What is Leopard Up Against in Vista?
Before too long, Vista will be released upon the world. Will it be a match for Leopard which will follow a few months later? What will Leopard be up against? What will it take for Apple to convince people a Mac running Leopard is better than a PC running Windows? Can Apple do that?
Let me present an email I got from a techie friend in the Windows world:
Well, I can actually say, I really like Vista.
Really fast, prompts with security crap all over the place which I like too.
Hmm, MS have released some good software finally
Of course, Mac users will be gagging on the coffee and it’ll be spluttering out their nose all over their pristine white/black/silver (or white & black) Macs. Especially that line about liking all those security prompts.
I wonder what those prompts say? Maybe:
Hi. Whoops. Hang on, don’t panic. I’m not a virus, this is Vista talking to you. Just a friendly reminder that I might look pretty hot but I’ve actually got more holes in me than Albert Hall. So I’ll pop up every now and again just to reassure you that installing every security program on the planet is a good thing. See you soon!
A few minutes later:
Hi, me again. Am I still running? Huh!! That’s pretty good! You must know something about computers. Anyway, just popped up to say I’ll leave you alone for a bit.
Another few minutes later:
Hi! Guess who? I hope you don’t get sick of me, coz it’s really important I keep popping up and reminding you about all the risks of using me. Next time I’ll tell you a few. Bye-ee!
Just when you’re taking a sip of coffee:
Panic! Panic! Abandon ship! BWARRP! BWARRP! BWARRP! Hey I hope I didn’t scare you. Just testing the ol’ warning system. All part of the security. I am here to serve.
And much too soon:
Hey dude. Can I call you dude? We are old friends now. What you need to know is, basically, I’m totally crap. Looks can be deceiving. But hey - you’re the one using me. Chortle, chortle. Oops, back soon, gotta give some resources to Aero - he needs all the resources he can get. Between you and me, he’s a . . .
Not much later at all:
Smart alec Aero cutting me off before. Anyway, what’s he know? Security’s what’s important. And the best prevention is lots of messages. Me popping up. Lot’s of reminders. That’s the way to go. Coz you gotta be really careful. There’s lots of viruses, infections, spyware, trojans & adware out there - let’s just call it VISTA for short, eh? I kinda like that name. Catchy, eh? Well, better go. See ya soon.
And so on.
It’s funny you know, after installing Windows on my Mac, the thing that struck me most was the pop ups. The little bubbles reminding me to do stuff. They started to drive me nuts. And it seems Vista is going to have more because Windows users like them - and even need them.
I use Growl on the Mac and it’s wonderful. Apple should buy it and integrate it. Growl tells me something has happened that I want to know about.
Windows just nags. The messages in Windows all seem to be reminders. “Don’t forget to get a virus checker” “Don’t forget to activate” “Did you put the cat out?” “Have you got that huge pimple between your shoulders checked out yet?”
So what is Leopard up against?
So okay, we had a bit of fun, but now to the main question.
The other part of that email is that he likes Vista and is impressed. Sorry Leopard. Game over. This scenario is going to be repeated all over the place. Every magazine that reviews Vista, every IT manager that sees it, everywhere you are going to hear how great Vista is. Why? Because it is better and looks much better. (Ironically, it’s better because MS cut so much out of it.)
That’ll be enough for them. I tried telling him it was all copied from OS X but it was as if I hadn’t spoken. No acknowledgment of all. To Windows users, the copying OS X issue is irrelevant. Vista users aren’t going to give a rat’s brass monkey (no I don’t know what that is but it sounds good). They don’t care who invented things first. All that matters is that their system, Windows, does it now.
It’s a good thing that Leopard is coming out after Vista, after the gushing has abated. Otherwise Leopard will be lost in Vista’s adulation.
Lastly, I got an email from him a few days later that simply said:
First bug found. Hard disk corruption for no apparent reason.
The casual acceptance is what strikes me about that. No cursing, no name calling, just an acceptance. Hey, it’s only a hard disk corruption.
Although this is just one guy, it’s a reasonably safe generalization to say it’s fairly reflective of Windows users. We know Mac users stick to Mac because of a sometimes blind devotion, but Windows users are just plain apathetic. Whether it’s a plethora of messages or a behind the times OS or bugs that crash the system or even all the possible infections, it just doesn’t bother them enough. They’ll switch when it hurts enough. And Vista is not going to hurt enough.
And that’s what Leopard is up against.
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Comments
Nicely said, Sterling.
When Microsoft copies, Mac fans set out to prove how MS has copied.
When Apple copies, Mac fans set out to prove how Apple didn’t copy.
Office applications are suffering: MS Office for Apple is just a lousy copy for a home use. -y3k
I disagree. I have both Office 2003 and Office Mac 2004 running in the office. The Mac version (on my G5 tower) is now my predominant documentation/analysis/contact/presentation tool and it is 100% feature and file compatible with all my colleagues. They never know I am using a Mac. That is the important thing.
It may be running tad slower under Rosetta for the Intel Macs but I don’t see a point in it needing to be faster than that. I am running it under my MacBook 13” and it is appreciably fast. What’s the deal?
The Macs are corporate-ready since OSX Jaguar came along. It is the most network agnostic OS there is that I’ve found. It has SMB/CIFS to mingle with the Active Directory drones, it has its own native Appleshare and AppleTalk networking, it can chat with the countless Unix derivatives with NFS, etc, etc.
The problem the Mac face inside corporate firewalls is apathy from MCP-toting IT folks that swear only to Microsoft’s altar. No matter what Apple throws to the corporate world - XServes, XRAID, XGRID, OSX Server with unlimited CAL licensing, WebObjects and XCode for free, there isn’t room in their big egos for even a slight awareness that there is a better alternative in Apple’s products.
If you mean just office productivity, then I can agree some. But that is slowly changing too. iWork will get refined, and refined until it fully competes with Office Mac. The OSX port of OpenOffice called NeoOffice is also a good alternative to Office Mac and is FREE!
But the issue is the double standard there seems to be here against Apple and Microsoft.
And again, DF wasn’t the original point of my post, but it does stand as a shining example of the larger aspects of extreme Mac partisanship. Pointing this out, for some reason, seems to get Ben’s panties all in a bunch. I’m just glad I’m not the only one who finds DF just a shade biased.
. Hadley Stern came down on the side of “stolen”, and that hasn’t ended the argument one bit.
Yup. Just look at the responses to Hadley’s article. Either Apple didn’t steal at all, or they were perfectly within their rights to. Nothing but excuses and double-standards.
Now ask those same goons about Vista’s Gadgets.
Microsoft had already relented on this by the time you made this comment. You can install the retail or upgrade version of Windows Vista as often as you want, and transfer it from computer to computer freely.
Now, DIYers will likely not buy the full version but the OEM version which is typically 1/2 the price or less from the retail version. Of course, that one comes with the restriction of no transfers between machines, but that has always been the case with the OEM version (since at least XP).
And again, DF wasn’t the original point of my post, but it does stand as a shining example of the larger aspects of extreme Mac partisanship. Pointing this out, for some reason, seems to get Ben’s panties all in a bunch. I’m just glad I’m not the only one who finds DF just a shade biased.
Well now my panties are feeling more equitable again, I’ll say that however savagely I may have defended him, I’ll read it a little more critically in future. I’m still convinced he’s not anything like what you make him out to be, but I’m willing to consider it. (And not especially willing to re-read too many articles. Hence future.)
For the record, and because I haven’t actually said what I think about widgets yet, I think the idea hasn’t exactly been original for a long time, or indeed ever, really. I don’t think it originates with Konfabulator really, I think they were mistreated by Apple - who should have at least consulted them about it. On the other hand I also appreciate Gruber’s analysis of why Apple would have wanted to implement their own widget platform.
In general, I think Apple does tend to buy companies whose ideas they are going to implement (eg coverflow) but only when it benefits them. This is as you would expect, Apple is not a charitable foundation, and not being a monopoly there is little recourse against them. They’re not saints, (nor really even a religious order though you might think so), they’re a corporation.
Sorry for twisting my panties so indecently in public. I do find attitudes that may be interpreted as arrogance quite enraging. And I do think Gruber is worthy of some respect from those parties as most of his stuff, I maintain, is excellent.
Should I have said “I do think Gruber is worth of respect from those panties”...
...I have both Office 2003 and Office Mac 2004 running in the office. ...They never know I am using a Mac. That is the important thing.
Complex enough formatting in Word or complex enough script in Excel and incompatibility will pop up. Excel has limitation of 65K rows..
But the point is different. That’s Microsoft product, let’s not expect that MS would do something for OS X better or equal then for their native OS. Pages is much MUCH better then Word, as to me. And saves in PDF and Word too! Keynote is much much better then Powerpoint and works seamlessly - also saves in various formats including PPT. But where is the spreadsheet? That’s such an essential tool for an office! Apple must invest into development of the office suite and re-work iWork in order to get the full set of the office applications.
there isn’t room in their big egos for even a slight awareness that there is a better alternative in Apple’s products.
Microsoft had already relented on this by the time you made this comment. -Sterling
Ahhh…I have been too busy again to miss that, eh? OK so does that mean MS must be inserting that variable in their pricing equations, right? And that would mean, the full retail of Ultimate now cost $495 to make up the lost (theoretical) sales.
MS is a cunning foe, especially in licensing terms, folks. You must really read the legalese fine prints in their EULAs before hitting that <Agree> button.
So, yah, DIYers will pick the OEM and they won’t care one bit what the EULA says.
This is why I think Steve is planning something big come next WWDC surprise. A special OSX edition coming for DIYers and modders? That would be so unexpected. Undercut Vista’s best pricing and the additional 5% of market share is Apple’s in just one year!
It’s mainly ignorance. Or fear to make a mistake. -y3k
True to some extent. No one gets fired for buying Microsoft Windows enterprise products, so they say. I doubt they are that ignorant - just apathetic to anything Apple-related, more like.
But Apple ignorance is slowly eroding as long as each company has people like us (Mac viruses?) that pushes IT folks to get us Mac Pros and MacBooks. I am about to requisition an XServe to serve my media databases. This will be another ugly fight with the IT dude - I need his signature, see?
Every meeting, I now see more and more Macbooks since the COO, CTO, and myself have relented on what IT would normally buy - clunky Dells. Yes, Dell laptops work but if I only need a few more $$ to get an Apple notebook then it’s a no-brainer.
These IT “professionals” still cling to old myths of Apple - expensive, doesn’t run Windows apps, not compatible with PCs - All outdated thinking of Apple for sure. These myths will erode slowly as Apple will invade the workplace soon enough when they get tired increasing their already massive market share in the iPod business.
let’s not expect that MS would do something for OS X better or equal then for their native OS. -y3k
Not so. Their Mac Business Unit cranks out versions of Orifice, err… Office, at least a year ahead of major Windows versions. This translates that the OSX version has 99.9% of the Windows features plus many Mac-only features that envies the PC-only crowd.
One particular feature of Excel Mac that exceeds the Windows version is List Manager. This feature automatically generates a columnar database-like list for easier data collection.
In the Excel Mac, it is a very smooth implementation and when I get done with the list I just created, it ties in with PivotTable much better than in the Windows version. With the Windows version, you have to select a group of cells first then find your way through the menus to find the List Manager. It is a well-hidden feature in Office 2003 but prominent with Office Mac 2004.
So, to be up front here, Microsoft’s MBU is an autonomous and very profitable business for MS - thanks to faithful Mac professionals. The MS Mac BU does create better designed and implemented office applications - and that include Entourage!
Their Mac Business Unit cranks out versions of Orifice, err… Office, at least a year ahead of major Windows versions. This translates that the OSX version has 99.9% of the Windows features plus many Mac-only features that envies the PC-only crowd.
Don’t know if that’s entirely true, Robo.
I think sometimes it does and other times it doesn’t. Like, Win Office 2007 will definitely precede Mac Office 2007.
And around 2000. Win Office was ahead.
MacBU on their blog have said there’s 30,000,000 (yes, 30 million) lines of code in Mac Office 2004. Each programmer has been assigned 428,000 lines to convert to intel. Which is why it’s taking longer.
Also, I believe part of an agreement with Apple stipulates that Mac Office always has some unique features.
I think sometimes it does and other times it doesn’t. Like, Win Office 2007 will definitely precede Mac Office 2007. -CH
Ooops, I meant the Mac edition usually comes after the Windows version. Apologies to the faithful…
I believe part of an agreement with Apple stipulates that Mac Office always has some unique features. -CH
Hmmm…I thought Apple and MS parted ways from their earlier engagement with Office circa 1997. But, if you’re correct the better since there are OS features that are unique and can be exploited at either side.
This will be more true with Vista and Leopard. If MS can take advantage of these unique OS features yet have a standard way for Office to render these docs either way then I will definitely be a customer again, and again.
Office Mac 2004 should be sufficient until version 2008 or 2009 comes out anyway. There is no need to rush to the new UI of Office 2007 in Windows. Although, I have read the eWeek review of Office 2007 and it is stunning and functional.
Although, I have read the eWeek review of Office 2007 and it is stunning and functional.
Yeah, but does it add anything we need? MS (and Apple too) are masters of adding features the average user doesn’t need.