Comments on: Microsoft goes after Apple online too
In an ad on major news Web sites (for now, those of the Times and the Journal), Microsoft tries to hammer home Windows PCs' price advantage over Macs.
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I spent USD 160 for my second hand Dell laptop on an auction site. It had XP but I now dual boot it with Ubuntu (I almost never use the XP). It has been running just fine and I've been using it to do my freelancing work (web development).
Ubuntu just detected all my laptop's hardware: wifi, network, sound card, graphics card, bluetooth, etc. I followed a small instruction on the net and now my old printer (that I got for free years ago) is working as well.
I wouldn't buy brand new laptop PC nor Mac unless I have sheet load of money.
I don't own any Apple products, but I can appreciate why they are revered by so many people. You can buy Sanyo or you can buy B&O. It's about taste and quality.
The Redmond boys are scared and in the true spirit of competence, they should improve their product, not fill heads with hot air as they are with their most recent commercials.
The only hope is that there are more OS/computer manufacturers with better and cheaper products.
Buy a PC and need to learn how to use it, buy some books.
Buy a Mac and have a problem talk to USA support, or take it into a store.
Buy a Mac, want some help, get free classes at any Apple store.
Come on guys, we all know PCs are dirt cheap boxes or laptops, not quality. So, let MS and the PC folks have their fun. But those that want something different and quality, have a choice.
If your budget is only $600, I'd suggest you upgrade rather than buy a whole new computer. That means you get no choice anyway.
Oh, and you might want to check out Linux since you won't be buying a new comp and Vista doesn't do so well on old computers. You'll be surprised at how well your old stuff runs.
There is no reason why both companies cannot thrive despite the somewhat artificial competition that exists between them. A competition that ultimately has brought benefits to both each company.
People need to move on from the "Apple vs. Microsoft" debate and simply use the products that work best for them.
Finally, Microsoft does itself no favors by comparing itself to Apple. In effect, their ad campaigns are telling people that "we're not as good as Apple, but we're cheap."
Great message...if you're selling Italian ices.
I have built the majority of my home PC's. They are simple to maintain and repair if needed. I never had to call tech support. Right now I bought a Gateway for the first time for under 600$ and spent 200$ upgrading the video to an ATI 4850 and a 500 Watt power supply. So the PC cost me aprox 800$.
It has card readers and a bay for portable drives. It runs Vista smoothly and no, I don't care for the OS and prefer XP. But the fact is I can modify this PC or upgrade it on my own. I can change the OS and even run LINUX if I chose.
I can also decide what hardware I want to buy to upgrade with, ie vid card.
In the long run, this Toyota is looking pretty good.
Is the MAC OS superior? Yes I s the hardware? No, not really. That is the issue. MAC's are overpriced. To deny it is to live in a delusion. They simply are. I am not saying that they aren't good...but they are overpriced.
2unless you're using home basic, you don't get stripped down Vista
What do you call a computer with no OS?
Seriously, without the software, the computer is just a lot of plastic and metal parts put together in a shape that's not very pleasing to look at.
You said yourself that OS X is superior. If the hardware is the same but the software is superior, wouldn't you expect to pay more? Depending on just how much more superior the software is, you should expect to pay a lot more, but you don't.
It's been pointed out several times, choose a Mac with certain specs then find a PC with the exact same specs or at least as close as you can get. Now add in all the software or comparable software that comes with both. The price for the Mac loaded up with all the Mac software that comes with it is roughly the same price as a PC with just the software that comes with it. Plus you don't have to get rid of all the crapware that comes on most OEM machines if you buy the Mac.
Also, notice I kept saying Mac, a MAC is a different thing entirely.
2>LINUX isn't crippled...just not dumbed down.
3>More software available for Windows, including games than for a MAC
4> Just talked to a MAC book user that works with me, as much as he loves his MAC book, he told me he gets much more productivity out of his PC. The software just isn't available.
The price advantage suddenly grows for Windows. I don't like Vista, but at least I can go in and tweak it to run faster and run the most available software and games on it.
Oh...I could listen to MP3's and watch vids on the MAC. Use Adobe, etc. Wait, I can do that on a PC. =)
Sorry, MAC's are fine...but the hard truth is, it is an exclusive club, PC's are all inclusive, I destest snobbery. =)
Microsoft's business model is to sell operating systems to PC manufacturers that hock crappy hardware, the hardware doesn't last very long, and when it gets replaced Microsoft sells another copy of Windows, often the same version. It's a brilliant strategy that has every PC fanboys buying a new hardware every two years. Mac fanboys often enjoy 3-5 years of mac ownership.
The new ad campaign is a huge indicator of what Microsoft is worried about. I have been to the Apple store twice in the last 2 weeks, and the store was packed with shoppers. I don't believe the media reports about Apple's declining sales, very few people that write about Apple actually understand the company.
Apple's March sales will be up despite the poor economy and Microsoft's lame commercials. For those PC people that are foolish enough to fall for this ridiculous ploy. Enjoy your cheap plastic notebook while it lasts.
whose using Obsolete tech now ?
@ seven7dust: Mac users. That's why those supposedly-6-year-old PowerBooks that are supposedly being sold for more than what Dell charges for 50% of its laptops are probably going to a shelve and why so many people say Mac users are idiots who would even buy a turd as long as it would have the Apple logo!
or maybe they provide something the dell doesn't - Quality !
if you look at those powerbooks
they are made of aluminum ,5 hrs of battery life and a O.S thats far superior
So before you judge others have you even used a mac before ?
Maybe next time they should try talking about the software and leave out little kids.
The answer is really simple for me. While the MAC OS is superior, right now, until Windows 7 comes out, I can run any ap I chose on a PC, including Warhammer Online which isn't available for MAC =)
Also, as good as MAC OS is, I don't know if I couldn't do better buy using LINUX, it isn't as user friendly and frankly that is what you are paying for with a MAC, user friendliness but also overpriced hardward.
Try upgrading your MAC. Tell me how much it will cost you and how long you have to wait. Me, I will go to the local PC shop, buy what I need and have it upgraded in less than a hour.
You can't do that with a MAC.
Yes you can drive your BMW and I can drive my Toyota. I don't need the flash and Toyotas are damn fine cars. =)
I don't want to pay an excessive amount for an OS...I would rather go LINUX if it came to that.
The hard fact is, there is more software, hence more you can do on your PC than on your MAC. I am a gamer too, so MAC's are pretty much useless for me.
Whereas on my Apple, I have FF, Iphoto, Itunes running with 2GB memory and I have yet to get an out of memory message.
Finally, shutting down; Vista won't shut down; I can wait until my teeth rot and it runs a constant message, Vista is shutting down. Nothing like that with my Apple.
I have the option of formatting and installing XP but I didn't pay extra. And to get a MS program that works well is an additional $199 or $400 for additional memory banks to make 16GB so the OS can function as designed. Or get an Apple for $1100.
Just for the record, until the last virus that attacked MS OS's (XP) I was a PC and proud of it. Then everything died regardless of having latest releases of Zone Alarm and McAffee, I needed something better.
I'm not a gear head and Linux shows promise (I tried them), Ubuntu, Xandros and Suse seem okay, but if something stopped working I couldn't get it back, just lack of Linux programming knowledge. I tried an Apple, bought it and I haven't looked back since.
Using the latest MS OS, Vista has not been pleasant. So here are the numbers; PC was $700; XP down grade is 199 if I want it, then there is downtime, 6 hours to install XP. After using MS Vista (on an Acer) i for two weeks, it's back in the box, stored. Vista just didn't work for me; Linux is okay but Apple is smooth, stable and constantly working.
Maybe I paid a bit more for my Apple than a PC but it's return on stable working is far better than the price for my Acer. After 20+ years of MS OS, it was too much and Vista is just too flawed for words to use.
I'm not a PC basher, or Apple extremist, but what works, works and MS doesn't. I still think XP was the most stable, and Win2000 the best release, but I'm done with MS products until it's stable as Mac OS's. Mac isn't perfect, but it beats Vista on any plane of comparison. I'm all ready weary of crashes (low memory issues), slow performance and having to add 8Gb of more memory just for one OS An additional $400 in addition to my initial price. Annoying and expensive to say the least.
If PC's work for you, great. If not then Linux or Apple is a better alternative. BTW if one really wants to run MS OS on an Apple Parallels or Fusion will allow both OS's to cohabitate. But why weaken Leopard with MS.
Several posts have accurately pointed out that MS is an OS adopted by hardware mfgrs. Apple mfgr's both and in this context can tightly integrate hardware and software into one smooth system. MS is an overlay onto a system and not well integrated into the inner workings.
Whatever your force, may it be with you! Live long and prosper!
- by techpack March 29, 2009 10:51 PM PDT
- Apple versus PC right? I have a three year old MacBook Pro and a new, as in two months old, Acer laptop running vista 64. First thing, with 8G of memory I frequently get the message I have run out of memory and to shut down programs. Let see I have Firefox and Vista running. So I close down FF and I lose the message.
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Showing 4 of 5 pages (267 Comments)Whereas on my Apple, I have FF, Iphoto, Itunes running with 2GB memory and I have yet to get an out of memory message.
Finally, shutting down; Vista won't shut down; I can wait until my teeth rot and it runs a constant message, Vista is shutting down. Nothing like that with my Apple.
I have the option of formatting and installing XP but I didn't pay extra. And to get a MS program that works well is an additional $199 or $400 for additional memory banks to make 16GB so the OS can function as designed. Or get an Apple for $1100.
Just for the record, until the last virus that attacked MS OS's (XP) I was a PC and proud of it. Then everything died regardless of having latest releases of Zone Alarm and McAffee, I needed something better.
I'm not a gear head and Linux shows promise (I tried them), Ubuntu, Xandros and Suse seem okay, but if something stopped working I couldn't get it back, just lack of Linux programming knowledge. I tried an Apple, bought it and I haven't looked back since.
Using the latest MS OS, Vista has not been pleasant. So here are the numbers; PC was $700; XP down grade is 199 if I want it, then there is downtime, 6 hours to install XP. After using MS Vista (on an Acer) i for two weeks, it's back in the box, stored. Vista just didn't work for me; Linux is okay but Apple is smooth, stable and constantly working.
Maybe I paid a bit more for my Apple than a PC but it's return on stable working is far better than the price for my Acer. After 20+ years of MS OS, it was too much and Vista is just too flawed for words to use.
I'm not a PC basher, or Apple extremist, but what works, works and MS doesn't. I still think XP was the most stable, and Win2000 the best release, but I'm done with MS products until it's stable as Mac OS's. Mac isn't perfect, but it beats Vista on any plane of comparison. I'm all ready weary of crashes (low memory issues), slow performance and having to add 8Gb of more memory just for one OS An additional $400 in addition to my initial price. Annoying and expensive to say the least.
If PC's work for you, great. If not then Linux or Apple is a better alternative. BTW if one really wants to run MS OS on an Apple Parallels or Fusion will allow both OS's to cohabitate. But why weaken Leopard with MS.
Several posts have accurately pointed out that MS is an OS adopted by hardware mfgrs. Apple mfgr's both and in this context can tightly integrate hardware and software into one smooth system. MS is an overlay onto a system and not well integrated into the inner workings.
Whatever your force, may it be with you! Live long and prosper!