Ballmer: "The Tide Has Turned" Against Apple

[scryer_360]

Balmer's issue is this: even if Mac looses sales, that doesn't mean people actually likeWindows compared to Mac. In the long run, the machines and software with the best reputations and service, not to mention build quality, will win. Its only a matter of time before hardware is powerful enough Mac begins offering cheaper systems. When that happens, people will gobble it up unless Microsoft's poor reputation can be fixed in the meantime.

 

[hotroderx]

I think mac people are missing the biggest part of what makes windows so horrible thats the amount of people who use it. Mac is relatively small so the market share isn't very big I am guesstimating on this but for ever 1 mac there is more then likely 100 PC's in the world. So when it comes down to security guess who that hackers gonna target or that virus gonna infect its not gonna be the smaller group. Ok next we come to swiss cheese called windows yea they release a ton of security updates for windows know why cause there 100 of them to ever 1 mac so people are 100x's more likely to find a issues or bug with windows vs Mac not to mention people aren't looking for security holes in mac and don't give me that crap it doest have security holes it was made by imperfect people just like windows. Next we come to software selection will windows has so many different titles and they can conflict with each other and will mac is more integrated and easier to use few titles so its easier to choose whats right for me. Know why its like that for the same reason above developers go where the money is at. I cant wait to see Mac become more standardize and take a bigger chunk of market share if they ever do cause if it ever happens apple will be in for a new world all together with bloated software and security updates and anti virus woes and flaws in hardware because will when Mac is more mainstream people gonna wanna upgrade them and when manufactures start seeing the ability to make mega money off of Mac users who want to upgrade there system its gonna start producing parts for them and that brings on the woes of hardware compatibility. So to all u mac people out there enjoy it while you can.

 

[Guest]

difference here is that MS doesn't sell PCs they sell operating systems. Apple sells you the whole package at a significatn mark-up. MS should worry about making a killer OS instead.

 

[Guest]

Comparing a Mac and a PC is like comparing a Fiat and a Ferrari. They both have an engine, four wheels, etc. And you could put a 12V engine in a Fiat. But it won't make it a Ferrari.
Don't tell me you didn't notice the difference in looks between the Pystar and the iMac. And don't tell me you didn't notice the difference between the OSX and Vista.
And no, the CPU is NOT the engine of a computer. If it would be the CPU then we'd all use Power6, maybe even OCed to hit the 6GHz. The OS is what you use every day, it's what determines the power of a computer and the pleasure (or hate) in using it.

 

[jcknouse]

I find it kinda funny...Ballmer talks smack about their products being overpriced, when you can get Linux and freeware apps for Linux that cost you $0 instead of $250 for MS Windows Vista Ultimate 64.

At least with the Mac, you get the computer AND the OS.

Plus, I guess it's easy to say that you're doing better than Apple when you just laid-off 5000 people in Redmond and cut your payroll and expenses by $100Ms. Of course MS's bottom line is gonna come out looking rosy because of that next quarter.

Plus as for comparing the Mac and PC...Mac has always been known for stellar graphics. I haven't got to use an OS X Mac, since I write software for PCs. But, I hear they are nice. Just pricier. But, Macs have NEVER been focused at the broad market. They are a mix of niche computer market and specialty system.

Also, I'd say the CPU is the engine. The OS is more like a carboretur. It can help or hurt how well the CPU does tasks based on how well it is designed and what not.

Anyways, Ballmer is a lepton. Just look at his picture from that article. Ever see Jobs act like a brat?

Ballmer is just a hanger-on-er to Gates, just like Gates was to Paul Allen.

 

[solymnar]

[citation][nom]scryer_360[/nom]Balmer's issue is this: even if Mac looses sales, that doesn't mean people actually likeWindows compared to Mac.[/citation]
Truth, but as testified by many it also doesn't mean they don't like windows either now does it?


[citation][nom]scryer_360[/nom]In the long run, the machines and software with the best reputations and service, not to mention build quality, will win.[/citation]

Right...and that's why IBM dominated dell...oh wait... Seriously though, if that was the case companies wouldn't bother spending obnoxious amounts on marketing campaigns, the product should sell itself if its blatently superior.

[citation][nom]scryer_360[/nom]Its only a matter of time before hardware is powerful enough Mac begins offering cheaper systems. When that happens, people will gobble it up unless Microsoft's poor reputation can be fixed in the meantime. [/citation]

Hardware has been improving at a consistant pace since computers were first made. Software engineers write code assuming advances in hardware or knowing directly what the hardware vendors are working on so that the software takes advantage of this. Why would this suddenly change? And why would apple make cheap macs instead of simply increasing their profit margin further which is their current marketing style?

Its entirely possible people would gobble them up if apple changed their marketing model to include price competitive options. Though without a major ramp up in software being made for mac I'm not fully convinced.

In terms of OS releases I can't argue MS's reputation. I won't buy an MS OS when it releases because its usually not fully stable until SP1 and because unless you have the latest hardware they tend to run sluggish and feel bloated.

Maybe windows7 will change that. A lot of people have positive opinions so far but that could all just be wishful thinking. We'll see.


and @mihaimm you're still arguing cosmetics and feel with a rather aggressive bias. From someone that doesn't like the look of most apple products your comparison sounds outright silly. Believe it or not, not everyone thinks macs look great.

The OS generates much of the feel of using a system. In your car notions it would be the interior. The CPU being the engine, GPU being intake/exhaust (though with cuda or certain software types that relationship is flipped around) and the efficiency of a given program being your drive train and its smoothness of operation being the vehicals handling.

Kezusto is pretty accurate in what he said imo. Even if MS makes a brilliant OS though people will still use macs for the simpleness and because its different from the majority. People like to feel unique.

 

[axekick]

It will be a bad year for both Apple and Microsoft. In my opinion his analogy is wishful thinking.

 

[billythekid]

Steve should shut his fat flapping noise maker.

 

[bin1127]

Apple is an obvious target since they are on bad terms already. No need to stir up unnecessary sh*t. but hey, if you no longer have a house now but got a macbook air you should give yourself a pat on the back.

 

[Guest]

The fact is that lots of people doesn't give any value to their time, their pleasure ...

When i see some people buy a new machine with Vista, getting some fun making some maintenance on it for lots of reasons (install directX, install the new nforce drivers because your game crash if you have an old one, get some trouble because you didn't uninstall the previous drivers when you updated the new ones, install some nice software that changes some dll in your system and doesn't put back the original one if your uninstall them, reinstall completly your windows because a windows update did goes wrong and crashed everything, try to enderstand why your pc now boots in 5 minutes while it used to boot in 1 before ... The list is sooo ... ) i just think that, well of course they usually got a very low priced machine, but damn, i think the experience is at the level of the investment ...

I actually choosed the apple side after being bored to get so many problems on my previous PC, of course i must admit the machines are overpriced, but hell i never had any problems since 1 year, and my computer has taken back the place it should have always had ... Being at my service.

So i definitely think Microsoft should be more worried about the quality of his software, than about the apple market.