Wait a minute!!

In Mac vs. PC Battle, Microsoft Winning in Value Perception

Nothing can compare the the presentations I make with Keynote or the posters I have made with Pages.

Not only that but Works Sucks a big one most people don’t know how to use it which makes it incompatible with Word. A microsoft product.

@Chris Pratt
Couldn’t say it much better.

@Matt
Middle Class. That would be my family. As far as not having anything to offer well that’s not true. My mother got me and my sister brand new iMacs for Christmas a year ago. Reason why: She was tired of all the problems that we had been having with ever pc we have ever owned. We have also both talked about how it would be an investment for college later on. I still have a year until then and I expect this machine to last until after then.

And here I am again fighting the platform I use ;) you may have gotten the wrong idea that I’m a pc user, nope, I have a macbook and an iMac, I love them both dearly, the first one is my workhorse, the other is a home media platform. What we need is balance in the blogosphere, because both platforms suck equally ;) No, seriously, they really do, limitations of both mean flamewars all over the place, even though probably 75% of all mac users have windows installed on their own machines… talking about hypocrisy.
I just can’t watch this whole microsoft bashing, just because it’s microsoft.

Going back to efficiency, sure, Windows is less efficient, but that’s exactly the point that fails every time when I look at those mac vs pc ads. Instead of showing something of real value, all we are getting is the constant pc/vista bashing, now everyone in the mac world is wondering why microsoft has changed its tactics to attack apple… well, duh..
Sure, all the actors should stand there and spend the duration of the ad wondering which is better. Who in their right mind would spend more than 2 seconds showing a product in an ad that they DON’T actually want to sell !!!

Ultimately the only, the main and the most important reason why the Mac is worth the money is the interlink between the hardware and the software – the operating system.
Since it’s developed for only 3 product lines with a handful of device drivers (not counting the legacy drivers) Apple can take years to tinker in its guts to make it as efficient as it can be. As Microsoft is making a universal operating system, it will never achieve that level of efficiency, just like Apple will NEVER have the kind of market share that Microsoft enjoys, not ever.

Apples and oranges.

One could readily make an equally valid statement:

The vast majority of professionals are using PC’s with AutoCad or SolidWorks.

That’s really not the point. The ordinary computer shopper – that means the majority – can purchase a functional and useable PC for hundreds of dollars less than a similar Mac.

For most of us, the “Apple Tax” does indeed exist. Is it a valid tax? For me, it certainly is valid. I am willing to pay a premium for the Macintosh experience. As for others…I work with a handful of intelligent, well educated and successful people. Not one of these individuals has ever used, let alone purchased a Macintosh computer.

Hardware-wise there might not be a huge difference between comparable systems, but the OS makes a huge difference. I don’t know that I would be considered a “power user”, but in my business (graphic design) I do end up logging some serious hours at the computer (sometimes as many as 10 to 12 straight hours right before a big deadline) and when I use a Mac, I spend my time working on my project. When I use a PC I end up working on fixing errors with the PC.

Sorry, but I became a convert because of my professional experience with the two platforms. Every PC I’ve ever used is much more unstable than the Mac’s.

You might find a small minority of people who use Adobe Premiere (which exists for Mac & PC) and an even smaller number of people using products like Sony Vegas, but the vast majority of professionals are using Mac’s with Avid or FCP.

http://technicalconclusions.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/ballmer-apple-tax-campaign/

Fair enough. “Productivity” does tend to denote the WP/SS/Pres trio of apps, so your point is noted. However, the issue is that I should have used a different word, not that we just blow off iLife.

A fresh Windows 7 install has very little; not even email, calendering, IM, photo software, etc. You need to hit up MS and get the Windows Live Essentials apps for that. (I’d like to point out not having to install these apps is the main reason Windows 7 installs in a relatively short time.)

Even when Live Essentials is added to the mix — and I believe it should be because I assume PCs with Windows 7 will also have these apps — the OOB PC can’t touch iLife. People don’t buy PCs to just have an OS, they want to DO things, and iLife excels at what many people actually buy a computer for.

With Macs, you’re paying for the time, attention, detail devoted to the user experience, from purchase and throughout its considerably long life (Does anyone actually ever get rid of a Mac they purchased?) My time saved by owning a Mac, alone, easy covers any additional upfront cost.

Balhmer likes to throw around the term “Apple Tax” to insinuate that you pay a premium for the Apple logo. In truth, it’s better viewed as an investment: the computer equivalent of a Roth IRA. If there is a computer tax, it’s a Windows Tax, and it’s paid in time, sweat, and tears.

I wonder what the percentage of market share for Mac is if we exclude all the businesses.

>>It can’t sell productivity out of the box because it’s got nothing to compete with iLife>>

When did iLife become a productivity package? When I think productivity – which would explain the headache – I think of iWork, AppleWorks, Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office, etc. In fact, most all consumer PC’s here in the States ship with a full working copy of Works. It’s a functional, useable productivity suite for the home user.