Posted on 04/25/2005 8:18:50 AM PDT by r5boston
It's Steve Jobs's plan to make this the Week of the Tiger. But Bill Gates and his minions at Microsoft are crying bull—specifically, a Longhorn steer. Despite the zoological bent, this dust-up is not about animals, but operating systems; Apple and Microsoft just happen to have named each of their major system upgrades after beasts of the realm. This Monday, Bill shows off the future of Windows, a.k.a. Longhorn, at a developers' conference. The oohs and aahs may be tempered by the fact that the hundreds of millions of Windows users won't get their hands on it until holiday season, 2006. (Unless it's even later.) On Friday, Jobs proudly presents the latest Macintosh OS X upgrade, named after that big striped cat that he always seems to have by the tail. When can the 25 million Mac users get their hands on Tiger? This year. This month. That day. Growwwl.
That's a big point for Apple in the latest matchup in high tech's equivalent to the rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox. Both companies seem to understand what's really necessary and really cool for the next stop in desktop computing: support for the powerful new generation of 64-bit chips that are coming online; search capabilities built in, so you can mine your own documents as smoothly as Google scans the Web; a suite of persistent, constantly updated tiny applications that keep track of stuff like weather and stock quotes. A way to take advantage of the hot RSS technology that lets you "subscribe" to Web sites instead of visiting them every day or two. And a sleek appearance that relegates the traditional file-and-folder metaphor to the antique shop. Both new systems go a long ways toward making that big step.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
You're right, Mac users do mention the BSOD sometimes. I only see it where there are hardware problems. OTOH, I think I might have preferred the old quick death of the BSOD to the slow, agonizing death full of false hope we get these days -- a system that gets more unstable and starts to grind to a halt as you try desperately to save your open files, often waiting minutes between mouse clicks to do it. I get this sometimes on XP and 2003.
The difference is that you learned to bend your behavior and train your brain to deal with Windows. Apple bent the OS to deal with your brain. That's why it generally takes less training to get a computer newbie up on an Apple, although slightly more difficult for a Windows user because he has to unlearn his previous compensation.
. I just want to plug it in, do what I want and then turn it off again.
That's exactly what Macs are for. It's mostly Windows people who spend time fiddling with the OS itself.
I used to think that, too, until I switched to Mac. Then I realized that Apple had thought of some things I didn't know I wanted to do.
I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were aiming for the "Curmudgeon of the Week" award. I apologize for my reply that actually included a couple of paragraphs of real discussion points. Carry on. Good luck in the contest.
That's because MS disabled it by default in XP. Those times that your computer does a spontaneous restart (you know what I'm talking about) you've just experienced a BSOD. MS changed the default way XP handles BSOD. Instead of halting the system and displaying the screen, it just restarts the computer. You can set it back to the old way. Go to Control Panels, System Properties, Advanced, Settings, and clear the checkbox under System Failure that reads: Automatically Restart.
Yeah, and I was a child from '62 to '80. So what's your point?
Yes I do, and I still get those sometimes. I'll disable that setting and see if I get the BSOD.
You prove my belief that PC users are more cranky. (That's as denigrating as I get...)
Cheers, CC :)
Looks like I picked the wrong week to switch to decaf :)
OK - I knew I was right (Post 22), but just how long did it take you to complete your analysis!!?
Nice work, BTW.
Cheers, CC :)
I only do that if I need to go into a combat zone.
I made my point immediately following the statement that you quoted, starting with the word, "So." In case you didn't already know, "so" functions like "thus" or "therefore." In linking two statements, "so" suggests a cause-and-effect relationship between them.
Hope this helps.
Because Macs are the better consumer (read: non-business critical user) machines, but these windows bastards (yes, I mean you IT people) keep pushing the only thing they know to little old ladies and noobies.
It's kinda like the car salesman that talks you into a car you can't afford...you don't know you've been screwed until several months later.
I love OSX. Unix Rocks!
All they need is an endorsement deal with TIGER WOODS to pitch the product and a zillion golfers and a lot of TIGER loving nympho babes will scarf up MACs in droves!
Apparently you're not familiar with the "So what's your point" device. In common parlance, it's a response used to highlight the use of a non sequitur by the original commentator.
;o)
Those are good points, though I believe a few of them are no longer the exclusive province of Macs. For example, my laptop has been utterly reliable on hibernation, and comes back up pretty fast (maybe not three seconds, more like seven or eight). But you are right that Apple puts a great deal of effort into user experience.
As I said in an earlier post, Microsoft has been investing elsewhere. And because of that, here are the things I can do with Windows that I don't believe are nearly as practical on a Mac:
- Run an application with full handwriting recognition (TabletPC) that actually works - invaluable in many healthcare and education scenarios. (I think this factor may drive Macs out of education at the college level. Some colleges already require Tablet PCs, and the software for students to manage their notes and studies is a quantum leap)
- Create a professional, data-driven web site with user authentication, caching, sophisticated themes and menus, etc. - in less than an hour (ASP.NET 1.0 is pretty good, but 2.0 is amazing - you won't believe what can you do until you try it)
- Easily develop smart client programs that can run on a large majority of the desktops out there with a high degree of usability, yet get their data via Web Services from anywhere on the Internet. This enables highly distributed systems to function with the almost all the usability of local systems.
- Plug in just about anything that one can buy at CompUSA or Office Max, and know that the device drivers are available for XP, and it will almost certainly run right out of the box
I'll throw all of your usability points away to save the experience of trying to buy and install peripherals from a much smaller set of options. In my long microcomputer experience, working with peripherals has easily been the source of the most frustrating episodes.
Apple used to have a lead there. But starting with Win2000, Microsoft put in place a program that forced vendors to do a better job on drivers. That, plus the dominant market position of Windows which ensures that almost everything out there will have a driver for it, has tilted the balance back to MS on peripherals.
There is one area where the Mac is clearly ahead, and it is of major consequence. You are quite correct to emphasize the ease of installation of software on Macs. Dependence on COM in Windows has really hurt Microsoft there. That was one of the reasons for changing directions to .NET, which has the same copy-and-run deployment model you described.
It will take quite a while for most software to return to that model on Windows. Until then, complicated install programs are the bane of Windows. There has been some improvement; most installs don't require a reboot now, for example, whereas five years ago almost all of them did. But Apple certainly is ahead there.
Okay (as long as you're that "original commentator").
Sometimes you Mac people can be so obtuse. I can only guess it's part of that whole "Think Different[ly]" thing.
And it's just another reason to be glad I left for The Dark Side and haven't looked back. ;O)
I agree with you completely, except for the following: "Nonsense. The truth is that Mac users are WAAAY past caring about what goes on in the MS world."
I care plenty about what happens in the MS world. I want the MS people to leave me the hell alone!
Every little old lady, or middle age porn surfer wants me to give them "a little help," because they heard I'm at least semi computer-literate. I'm just a freakin' pedestrian user for G-d sake! If their computers are that hard to figure out, something is very very wrong.
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