Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer shills Windows 7 on U.S. national TV in front of Apple Mac (with video)

Mac Daily News ^ | 10/24/2009

[Swordmaker]

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer appeared on NBC's Today Show on Thursday to shill his company's Vista service pack, er, "Windows 7" and spent the entire segment in front of an older model (note the latches above the screen) Apple MacBook Pro (courtesy of an NBC graphic designer — Mac user, no doubt — who must have a wicked sense of humor):


Direct link to video via Hulu here.



Of course, it's easy to run Windows 7 (or any other Windows version, Linux, etc.) and non-Mac applications on OS-unlimited Macs natively (via Apple's Boot Camp) and/or via fast virtualization (VMWare Fusion, Parallels Desktop for Mac) which is just another reason to Get a Mac. But, Ballmer T. Clown doesn't like that concept very much at all (a href="http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/9412/">Couldn’t you just buy a Mac and run Windows? Microsoft CEO Ballmer: ‘No, we prefer real PCs’) because he knows that when people get a Mac and really begin to use it, they never want to boot up Windows again if they can help it. Then they start to use iWork in place of Office and... suffice to say, it's bad for Microsoft's sales. Microsoft banks on ignorance; without it, they have nothing.

MacDailyNews Take: It must suck to work for Microsoft where important details routinely go left unchecked and, no matter where in the world you go, you're constantly surround by professionals who all use Apple Macs. Plus, every time you try to promote your inferior products, Apple's keep showing up in your TV appearances and even in your sloppy company's own ads that are, of course, also creating on Macs.

[Clinging Bitterly]

Does Microsoft do better?

With regard to backward compatibility, a whole lot better. There is darn little, going all the way back to MS-DOS, that won't run on the current version of Windows.

Now, Apple probably didn't plan on obsolescence by design, but decisions they made at critical times have sort of forced their hand. There's a lot to like about the current Apple OS, especially if you're working in those markets to which Apple has traditionally catered, but their hardware is no longer anything special.

In my opinion, it is inevitable that erosion of the distinctiveness of the OS itself will follow. Indeed, it may have already begun but they've been riding on Vista's failure to deliver for the last couple years, and if Seven lives up to the hype they are about to face a challenging time.

[ChessExpert]

“There is darn little, going all the way back to MS-DOS, that won't run on the current version of Windows.”

That is a significant point in Microsoft's advantage.

Apple's IPhone ads say they have Apps. Well, the Mac classic OS9 really had apps., all lost to users of newer Macintoshs. Besides Bookup, which I have mentioned, I have many excellent games and work applications that run on system 9.

“Apple probably didn't plan on obsolescence by design, but decisions they made at critical times have sort of forced their hand.”

Perhaps. But having users hanging on to the old applications probably would slow the purchase of new applications. I understand that Apple might not want to spend money on backward compatibility, as Microsoft presumably has, but I think Apple could do much more to ease the way of third parties who provide emulators for the Mac Classic environment.

[ChessExpert]

I am aware of SheepShaver. I tried to run it with Vista, but without success. Have you used it yourself?

[6SJ7]

I am aware of SheepShaver. I tried to run it with Vista, but without success. Have you used it yourself?

According to the website for Sheepshaver, it will only run on M/S XP, NT, and Win2000, Linux, and OS X. No Vista.

I haven't run it myself. I think the last time I had to launch OS 9 was about 7 or 8 years ago.

[ChessExpert]

“According to the website for Sheepshaver, it will only run on M/S XP, NT, and Win2000, Linux, and OS X. No Vista.”

There were screen shots of it running under Vista and I exchanged several posts with those who said they could run system 9 under Vista. Maybe it just isn't on the list.

[discostu]

They do compete with those, but not on price. That’s content competition, Sony’s $2000 computers aren’t putting price pressure on Apple’s $2000 computers, once you get up to the high end people aren’t that worried about 50 buck plus or minus. Dell tends to be grossly over priced (there’s a reason I could undercut them by nearly 50%), so it’s not a surprise that the legendarily expensive Apple could actually undercut them. It’s really kind of amazing Dell stays in business, their prices stink, their service stinks, their “utilities” are nothing but annoying, and yet... The one good thing I can say about the Poweredge T610s they’ve recently added to our lab is the front plate is heavy enough to be used as a weapon, and if only I could find the guy that decided Dell should ship unsigned network driver I would demonstrate the usefulness of that front plate ;)

I’ve got no problem with where Apple plays in the market. It was just brought up that their per purchase profit margin is over twice what the industry standard is and I was giving one of the primary reasons. When you’ve utilized other market tools to not have to play the price game you’re going to make more profit. It’s not a bad thing, it’s not really even a good thing (unless you work for Apple), it’s just a thing, Apple has separated themselves from price competition and subsequently gets the higher margins that come with making that separation. Some folks, not you, seem to find the idea of Apple being a normal corporation subject to normal market forced frightening.

[antiRepublicrat]

once you get up to the high end people aren’t that worried about 50 buck plus or minus

Actually, between Apple and Sony it's in the hundreds. Check out their Z-series notebooks vs. the MacBook Pros. In general, just because people complain about the price of Macs shows me that price is a factor. Everything's a factor in commerce, including brand loyalty.

The one good thing I can say about the Poweredge T610s they’ve recently added to our lab is the front plate is heavy enough to be used as a weapon

You should see the faceplate on an R900, although it's a little unwieldy for your proposed use.

[Ol' Sox]

The "charismatic" Steve Ballmer could give Tom Cruise a run for his money in the nutso department - Little Stevie Ballmer

[discostu]

I think the people that complain about Mac prices are either whopping low end (where Apple doesn’t play), or are excuse mongering and never were going to buy a Mac anyway, possibly both. It’s really easy to declare Lexus overpriced while test driving a Sentra, but it doesn’t mean the person was going to come close to actually buying a Lexus ever.