Mass Microsoft Defections to Apple Possible

An anonymous reader writes to mention a MacWorld article covering research by the Forrester group. Their report shows that mass dissatisfaction with Microsoft and its products could lead to defections from the company. From the article: "Over all, only Apple and Tivo saw their brand trust rise in the last two years, according to the report. The final tally saw Bose, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Panasonic and Sony earn the highest marks, while Microsoft, Gateway and LG ranked lowest. The low scores for Microsoft could mean good news for Apple as consumers showed their distrust of the Redmond-based software-giant."

Comments

Re:Are we reading the same data?

[diamondsw]

I call bullshit on you. From today's Dell store:

Inspiron E1505
Intel® Core(TM) Duo processor T2500 (2MB Cache/2GHz/667MHz FSB)
1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display
100GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
256MB ATI MOBILITY(TM) RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory
85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Remote Control for Windows XP Media Center Edition
Standard Features: IEEE 1394, 4-USB 2.0 4-pin, 5-in-1 Combo Card through ExpressCard, 15-pin VGA connector, S-Video connector, Integrated 10/100 Ethernet, Integrated v.92 56K modem
HxWxD: 1.44" x 14" x 10.45"
Weight: 6.18lbs
Total: $2180 (after a "special offer" $200 discount)

MacBook Pro
2.0GHz Intel Core Duo with 2MB shared L2 Cache, 667MHz frontside bus
1GB (single SO-DIMM) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
15.4-inch TFT display with 1440x900 resolution
100GB 5400rpm Serial ATA hard drive
Slot-load SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW) [Apple doesn't state this explicitly, but it's 4x and not dual layer]
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory
Standard Features: iSight, wireless networking (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, ExpressCard/34 slot, dual-link DVI video out, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, FireWire 400, and optical digital and analog audio in/out.
HxWxD: 1.0 x 14.1 x 9.6
Weight: 5.6lbs
Total: $2500

Dell advantages:
S-Video
More USB 2.0 ports
Better DVD burner
Modem

MacBook advantages:
Higher resolution screen
Better GPU
Lighter and smaller
Single DIMM preinstalled
DVI
iSight
Gigabit Ethernet

So, a whole $300 difference (on special), and you be the judge of those differences.