Opinion: Apple -- Here to Stay

MacCentral ^ | March 08, 2005 | Don Tennant

[r5boston]

Nearly a decade ago, just a few months after Microsoft shipped Windows 95, I asked Bill Gates if it was a conscious decision in the development of that product to give Windows more of a Mac look and feel. Of course I knew he'd say it wasn't, but I couldn't resist asking. "There was no goal even to compete with Macintosh," Gates proclaimed. "We don't even think of Macintosh as a competitor."

That was a crock, so I pressed the issue a little. I asked him how he accounted for the widespread perception that Windows 95 looked a lot like Mac 88, and whether the similarity was just a coincidence. I didn't expect a sobbing confession of mimicry, but I thought it would be cool to see how he'd respond. Surprisingly enough, Gates shifted gears and became more forthcoming.

[MikefromOhio]

you will see. Once Microsoft loses its huge contract with the government for software and support, and everything switches to LINUX and UNIX (like the White House already is), Microsoft will be going down.

[antiRepublicrat]

Tell that to the rubes who lost their life savings during the dotcom fiasco, Mac fanboy...

Unlike those companies, Apple has serious real cashflow, recently stating quadrupled profits over last year. Face it, Apple is a very strong, fast growing company.

[MikefromOhio]

if you want to talk Apple, then include all of Apple's products. If you dont, gee I cant imagine who you are shilling for.

[MikefromOhio]

the Mac G5 is faster....especially if you are doing a graphics intensive job....

[antiRepublicrat]

Once Microsoft loses its huge contract with the government for software and support

They just lost to Corel's WordPerfect for the Justice Department.

[Bush2000]

One of the most common fictions of anti-Mac fanatics: PCs don't crash more than Macs because they're inferior----it's because people aren't smart enough to properly maintain their machines.

You're missing some background here. AntiRepublicrat administers PCs professionally -- he doesn't follow best practices at all and he admits it -- and then he has the audacity to complain that his customers are having problems with the machines that he failed to setup properly.

[MikefromOhio]

just admit it, you like Windows and want it to be great. Too bad it sucks and will be replaced sooner or later. I know. I work with it all the time.

Right now it's just good enough. thats about it.

[Bush2000]

Unlike those companies, Apple has serious real cashflow, recently stating quadrupled profits over last year. Face it, Apple is a very strong, fast growing company.

Unlike, MSFT which is virtually starved for cashflow, with $25B/year in earnings... /SARCASM

Tell me. How does Apple compare with those earnings, huh?

[ontos-on]

Apple (which is a UNIX base anyway) still taking a quarter to a third of the market alone,

-------------------------------

Hell, I am a Mac enthusiast myself, but isn't their share of the market less than 5%?

[MikefromOhio]

i'd believe it...

we are currently in the plans to switch to Sun Solaris 8 or 10 here in about 3 years. We will have exactly 20 Windows machines in the entire building which has 6000 users.

I just finished the class on it. Fun stuff....

[antiRepublicrat]

Of course, nobody would actually want to use them ... but that's another story altogether ...

The nice thing about the smaller software base for the Mac is that it seems to be cut off at the bottom. Most titles available are actually quality software, while there is a huge sea of crap Windows software.

[MikefromOhio]

for computers....but the Ipod and the soon to be released stuff (The $400 G4 for instance) will bring it up there...

[1L]

>>widespread perception that Windows 95 looked a lot like Mac 88<<

There was no such perception, or it wasn't widespread.

[antiRepublicrat]

Unlike, MSFT which is virtually starved for cashflow, with $25B/year in earnings... /SARCASM Tell me. How does Apple compare with those earnings, huh?

Given that it's a smaller company, it makes sense it would be less. So, when was the last time Microsoft quadrupled its quarterly earnings over the previous year?

[Bush2000]

just admit it, you like Windows and want it to be great. Too bad it sucks and will be replaced sooner or later.

Windows is more than adequate for my purposes -- and far more adequate than Linux, which is complete time-quicksand to administer. As for OS X, Windows TCO is much lower, considering basic costs and lack of applications.

I know. I work with it all the time.

LMFAO! Like the rest of us don't... Sheez...

[Melas]

You're not understanding me. When you're talking about market share, you have to be product specific. When you look at Honda's market share compared to Chevy, you don't count the motorcycles, because that's a different market.

The Ipod is a great product. I own one myself, but the Ipod competes with products from Creative, Dell, and Sony, not Microsoft.

[Melas]

See, that's the difference. I do 3 types of games. First person shooters, real time strategy and role playing. None of which consoles do well. If I was into racing or sports games, it would be a different story.

[antiRepublicrat]

There was no such perception, or it wasn't widespread.

Are you kidding? It was all over the place when I was doing the Windows 95 beta. "Mac today = Windows tomorrow" is a computer industry axiom.

[ontos-on]

Keep the faith, I love my Macs--about to buy two more. btw, are you really in Iraq?

[D-fendr]

From related story in ComputerWorld:

Apple's Xserve could make inroads in the data center

THE LOW-COST ALTERNATIVE?
THE COMPARISON BELOW SUGGESTS THAT CORPORATE IT SHOULD SERIOUSLY EVALUATE APPLE'S DUAL-PROCESSOR XSERVE.

DELL POWEREDGE 1850 Dual 2.8-GHz Intel Xeon processors 2GB of memory 600GB of SCSI-based storage 25-user Windows license COST: $12,717 (JANUARY)	APPLE XSERVE Two 2.3-GHz PowerPC G5 processors 2GB of RAM 580GB of ATA storage Unlimited Mac OS X clients COST: $6,299 (JANUARY)