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Leopard Vs. Vista
Rockgod writes to point us to an ongoing series of articles, "Leopard vs. Vista," by Daniel Eran. The latest is part 4, Naked Sales, and it's a meditation on hardware without Windows, Apple's strategy of hardware-software integration, and the dissatisfactions that arise from the creative tension between Microsoft and hardware manufacturers. (The earlier articles in the series are linked form this one.) From the article: "The vast majority of PCs come with Windows pre-installed, and actually can't be sold without it. Leading PC hardware makers can't freely advertise PCs sold without Windows, or with an alternative OS such as Linux, without having to pay Microsoft significantly more for every other OEM license they ship. That's why all name brand PCs prominently repeat their own version of the cult-like phrase 'Dell recommends Windows XP Professional,' as if there were a choice in the matter and they thought it would be helpful to provide some guidance... Apple's current Get a Mac advertising campaign doesn't compare Mac OS X to Windows, it compares the complete experience of a Mac with that of a PC. After all, Windows is only half of what's wrong with the PC as a product."
I agree, Roughly Drafted is the Fox News of Mac sites. The bias is so obvious. I agree that the integration of Mac OS X and the hardware has produced some excellent systems. But it's also possible to get good quality PC's too just because all the Dell offers of the week are rather shoddy more high end stuff can be decent quality.
The only thing I don't like about OEM PC's is basically having to pay for Windows even if you don't want it (yes, I know they offer some with linux and maybe you can get a refund) but to take advantage of the full catalogue you'll probably end up with Windows.
However, in the end I choose a Mac, it offers something the others don't (a decent OS pre-installed) and then I can add Linux as a dual boot if I want to.
"The vast majority of Macs come with OS X pre-installed, and actually can't be sold without it. Leading Apple hardware makers can't freely advertise Macs sold without OS X, or with an alternative OS such as Linux, without having to pay Apple significantly more for every other OEM license they ship. That's why all Macs prominently repeat their own version of the cult-like phrase 'Apple recommends OS X,' as if there were a choice in the matter and they thought it would be helpful to provide some guidance... Apple's current Get a Mac advertising campaign doesn't compare Mac OS X to Windows, it compares the complete experience of a Mac with that of a PC. After all, OS X is only half of what's wrong with the Macs as a product."
There. Fixed it for ya.
"After all, Windows is only half of what's wrong with the PC as a product."
Is it possible to have a post that is flamebait?
I think the problem with the PC market is the faction that seeks to undermine the popularity of the PC. For what reason? Their personal financial gain perhaps?
Yet another ad disguised as a post.
Games...try playing all your favorite games on a Mac or Linux system... Yes maybe one or two work but that's it, Windows has a monopoly on games at this point.
But then again...what if you want to reboot only once every year...try that on Windows...
Can't think of anything Mac only at the moment...
Marky Mark Killed Jason Bourne!
A bit more stylish perhaps, but only major architectural difference at the platform level is the use of EFI boot - which the PCs will get to shortly anyway (it's been around for years and is superior to BIOS, but conservative vendors have held off using it).
Apple probably wanted it because (other than being more powerful and better) it gives them some control of what OS goes on Macs and lets them also make it more difficult to run OS/X on non-Mac non-EFI systems.
THANK YOU!
The APple hardware monopoly is glanced over time and time again by Mac zealots as they throw stones at PCs.
With a PC I have choices: AMD vs Intel, nVidia vs ATI, Tyan vs ASUS, Corsair vs Kingston, WD vs Seagate, XP vs Fedora vs BSD vs SUSE, etc. etc. etc.
With Macs I have have what Apple blesses. "See how seamlessly it works!?" Yeah, because you only support that hardware, duh. I had to buy extra storage for various servers we have (which predate my arrival) and a 500GB SATA drive from Apple is $400; I can get a 500GB SATA for a PC for $220.
Macs are the Scientology of computing.
After reading the article, I can't quite tell why the hell this is on Slashdot. It's just someone's rants on a stupid blog - why the hell is that newsworthy at all? It's not even really a comparison of Mac OS and Windows at all, it's just a rant about how much better OS X is.
The blogger is so stupid that he somehow thinks it's appropriate to bundle operating system sales and hardware sales on the same chart, to make it look like Macs are more popular than they actually are. You can't turn a 2.5% market share into a 5% market share just by giving Microsoft 50% of the PC market! The numbers HAVE NO MEANING if you do that.
So now after digg.com, Slashdot is also being infected by this Daniel-Eran-I-Love-Apple worm. Crazy World!
Software that allows you to add comic style bubble quotes to your photos for only 30 dollars? Tell me more!
The last time I checked this came with quite a few Linux distros...
HandBrake is a GPL'd multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 ripper/converter. HandBrake was originally available on the BeOS, but now has been ported over to MacOS X and to GNU/Linux. A Windows port is being worked on.
"MacTheRipper is a freeware DVD ripper (extractor) for Mac OS X"
DVD Shrink - DVD Ripping and Backup
Latest Version - 3.2.0.15
Operating System Support - Windows 9x/2000/XP
License - Freeware
Status : Better than MacTheRipper
I don't see anything in that group that I don't enjoy a better version of on both my XP and Gentoo install...
This is a plugin for a proprietary piece of movie software, not a program itself...and nothing unique or innovative.
The only thing I can see different from this and MY music software is you have to shell out 300 dollars for it...
Just another video editing program...
WRONG! Over 99% of software is written either exclusively for Windows or supports it...Apple's small selection of software tends to not only be restrictive and expensive, but also no more functional than it's Windows counterparts.
Opinion, and not even a good one at that.
Old technology just now reaching the Mac...
Hilarious, you sound like you just read that out of a magazine...Mac's are slower, more expensive, and less functional. The only reason people buy them is because they're pretty and they heard from a friend that they're easier to use (Read : Less Options). Macintosh fanboys always list off the same weak reasons for switching and they're always wrong.
Marky Mark Killed Jason Bourne!
I have no idea what you're talking about right now.
Marky Mark Killed Jason Bourne!
"Apple killed support of Shake on Windows shortly after acquiring NothingReal"4 355.htm
Sounds like a company I want to support...
"Just to note... Shake is a compositing application, and a fairly nice one at that."
Image compositing? I can think of plenty of applications on Windows that do that...in fact, here's one that only does image compositing just for you...and it's free...
http://www.topshareware.com/Image-Inc.-download-4
Marky Mark Killed Jason Bourne!
Pure and utter bullshit. Why do people still believe this lie?
Sooo... can I buy a Mac without an Apple OS pre-installed?
So who was the monopolist again?
Working for MS' legal department must be fucking hilarious. The endless MS monopoly conspiracy theories are just plain laughable.
You obviously have not used iLife if you say that. What's a good alternative to GarageBand? Under Linux Ardour is the closest, but still doesn't compare. Under Windows you'll have to pay a few hundred to get something about as good.
"The Federal Reserve is a fraudulent system."--Lew Rockwell
End The FED. -
'Dell recommends Windows XP Professional,' as if there were a choice in the matter
As if I can buy a mac and install Yellow Dog Linux or whatever. AFAIK Mac's come with OSX and you can't order them without OSX either.
Same thing folks - if you want to be a fanboi, that's fine, but remember Apple does the same crap and even worse sometimes than Microsoft...
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