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Apple to 'Switch' to Windows?
JFlex writes "PC Mags writer John C. Dvorak discusses the idea that Apple may dump OS X and 'switch' to running Windows in a recent column: "The idea that Apple would ditch its own OS for Microsoft Windows came to me from Yakov Epstein, a professor of psychology at Rutgers University, who wrote to me convinced that the process had already begun. I was amused, but after mulling over various coincidences, I'm convinced he may be right. This would be the most phenomenal turnabout in the history of desktop computing.""
Epstein made four observations. The first was that the Apple Switch ad campaign was over, and nobody switched.
I switched. 3 other people in my office switched. Whats he talking about?
Seriously, in December 2004 there were no Mac owners in my office, then I got an iBook (always wanted to play with OSX), and within a month two other people had purchased various Macs based on my purchase. Then 3 months ago someone else purchase a powerbook, again based on the experiences of us owners in the office.
Let me explain this to you: Dvorak is what's known in the industry as a "Yellow Journalist". Which is to say that he publishes sensationalist articles designed to elicit a reaction in his readership, despite having little to no facts to support his position. These authors are usually frowned upon by any publication with journalistic integrity. Since PC Magazine has none (and needs the readership), they continue to post his foaming-at-the-mouth drivel.
Every once in awhile, Dvorak manages to hit upon a sensationalist story that's true by pure accident. This then convinces his "fans" that he knows what he's talking about. People then latch onto that single instance of "being right" to accept his pathetically low rate of correct predictions.
Stop listening to this guy. Stop posting his articles. Ban PC Magazine for publishing this nonsense. Otherwise Slashdot becomes just as bad as Dvorak himself.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
You're ignoring the point here. I'm not saying that Apple would do this, but if Apple were going to switch to Windows, they would switch to Windows in the same way that they switched to BSD. Notice, if you will, the vast difference between MacOS/X and FreeBSD. You would be talking about a hybrid OS that used Cocoa (certainly, since that's Apple's branding, not to mention a develpment platform that all of their best add-on software retailers are writing to) on top of the NT "micro"kernel in the same way that Win32 was slapped on top of NT back in the beginning.
Side note: I went to an NT internals talk at USENIX back just before NT came out, and the guy from MS actually made it sound cool. It was the kind of OS that we'd all wanted to see someone do: a true successor to Unix and VMS. Sadly, it seems that they ran out of time, and instead of the elegant integration of Windows as a multi-subsystem, pluggable userspace suite, they slapped Win32 on top of the increasingly innaccurately named "microkernel" and hosed the whole thing. It was barely possible to tell, when released, that below the layers of caked-on mud was the heart of an interesting OS. I almost cried for as long as it took me ot go back to my little Slackware system.
But, I always remember that, and I always remember that SOMEONE COULD do that work still, and NT could become the heart of a truly interesting OS. Would Apple do it? Almost certainly not, but they COULD, and they are partly owned by MS (am I the only one who remembers that deal?)
Also... truly, I cannot imagine for even one moment why Apple would want to switch to running Windows. They have no windows software to sell; they have no real hardware advantage to bring to that market. Not even looks. There are plenty of cool looking Intel platforms out there from the nutzo to the trim and stylish and everywhere in between.
I can see why they might consider becoming a software only shop and stop making hardware — there are plenty of nice Intel-based platforms out there, and software margins are far better than hardware margins (speaking as a software vendor myself.) I'd be pretty happy running OSX on a Dell, for instance, and I think the number of people who might try OSX if they could legitimately install it on their PC is probably a very large number. But drop the software and keep the hardware? No. Don't think so. :)
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
It's a totally braindead hypothesis.
And at its core is seems to suppose that Apple WANTS to compete with Dell and Compaq. And that's what really strikes me as dumb: nobody in their right mind wants to compete in that arena. It's dead: it's low margin, it's totally saturated, and it's dominated by whoever can make the cheapest box and operate on the slimmest margins, with the most streamlined supply chain.
It's a WalMart market, in other words. That's like the absolute antithesis of everything Apple. Apple does fat profit margins on low-volume niche machines. They're a big fish in a small pond, and they do very well by it. Why they'd want to be the same small fish, in a much bigger, FAR more brutal pond, I cannot possibly understand.
IBM, one of the biggest, longest-time players in the PC arena, dumped it's PC division last year, and sold it to the Chinese. Why? Because margins were too low and demand wasn't strong enough to give them a healthy profit off of what they were selling: high quality laptops and desktops. People aren't willing to pay a premium for PCs anymore, unless you can really do something to distinguish yourself. Alienware manages to do it, but just barely (and you get a lot of people criticizing them for being expensive, too); Apple wouldn't be able to compete as just a hardware company in the commodity arena.
It's stupid to even think it. I knew Devorak was a publicity whore, but this is just retarded. Anyone who's ever taken a single business class in their life, or who even has a basic understanding of the PC market today, knows it would be a suicidal move.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
To give you anecdotal vs. anecdotal
My experiance on the phone with apple (given, I have applecare) was very positive. They have friendly, knowledgeable people who *speak english*. More knowledgeable than in the store I've found btw.
I had a similar problem with the screen (also had the infamous problem with the latch) on my 15inch alBook when I first got it, I called apple up and they repaired it free of charge. Sent me a box, sent it to them in a box, they sent it back fixed. Took a grand total of a week all told.
You can make apointments on their website in advance for the "genius bar" btw, no waiting on line at the store, just show up when your apointment time is. Never had any probs with this.
What parts? I have a mac laptop, not much I'm going to be upgrading on it. The stuff I will be, hard-disk and ram, are standard parts found anywhere.
As for repair, that's warranty/applecare is *for*. If you buy a dell, you want to get the three year warranty for extra $$$ too, or they'll do the same thing to you. That is unless you want to a) repair it yourself or b) go to a non-authorized repairer (both of which you can do with macs too).
While I havent gone through apple's repair training program, there's a hell of a lot of technical info on macs/osx on the web, much of it offered up free by Apple (and plenty not offered up by apple, but easily findable).
Lastly, how can it be illegal price-fixing, Apple does not have a monopoly on the computer market by a long shot. If you want a mac, you pay Apple's prices. If you just want a cheap computer, go somewhere else. You are not *entitled* to a cheap mac, whatever you may think.
~Anub
"goodbye and hello, as always" ~Prince Corwin, from Zelazny's Amber series