Letters to the Editor
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I love how Microsoft twists all the facts... and lies...
I love how Microsoft twists all the facts... and lies...
"Windows Vista, Microsoft's latest OS, has sold 60 million copies since it was launched at the end of January; 40 million of those were sold in 100 days."
Yes, yes, but most of those copies are forced feed. The OS comes pre-installed and now many companies with the exception of DELL won't let you get XP pre-installed. Also, as we go forward is Microsoft also counting OEM copies still in the channel, as in unsold and sitting in a warehouse or on a retail shelf. That's how they count Zunes and the Xbox; false numbers and twist lies.
"We have also seen 21 percent fewer support calls for Vista versus XP over the same period," he said."
Another manipulation. Vista has a tiny marketshare compared to XP. It goes to figure that Vista would have less support calls than Vista, because XP has x20 the user base of Vista. In that light 21% less is a really high number of support calls for Vista. They would have to have 1/20th the number of Vista support calls to match XP, so actually the number is really HIGH!
"He also claimed that Vista saw one of the safest launches of any recent OS. "There have been just 12 serious vulnerabilities reported with Vista over the first 180 days versus 25 for Windows XP over the same period."
Nobody cares about Vista since XP dominants the market.
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Apple's to Orange Color Salmon?
Vista & XP, the choice of oil change computers, wedding kiosks and telemarketers ... MS makes - what- $50? $65 from each machine for an OEM sale?
Apple makes anywhere from $100 for each software OSX and $500 to $3000 for each OSX on a machine. Basically, MS has to sell 10 to 20 copies of Vista to make what Apple makes for 1 OSX (top of the line Mac Pro sells for $4k) sale with a machine.
And MS then takes that profit and throws it away on the XBox ($23 billion invested, $6 BILLION revenue).
So, while MS dances with glee everytime a customer service rep gets a new PC - Apple makes 10-20 times as much selling 1 machine to a startup's founder.
Apple's to fake salmon.
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Scared?
Microsoft realizes they’re up against an Apple mindshare juggernaut. The tide is turning and Microsoft is about to be swept out to sea like the flotsam and jetsam that it is.
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both are monopolists
market share doesn't mean a whole lot when both Apple and Microsoft are effectively monopolists. You can buy any Intel machine to run Windows and you're locked in at the OS level. You must buy Apple hardware to run MacOS X and you're locked in at the hardware and OS level.
the difference in architecture, while important, makes it extremely difficult to write one program for both platforms which is another level of lock in albeit for software vendors.
Like so many things in the technology marketplace, choosing between Apple and Microsoft isn't really a choice at all but really choosing between variations of the same old story.
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Marketshare is hard to determine and irrelevant...
I find it hilarious that Apple users are proud of the fact that the company jacks them of large amounts of money (read the post prior about Apple's large margins; whose pockets is that taken out of?). Either way its all irrelevant, and market share is very hard to ascertain by any methodology. I mean what about free to download OS's? Should we count everytime someone downloads a Linux distribution or a copy of Minix? How about the thousands of people still running esoteric OS like BeOS, AmigaOS, or RiscOS? And the mainframe/high-end markets of Z38 and OpenVMS and the proprietary Unixes?
The reality is, as long as an OS has enough users and other support to make itself viable, its irrelevant what Microsoft (or Apple for that matter) does. This announcement isn't going to make anyone pack up and go home.
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So.
Yes, Windows will soon be on 1 Billion computers. So what? However, it is interesting to note that OSX will likely be climbing in numbers rather drastically over the next couple of years. Afterall, the iPhone runs OSX, the iPod will soon run OSX, Apple TV runs OSX, and yes Macs run OSX as well.
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scared!?!
Scared?
Microsoft realizes they’re up against an Apple mindshare juggernaut. The tide is turning and Microsoft is about to be swept out to sea like the flotsam and jetsam that it is.<<<<<
har, you apple people are so funny. Apple made the decision to stay a tiny cult 20 some years ago and you should just deal with it instead of getting all pissy anyone mentions the small, unchanging size of your market share. If mac's were really so great, the company would be growing, yes? yet they remain a small share in a large global market, no less secure and no less functional (only more expensive). Enjoy your machine, enjoy your $600 cell phones. Fine. just quit bellyaching about how badly you are powned your competitors.
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Is it really Apple that's "not even close"?
I always find it interesting when companies (and others) either intentionally bluff with the polar opposite or unintentionally do so out of psychological impulse. The cheater is always first to accuse others of cheating.
First, it's standard business practice for a market leader to simply deny the existence of a 2nd or 3rd ranked competitor. Even acknowledging their existence empowers them. Historically Microsoft has tended to follow this strategy. When a competitor becomes a meaningful threat, it begins to defy the obvious situation and damages your credibility to continue in that vein so you acknowledge but downplay. That's what you have here.
Second, is the proof that Microsoft should and probably is thinking exactly the opposite. This comes from the dynamics of technology adoption, corporate life phases and the "facts on the ground" in financial statements of the "Wintel" bloc compared to Apple.
It's clear that Wintel PC vendors and Microsoft itself have entered "middle-age" or the region of market technology adoption where cost rather than innovation is the primary focus. The fact that Apple instead remains on the innovating leading edge (as proven by their products, margins and financials) proves hardware commodification need not cause of middle-age. This rightly should scare the Wintel bloc. Controlling one's margins when a competitor can not is probably the most powerful competitive advantage known.
Market share can come and go but Apple's better margins tell the real competitive story.
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Yeah okay.
Microsoft may have sold more but the thing is that Microsoft take pride in their numbers and they think that because they sell more they are better, but consider there are more cockroaches than humans does this mean that cockroaches are superior to humans?
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Microsoft is just so silly.
"There have been just 12 serious vulnerabilities reported with Vista over the first 180 days versus 25 for Windows XP over the same period. This number is also lower than for Apple and other operating systems. We have also seen 21 percent fewer support calls for Vista versus XP over the same period"
That is only the flaws that microsoft even adressed. They are serious flaws as in they can f**k your entire computer and it is unusable. There are many flaws micrsoft just ignores and hopes they go away. Then there are 1000s of little flaws.
As for the support calls, less people are using vista then XP so if you break it down so user numbers fo not matter, Vistas support calls are alot higher then the calls for xp.
Apple fixed 50 flaws with tiger. Did he forget to mention what some of these flaws were, they consider a flaw to be anything. Microsft probably counted everything, even if apple fixed one pixel on a icon. Non of the flaws were exploited or anything like that.