Letters to the Editor
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Yep...
A lot of people went to see Norbit too.
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What's next?
"Starbuck's announced today that they sold more coffee during March than Aunt Mabel's coffee shop did in 20 years - and the coffee they served was as good as her's!"... "United Airlines announced today that they flew more people in the last week than Tibetan Airlines did in it's entire history - and their customer satisfaction ratings were higher!".
In case Microsoft hasn't noticed, Apple knows that they aren't as big as Microsoft. Apple has always provided a standard of quality for Microsoft to live up to and new technology for Microsoft to copy so that the computer industry can move forward. So what?
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wow
who gives a rats ass?
Microsoft sucks, has always sucked, will always suck.
Where's my Zune?
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1 Billion Strong (er, weak)
I guess, considering we are trashing the planet without seeming to notice much, it's not surprising it's been pretty easy for Microsoft to dupe a few million computer users. Yeah, Apple's not close, just productive, reliable and more secure. And a hell of a lot more fun. You just gotta' stay awake.
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kinda funny
What's somewhat surprising is that these guys felt the need to even comment on Apple's numbers in relation. What's that Microsoft? Hearing footsteps? ;-)
One billion computers running Windows is pretty impressive, I'll admit. Depressing, too, but whatever. It's the de facto OS of business, so I would suspect that the installed user base far exceeds 1 seat to 1 user. In light of this fact, to be crowing about how Vista has sold 60 million copies (anyone care to guess how many of these licenses were purchased by software developers and other technology companies whose fortunes are tied to being able to support Vista?) -- well, that's hardly "bringing the heat."
Also, considering the insanely long development period for Vista, I don't know how impressive it is to brag that there were "only" 12 serious vulnerabilities reported in the first 180 days. Especially considering that they had to gut about 75% of the advanced features that were supposed to be included in it just to get it out the door years late.
And 21% fewer support calls for Vista than there were for XP? Talk about damning with faint praise! A considerably smaller and less successful launch of a stripped down, ages behind schedule, far more technologically mature OS has resulted in one fifth fewer support calls than for XP, an OS chock full o' flaws from day 1? Please stop, I must gather my wits about me.
MacOS is, in the grand scheme of things, an OS designed for personal home use and for creative professionals (it also works like a charm in a regular business environment too, but good luck telling that to Madge in the Purchasing dept.). I'd be very interested in seeing the numbers of how Macs now stack up against Windows boxes in just those market segments.
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vista is a joke played on the masses
Working at a small company that services home and small business computer users, i must say that vista is a joke. Though our sales numbers are relatively small, the number of people coming to us looking for brand new machines with windows XP installed on them is far higher than the number of people looking for Vista.
Microsoft's self-important statement of its own ubiquitousness is nothing more than a statement to its shareholders, reassuring them that "despite some successes of the Federation, we are still the motherfucking borg, bitch".
The strength of their sales numbers is more a reflection of the disposable nature of windows machines that have a prime installation life of two or three years before they become more expensive to maintain than to replace.
If they had merely released an uber-pimped version of XP, their sales numbers would be higher, as many diehard windows users are still waiting for hardware prices to come down enough to make a machine utilizing Vista's eye candy affordable.
Mac is growing and the problem for microsoft is that every customer lost to the big Apple represents a top dollar consumer who has jumped ship in the realization that all of Microsoft's size and power do not represent a commensurate gain for the consumer.
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it's not about quantity...
it's about quality and the beauty and grace of an apple...
i HAVE to use a pc at work and it's an ordeal every single day...
but the good part...
when i come home i have my iMac...
i am not a person with brand loyalty...but when it comes to apple...
i'm part of the cult!
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1 Billion, really?
How did they get to this number? Do they factor in all the PC's that crapped out after 18 months of service, like most Emachines, or do they cancel that figure out with the number of stolen installations? I always figured they were trying to pad their numbers by making their stuff so fantastically easy to steal anyway.
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Windows
Wow, by the end of 08 there will be a billion crappy computers in the world.
Quantity doesn't equal quality, too bad for Microcrap, the product is still inferior.
I'd rather use a 1989 PowerMac Centra, then a new Microcrap anything.
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Biggest, Certainly Not Best
I'm glad that Microsoft refers to their new operating system as the biggest, for it is certainly not the best. I am a long-time Windows user, but just added to the spike in Mac purchases to which your article referred. I replaced a suddenly dead Windows desktop with another Windows machine, this one Vista. By the time I finished looking at the work that was ahead of me in terms of getting my existing software and peripherals to work, I determined that it would be easier to switch to a Mac, which I did. Thank goodness for my retailer's return policy. The spike makes sense to me and should worry Microsoft.
DeeAitch
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kinda simple answer
"What's somewhat surprising is that these guys felt the need to even comment on Apple's numbers in relation."
It's 2Q Earnings season, they were at analyst conference and they were, not surprisingly, asked about it (Apple's earning report).
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machinist frustrations
I wish this column went as deeply into criticism and explanation of tech news as Glenn Greenwald does with politics and media.
Instead, we get Microsoft FUD, iPhone sales gossip, and drunk astronauts!