Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion
Windows vs. Mac: I'm starting to change.
techidave:
You have to wonder if Apple didn't hire some ex-Microsoft employee in charge of pricing! :o
40hz:
You have to wonder if Apple didn't hire some ex-Microsoft employee in charge of pricing! :o
-techidave (October 02, 2009, 07:51 AM)
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I thinks it's the other way around. If anything, Microsoft could learn something about the psychology of pricing from Steve jobs.
I don't think Microsoft has (or ever had) the kahunas to charge the prices Apple gets away with. Mainly because Microsoft can't get away with it. Every time Microsoft announces the price tag on anything there's a huge amount pushback. From everybody: the users, the press - and lately - national governments!
Apple users, on the other hand, seem to take an almost perverse pride in how much Macintosh hardware and software costs. They're much like the owners of those exotic sports cars you see on Top Gear.
I know a guy that just dropped something like $500 to get a xenon headlight (as in just the bulb!!!) replaced on his high-end BMW. Far from being outraged, he accepted it with a smile. He could afford it. And that separated him from the rest of the crowd.
Apple users tend to think a lot like that.
Like the slogan says: Think Different.
And always carry American Express in your wallet! ;D:P
zridling:
[superboyac]: I'm beginning to see that there is something inherently wrong with the Windows OS...
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It eats all the hardware you can throw at it, and netbooks crawl on it; Win7 is no different in my own house. Frankly, I could no longer afford to keep up in the pre-cloud days. (I'm not a Photoshop user. After version 6 when I could no longer print money, I quit.)
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[superboyac]: Photoshop runs much more flawlessly on the Mac.
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I dare say that the Mac was built solely for this program. ha! But ask yourself: will it run Wolfenstein 3D?
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[superboyac]: Over the years, I've had to spend a lot of time and energy becoming a Windows expert so that I can fix all these problems. But I'm growing up, I'm changing, I'm doing different things with my life.
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My computer life took a new direction a while back and I also grew tired simply keeping up with Microsoft's turns and twists, primarily with document formats. I could no longer afford to chase them version after version within their proprietary format. Then came ODF.
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[superboyac]: I've seen more than a handful of my friends and family switch from PC to MAC in the last year. And they are very happy about it.
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I've seen two of the smartest [Windows] programmer birds I've known over the past 25 years switch to Mac. You could knock me over with a feather when they showed me their new machines. Neither has returned to Windows. They absolutely love it and did not regret the decision. When they run into a problem, Apple support has helped every time without fail (and they brag about that, too).
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[superboyac]: Anyway, all the kids have Macs and they're using them in their classes and lives. Guess what is going to happen? They are going to get jobs, and they are going to want to use Macs.
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That won't happen as long as Apple pricing stays high. IT budgets are seen as money pits by most CFOs. You might bring your own Mac to work, but it's unlikely they'd let you. Depends on the work, of course.
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[superboyac]: A PC is such a pain in the ass to use and get it running smoothly. Very few people have the ability, patience, and willpower to do it. We're not the norm here. The problem is that if you're not like me or us here, you WILL run into issues with the PC. Constantly.
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True to my experience. It's the setup time that is daunting with Windows; viz., because I like to customize the crap out of it and of every app. From installation DVD to loading my data and a few other application tweaks, it takes me about 90 minutes to fully setup my Linux machine. The installation alone takes about six minutes.
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[superboyac]: How much longer do I want to keep tweaking my PC and keeping up with all the options and little solutions to the dozens of programs that I like to use? I love it on one hand, but it's a lot of effort and time on the other.
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Among other reasons, this led me to try Linux (openSUSE, Mint, Fedora) for a full year before finally making the switch for good. The same former Windows machine was suddenly twice as fast, I got my choice of new filesystems to install, software installation and updates were stupid-safe and easy, and with virtualization, I could still open a Windows session if I needed it. The OS was free and I could build any custom PC I wanted. The only hardware I checked beforehand was the videocard drivers. Perhaps most noticeable at first is boot times.
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[superboyac]: I'm already sick of having to fix all my family and friends' problems. My dad is afraid to do anything remotely adventurous on his laptop; all he does is use Outlook, Word, Excel, and browse the internet. He will literally not do anything else. It's sad.
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That is sad. But be honest: how adventurous would Dad be otherwise? It's not like he's a Wolfenstein 3D kung fu master.
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[superboyac]: So that's it. I think the Mac wave is coming. Vista sucked. The young people switched to Macs. These people will eventually influence the workplace. Slowly, the workplace will start using Macs. Windows may start dying slowly.
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That wave's already arrived -- Apple's had a great decade (something to do with that whole iPod/iPhone gadgetry)! But the future is soon upon us: it's the browser, not so much the OS. A proprietary OS like Windows will restrict you in various ways. A proprietary system like Apple will restrict you in every way. I chose Linux as my OS in part because its virtualization (virtualbox; vmware server) and graphical abilities through KDE4, and now that I spend most of my computer time in the cloud, the days of building superfast PCs aren't necessary. Everything I have in the cloud is backed up in four different places. My biggest hurdle when leaving Windows was leaving behind AutoHotkey. That's the only program I missed for a while. Everything else has been a joy.
So good luck if/when you do go Mac, superboy. You'll enjoy it, but if you wait five years, you're going to be missing a lot. Once you leave Windows, you'll soon see that it isn't good enough to lure you back. Of the three big OSes, it's the last choice of those who have tried all three. (For each one's own reasons.)
rgdot:
In regards to freezes post XP and post 8.6 there is no difference in my opinion. I would venture to say Windows is actually better because the Windows machines I have played with have gone through much more abuse (downloads and uninstalls, system level tweaks) than the Mac ones.
Mac has silly marketing talk, like 'Designed by Apple in California' and this manages to work. I mean a phrase like that is near proof that you are buying it for "design" because obviously the processor and like have nothing to with that phrase.
Paul Keith:
Sorry if this comes off as spammy.
I just find it ironic that Apple can get away with this strategy even after they have hit it big with the Ipods and the Iphone:
Rule 6: Rare Doesn’t Always Mean Valuable
This principle states that the harder something is to acquire, the greater the value we place on its attainment. In
essence, we want what we can’t have and want what is hard to obtain even more. The key to avoid this rule being
used on you is to ask yourself this question: would I still want it if there were a million just like it and no one wanted
any of them?
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...and turn some of it's followers into this:
Rule 7: I’m on Your Side
This technique is used to gain credibility. When used effectively, you would swear that you’ve just made a new best
friend who has your best interest at heart. For example, let’s say that you’re in a mattress store and considering
buying the Super Deluxe – a top-of-the-line bed. The salesman tells you that if you want it he’ll order it for you, but
he feels you should know something first. He tells you that while the consumer would never realize it, this
manufacturer uses recycled materials on the inside. He has thus gained your complete confidence. He’s risking a
sale to tell you something that you’d never find out otherwise. Now you’ll be inclined to trust anything he says
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I know it's nothing new and it looks like I'm just kicking the Mac while it's down but I just find it ironic that no matter how compact a trick can be defined and (no matter how obvious it is), there's just no substituting what works especially if you're the company who can make it work.
Also, it's because I just recently chanced upon this article (Mixx link; PDF link) and it reminded me of 40hz's reply in this topic.
P.S. Yes, I know a much more succinct image has been posted in DC before but I just felt it bears repeating when even Microsoft doesn't get it.
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