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Apple Surpasses Dell in EU Education Market

wackymacs writes "According to a report from Macworld UK, Apple has confirmed it has taken the number one spot in the Western European education market. The company's education market share in the region is now 15.2 percent, placing Dell, with 14.7 percent, to second place. Gartner analyst Isabelle Durand confirmed: 'During the fourth quarter 2005, Apple became the number one PC vendor in the Western European Education market. The company has continued to grow very strongly (+22.4 per cent) and achieved a 15.2 per cent of market share in Q4 2005.'"

88 comments

  1. Either way... by the_humeister · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...it's a win for Intel!

    1. Re:Either way... by ackthpt · · Score: 2, Informative
      ...it's a win for Intel!

      What? I thought Dell were finally opening their monolithic doors to AMD, which have processors which would be quite popular in "Green" Europe.

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    2. Re:Either way... by the_humeister · · Score: 1

      Although Dell currently does sell individual AMD processors, all of their systems currently use only Intel's processors.

    3. Re:Either way... by SphericalCrusher · · Score: 1

      and hopefully that will get Macs back into school systems.

      --
      "Instant gratification takes too long." - Carrie Fisher
  2. It wasn't that long ago... by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 1

    ...when Apple was the ONLY option in US education. What happened? Can it happen again if we all jump on the bandwagon?

    Sure it will, it's a closed system.

    1. Re:It wasn't that long ago... by jcr · · Score: 1

      ...when Apple was the ONLY option in US education.

      That was never the case.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    2. Re:It wasn't that long ago... by poopdeville · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sure, but the Colleco's would rust up on you in no time flat.

      --
      After all, I am strangely colored.
  3. Smart move for Apple by alex_guy_CA · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If I were an OS maker thinking of the future, I would want as many school kids to work on my computers as possible. People stick with what they are used to, so if a kid works with Mac's in school, what are they going to get when they go to college, or when they buy a house. Has anyone seen any data on lifetime loyalty or stickiness for operating systems?

    1. Re:Smart move for Apple by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 1

      Yer damn straight! You can have my C64 when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers!

      --
      Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
    2. Re:Smart move for Apple by tbone1 · · Score: 4, Informative
      Except that, at one time, Apple was THE option in US education. However, DOS/Windows became the staple of business, largely riding on the back of the "nobody ever got fired for going with IBM" mentality. People purchased a home computer based on this, and schools were convinced by the type of middle management fusspots that get on school boards that they should get kids on Windows ASAP. There were other factors involved, of course, but that was part of what led to Apple losing its dominance in education.

      Of course, whenever someone makes that "Think of the children!" argument, I tend to smack my lips and say "Mmm, delicious!"

      --

      The Independent: Reverend Spooner Arrested in Friar Tuck Incident - ISIHAC, Historical Headlines
    3. Re:Smart move for Apple by MrPeavs · · Score: 2, Informative

      Another major reason why Apple faded out of the US school system is they cut their incentives. They simply were not good enough anymore to justify the cost difference between the systems.

    4. Re:Smart move for Apple by alex_guy_CA · · Score: 1

      The business thing is really true, and will continue to be a large factor, but if Apple can stay ahead of the game in digital lifestyle, I think people who are used to an Apple will want one at home.

    5. Re:Smart move for Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      It worked on me.....

      but now I'm having the worst time trying to find any software for my TRS-80.

    6. Re:Smart move for Apple by AndyG314 · · Score: 0

      Apple used this stratigy for a long time, thinking that kids would grow up using apples and then buy them. But the parents were using dos/windows at work and that was what they bought. Since kids got more access to their home computer than they did to the schools limited supply they grew up using windows. The problem is that parents buy computers not kids, and the parents were going with IBM

      --
      If it's dead, you killed it.
    7. Re:Smart move for Apple by vasqzr · · Score: 3, Insightful


      Except that, at one time, Apple was THE option in US education. However, DOS/Windows became the staple of business, largely riding on the back of the "nobody ever got fired for going with IBM" mentality.

      DOS had all the business programs. Apple started with stuff like VisiCalc but never got much further than that. DOS had 1-2-3, Wordstar, dBase, Paradox, Wordperfect, etc. So they became king of the business world. And people bought home computers so they could work on stuff from work, at home.

      Apple machines were great for schools. Not for learning about computers, but for LEARNING. In the 80's schools were full of Apple computers, Number Munchers, LOGO, Turtle Graphics, Carmen Sandiego, Oregon Trail, Print Shop, typing games... It was about learning. Nobody was forcing computers down kids throats. Nobody decided on using PowerPoint for stupid things and grading kids on it.

      Macintosh took quite a foothold in the college scene as well.

    8. Re:Smart move for Apple by pintomp3 · · Score: 1

      been there, tried that

      http://www.jeca.com/SMG/AFTS/afts.html

      they pretty muched owned the edu market through the "apples for the students" program. even if there were some pcs in a school, they never got used since a lot of the in house "techs" were either teachers or students. the counter to this was that parents often used on pcs at work. since there wasn't an "apples for the home" program, they bought what was familiar and cheap. besides, for what most people do, the OS really doesn't matter as much anymore since the differences are shrinking. the familiarity arguement is almost mute.

    9. Re:Smart move for Apple by jcr · · Score: 1

      I never went looking for one, but I wonder if there are any TRS-80 emulators?

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    10. Re:Smart move for Apple by FaasNat · · Score: 1

      Yeah....I think this is how Windows really took off (may be a little off, but...oh well). All the people playing games that were Windows only and since they were used to Windows, they just stuck with it since it could do the basic "needs" (word processing, email, web, etc.).

      Most of my friends who run Windows first started out with it because they wanted to play certain games that wasn't available on a Mac. Then they just stuck with that because that's what they knew and didn't want to have more than one computer.

      --
      There's never enough when you have too little
    11. Re:Smart move for Apple by IntlHarvester · · Score: 1

      Yes, but Apple kept their EDU dominance well past the DOS/Apple ][ days -- they had something like a 70% marketshare in the mid-90s. Their collapse in the US educational market was relatively recent (Jobs II era).

      Plus, now it sounds like the Mac holdouts in K-12 EDU land are shitting because virtually all of the software is Classic-mode "abandonware" that won't run on the Intel models.

      --
      Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
  4. Of course apples are the best choice for schools.. by boldtbanan · · Score: 4, Funny

    because students won't be able to play any games on them!

    (And we all know how much teachers like apples to begin with)

  5. Now... by rahrens · · Score: 1

    If only they can do that in the US...

    --
    "Money is truthful. If a man speaks of his honor, make him pay cash." Notebooks of Lazarus Long, Robert A. Heinlein
    1. Re:Now... by wbren · · Score: 1
      If only they can do that in the US...
      It was called the 1990s.
      --
      -William Brendel
    2. Re:Now... by rahrens · · Score: 1

      I meant in the 21st century - where have you been for the last ten years...of slipping education sales for Apple?

      --
      "Money is truthful. If a man speaks of his honor, make him pay cash." Notebooks of Lazarus Long, Robert A. Heinlein
  6. Re:Of course apples are the best choice for school by Bazzalisk · · Score: 1

    By that reasoning, NetBSD or Solaris would be better still :)

    --
    James P. Barrett
  7. Re:Of course apples are the best choice for school by undeadly · · Score: 1

    There are many nice non-3D games to play, like nethack, which, incidentally, runs fine on both NetBSD and Solaris ;-)

  8. No wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Michael Dell wanted Steve Jobs to haave Apple fold their tents and give the money back to their shareholders.

    Good call......

    dumbass.

    1. Re:No wonder... by MrPeavs · · Score: 1

      It is always easy to look back on something and comment on it. At the time, it was a real possibility.

    2. Re:No wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Quick point, that means that the other 85% of the market is PC :)

    3. Re:No wonder... by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 1

      Michael Dell wanted Steve Jobs to haave Apple fold their tents and give the money back to their shareholders. Good call......

      Actually at the time it was. Apple's current success has far more to do with iPods than their computers. Apple's future may have more to do with iPods and turning their computers into digital appliances than with computers themselves. I'm thrilled to see Apple move to Intel, but it is really mostly hype. The performance difference between x86 and PowerPC was irrlelevant to most of the population. Today's computers are way overpowered for most users, whether your G4 accomplishes typical tasks at 50% utilization or your P4 accomplishes tasks at 10% utilization is irrelevant, it's nerd trivia. The reason to buy a Mac over a PC is not the CPU, it's Mac OS X and it's user experience, and that is the same last year with PowerPC and this year with x86.

      dumbass.

      Pot. Kettle. Black.

  9. Common misconception by this+great+guy · · Score: 4, Informative

    There is also this common misconception that, on the global desktop & server PC market, Apple is extremely small compared to Dell. People think that Apple sells 1% or less of the total number of PCs sold by Dell. But this is wrong, Apple has got 1/7th (14%) of Dell market share. Given this perspective, Apple suddenly appears much bigger...

    1. Re:Common misconception by the_humeister · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well, Apple's global share is around 1.9% as of 2004. Dell's market share is around 18% as of 2004. So that means, Apple has about 1/9th of Dell's market share. In terms of number of computers sold, they're still smaller than Acer. I mean, you could also rephrase your statement to say that Apple has nearly 2/3 of Acer's marketshare (or 66%). That makes Apple even larger, right?

    2. Re:Common misconception by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      maybe 14 times bigger? :)

    3. Re:Common misconception by hattig · · Score: 2, Informative

      I think Apple's marketshare was around 5% the last time they said anything about it, last month. Seems the Mac Mini and iMac G5 did improve their rather piss poor marketshares since a couple of years beforehand!

    4. Re:Common misconception by bogie · · Score: 1

      Problem is who do you trust? Like I heard it was up to 3%-4%. 5% would be nice and realistically 10% would be something to crow about. Anything that forces MS hand to actually do something besides force useless upgrades on us all is welcome.

      --
      If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
    5. Re:Common misconception by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You missed the point of the OP. He just wanted to put numbers in perspective. And the fact is that Apple has 10-15% of the world's largest vendor's market share.

    6. Re:Common misconception by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Give us a non-Apple link to back up that statistic

  10. Perception by Tom · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There is still hope that a new generation will grow up and not accept that computers crash all the time, data gets lost every now and then and for that really important word document, there can't be enough backups because you never know when the machine will just eat it.

    Also, they might have much higher expectations for a GUI and point out all the bad stuff about the windos standard we who've grown up with it don't even notice anymore.
    When my mother got her first PC, I put Linux on it. For surfing and mail it was perfect. Later on she took one of those "internet course" things. She came back with a strong dislike of "that windows thing" she had to use there. I'm certain anyone whose first exposure to computers was a Mac will have a much stronger opinion.

    --
    Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    1. Re:Perception by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I got a Mac for my new programming job because of all the wonderful things I've heard about them. Within a month I was practically begging my boss to let me get a PC. I don't know why but it seemed so damn slow and a lot of the Macisms seemed counter intuitive for me. I was expecting the thing to fly (dual 2.5GHz CPUs) and the thing was just a dog.

      Now I can't stand to listen to all the pro-Mac babble. It drives me crazy.

    2. Re:Perception by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess you must have forgot to plug in the power cord. No, but seriously: what kind of programming did you do? The 2,5 GHz machines are really nice - start a program and it pops right up. However, with an insufficient amount of memory it will of course crawl.

    3. Re:Perception by tsa · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The other way around works just as well. I've tried to get many people to use Firefox, for instance, but quite a few weren't willing to accept it, because `it's crap'. Meaning it works a little bit different than IE. People are very reluctant to change, so they tend to stick with what they learned.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    4. Re:Perception by Tom · · Score: 1

      I know what you mean. I failed to introduce OpenOffice to my work team, because people were used to Word and Excel and the other crap. OO2 is clearly and very obviously superior to the old Office 2000 we have at work. No surprise, that shit is about 6 years old. But still...

      That's why Apple is doing it right moving into the market where people are first exposed to computers.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    5. Re:Perception by DarkVader · · Score: 1



      You got trolled.

      You might as well have taken it seriously if somebody posted this one again:

      I don't want to start a holy war here, but what is the deal with you Mac fanatics? I have recently upgraded from a Mac 8600/300 w/64 Megs of RAM to a new G5 dual 2GHz with AGP 8X and PCI-X to help me at my freelance gig where I needed to copy a 17 Meg file from my home network to a desktop folder. On the G5 it took about 20 minutes. At home, on my Pentium Pro 200 running NT 4, which by all standards should be a lot slower than this Mac, the same operation would take about 2 minutes. If that.

      In addition, during this file transfer, my iPod will not work. And everything else has ground to a halt. Even Safari is straining to keep up as I type this.

      I won't bore you with the laundry list of other problems that I've encountered while working on various Macs, but suffice it to say there have been many, not the least of which is I've never seen a Mac that has run faster than its Wintel counterpart, despite the Macs' faster chip architecture. My 486/66 with 8MB of ram running MS Windows for Workgroups 3.11 is faster than this G5 dual 2GHz machine at times. From a productivity standpoint, I don't get how people can claim that the Macintosh is a superior machine.

      Mac addicts, flame me if you'd like, but I'd rather hear some intelligent reasons why anyone would choose to use a Mac over other faster, cheaper, more stable systems.

  11. Macs on Campus by taskforce · · Score: 1, Troll
    At the higher education school where I currently am in the UK, we have a split 50:50 Mac:Windows ratio. It's very hard to get a PC, but there are always Macs available. The general consensus around the campus is that "Macs suck" and while the Windows PCs aren't exactly amazing, the Macs are the bottom of the pile. It's not like they're using legacy OS9 Macs either; these are flat screen 17" all in one iMac G5s.

    If anything, putting their computers in an environment like a school to show young people that Macs *do indeed actually crash quite a bit, even under OS X* is a bad idea.

    --
    My 3D Texturing Skinning work (under construction)
    1. Re:Macs on Campus by carlivar · · Score: 1
      Hmm, sounds like Apple must use Lucas Electrics in their UK Macs.

      --
      Vote Libertarian
    2. Re:Macs on Campus by hattig · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Still, Apple has come a long way since 10 years ago.

      I remember the Macs at school then. They really did suck. A lot. Looked nicer than the PCs though, but the OS and the keyboard and the mouse did suck.

      Since then, the OS has overtaken Windows substantially, Windows gets reamed by viruses and spyware too easily, and Apple's hardware still looks nicer. 'Macs suck' is just a silly teenage opinion now, rather than being based upon any real fact. Still, the UK Macs still have the @ and " swapped from the usual Windows arrangement, and don't have a # on the keyboard! God knows why! They have that funny S thing, it has its own key!

      However people use what they're used to, they're scared to change, they're sheep. It doesn't have the comforting blue E of vulnerability, I mean, Internet on it.

    3. Re:Macs on Campus by Kadin2048 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Huh, that's odd. When I was at university last, not that long ago, there was about a 60/40 Windows/Mac split, and in the public computer labs you could NEVER get a Mac. Unless you had the misfortune to be there at around 0400 on a Tuesday or something, they were always taken.

      The only problem I ever really saw with them was that they tended to have every application on them always running in the background, because Windows users never seemed to understand that Quitting an application from the menu is different from just closing the current document. If somebody did that to Photoshop, Word, Internet Explorer, and a few other things, they'd start to run out of memory and choke.

      I never looked too hard, but I'm told that they were all netbooted off of a central server, and the hard drives were frequently re-imaged and contained nothing but the applications and a backup system (so they could boot if the network was down, I suppose). I thought it was a great system.

      I guess which one people prefer probably depends a lot on which computers are best maintained, and that probably depends which OS the admins are most comfortable and devote the most attention and resources to. Perhaps we were just lucky to have Mac-friendly admins who knew what they were doing.

      --
      "Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
    4. Re:Macs on Campus by undeadly · · Score: 1
      However people use what they're used to, they're scared to change, they're sheep. It doesn't have the comforting blue E of vulnerability, I mean, Internet on it.

      I'm sure that there are a few things you do not want to change just because some random person thinks that you should use the hottest, newest thing available? Why don't you be a real man and run OpenBSD. What, is it too hard to read clear, detailed instructions?

    5. Re:Macs on Campus by RedBear · · Score: 5, Informative

      Uh-huh, yeah. I just have two things to say to that.

      1. Before Mac OS X version 10.2, I would have agreed, Macs certainly did suck. Especially Mac OS 9 and earlier. It really sucked bigtime. I hated Macs back then.

      2. If all those G5 iMacs are operating worse than the PCs on a regular basis, they need to get someone in there to maintain them who has half a clue. Those Macs should be rock solid. I speak from experience with a couple dozen different types of Macs running Mac OS X 10.2, 10.3, and 10.4. We're talking anything from G5 towers to gumdrop iMacs from 6 years ago. And proper maintenance is not rocket science either.

      You're either full of it or the techs in charge of that campus are morons. Not to mention that anyone with a little training can set up a Mac server and netboot every Mac in the building whereby it's possible to make them basically foolproof and impossible to mess up. You can make them boot from a fresh disk image every time. Great for school environments. But hey, if you hate them that much I know several million people who would be happy to take them off your hands, cheap.

      If you've got a specific piece of software that keeps crashing, here's an idea: Stop blaming it on the Mac and replace it with a different piece of software that doesn't crash. It doesn't matter how stable your OS is, if your application is crap it will still crash.

    6. Re:Macs on Campus by hattig · · Score: 1

      I've run OpenBSD before. I even paid for it, and some OpenBSD posters. But not on a VAX.

    7. Re:Macs on Campus by inputsprocket · · Score: 1

      OS 9 was the death of the Classic Mac OS.
      The ability of OS X to multitask aside, OS 8.6 was as stable as OS X is today.

  12. I'm no apple supporter, but... by TheAxeMaster · · Score: 1

    Is it just a crazy theory of mine that if more people use apple, more games might be made OpenGL, and therefore be easily ported to linux? Like I said, I'm no apple supporter , not by a long shot, I won't ever own anything with that logo on it. But games are really the only thing keeping me in the windows market in the first place. If I could get games to linux, I'd just switch to gentoo and be done with it. Is it simply this limit? Or are there other issues?
     
    What would indeed be ironic is if that did happen on some level, and people loudly complained that M$' new implementation of OpenGL on vista sucked ass and even more people stopped using it.

  13. hm, really? by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

    i have yet to see one single mac in a school or an university. in my old school there were some old hp vectras and in the vocational school there are some more or less modern hps. in the university there were mostly sun workstations.

    --
    Conservatism: The fear that somewhere, somehow, someone you think is your inferior is being treated as your equal.
    1. Re:hm, really? by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      Well, I live within minutes of two major universities. One has a few macs here and there and one has as many macs as PCs. The latter is a very, very big school. At my own alma mater, we probably had more Sun machines than macs, although we had a several labs of each, and at least and as many PC labs as macs. Heck, we even had a lab full of Next machines. I wonder if they are still there? It all depends upon the university.

    2. Re:hm, really? by Dan+Ost · · Score: 1

      At Vanderbilt, there is at least one Mac lab used for statistics and for computer music classes. The Blair School of Music faculty mostly had Macs, a dozen or so of the engineering professors had Macs as their primary machines (most of these professors wrote books on the side...I don't know if there's a connection). The physics lab exclusively used (really old) macs for some reason.

      It's the only school I know, but there were lots of macs floating around if you wanted to look for them.

      --

      *sigh* back to work...
    3. Re:hm, really? by funkatron · · Score: 1

      I've been applying to uni's recently and I havent seen any macs on any of the visit days I've been on. Most places seem to have dual boot pcs (windows and linux) and i've ssen a few solaris boxes but not much else, maybe Apple are doing better outside the UK.

      --
      "Welcome to our world. We are the wasted youth. And we are the future too." Yes, I know these are stupid lyrics.
  14. intel wouldnt want one company to dominate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If Apple gains 80% or whatever market share, intel will be dependent on Apple not suddenly switching to AMD. Although it would be hard for a 90% market owner to switch overnight .. once they make an announcement that they'll be weaning off .. intel shares will drop. This what happened to some of iPod's component manufacturers. More stable for them to have more diversity in the market.

  15. Re:Stupid headline by WhiteWolf666 · · Score: 1

    It's talking about the hardware market.

    Apple is now the #1 computer hardware supplier in the EU education market.

    It's not comparing Apple to MS; its comparing Apple to Dell.

    How many systems did Microsoft ship last quarter; oh, that's right: Zero.

    --
    WhiteWolf666 an exBush supporter. All you new-school,compassionate,save the children Republicans can rot in hell
  16. Re:Stupid headline by rrijkse · · Score: 1

    It might be usefull if you read the story before you post a comment.

  17. Re:Whis is this modded troll? by porcupine8 · · Score: 1

    I agree, that would suck. Why doesn't the school replace the mice?? Every school-based mac lab I've seen has nice logitech scroll wheel mice.

    --
    Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
  18. Now that's a headline! by porcupine8 · · Score: 1

    Microsoft started making computers? Why haven't you submitted this story to /. yet?? That's major news!

    --
    Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
  19. Got an iBook G4 here :) by Per+Wigren · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I just started studying at N3P in Stockholm/Sweden, which is a ~2 year (90 weeks) full time education in "Open Source entrepreneurship". It includes everything from project management to starting your own company to "IT" and basic system administration. Everything has a focus on Open Source, primary on the server side but also on the desktop application side. We have courses on Open Source licenses, software, philosophy etc. "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" is in the list of course material...

    Basically they thought that there are too many smart people out there with great ideas and lots of self-learnt knowledge but who are stuck in the system. "Let's make nerds into company owners."

    I really like this education. Rule #1 is "Don't follow the rules." :) A big part of the education is to think outside the box, avoid bureaucracy, turn crazy ideas into reality and revolutionize the world. :)

    Anyway, sorry for the rant. To get to the point: When we started, everyone got an iBook to use for the course. They chose to go with Mac because it has really low support costs for them ("it just works"), and it's based on UNIX so we can run and test most Open Source applications locally without hassle (through Fink or DarwinPorts). They explicitly state that we are free to format it and install Linux or BSD though, no courses rely on Mac-specific software.

    Oh, and .doc is a banned file format. :)

    --
    My other account has a 3-digit UID.
    1. Re:Got an iBook G4 here :) by corvair2k1 · · Score: 1

      "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" is in the list of course material...

      Is that unusual? I know of a CS course in a major public university that uses it as well.

  20. Proper suspend (to RAM) by Rodavlas · · Score: 1

    I tired of trying to get ACPI to suspend to ram on Linux; after two years of unfruitful attempts I gave in and got a powerbook; it suspends & resumes as it should and the software is not so bad :-)

    1. Re:Proper suspend (to RAM) by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

      If you're still in good terms with Linux, you might want to try Software suspend 2, which is an ACPI-independent way of hibernating to the hard drive. It's working great for me, as I can't get ACPI suspend to work either.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    2. Re:Proper suspend (to RAM) by Rodavlas · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the advice, but software suspend (Nigel Cunningham's or the stock kernel's) only does suspend-to-disk, which is way too slow for what I expect, although it does have its uses (in dual boot systems, for example). btw, it's what I used mostly on my old laptop (a dell D800), which is now more of a desktop... 8-)

      The thing that p*sses me off with ACPI (weird implementations & funky video bios) is no longer being able to just open the laptop, work a little/do something quick/whatever and close it again, reliably, as I used to on APM-based systems.

      I hope the MacBook will change this situation (as far as suspending under Linux goes)...

    3. Re:Proper suspend (to RAM) by Bert64 · · Score: 1

      It's usually the implementation of the ACPI DSDT (http://acpi.sourceforge.net/ which has been written for and compiled with microsoft's non standard DSDT compiler..

      Intel's compiler complies with Intel's specs, while microsoft's compiler is tollerant of errors as is their implementation of ACPI in windows...

      Implementations of ACPI in other os's is intollerant of errors, as per Intel's original ACPI specs, and thus often fails to work with microsoft-oriented ACPI implementations.

      Also some ACPI implementations specifically check for certain versions microsoft os's.

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  21. More information by wackymacs · · Score: 2, Informative

    The story is missing quite a bit of substantial information, which I'll post here:

    Hewlett Packard at 14.2 percent, Acer at 9.5 percent, Fujitsu at 7.8 percent, and the remaining PC vendors taking 38.6 percent. Dell is still outcompeting Apple in the US, where Apple reportedly garners 22-23 percent of the education market share. Macworld UK reports that Apple's biggest European success is in Switzerland, where Apple holds 54.4 percent of the market-- Apple also ranks number one in France with 19.5 percent, Sweden with 15.2 percent, and takes second in Germany with 15.6 percent.

  22. Something doesn't jibe. by MisterSquid · · Score: 3, Informative

    If anything, putting their computers in an environment like a school to show young people that Macs *do indeed actually crash quite a bit, even under OS X* is a bad idea.

    I own 4 macs: a 15" Powerbook, a 12" iBook, a dual 2.5 GHz G5, and a 1 GHz G4 (MDD). These 4 machines are up and running 24/7. Two of them are servers exposed to the Internet. One of those servers also runs Final Cut Pro, email, etc.

    I can count on one hand how many times these machines have crashed since 2002 (three times). Applications do occasionally lock up but can always be force quit.

    If your macs are running OS X and the hardware is not faulty, your Macs are not going to be crashing. Since 50% Mac share at your school suggests more than a few Macs, my intuition is that you're making this up or that the users at your school don't know what a crashing Mac looks like. In other words, I think either you're lying or you have no idea what you are talking about.

    Do you have any details about these crashes?

    --
    blog
  23. How do you like them Apples by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's about time Apple made some inroads to take the market back from Dell.

  24. Re:Of course apples are the best choice for school by dubiousmike · · Score: 1

    Take it from me, they find games to play. Last generation Imacs came with some cool, 3D marble game and a chess game. Never mind that they still find ways to waste time with Itunes, even when its not connected to the internet...They have also found games that run locally and do not need an admin password to install.

  25. Re:Whis is this modded troll? by hunterkll · · Score: 1

    You could be like my college, and get a huge pallet of Microsoft optical scroll mice for the PowerMac lab ....

  26. Apple is a lock in company by Budenny · · Score: 1

    The reason this is bad news for education in Europe, particularly Switzerland and France, is that Apple is a lock in company. Buy the hardware and you are stuck. You can't move the OS to another hardware vendor, and with the MacIntels, you can't boot any other OS on the hardware. This is not something any sane person would want for public sector institutions in his country. MS is bad enough. But at least you can run the hardware of your choice and get it wherever you want.

    Its a moral issue, and its a political issue, its about personal freedom, and its the exact same debate as is happening in Massachusets, but on a different subject. Some companies, and Apple is one, want to lock their customers in. The customers should not go for it.

    What Apple wants is, you buy the hardware, it only runs OSX. Then you buy an iPod, it will only play stuff bought at the Mac store. Then you can only buy at the Mac store if you do it using some Mac application....

    Its gross. Its not what Apple, the Apple of Hypercard and the early days, was about. But its what they are about now, and the Swiss need to wake up and realise that MS + Acer or Dell or whoever may not be the greatest, but its a lot better than this.

    1. Re:Apple is a lock in company by Saint+Fnordius · · Score: 1

      I have to disagree with you, as there is no more "lock-in" with Apple than most other hardware manufacturers. Apple's operating system is fine-tuned to its hardware, true, but there is nothing preventing you from installing a Linux variant. Apple has also stated that it is also not going to prevent people from installing Windows on an intel-based Mac, only that they won't help.

      From my experience, the Apple platform is actually a lot more open than the MSWindows platform, especially in handling files. A Photoshop file is a Photoshop file, whether created with the Mac OS version or the Windows version. I often trade files between Office XP and Office:Mac. Even programs written for other forms of Unix are easily recompiled for Mac OS X.

      I must thus assume that you have little working experience with Apple hardware, let alone software. Otherwise you would know that Apple makes perfect sense for education, due to its higher return on investment (longer running life, lower maintenance costs).

      I also find your argument about the iPod somewhat dishonest: the iPod has no problem playing audio files without DRM, but to get the iTunes Music Store up and running Apple had to promise the studios DRM, and forced them to lower prices than the studios wanted. If Apple refuses to buy a license for other DRM models, then more power to them. (Note that I am assuming you mean the iTunes Music Store and not the Apple Store for ordering hardware online. If that were the case, your argument would have been fantasy.)

    2. Re:Apple is a lock in company by EMB+Numbers · · Score: 1

      "The reason this is bad news for education in Europe, particularly Switzerland and France, is that Apple is a lock in company. Buy the hardware and you are stuck. You can't move the OS to another hardware vendor, and with the MacIntels, you can't boot any other OS on the hardware. This is not something any sane person would want for public sector institutions in his country. MS is bad enough. But at least you can run the hardware of your choice and get it wherever you want." You can run Linux on your Mac hardware, and soon you will be able to run Windows on your Mac hardware. Mac OS "Darwin" is Open-Source. Only the higher level APIs and applications are closed source. You are always free to use X-Windows and Qt or whatever you want instead of Apple's higher level APIs. "Its a moral issue, and its a political issue, its about personal freedom, and its the exact same debate as is happening in Massachusets, but on a different subject. Some companies, and Apple is one, want to lock their customers in. The customers should not go for it." I might agree with you that there is a moral and political issue if your accusation had any merit. How much of MS Windows is Open Source compared to how much of Mac OS X ? Apple is not doing anything to prevent you from running Windows or Linux or Solaris or anything else you want on Macs. Only Windows incompatibility with industry standard EFI has delayed Windows on Mac hardware. "What Apple wants is, you buy the hardware, it only runs OSX." What Apple wants is you but the hardware. That is where they make their money. They don't care what you do with the hardware. They only provide an OS and awsome APIs and bundled applications at all to encourage you to buy the hardware. "Then you buy an iPod, it will only play stuff bought at the Mac store." It also plays music loaded from any CDs you might own and any CDs you buy at your local brick and mortar music store. It also plays music you might have downloaded or pirated via the internet. "Then you can only buy at the Mac store if you do it using some Mac application...." OK, this one is true. How many other on-line music stores let you access them via third party applications ? It's a good thing you don't need to use the iTunes music store at all with your iPod. You are a sadly misinformed person.

    3. Re:Apple is a lock in company by Budenny · · Score: 1

      You cannot run anything but OSX on a MacIntel. You cannot, I am sorry, but you just can't. Will people stop saying you can? Or show me how to boot either Windows or Linux on a MacIntel.

      Darwin is not OSX. Darwin doesn't matter, no-one runs Darwin on their Apple hardware. OSX is not open source. Will people please stop repeating this over and over again?

      Windows is not open source. The point is that Windows hardware is open. The point is that the combination of OSX and Apple hardware are linked, and you cannot run either with anything else. That is what makes a Windows PC more open than a Mac PC. This is a fact.

      As to iPods and iTunes, we shall see. Songbird is not there yet, but it will be, and when it does, lets hope Apple's share of the online music market falls to a reasonable 10-20%. Then I and music lovers everywhere will feel a lot more comfortable. In fact, I would really like their share of online music to be about the same as their share of the PC market.

    4. Re:Apple is a lock in company by EMB+Numbers · · Score: 1

      What kind of zealot are you ? - Everyone who runs Mc OS X runs Darwin. Darwin is the kernel, I/O layer, and BSD APIs of Mac OS X. Darwin is Open Source. If I use a closed source Window Manager and APIs to develop software on Linux, is Linux is not Open Source. If I use the close source Quartz window manager and closed source APIs in Mac OS X, does that make Darwin any less open ? - It is not Apple's fault that currently shipping Windows versions cannot boot with industry standard EFI used with Mac Intel. Would you rather be stuck with BIOS forever ? Microsoft has adopted EFI for 64 bit Windows. Windows will come to Mac Intel. - There is nothing stopping Linux from running on Mac Intel. The Linux developers have only had Mac Intel hardware to use for at most one month. Linux will run on Mac Intel soon. - OS X is linked to Apple hardware. Apple doesn't care and doesn't restrict what you do with Apple hardware. Your "Fact" is sadly misinformed. - Why do you care about Apple's share of legal on-line DRMed music sales ? If you don't like their store or their DRM scheme, buy from the brick and mortar store or from Amazon.com and load the music from CD to you iPod.

  27. Pyroenvy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's a nice troll you got goin' on there. While it's not proof positive, that you are associated with Pyroenvy, an outfit that publishes web pages like this really lowers any claim to a clue you might have.

  28. Greetings from Switzerland by xiaodidi · · Score: 1

    The reason this is bad news for education in Europe, particularly Switzerland and France

    We are doing just fine here, thank you very much.

    You can play whatever you want on the iPod.

    Mac OS X is *nix. There is a good implemetation of X11 out of the box. You get Perl, Python, Apache, MySQL, etc. out of the box (no need to install Cygwin). With the native GUI applications you get, again out of the box, you can do pretty much anything you want. I can't think of a better system for Education.

    On a Mac you can still install Linux, as in the past. On the intel Macs, there is a good change you will be able to install Windows too, which was not possible in the Hypercard days you cherish so much.

    Why do you want to have a range of mediocre choices when you can have one good system?

    1. Re:Greetings from Switzerland by Budenny · · Score: 1

      "Why do you want to have a range of mediocre choices when you can have one good system?"

      Its what Stalin asked. One answer was given by the Gulag Archipelago. But here is another. Because freedom to choose is a value in itself. I like it for countries and governments, for religions, and for operating systems. Buy OSX and you have to run it on Apple hardware. Buy the new Intel hardware and the only thing it will run is OSX.

      People should be able to buy this if they want. But I am speaking about what is good for countries and for the public. I do not think it would be good for us if this business model were to acquire any greater market share than (say) 5%, and I think the public sector should discourage it. It is the same as ODF. Closed source, software and hardware locked to each other, is a bad thing as a business model. You should personally be able to buy it. As a matter of public policy, our public institutions should make sure they do not endorse it.

      What is good for America is not always good for GM, and vice versa, and what is good for Apple and its shareholders is not always good for us as computer users or as citizens.

    2. Re:Greetings from Switzerland by Seriocomical · · Score: 1
      "Because freedom to choose is a value in itself. I like it for countries and governments, for religions, and for operating systems."
      Just out of curiosity, are there any religions out there that don't enforce vendor lock-in??
      --
      I used to be convinced that there are two sides to every question, but I'm not so sure anymore....
  29. Relax, pal by xiaodidi · · Score: 1

    I don't see Switzerland being turned into a Stalinist dictatorship by Apple any time soon.