Apple continue to bash “PC” - Perhaps they shouldn’t?
Well done Apple. You’ve managed to piss off someone who uses both PC and Mac enough for him to make a post pointing out the ‘flaws’ in Mac… This kind of negative advertising, where you would rather say what is bad about some other product than what is good about yours, is every reason why this post is being made.
I’m not normally one to attack the Mac OS because personally, I like it. But, Apple’s latest marketing strategy seems to be anti-PC, so let’s took at this page and go through their reasons why Mac is better than PC, step by step.
It’s gorgeous. Inside and out.Since the software on every Mac is created by the same company that makes the Mac itself, you get a completely integrated computer that’s as secure, stable, and powerful as it is elegant and easy to use.
I’m glad you brought this up. While Apple decides what hardware works on it’s systems and can easily test it, Microsoft have literally millions of combinations of computer parts that they have to worry about. If Windows is any less stable than the Mac OS on the hardware front, I can certainly understand why.
Brains…What’s inside a Mac? Only the world’s most advanced operating system and a suite of software that’s just as brilliantly designed as the computer itself.
I have to say, I love some of the Mac OS software that’s available, but there is a PC version of EVERYTHING available on a Mac. It might not have the same name and have all the same features, but I can’t think of anything I can do on a Mac that I can’t do on a Windows-based PC. On the other hand, I can think of a LOT of software that is available for PC that simply does not have a suitable replacement on the Mac OS… Maybe that’s why Apple thought it a good idea to provide a utility that allows Windows to be installed on a Mac? Maybe that’s why VMWare, Crossover and other virtual machine utilities exist and allow Windows-based programs to run on a Mac? Something lacking, perhaps?
…and beauty.Recyclable glass and aluminum. A trip-proof power cord. A stunning display. Even the keyboard is beautiful. Get a closer look at a few of the design details that make a Mac a Mac.
You have me here. I love the minimalist design of a Mac. They’re gorgeous. But, you keep selling them with those silly single-button mice, don’t you? Do many Mac OS users even know about the ‘Right Mouse Button menu’s’ that make life in that OS so much easier?
It does what a PC does, only better.A Mac has all the essentials built right in, including the latest wireless technology, advanced Intel chips, and a rock solid operating system that’s loaded with innovations.
So we’re playing like that, are we?
Born ready.Unlike other computers that require you to spend hours configuring devices, a Mac connects to your digital camera, wireless device, or external drive and just works. Really.
That is, of course, unless it doesn’t “just work”. The ONLY reason users experience less hardware issues with a Mac is because you decide what goes inside them, don’t try to pretend it’s anything else. Anyone who has installed the Mac OS onto PC-architecture knows that it’s far, far more difficult to install an unknown device on a Mac than it is on a PC. Having to hack a driver is not fun. You might be able to fool the general reader with this crap and that’s obviously why you do it… Does my Wireless Skype Phone count as something that should “just work”? Because it doesn’t, not even on a real Mac.
The PC? Detects the Skype phone fine, even tells you what the hardware is right away. Install the driver and away you go.
Instantly wireless.A Mac makes wireless easy. Networks automatically appear, and you can get on the Internet with a few clicks.
Um, any Windows-PC with a Wireless connector does the same.
A conversation piece.Lots of computers come with built-in cameras these days. But only a Mac comes with iChat software that lets you have four-way video chats,1 give presentations, and even share your screen with people all over the world.
That’s really nice. Well, it’s nice until your camera breaks and you have to send the entire computer away - or carry the whole thing to an Apple Store - to get it fixed. Sometimes being able to plug things in is actually better for the user. Remember that one, ok?
High performance.With the latest Intel processors and other engineering leaps, a new Mac does all the things that only a Mac can do — at an astonishing speed.
Let’s not mention your switch to Intel, eh? Windows actually runs really well on both AMD and Intel chips. Some people even say AMD provide better chips, it’s a shame you’re not using them now… Why the switch again? Doh, I said I wouldn’t mention it…
I wonder just how many programs fail to run because they are built for Intel and the user has an old non-Intel Mac, or vice versa. Let’s not forget too that these aren’t your “engineering leaps” - they’re Intel’s.
Always up to date.A Mac regularly checks for updates to Mac OS X and any included Apple software and automatically downloads them. So really, a Mac gets better with age.
Hmm. I feature where the latest version of something is offered for download? Surely not!
But, isn’t this feature available in almost every piece of software on the planet? Including Windows?
Safe for you and your kids.
Designed with security in mind, Mac OS X isn’t plagued by constant attacks from viruses and malware. Likewise, it isn’t inundated by never-ending security dialogs. So you can safely go about your work — or play — without interruption. And easy-to-use parental controls let you manage what your kids can do on the computer and when they can do it.
No, you’re right. It isn’t constantly plagued by attacks but that’s because it’s not popular enough. Believe me, when enough people use Mac’s to make it worthwhile a hacker learning how to beat them, it won’t take long for the Mac OS to have a bad reputation. Saying you’re more secure than Windows is like me saying I could have been a great Footballer (if I liked playing the game at all).
Just recently I read about a hacking competition where the computer broken the fastest was MacBook Air. It took just two minutes (and a SINGLE visit to a Web site containing the right code) for the laptop to be under the control of the hacker. The hacker got $10,000 and a free laptop for his trouble, but don’t let that make you think that he isn’t at home practicing for next year - on YOUR Mac. The REALLY amusing thing is that the same method was used last year - and obviously is still a gaping security hole Apple have yet to fill. Similar exploits are causing iPhones, Mac’s and even PCs to be taken over by hackers - all thanks to Apple.
Tags: Apple, Computer Security, Hackers, iPhone, Mac OS, Microsoft, Safari, Vulnerabilities, Windows
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I have to agree about the Mac v PC commercials. Even though it’s tongue-in-cheek, personally I hate them - just plain awful!
I think Steve Jobs showed his embarrassment when confronted in a joint interview with Bill Gates and tried to make out that the “PC” character was really the star of the Ad to which Gates replied “his mother loves him”.
They should stick to the positives in adverts and express why an Apple Mac will make a computer really come alive for some people.
Apple haven’t made a single-button mouse for about 3 years to my knowledge. It has right and left pressure sensors under the shell and can be configured to suit right or left handed people.
I think Ctrl + Click is achronistic in my view and I think probably 90% of Mac users, Right Click.
I think Apple do need to pick up some slack on security. The exploit you describe took advantage of a known Java vulnerability which Apple knew about but hadn’t patched.
I do think Mac OS X (along with other Unix derived OS) is inherently more secure than Windows and that’s has nothing to do with market share. You’re never gonna see an Apple Mac checkout till! Market share is significant in the US and particularly in home, SoHo business and education sectors with a recent US survey indicating 40% of students plan to buy a Mac.
Am I sat at a Mac wondering if I need AV? No! Do I need a firewall? Yes! Do I need to take care with my online ID? Yes!
I think the popularity of Virtual Machines running Windows on a Mac is hand in hand with making it easier for people to switch their primary OS.
Do I hate Windows, PC’s, Microsoft, Bill Gates? No, not at all! Do I think a lot more people will have a happier more fulfilling experience using a Mac? Definitely, it presents a leap ahead for most people’s experience of a computer.
May 3rd, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I have a hatred of all negative pandering, whether it’s advertising or politicians. It seems to be all that Hillary Clinton can manage right now too… She’s busy saying how bad Obama is rather than how she might be useful as President.
I agree a Mac can make a computer come alive, but I think the fact that Windows ‘got there first’ (or rather got noticed first) with a use-able user interface meant that it had to try to be what it was trying to replace…
The Dock on a Mac OS, for example, makes little sense. When you’re used to modern gadgets you accept any User Interface, but when computers were new, people needed something they could relate to. That’s why a ‘Desktop’ has ‘Folders’ and ‘Folders’ contain ‘Files’. I feel that Microsoft have limited themselves over the past few years, perhaps moving away from their recognized interface - not perhaps acknowledging that the interface was designed back in 1993…
The Apple Store here in Michigan Avenue still displays new Mac’s with single-button mice. I go in there occasionally to check my email when I am in the city and the lack of a RMB drives me nuts.
I’m not sure the market share thing you’re mentioning relates to my point. Hackers will go where they can get something done. When someone writes a virus it is designed to infect as many computers as possible. If you want to infect the most machines, which OS do you target?
You don’t need AntiVirus on a PC either if you know how to use a computer and what sources can (and will) contain malicious code. I think I’ve had maybe two viruses since I started using computers and I’ve owned at least (what I would class as) 12 different PC-based machines.
I really would like a Mac, but I don’t think I could ever, ever, do everything on a Mac that I can on a PC. This is probably due to market share too… Just like virus writers will program for Windows to infect more, software developers will do the same to sell more.
Now that Mac’s have Intel chips there really is no reason not to buy a Mac. But my reason would be because I know Windows will work on it also… My only issue is that it feels like a closed box to me… What are the upgrade capabilities? If I dislike the fact that they come with a camera built-in (because where it breaks, you have a hole in your computer that does nothing until you take the WHOLE COMPUTER for repair), I’m probably not going to like it if the Mac OS fails to support a graphics card I want to upgrade to, am I?
There is a lot of positive things to say about a Mac, it’s a shame Apple don’t bother mentioning many.
May 4th, 2008 at 6:49 am
I like the dock! People do see it as either superfluous eye candy or as I do a parade of my most often used Apps and principle folders conveniently located, together with minimized windows and trash can. I am also liking the new Leopard feature - ’stacks’ which adds even more options to displaying folder contents.
Next time you go to the Apple store on Michigan Av, either, look for ‘Preferences’ on the ‘Dock’ or bring up ‘Spotlight’ (cmd + space) - type ‘pref’, (enter) and go to Keyboard & Mouse. Alter the mouse rhs button to ’secondary click’.
I think the built-in- camera is a being aped quite widely now and is common place in mobiles and part of Apple’s integration philosophy. If it’s a common item people use - it should just be there and not require using a port or a lead or look ugly or be faffy! iChat is also central to the Mac OS, and integrated with Mail.app and together with ‘.Mac’ provides a real next level of complete internet communication.
This is not just video chat and file transfer but, out-of-the-box, video conferencing, video presentation/hosting integrating with PowerPoint (for example) and iPhoto slideshows and Movies. Screen sharing with audio chat for such as showing someone how to, or browsing the internet together etc.
But that’s it. It’s that pleasing GUI, and essential integration and inclusiveness that you pay a bit extra for on a Mac.
I’m not sure you give Apple credit for its innovation, or realize the links between them and Microsoft.
Apple created the first ‘Personal Computer’ in a form we know today in the Apple 1. 1976 the first time a terminal, monitor, keyboard and simple OS loaded in ROM where brought together.
The revolutionary Apple II followed in 1977 as the first commercially successful PC and incorporating sound, graphics and expansion slots, cassette storage etc and sparked software development including spreadsheets back in 1979.
Then the first Macintosh in 1984. The first real GUI and one obviously recognizable in every OS today bringing together windows, icons, menus (drop down) and pointer (via a mouse) in a form resembling a desktop theme with files and folders and desk accessories like calculator, note pad etc.
Bill Gates was given several prototype Macs in 1983 for software development. When MS launched its own GUI for IBM PC’s using many of the elements of the Macintosh GUI they where sued. After a long legal battle they settled privately and MS was granted unlimited access to Mac GUI.
I have no doubt that by the 90’s, Microsoft had a superior OS (in Windows 3.0/95) and kept that lead until Steve Jobs came back to Apple (who bought his unix based NeXT OS) and Mac OS X was launched in 2001. Windows 95 was the right product at the right time and marketed in the right way, available to implement on any brand of PC and just when the internet came into peoples consciousness and the prospect of “a computer in every house”.
Worth noting that after Steve Jobs returned in 1997, Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple as well as committing to develop software inc ‘MS Office’ for Mac. Steve Jobs stated “…we have to let go of this notion that for Apple to win, Microsoft has to lose”. “…the era of setting this as a competition between Apple and Microsoft is over as far as I’m concerned”.
This makes these commercials seem like bad faith and Jobs should maybe have a word with his marketing dept! But equally some of your thoughts don’t do justice to Apples contribution to computing.
May 4th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
I didn’t say I didn’t like the Dock, but I share a house with a guy who has a Mac and he doesn’t seem to understand it. If you think about it, it’s a shortcut bar. The same goes for the Windows taskbar actually… Everything else in Windows and the Mac OS related to an office (Folders, Files, Desktop, Cabinets), but those things sprung out of nowhere and I think a lot of people have difficulty understanding the power of a localised, highly visible single place that they can access everything they want to access from.
You know, I probably am doing Apple a huge disservice and that’s mostly due to my lack of knowledge of history prior to the 1990’s. The annoying thing is though, I probably wouldn’t have made the initial post, or any responses, had Apple not made me feel like they were openly attacking a form of machine I actually think is pretty good.
Even the Vista argument is null and void right now, it is a fantastic OS when you install Service Pack 1…
May 4th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Agreed, Apple should stop these dumb commercials and do something like they do for the iPhone. OS’s seem to generate a lot of loyalty so why needlessly piss someone off?
I don’t actually see the dock as the defining feature of OS X but it has its uses. You can also just drag a file or photo down onto it from desktop or window to import it into an application eg Mail.app or iPhoto or a folder.
It’s like anything, using it soon becomes second nature.
I do find myself using more keyboard shortcuts these days. Cmd + Space gets ‘Spotlight’ and that instantly brings up Apps, Docs, etc by typing a few letters, without touching a mouse.
Apple Pro Tips are really useful http://www.apple.com/pro/tips/
May 5th, 2008 at 7:51 am
I see it (and the Windows taskbar) as a defining feature because it’s the most used aspect of the OS, for me anyway. I very rarely alt-tab because my hand is always on the mouse. I move down there and click for the window I want and found myself doing the same on the Dock. I think that area incredibly important and I’m a bit dissapointed that Microsoft haven’t adapted it any since 1993 with Win95. It’s 2008 and it’s still “start, quick launch, open apps, taskbar icons, clock” in Vista.
I guess they were attempting to ‘move on’ with the new ‘Windows Sidebar’ but I found that thing so much of an annoyance that I disabled it very quickly (as I did the dashboard on the Dock with Mac OS - I often accidentally clicked it and then for the rest of the session it used resources).
May 5th, 2008 at 7:52 am
I guess I’m just a complainer at heart.