They pretty much nail the "fun" category, but the repeated shots they take at compatibility (and iWork) seem pretty dishonest to me, considering, you know, Office for Mac has been around 25 years?
And the Top 10 list made me laugh aloud:
1) the Dock and contextual menus have been around since 2001
2) iMovie and iPhoto were out first
3) Okay, score one for MS.
4) It takes exactly three clicks on Mac OS X as well.
5) Uh, Spotlight?
6) Macs have long been applauded for their sleep/wake abilities.
7) Again, nothing OS X hasn't done for years.
8) Point two for MS.
9) iTunes/Front are good, internet TV doesn't count.
10) Not really seeing this one either.
The top 10 list isn't really interesting because it's just a framing device for Win7 features; the "real" top 10 list would lead with "native support for Word and Excel", and would include something about security.
You know... all snark aside, a lot of these things are true:
* Macs get a tiny fraction of the games available to Windows.
* Macs really don't have Bluray support.
* Macs really are different from Windows, although they are different in arguably a good way, and my mom had no trouble learning them.
* Macs really do a crappy job with Word and Excel, and like it or not, and regardless of the degree to which this is MSFT's fault, Word and Excel are important in business.
* Macs are less compatible with hardware, although this is getting less and less so.
Now, obviously you have to trade this off against:
* Macs shipping out of the box able to do solid video and audio editing --- as in, "plug in the Flip camera and go".
* Macs superior out-of-the-box integration with the #1 online digital media store (ITMS)
* The all-around better user experience on the Mac for the things most people care about.
And, I am genuinely baffled by the "it's easier to share on Windows". Uh, no it isn't.
As a Mac user I say it's about time Microsoft stopped pussyfooting around making oblique references to Apple. It's a real fight, and they should try to win it.
I really like the publishing layout view in word. It saved me countless hours trying to write some documentation for work where you have to describe screenshots and how they work. Basically you have a long narrative of a numbered list and link all the textbox regions so they flow from one to another. I don't think the windows version of word has this mode.
What's ironic is that Windows 7 was designed to be more Mac like and less like Windows XP and now they want to claim advantage for Windows 7 as being "more like the computer you know to use."
Another thing to think about: My mac is able to my TV without any bugs. (Major use case for my laptop) The screen just flashes and I'm ready to go. When I'm done I can be programming again just by unplugging the adapter. No more fixing my desktop icons.
(Don't get me started on how windows handles multiple monitors!)
That's the exact same behavior my laptop, running windows 7, has when connected to an HDTV (multiple monitors work fine, and it's never messed up my desktop, as well). There's no adapter needed, either, which seems to be what that point was getting at - my highschool, which had standardized on mac laptops, was constantly plagued by difficulties finding adapters when using computers to run projectors. They were constantly lost or misplaced, and using multiple generations of macs often meant that the adapter we first found wasn't the right type.
As for adapters, I carry all my own adapters with me, when there is the slightest chance of needing them. (But I have a mac with a standard DVI port, makes things easier)
I've never had a problem with microsoft word/excel for mac.
I'm not trying to say your wrong on all of these points or anything, I just always find it funny how companies use Marketing speak and omission to lie.
I'll agree with this under the condition that we're talking about the most recent release of Office.
Having had to wait 2 years for an Intel version of Office was disappointing. Office 2004 ran perfectly smoothly on my old iBook G4. But on a MacBook that otherwise should have run circles around that iBook, Office was nowhere near as responsive, and would often thrash the disk while trying to open documents.
We're an all-Mac company and most of our customers are Windows Office standardized, and, no, it's definitely not the case that Office interoperates fine on the two platforms.
You can entirely blame Microsoft for the crappy Office experience on the Mac. They had one of the earliest full-featured word processors on the Mac, which historically was way better than MacWrite, and arguably, Nissus. It's been down hill ever since.
Their claims regarding the Office suite are transparently stupid: "Apple's productivity suite file formats won't open in Microsoft Office on PCs. This can be a real hassle for Mac users sharing work documents with PC users." Excuse me, but you have to PAY for that Apple suite, just like you have to PAY for Microsoft Office on Mac. Does Microsoft mean to tell us that Office for Mac is a real hassle for Mac users to use in order to share documents with PC users? Well, now that you mention it, it is! They can't even keep their own office suites compatible, and I'm not talking OLE or VBA crap.
"If there's a Mac version of a program you need, you'll have to buy it again and relearn how to use it on a Mac." No kidding, and thank you very much, Microsoft, for making the Mac version of Office so slow, clunky, and stupid.
NeoOffice launches faster than Word or Excel. Want to edit a cell in Excel? Don't waste your time with F2, or many other shortcuts that are changed for no apparent reason. Oh, and every time you launch a new Excel document, change your view from page-break view (with gaps for the margins!!!) back to the normal spreadsheet view that almost every other spreadsheet in existence starts with by default. Add a font to the OS? "Optimizing font menu" and add 30 seconds to the startup of either program. This does not happen on any other Mac software I use, and I use three other word processors, and the Adobe suite.(And yes, I am on Office 2008).
I can run the Windows version of Office faster in Parallels, than I can run the native Mac version on a bloody Mac.
They just absolutely will not make actual Mac software. And you cannot convince me that this is anything but intentional. The Mac version of office is deliberately stunted to make Mac's look slow and clunky.
Like Internet Explorer is deliberately stunted to make web applications look slow and clunky. But once a critical mass is reached and people see the alternatives outside the microsoft ecosystem (chrome in the browser, neooffice etc on mac) People end up realising that MS are just really bad in environments that they do not control, whether this is on purpose or not at that point really ceases to matter.
For the record, I think it's a bit of both, why invest in attaining mastery in products you directly compete with, it makes sense to half ass your effort to cast the platform in the most negative light possible.
And before apple zealots get too self righteous on this issue, I offer iTunes on windows as exhibit A as to why those in glass houses ought not be throwing stones.
On the other hand, Windows really ought to try and sell the ease of basic UI interactions and Window management, possibly with a screen cast.
My experience (probably heretical) has been that being able to move around and resize windows on Windows7 is much easier than on the Mac. Fitt's law is not terribly complicated and explaining it to users and why they need it and why Windows does it better may not be a bad thing.
Edit: They've already partially done that, it looks like.
9 out of 10 people already use Windows. Are they trying to get that number back up to 9.4 out of 10? I think their efforts are better spent in mobile and building an iPad competitor. It's really going to hurt when Apple and Google lock up the mobile and tablet markets.
A huge chunk of their money depends on people using Windows (the Office hegemony depends in part on people being native Windows), so it'd be borderline irresponsible of them to ignore this issue; Microsoft did make a tablet play, which went nowhere, and for all we know iPad-style tablets really are a flavor of the month.
It's hard to argue with tens of billions of dollars.
My guess: The brass at Microsoft was probably thrilled when Apple switched to Intel. To them, this meant easy virtualization/dual boot setups, so obviously, more licenses sold for Windows (because, c'mon, everyone needs Windows with that vast library of software that EVERYONE uses!)
Then they realized people switching were happy with just OS X and the cross platform available titles....
I have a VM solely for web dev (IE testing.) However, of all my friends and family who own Macs (sample size of about 10) one uses a linux vm for dev, and one more uses Crossover for gaming (WINE, basically). The rest have no virtualization/dual-boot whatsoever.
I think you're very wrong if you assume that most Mac users also run Windows.
Anecdotally, the only Mac users I know who run a VM at all do so for IE testing, or occasionally for some other UNIX variant. Then again, i don't know many people who are super hardcore gamers.
I don't. Every Mac user I know doesn't. Maybe I'm a weird demographic (I switched back in 2000 - prior to that, I used Windows strictly - from DOS/3.1 up to 2000!)
I've found that any Windows software I need (i.e, some software to capture a stream or a uTorrent-equivalent client before uTorrent was available...), there's an equivalent version on the Mac.
I do still use a Windows machine (and have worked on a Windows machine from XP, Vista and currently Win 7 Enterprise) - but personally, I have no need for it. Although, honestly, I find Windows 7 quite nice.
I don't think this is a bad idea for them - I've heard (no sources, unfortunately) that new college entrants are now predominantly using Macs. It takes years for the loss of market share to truly translate into profit/revenue loss.
If it's true that the younger generation is flocking to Macs in droves, then it would be deceptive and ill-advised to say that 9 out of 10 people right now use Windows, and that's the way it will stay.
I think MS is fighting to avert a disaster that will happen 5-10 years from now. This seems wise, though as a Mac user I have to scoff a little bit at it ;)
(Windows can do more than Macs, but lack of integration and poor UI means that most of its users don't.)
I am a developer, and have been using PCs for 20+ years, always wanting to throwing out the windows whenever MSFT crashed the thing.
Bought a Mac two years ago, and to tell the truth, I never knew how bad Windows was really until I used OS X.
My wife started using computers two years ago, and she just loves the Mac, I am professional developer and can honestly tell you that developing on the Mac is just awesome to developing on Windows,the Mac rocks inside out!!!.
Pc's are old school, Macs will rule this new century in computing.
Macs are rock solid easy to used by both experienced and unexperienced users.
This Microsoft site seems quite lame, and is obviously targeted to users who have never used a Mac.
I am professional developer and can honestly tell you that developing on the Mac is just awesome to developing on Windows,the Mac rocks inside out!!!.
Honestly, I find this to be true only when developing against Unixy platforms or tools that have better support for Unix than Windows (like git or node.js or arduino)
I was amused by this key point:
On a Mac, out of the box, you can only encrypt your home folder. With Windows 7 Ultimate, you can encrypt your entire hard drive and even USB drives. So your stuff can be safer wherever you go.
Obviously, the problem with this statement is, any and every Mac you purchase will have encryption available - even if it's "only" the Home folder (which, I'd guess, is where 99% of my personal data is located...) The same can't be said for the PCs at BestBuy with Home or Professional installed.
Just amused by it.
Now the, "the mouse works differently" statement...I'm not even going to touch that one!
Doesn't work on my iPad. "easer to share"
Not so much and none of the other argument make sense either. How about cheap and not as bad as people say it is for a marketing campaign?
What is most striking to me is the frequency at which this site says "many PCs", as in "not all PCs". Or "can get" as in "won't necessarily get". With Apple products, buyers don't have to think. They just buy the iMac which fits in their kitchen nook, or the largest (or smallest) MacBook they can afford.
I'm reminded of when I went to the Apple store to buy a spare battery for my Macbook. I wrote down the model and serial numbers of both my existing battery and the laptop itself. I got to the store, walked over to the accessories wall and said "I'd like a spare battery for my Black--". "Black MacBook? Here you go." He hands me the battery. "Anything else I can do for you?"
Forget comparing the OSes, instead compare this to Apple's equivalent website: http://www.apple.com/why-mac/. I don't think there's any question who has the better campaign going.
40 comments
[ 156 ms ] story [ 1440 ms ] threadAnd the Top 10 list made me laugh aloud:
Right and it's not technically a top 10 of Mac vs. PC, but the tabs are right next to each other which is why I commented on it.
* Macs get a tiny fraction of the games available to Windows.
* Macs really don't have Bluray support.
* Macs really are different from Windows, although they are different in arguably a good way, and my mom had no trouble learning them.
* Macs really do a crappy job with Word and Excel, and like it or not, and regardless of the degree to which this is MSFT's fault, Word and Excel are important in business.
* Macs are less compatible with hardware, although this is getting less and less so.
Now, obviously you have to trade this off against:
* Macs shipping out of the box able to do solid video and audio editing --- as in, "plug in the Flip camera and go".
* Macs superior out-of-the-box integration with the #1 online digital media store (ITMS)
* The all-around better user experience on the Mac for the things most people care about.
And, I am genuinely baffled by the "it's easier to share on Windows". Uh, no it isn't.
As a Mac user I say it's about time Microsoft stopped pussyfooting around making oblique references to Apple. It's a real fight, and they should try to win it.
(Don't get me started on how windows handles multiple monitors!)
As for adapters, I carry all my own adapters with me, when there is the slightest chance of needing them. (But I have a mac with a standard DVI port, makes things easier)
I'm not trying to say your wrong on all of these points or anything, I just always find it funny how companies use Marketing speak and omission to lie.
Having had to wait 2 years for an Intel version of Office was disappointing. Office 2004 ran perfectly smoothly on my old iBook G4. But on a MacBook that otherwise should have run circles around that iBook, Office was nowhere near as responsive, and would often thrash the disk while trying to open documents.
Their claims regarding the Office suite are transparently stupid: "Apple's productivity suite file formats won't open in Microsoft Office on PCs. This can be a real hassle for Mac users sharing work documents with PC users." Excuse me, but you have to PAY for that Apple suite, just like you have to PAY for Microsoft Office on Mac. Does Microsoft mean to tell us that Office for Mac is a real hassle for Mac users to use in order to share documents with PC users? Well, now that you mention it, it is! They can't even keep their own office suites compatible, and I'm not talking OLE or VBA crap.
"If there's a Mac version of a program you need, you'll have to buy it again and relearn how to use it on a Mac." No kidding, and thank you very much, Microsoft, for making the Mac version of Office so slow, clunky, and stupid.
NeoOffice launches faster than Word or Excel. Want to edit a cell in Excel? Don't waste your time with F2, or many other shortcuts that are changed for no apparent reason. Oh, and every time you launch a new Excel document, change your view from page-break view (with gaps for the margins!!!) back to the normal spreadsheet view that almost every other spreadsheet in existence starts with by default. Add a font to the OS? "Optimizing font menu" and add 30 seconds to the startup of either program. This does not happen on any other Mac software I use, and I use three other word processors, and the Adobe suite.(And yes, I am on Office 2008).
I can run the Windows version of Office faster in Parallels, than I can run the native Mac version on a bloody Mac.
They just absolutely will not make actual Mac software. And you cannot convince me that this is anything but intentional. The Mac version of office is deliberately stunted to make Mac's look slow and clunky.
For the record, I think it's a bit of both, why invest in attaining mastery in products you directly compete with, it makes sense to half ass your effort to cast the platform in the most negative light possible.
And before apple zealots get too self righteous on this issue, I offer iTunes on windows as exhibit A as to why those in glass houses ought not be throwing stones.
On the other hand, Windows really ought to try and sell the ease of basic UI interactions and Window management, possibly with a screen cast. My experience (probably heretical) has been that being able to move around and resize windows on Windows7 is much easier than on the Mac. Fitt's law is not terribly complicated and explaining it to users and why they need it and why Windows does it better may not be a bad thing.
Edit: They've already partially done that, it looks like.
It's hard to argue with tens of billions of dollars.
Then they realized people switching were happy with just OS X and the cross platform available titles....
crickets
Anecdotally, the only Mac users I know who run a VM at all do so for IE testing, or occasionally for some other UNIX variant. Then again, i don't know many people who are super hardcore gamers.
I've found that any Windows software I need (i.e, some software to capture a stream or a uTorrent-equivalent client before uTorrent was available...), there's an equivalent version on the Mac.
I do still use a Windows machine (and have worked on a Windows machine from XP, Vista and currently Win 7 Enterprise) - but personally, I have no need for it. Although, honestly, I find Windows 7 quite nice.
If it's true that the younger generation is flocking to Macs in droves, then it would be deceptive and ill-advised to say that 9 out of 10 people right now use Windows, and that's the way it will stay.
I think MS is fighting to avert a disaster that will happen 5-10 years from now. This seems wise, though as a Mac user I have to scoff a little bit at it ;)
(Windows can do more than Macs, but lack of integration and poor UI means that most of its users don't.)
Is this really true? I was under the impression that Macs constitute at least 15% of the market (at least in America)
Bought a Mac two years ago, and to tell the truth, I never knew how bad Windows was really until I used OS X.
My wife started using computers two years ago, and she just loves the Mac, I am professional developer and can honestly tell you that developing on the Mac is just awesome to developing on Windows,the Mac rocks inside out!!!.
Pc's are old school, Macs will rule this new century in computing.
Macs are rock solid easy to used by both experienced and unexperienced users.
This Microsoft site seems quite lame, and is obviously targeted to users who have never used a Mac.
Best regards
Honestly, I find this to be true only when developing against Unixy platforms or tools that have better support for Unix than Windows (like git or node.js or arduino)
Obviously, the problem with this statement is, any and every Mac you purchase will have encryption available - even if it's "only" the Home folder (which, I'd guess, is where 99% of my personal data is located...) The same can't be said for the PCs at BestBuy with Home or Professional installed.
Just amused by it.
Now the, "the mouse works differently" statement...I'm not even going to touch that one!
I don't know about the technical details, but comparing it with the Apple website makes one thing clear: Microsoft has no design sense.
It's a bit funny though that one of the points on a Why-Mac page is that "It can run Windows".
I'm reminded of when I went to the Apple store to buy a spare battery for my Macbook. I wrote down the model and serial numbers of both my existing battery and the laptop itself. I got to the store, walked over to the accessories wall and said "I'd like a spare battery for my Black--". "Black MacBook? Here you go." He hands me the battery. "Anything else I can do for you?"