windows versions) and security (relative to previous Windows versions) and interface enhancements (relative to previous Windows versions, many of which I find to be annoying tweaks just for the sake of having interface tweaks) that the rest of us non-Windows using people have enjoyed for nearly a decade. And for that reason, I expect Windows 7 to be a great success for Microsoft.

[protagonistic--2008]

Obviously, the spin does not stop here. :-)

[umbrae]

I would not say Snow Leopard is a flop. Getting $50 from people for a service pack and giving the impression they are releasing a new OS along side Windows 7 is a major marketing win for Apple. Of course, it says something about their users.

Apple is more like Microsoft everyday.

[protagonistic--2008]

You obviously don't know what you are talking about. SL was available for $25.00 and for that matter Windows 7 is simply what Vista should have been in the first place. Since SL actually does bring a lot more to the table it seems to me that "says something about their users" more aptly applies to you than it does to me. BTW, when you get the new Windows 7 release let me be one of the first to welcome you to the world of advanced computing that the rest of us have been enjoying for several years now.

[YankeePoodle]

protagonistic,

drink apple cool aid.. yes, it took Apple 18 months to come up with giving "os x" 64-bit (not totally because you have to do something more for really booting 64 bit kernel). There was always a lingering 64-bitness to OS X but even after charging you $29, they still did not deliver you the 64-bit completeness to you yet With hardly couple of features, Apple should have given away for free and they have a very primitive security "structure" which Vista had from get go. SL is souping up apple apps to 64 bits and yet not completely delivering it.

Dont get me all wrong I own MacBook Pro and use both Leopard and Windows XP, So I just appreciate the things for what they are... being a FanBot just is not worth it.

[lantzn]

@YankeePoodle

You do realize that the MAJORITY of the Intel Macs out there can't run this 64-bit goodness don't you? This is THE reason Apple made the OS itself bootup into 32-bit mode. The few who do have a Mac that can only need to hold the 6 and 4 keys down while booting to have the 64-bit kernel. Once the majority of Macs are capable a simple OS update should be able to reverse this. So why would you see this as a negative? Making the majority happy was the wise choice.

[Jeremy Chappell]

When was the last time an OS cost $50? Apple know full well that Snow Leopard is delivering far less (for users) than previous Mac OS X upgrades and are pricing it accordingly. For developers Snow Leopard is a huge upgrade, and down the road users will see those benefits.

Why is this hard to understand? Apple aren't delivering many user facing features. It isn't a service pack - those don't significantly change how an OS operates (just because the systems behaves like Leopard, doesn't mean it operates the same way). Apple don't charge for service packs (they don't even use that term).

[csoccer1]

do any of you know that the 32 bit kernel is fully capable of running 64 bit apps at full speed? when booting with the 64 kernel, the only thing that changes is that certain 32 bit drivers won't work correctly. that's the genius of apple's os, it's able to adapt to the program based on how it is written and allow the hardware to take advantage of it. some people fail to realize service packs do not include GCD or OpenCL or 64 bit apps or a completely rewritten way to access your files. calling it a service pack only shows how much you don't understand operating systems themselves. snow leopard, like windows 7, is a mostly under the hood improvement on previous operating systems. leopard was already beautiful from the start, so there wasn't much for apple to improve in the UI department. Vista, however, had to be completely redesigned in order for people to want to buy a new OS from MS.

[protagonistic--2008]

@ lantzn

Best to leave YankeePoodle to his ignorance. He is too busy to be bothered with the facts.

[El_Gringo_Guapo]

Windows 7 = Windows Vista 2.0

[Fire Balls]

Wow you really don't know what you are talking about and probably have never used it have you.. hmm That's what I thought.

[the_mrwhite]

Actually he is right, even Steve Ballmer said that Win 7 is an upgrade to Vista, so techinically what you're getting is an upgrade. Win 7 is what Vista should have been if they weren't is such a hurry to get it to market.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Upgrades are upgrades. What's the big deal there?

Snow Leopard was an upgrade to Leopard.

Win 7 is an upgrade over Vista.

You guys seem to get hung up over semantics entirely too much and forget what the real story is.

[Renegade Knight]

Close. 7 = Vista Fixed. That's what MS advertised, That's what prompted them to push it out the door sooner.

[Lerianis3]

Yeah, got to agree, Fire Balls. Anyone who can say that Windows 7 is Vista 2.0 (and Vista was a very good operating system once you dismissed the BS coming from the Microsoft haters) has not tried EITHER operating system.

[kelmon]

@Lerianis3

Um, what is the problem with describing Windows 7 as Vista 2.0? That is, of course, exactly what it is, much like you could describe it as Windows XP 3.0, Windows 2000 4.0, etc. Whether you see this description as a positive or negative is up to you but, really, does anyone care?

[deniceels]

Well, if MS push out Win7 faster over Vista, Snow Leopard was pushed out even faster with service pack 1 out already within 2/3 weeks. So, since both are/have pushed out fast, doesn't it mean that both are upgrades over their previous OSes?

All OSes will either be an upgrade asethetically or internally, or a improvement of some form likesecurity and integration with newer components, and at some point of time, a total revamp/overhaul.

And yes, I use WinXP/Win7 RC, Tiger/Leopard, Red Hat/Fedora, OpenSuse, FreeSpire at some point of time, and each are built for individual purpose. So choose what you want and enjoy it. Just because you don't like the others for some reasons doesn't mean others should follow you.

[myles taylor]

Of course Microsoft is going to say that. What else are they going to say? Big shock here. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it's no shock that they are going to tell everyone that it will be a success.

[MyRightEye]

Oh BS. Gosh, you know they're in trouble when they come up with infantile nonsense like this. It's like all the trolls we find online must be employees at MS, because the entire company acts like a troll.

[adhetola]

what i find rather amusing is the frequent comparison of SL 10.6 with Vista. Why not make a direct comparison with Windows7? So much for saying SL is "not a flop" if all the positive comments made about the OS is against an over 2-years old OS that did quite well (esp after sp1, but no-thanks to negative media).

[cloudmatt]

@adhetola

Thank You! I really liked vista as well. True not love but a strong like. I just jumped to full Win 7 and I have to say I do truly love 7.

[Jeremy Chappell]

Snow Leopard and Vista are the two shipping versions - so of course those are the ones you'd compare.

[ikramerica--2008]

Yes, SL is shipping, Windows 7 is still coming, but that hasn't stopped many from saying that 10.6 COPIES Windows 7 features in many ways. Cnet "journalists" have said as much. How does an OS, developed concurrently with another OS, and released BEFORE that other OS, copy the "late" OS?

[JoeF2]

@cloudmatt:
Dude, it is an OS... If you "truly love" an OS you really REALLY need to adjust your priorities...
Get a life. Get a girlfriend.

[Renegade Knight]

Fair point.

Snow Leopard and 7 are the obvious comparison as they were both released at the same time and are the current "state of the art" for each OS.

[csoccer1]

@JoeF2
what does snow leopard "copy" from windows 7? the only thing i see is "put back" in the trash. Everything else was already available in Leopard, it's just been refined and tweaked a bit to take advantage of GCD and OpenCL.

[Macbrewer]

The put back feature was in the original Mac OS, I think System 7 or even earlier. There are scads of features of Mac OS that Microsoft never bothered to rip-off. You'd know that if you ever really used a Mac.

[JoeF2]

@csoccer1:
Are you confusing me with somebody else? I haven't said a word about Snow Leopard. I don't have a Mac, so I don't even care.

[ebaez12]

I agree with umbrae. Apple's Snow Leopard is a scheme to get more people to get their product. Snow leopard is just an update of leopard with not many improvements. Their backgrounds, their look and their browsers still look the same. As for windows 7, the whole look has improved from the taskbar to the whole media experience. Thats why Apple tends to get more money for their products and "updates". I have an iphone and they keep updating this and that but can never tend to do an update that'll change anything. Im still waiting for the update for users to be able to send picture messaging, a feature that any PPC has str8 outta the box, along with bluetooth file sharing and a bunch of other features.

"Apple IS More like Microsoft everyday" is soo true. They realized that their own processors werent good enough for their own notebooks.

Apple's snow leopard price is $29 as to Windows 7 is anywhere from $299 and up. but then again Do I want an OS that is just a washed up version of the previous or do I want an OS that'll give me improvements in every aspect?

[the_mrwhite]

The processor's were replaced to Intel because the Motorola chips chips couldn't keep up with the speed increases, as a chip, RISC chips are still better in design.

[CDubber]

Whoa, you're right - WIndows 7 has new desktop wallpapers! THE INNOVATION IS ASTOUNDING!

*snicker*

And you obviously have no clue how extensive the rewrite of Snow Leopard was. Major underlying rebuilds that will pay dividends for many years to come.

[ballmerisanape]

Try using leopard.. and then switching to snow leopard... The is a very noticeable increase in "snappiness"... very. Many things (web browsing, mail, calendar) are literally instant. My computer waits for me now. This is something I noticed with in the first 20 minutes after install. Hell.. even my wife noticed how much faster everything was. Windows 7 (which I use too).. is not even close in the "snappiness" category. It's a great OS.. but it feels like it's on par with early 10.5...

[protagonistic--2008]

You couldn't be more wrong. Many of the improvements in Windows 7 fall into the "eye candy" classifications. Most of the improvements in SL are completely unseen by the end user.

Perhaps you should educate yourself a bit more on CPUs. The PPC architecture is primarily IBM and it is a RISC chip as opposed to Intel's CISC chip. I would suggest a little reading for you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerPC

As for your last question, I presume you are getting SL then? It probably has more real improvements under the hood than 7 does.

[dukeoconnor]

I agree. Apple is more like Microsoft in many respects. Windows 7 and Snow Leopard are visually much closer than XP was to the various versions of OS X it competed against. iPod and Zune are similar, Apple Store and Microsoft Store with genius/guru bars, touch screen mobile OS (MS's on the way), Ballmer saying that MS will focus on working closer with manufacturers to get Apple-like hardware/software integration, etc. Ten years ago, who could have imagined that MS -- with a monopoly of the desktop and IE quickly gaining control of the Internet and digital media -- would one day be running an ad campaign calling out a small, beleaguered computer manufacturer that had about 2.5% of the global computer market?

[lantzn]

@ebaez12

If you actually want to know what SL is, you might take the time to read up on it.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2009/08/mac-os-x-10-6.ars

[Jeremy Chappell]

The PowerPC isn't an Apple design. The "G5" (Apple's name) is an IBM part. Previous PowerPC chips used in Apple products were Motorola parts. IBM still make PowerPC based systems, but those are honking big servers. Apple switched from PowerPC when IBM's roadmap for the processor deviated from what Apple needed, and Intel's Core road map aligned so well. Apple didn't need or want chips designed for big iron servers (especially as the market gravitated towards laptops).

The engineering in Mac OS X Snow Leopard is significantly different to previous versions, sure the UI is largely unchanged. Windows 7 is essentially the same as Vista under the hood, it has been tuned to lower performance hardware, and it's RAM footprint has been trimmed (the "NetBook Effect") but it's Vista with UI enhancements. Now, is that a bad thing? Well, probably after Vista a bit of stability in Window's codebase is a good thing (gives developers a chance to consolidate). But really there is a lot less to this version than meets the eye. One of the biggest new features is useless for most users anyway (multi-touch - the utility of that on a traditional laptop or desktop is highly questionable, and to make use of it needs new hardware).

[bgnm]

This will be the latest in a long stream of Microsoft operating systems that will destroy Apple. Microsoft should occasionally hire an executive who understands the lessons of history. This is especially fascinating in the light of yesterday's revelation that a Windows 7 installation could require more than 20 hours. I wonder how many corporate IT managers will relish that prospect.

[knowles2]

Where did you hear that crap.

install windows 7 on 8 computers so far an it have not taken me more than a hour to do.

So where did you hear 20h nonsense.

[JoeF2]

@knowles2:
From Microsoft itself, via ars technica:
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/09/microsoft-upgrade-to-windows-7-can-take-up-to-a-day.ars
http://blogs.technet.com/chris_hernandez/archive/2009/09/02/windows-7-upgrade-performance.aspx
Up to 1220 minutes...

[Lerianis3]

Yeah, I don't think so, JoeF2. I think either someone misstated and meant to say 2 hours instead of 20 hours, or those articles are.... fabricated by someone who is anti-Microsoft.

[JoeF2]

@Lerianis:
Hi Fanboy... Obviously, you are so clueless that you don't even know how to follow a link. blogs.technet.com is where Microsoft engineers blog. That guy Chris Hernandez who wrote about the performance numbers is a Microsoft employee, working on Win7.
Now go back to your cave and weep, little clueless troll...

[knowles2]

That alright heard on a couple of sites. But it still sound ridiculous to me .

[sharmajunior]

Just installed Windows 7 (Acedemic Version(s)) on 3 computers. A Dell, an HP and an Acer all under 25 mins.

So there you go, your argument has been proved wrong. Anything else wise guy???

[the_mrwhite]

Two categories of people tell you why Windows is still dominate:

1. IT people, (their job depends on it, literally)
2. Stupid people who buy the Walmart special

End of story.

[renGek]

and yet it still dominates, have been for decades and will for decades.

ONE category of people who refuses to believe windows dominate
1. CRAZY FANBOYS. They also believe the earth is flat.

[Vegaman_Dan]

3. The business world uses Windows, not OS X or Linux for their daily work. It may not be the best OS for the job they are doing, but it is what they have, it's supported, and it's in place.

Deal with it.

[protagonistic--2008]

@renGek

Thanks for proving my point for me. History is replete with examples showing that superior technology rarely wins out. Cheap almost always prevails. Perhaps you will one day wake up and realize that there is more to it than price. I will not be holding my breath, though.

[YankeePoodle]

If OS X can survive by itself, Apple should modularize it. Why tie hardware and software so tight? PC industry exploded for that one reason they have modularized the PC. If Apple and Steve Jobs have a set of balls do it. Crazy Apple fanboys blame everyone but Apple for everything and anything... get a life.. Yes, I get it.. you have a mac and you are cool.. do not pretend to be an OS expert.

[lazycat202]

IT people depends on it? NO!! WE LOVE IT! that's why we're planning to deploy win7 throughout the companies. Just don't come to us with a cool OXS and ask for help on how to login to DC and such of things :P
IT people know how to save $$ and are smart enough to know what would work best for them.

[gggg sssss]

@Vegaman_Dan Windows OS ARE the best for the job. Can you run Outlook on a MAC? no! Exchange? no! Active Directory? not really! Word and Excel , well yes, but why not just get a wintel PC in the first place if you need MS software? Is there a useable CMS? CRM? ERP? financials? CADdream on. Can you run any of the above on any Linux box, no. So in the end, Macs are for people who dabble at computing, and Linux, well it is really not useful for anybody but basement wankers. And webservers because they are cheap, not because they inherently work better.

[JoeF2]

@gggg:
"Can you run any of the above on any Linux box"
Of course you can. Well, maybe YOU can not, but anybody with a clue can.

[JoeF2]

One more, gggg:
"Linux, well it is really not useful for anybody but basement wankers"

So, Google are "basement wankers"?
It is obvious that you are nothing more than yet another clueless MS fanboy.

[supoman]

It's not hard to be better than Windows Vista. But compared to other modern OSes Windows 7 is STILL playing catch up.

[Renegade Knight]

Now that's funny. Vista passed up Leopard for my uses. Meaning that Leopard was no where near as nice for media as I use it. This was strange for a company the got a huge share of the media market.

[Lerianis3]

Vista is a good operating system. Let's see you list some REAL problems with the OS that actually came from the OS and not from lackluster support from device manufacturers.

[02cfranklin]

While Microsoft may have me held tightly with Windows 7 I still think it's priced too highly for the current market. Google will always be my search engine though. Whenever I see it's changed my default to Bing I tend to consider throwing it out the window.

[Lerianis3]

Well, I have to agree with you... the retail version is priced way too high fro the current market..... it should be only 100 dollars, at most, for the retail edition.

[irondog1970]

I've got an Asus EEE PC 900, and I recently installed Eeebuntu 3 standard on it. After some tweaking to get my top panel to stay put, I have found Eeebuntu to be stable, friendly, and reliable.

Since my Asus is a 1 GB RAM, 4 GB SSD, I don't see myself installing either Windows or OS X on it. And besides, all my netbook does what a netbook is supposed to do: surf the web, handle email, IM, social networking, and Skype.

[ballmerisanape]

why not just get an iPod Touch? (or smartphone)

[the_mrwhite]

Exactly

[Vegaman_Dan]

@ballmerisanape:

"why not just get an iPod Touch? (or smartphone) "

Ever type out a long email to someone on a Touch? It's just not a usable option when you need a real keyboard.

[protagonistic--2008]

Pure heresy. Actually run an OS that the category was originally designed to run? :-)

[Jeremy Chappell]

Heh, you've gotta love Ubuntu haven't you? I have installed it on all manor of system from small (an Acer AspireOne) to big (custom built PC) and it always comes up trumps. Sure I run a Mac, and I'm not about to change, but Ubuntu is seriously underrated - it's a great OS on any size of machine.

@ballmerisanape: He has a solution that's working just fine... Why does he need anything else?

[Lerianis3]

Sorry, Jeremy, but it is NOT a 'great os'. It's a great OS if you are thinking of doing NOTHING on your PC save internet surfing. Anything else, and you NEED Windows Vista/7 or OSX, with the gold medal going to Windows 7.

[JoeF2]

@Lerianis3 :
Other than that it runs on platforms as diverse as smartphones and big iron mainframes, Linux indeed isn't great...
And it runs all of Google...
On netbooks, Linux is the only game in town that makes sense.

[RompStar_420]

OS X is way better, let see, not a single PC left in my household, but there was a time, when it was all PCs, I slowly discontinued that.... I've used Windows 7 and it seemed good, but I am not going to go all out and buy it and the time of playing games is pretty much over on PCs, not only because the platforms are for Games like Xbox and PS3, Ninendo, but people age and have more important things to do other than play games and the new generation plays on the consoles.

[Renegade Knight]

"Way better" Yup, that's the kind of articulate review that let me to think OS X would be better than it really was. Thankfully some folks out there actually post solutions to the problems with OS X so the rest of us with work to do can get it done. I just wish they also wrote reviews so I could read past the hype before I got a Mac.

[Lerianis3]

Sorry, but the time of playing games on PC's is not anywhere NEAR over with. As people come up against the problems of consoles (inaiblity to backup game disks, etc.), they turn back to the old standby of the personal computer to game on.

[z386]

"As for whether Apple might gain ground inside corporations, Songhurst said that Apple isn't winning over the key executives that make technology purchases, such as chief information officers."

It it my understanding that Apple has never attempted to pursue corporate contracts, that the business use of Macs has come about because either the businesses decide on their own to use Macs or because employees requested that they be allowed to use Macs. I don't think MS is facing any real competition from Apple in the corporate market.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Apple isn't interested in enterprise level business at this time. They simply do not have the infrastructure necessary to support such a venture to a level that businesses expect and demand at this time.

[Renegade Knight]

@Vegaman_Dan

Given their marketshare they could easily move this direction.

[Seaspray0]

@renegade knight. They would have a severe uphill battle to climb. Apple can't provide a top to bottom manageable solution for a business like microsoft can. Try explaining to the CFO why all of IT is running from computer to computer to install a business application on hundreds of computers when I can do it by myself without leaving my desk. That's just the tip of the iceburg.

[the_mrwhite]

One thing to remember is this, although the article points out that because the CIO's don't see a need for "other" OS's IS not an indicator of what IS going on in the industry.

IT departments wouldn't know what to do without MS, it's all they know and their job depends on it. Plus companies are not spending much money on upgrades let alone a switch over to a new OS. I know for a fact the comapny I work for will not implement Win 7 for at least 3 years after it is released.

That said, look at sales figures and you will see that Apple is indeed out selling all PC manufacturer's and IS the only tech company making money, and their current Mac sales as of yesterday were up 7%, while everyone else is down.

That is what I go by, not by some guy in a tie running an IT department, most of them are dumbasses and have no clue about what is going on in tech.

[Tiggobittie]

Sooooo true! IT dorks choose MS products. WOW - there's a shock!

I work for a $3.5Billion global co... we are ALL on MACs and iPhones in the workplace. Why? Our IT leadership understands the value of Apple products.

Life is great!

[renGek]

@Tiggobittie. What is the OS of your web server? What development tools are you using in your multi billion company? Mac? I don't think so.

[Tiggobittie]

I just called a friend in IT... he said most of the servers are running OS X Server. They said the exception is a mail server cluster (?) running Linux and domain controllers running samba (i think that's what he said). But he didn't mention anything about MS.

He did say something about an open step migration to Apple... but i have no idea what that's about.

Hope this helps your question.

[JoeF2]

@renGek:
My bet is it's not Windows, either.
Most web hosts use a unix variant, with Linux the frontrunner.

[Jeremy Chappell]

@renGek: Which web server are you even talking about? IIS?! Apache usually runs on Linux, but it's shipped with Mac OS X Server. Can you use Mac OS X Server for running a website? Yes, and it does a fine job of it too.

As for development tools; you're talking about Visual Studio right? Not Eclipse? I'm confused, what was your point? Also how many "multi billion companies" do their own in-house development? Really, they don't outsource that? Are you sure?

[z3r0bit]

@renGek Not true. ASP .Net runs on *NIX as well http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page

Either way ASP.Net is behind PHP in usage: http://trends.builtwith.com/framework/ASP.NET

As for web servers Apache #1 by far: http://news.netcraft.com/archives/web_server_survey.html

[B-Ri]

You don't need to be so insulting. I am in IT and I support both Macs and PCs. The thing that bugs me about this single minded viewpoint you have is that Mac OS X can't replace all aspects of windows in a corporate environment. I love the Mac platform but there are times when I find that the best tool is still windows.

[gggg sssss]

@Tiggobittie the term domain controller is a Windows active directory term - for something that only runs on windows server. Do you have even a slight clue of what you are talking about? What oerating system is Samba? A new one to me for sure.

[JoeF2]

@gggg:

First, a domain controller has nothing to do with Active Directory. It has to do with authentication on a Windows domain. That can be done through AD, but doesn't have to be.
Second, AD is just LDAP with some Microsoft extensions. And LDAP is an open standard and runs on every platform.
Third, Samba (Open Source software that runs on *nix) can act as domain controller.
So, nice try, but no cigar. Next time, get an educatiion first...

[SactoGuy018]

I think people forget that one year from now, the so-called "netbook" will sport a bigger hard drive and likely twice the RAM of current netbooks. With 250 GB of disk storage and at least 2 GB of RAM, Windows 7 becomes a viable OS for these next-generation netbooks. And Microsoft will likely offer very lucrative licensing deals to put Windows 7 on these more advanced netbooks.

[the_mrwhite]

Netbooks to me are a passing fad, I have an iPhone, which is way smaller and does the damn same thing and more in some cases and it fits in my pocket. Why carry a phone, a netbook and other crap. Carry one device that does it all and does it well without headaches. = Apple iPhone.

[z386]

I think Apple has already recognized that the future of notebooks is actually smaller devices like the iPhone or iPod Touch. I agree with that viewpoint. I believe the current netbook form factor will eventually give way to Macbook or larger computers and iPod or Zune sized "netbook" computers.

[JoeF2]

So, why in the world would anybody slep around a laptop with a big, heavy disk, just to be able to run Win7?
Netbooks will stay small and nimble. Sure, some companies, e.g., Microsoft, may try a re-branding to sell their bloated OS, but the only people who will bite are the fanboys.

[SactoGuy018]

@JoeF2, the problem with netbooks is that the 160 GB hard is just a tad too small if the user starts to put a lot of multimedia files on the machine. That's why you'll see very small, dual-platter 250 to 320 GB hard drives in netbooks about a year from now, where there will be enough space for a good amount of multimedia file storage.

With Intel's "Pineview" dual-core Atom CPU's now starting production, netbooks are now powerful enough to run Windows 7 reasonably fast, even if the Aero Glass interface is active.

[Renegade Knight]

@the_mrwhite

Does it all? Maybe. Does it well? Only if your needs are modest. If they are, great.

[JoeF2]

@Sactoguy:
Netbooks aren't designed for that. Use them for what they are designed for, light browsing and email.
If you want to play multimedia, you need a laptop, anyway.

[dbloyd]

Windows 7 will trump every other OS in gaming.

Windows 7 is really good for gaming. Chrome will be good for the home user and Snow Leopard in business.

[shycelticwitch]

You are correct in your statements. Windows has always been good for gaming. But not much else, in my world. Functionality wins over form, but OS X has both. Never tried Chrome so I won't comment on it. But I have tried almost all versions of Windows, and until someone can explain to me why this operating system insists on treating it's user like an idiot, I'll use it only when necessary.

That being said... from what I have seen of Windows 7, it truly may be their best attempt yet at emulating the OS X environment and it's simple "it just works" platform. I am going to give it a try (after I give them a few months to exterminate the bugs that are in all new software) on the 2 PC systems I have at my business. I'll let you know what I think of it then.

[JoeF2]

And that's why MS will miss out on the netbook market.
Win 7 may be good for gaming, but not for running on a netbook. Netbooks are not for gaming.
If you want to do games, get a high-end, tricked out machine. Put WIn7 on there if you like. But don't expect to carry that machine around on your trips.

[Jeremy Chappell]

As long as Microsoft can stop itself from shooting itself in the foot with the Xbox 360, if they put too many exclusives on that then they will dull their advantage for Windows 7. Trouble is, I wonder if they're not a bit too fixated on Sony and Nintendo.

[knowles2]

Because 90% of users of computers are idiots, first thing Microsoft learnt. An Apple design philosophy is the sames. Users are idiots keep things simple. Probably one why Linux never taken off.