War of the Systems

If your interested in why the world is divided into between Macs and PC's heres a History Lesson, some interesting news and a prediction for the Future.

Luke Leslie Winter 2006

I've been using a Mac my whole life, and unlike PC users who's arguments for using their brand of Computer mostly lie firmly in the ignorance department - Mac users grow up in what's lets face it is very PC dominated world - and therefore are pretty much forced to use both Windows and Mac OS X operating systems - this experience further bolsters our conviction that our computer of choice is in fact the best. Our Computers are the most Stable, the best designed, and most innovative computers around. If you know anything about Operating Systems - ie alternatives to Windows - its undeniable that Apples is top of the pyramid.

What's held Apple Back? Poor decisions from the get go - whilst Microsoft decided to license their software to anyone - Apple took a different path (something they have actually always been proud of until recently when they finally dropped the "Think Different" Ad Campaign) Apple decided to use their own software in their own boxes (all in one essentailly) - good for quality, trouble shooting and stability - Bad for business. Microsoft gobbled up the market leaving Apple dragging its feet. Being a tiny fraction of the worldwide computer market share has also hindered development and release for all kinds of applications - most noticeably games. Which has to be the number one thing PC users around my age use to argue that they're choice of computer is the best - Heres a funnyvideo parodying Gaming on a Mac.

The Apple Sales approach is also retarded. They pitch to people who already have a PC - unlike Dell (currently one of the world largest PC suppliers)

The cheapest Mac you can buy is the Mac Mini at the price of E 659? What a joke! It doesn't even come with a Screen - a Mouse or a keyboard - It presmumes your a PC user - who would have all that already. Great! If you have an Old PC your devices won't work with a modern PC let alone a Mac! This technique is supposed to compete with smarter companies such as Dell who offers cut rate deals to the family who know nothing about computers. Apple would argue "Hey at-least 2 months after you buy a Mac - you won't have any worms or viruses" - But who got the sale? Thats right - Dell , why? Because they're inexpensive - they offer bundle deals which appeal to Families (e.g. free scanner, web cam and printer) and also - their adverts are fucking everywhere "Remember you can't buy Dell in the shops so Call or Go Online" - ever see Apple do that? No - because they're too busy milking the success of the iPod - which lets face it - is short sighted and won't last forever. Yeah Yeah - it's great but Apple is a computer company first and foremost - and they're starting to forget that.

In terms of Market Share - Microsoft has had the upper hand until now - and it may be about to change.

Apple has just officially Released Boot-Camp - this allows you to install and boot up in Windows - natively - easily - legally - on your Mac.

This is a staggering change of attitude and a bold move from what has always been a "Think Different" kind of company. This is only possible because of Apples recent decision to transition all new Apples to Intel processors. Hearing this new development is great if you already have an Intel-Mac or plan to buy one - I mean you can now literally boot your Mac up like any PC and run any Windows software - all at super fast speeds - thanks to the cutting edge "Intel Core Duo" chips inside all new Macs which are in fact faster then any Pentium inside a conventional PC - and even the G4 and G5 Chips that Apple was using before the switch.

I repeat - Literally every PC Game ever - now works perfectly on a Intel-Mac. I've been looking online and so far people have been running Half-life 2, Battlefield 2 and many more bleeding edge PC only titles which were never ported to Mac - all at super-fast speeds. I mean - before then you had to run a cruddy little program called "Virtual PC" which simulated Windows very very slowly - It couldn't even run Google Earth let alone a game - all due to the fact that 3D Graphics in Windows require "Direct X" which works totally differnt then 3D Grapics on a Mac, Direct X also REQUIRES Intel - therefore - Macs before the Intel change - cannot ever really RUN windows - they can only poorly simulate it.

Why should you care?

Because if every Windows application runs on Windows - on Macs - What incentive do companies have to port their Applications (be it a game or the next version of Photoshop) to the Apple operating system Mac Os X? - I mean really? Who's going to waste their money getting something to work in one OS on a Computer when it already does work on another OS on the Same damn computer? I think Apple has has done something very risky - This decision its a double edged sword - heres why:

In the coming monthes; Apple is coming out with Mac OS 10.5 Leopard - which is supposed to be their most Worlds innovative Operating system to date - details about it have been shrouded in secrecy - (Mircosoft is waiting cleverly to see what Apple releases before bringing out their equivilent "Windows Vista" which undoubtably will have some very simular new features to Leopard or such has been their record to date) BootCamp could be just the testing the temperature of the pool - In Leopard - Apple could decide to completly allow Windows Applications to run in Mac OS X - by somehow tricking the Apps into believing they are running in Windows - (Much like running Classic (Mac Os 9) Aplications in Mac Os X. That would be FUCKING AWESOME - We would then have our System - and Your Applications - What better opportunity will Apple ever have to go after the Big Bad Microsoft then by literally stealing their own Market-share by allowing PC programs to run on a Mac - right out of the box?

If they do Allow PC Applications to run natively on the Mac operating System - what will their next big decision be? They could release Mac Os X for PC machines - this seems unlikely but is still a possiblity. Before the Intel switch this seemed impossible, but now? Will Apple way up the benifits of allowing anyone to run what they want on the worlds best Operating System on any Computer? This might be too ambitious - It would literally be pissing in Bill Gate's cup of tea - and nobody likes Microsoft - Especially when Microsoft's angry - But honestly - What could Microsoft do about it?

Apple is a bit wussy of late - I bet if I talked to Steve Jobs the Apple CEO (eqivelent to Bill Gates at Microsoft to you windows ppl) And asked him in 1984 what he'd do - he'd say go for it - lets go to war with Microsoft - lets take back a sizeable portion of the PC Market. But the Steve Jobs of today is a lot more conservative - and lets face it - the lines between Mac and PC blur more and more every year - some websites are even speculating a Microsoft aquisition of Apple - but thats about as likely as George Bush getting elected a 3rd term.

Heres something funny; PC - or Personal Computer - why is it used to distinguish between Windows and Mac? Surely it's a term that the Mac should also be associated with - I mean really - Is your Mac at home not your Personal Computer? Why Does "PC" mean non Mac? Surely you have a Windows PC and I have a Mac Os X PC Right? But I'm a bit off topic.

Conclusion

It's make or Break time for the Mac - Apple is about to either Start to dramatically Steal Microsoft's Market-share buy allowing Mac users to buy any Windows software we want and install it - possibly without Windows though this would piss Mictosoft off - the more likely senario is that Macs will soon be able to run Windows in the background of Mac Os X - achieving the same effect essentially but still handing over 100+ Bucks to Microsoft for buying and installing their vastly inferior operating system. This means they still get money - this to me whilst cool is still kinda crappy compared with cutting Microsoft entirely out of the equation.

Perhaps (though less likely) Apple will allow companies such as Compaq - Dell etc to run Mac Os X in their Box - but this makes Apple subseptable to blame for other companies faulty, cheaper hardware - something they have never had to face as until now Apple has been an all in one package (Operating system, software and hardware) .... But this move to allowing Windows to be used on the Mac could herald a worst case scenario; Development for the Native Apple Operating system will slow down to a snails pace and the Mac will die - slowly - though this is more likely to happen for PC Games that would previously have been seperatly brought to the Mac OS System then to more practical Aplications like Phtoshop or Dreamweaver. And by the way the Mac dieing would suck Oh so very, very much - for you Windows users too - let's not forget - Apple innovates - Microsoft replicates.

My Slice of the Pie:

I'd like to be able to say - "Oh well" That's ok and fine - I'll just boot Windows now and play Half-life 2 to my hearts content while I wait for the outcome of this Kerfuffle. But I'm too busy using a G5 -the Next Generation of Apple Computers that Apple Gave us 2 years ago (before the Intel switch) and then suddenly abandoned. I feel like I've literally been SHAT on By Apple. They Promised this was the Worlds fastest Computer - with the worlds first 64-bit chips (Watch the Advert Here) They Promised this is the future and that they would build on this from now on they said things would only get better - Well I belived them - I bought one - and until now was happy and content with my purchase. Sure it doesn't blow me out of my house like it does in the ad - but that wouldn't exactly boost my productivity. But boy am I kicking myself now - I can't do any of this cool and groovy new things that the Intel-Mac's can do - I now realize that the next version of Os X will have 100's of new features - all of which I won't be able to take advantage of as Pre Intel Mac user. And this just in - the Intel-Macs aren't even 64- bit - Nobody even took advantage of 64-bit chips anyway besides Nasa and some other Hippy companies.

Apple is a great company - (they invented the Mouse and pioneered the user interface that every sinlge Operating System now uses) but they've also made some of the worst decisions in any Computer Companys history - yet they still have that hidden ingredient that keeps me coming back for more. A solid - beautiful, intuitive, user friendly Operating System - which comes with iLife free - anything like that on Windows? Nope didn't' think so. And Hey - a year from now - you may be sitting at your Desk using Mac Os X 10.5 Leopard on a Dell you bought for 400 Euro rather then a Mac you bought for 2000 - and boy I'll look stupid then- or at-least until your computer breaks and you don't know wether to call Apple, Dell or Microsoft for maintenance.

Luke

online since Jan 06

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