There's a Snow Leopard on Live Search for sure. But could Live Search be inside Snow Leopard?
(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET Networks)Those of us with too much bandwidth and too little life (yours truly included) are wondering just why Microsoft chose to make a snow leopard the backdrop photo on Live Search on Thursday.
Even though Microsoft puts a new picture on the site each day, surely it hasn't exhausted all the images that are not references to competitor's products.
As TechFlash points out, the fact that Microsoft has the mascot for Apple's next operating system could be cluelessness on Microsoft's point. Or it could be hubris.
But another crazy thought crossed my mind. What if Microsoft has landed a deal to make Live Search the default in the next version of the Mac OS. For a long time now, Apple's Safari has had a Google search bar built-in. I don't know how much traffic that generates for the search giant, but it would seem to be at least as significant as some of the PC deals that Microsoft is paying good money to get.
Obvious animosities aside, mightn't a deal make sense. Microsoft has talked about needing to spend some money to boost Live Search share.
If it is the case, would Microsoft and/or Apple be crazy enough to tip their hand? It seems unlikely. But, even if that's not the reason that the Snow Leopard is there, would such a deal make sense?
Computer sales on Amazon.com are not exactly a proxy for the broader retail market. Still, I do think it is noteworthy that of the top 20 best-selling laptops on Thursday evening, just one was running Windows Vista.
That one is an HP mini-notebook that ranked No. 18, trailing behind a gaggle of Macs and Netbooks running either Windows XP or Linux.
On the plus side for Redmond, 10 of the top 20 machines were running some flavor of Windows. And, as I mentioned, Amazon is not a true barometer.
Apple's market share, while growing isn't exactly neck and neck with Microsoft's. And Netbooks, while a rising trend, aren't completely taking over the market.
But while the numbers are skewed the trends are worth paying attention to. Two of the hottest parts of the PC market are the areas where Windows faces its stiffest competition.
The Amazon sales trend was noted earlier Thursday by MacDailyNews, though they used a slightly different measurement.
Although Microsoft officially stopped selling Windows XP as of June 30, retailers can keep selling it as long as they have copies.
Perhaps as a result of its potentially impending scarcity, XP is near the top of Amazon.com's software list, with the full version of XP Home at No. 15 and the full version of XP Pro at No. 21.
The highest ranked Vista edition doesn't crack the top 25, although it does come on nearly all new PCs these days so most people don't need a boxed copy.
For those keeping score, Apple's Mac OS X Leopard is No. 7 on the software list, while the highest ranking Vista version is the update version of Windows Vista Home Premium, at No. 41.
On the bright side for Redmond, Office Home and Student for Windows is No. 1 and the Mac edition of Office Home and Student is No. 3.
For those still looking to get their hands on XP, it doesn't seem like it's all that hard to find. Best Buy had it listed in several different flavors online and noted that it's also available in most stores. Staples, Office Depot, Circuit City, and OfficeMax all listed at least one version of XP on their Web sites as well.
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