Newsweek pointed out in this weeks issue that while Longhorn will perhaps, maybe be ready by Christmas 2006, Apple’s Tiger is ready to eat up some more market share with its aptly named Tiger OS system.
More than just fancy dressing, this OS upgrade has some real umph to it, including some features that make the new OS faster, sleeker, cooler and probably worth the bucks for those who have an Apple system already.
The question - are the new features enough to make you switch?
Bill Gates at Apple.com is betting that when all the other Mac advantages are taken into account, stable systems, virus scarcity, and all the user friendly aspects of Mac use that have made it so popular all along, that the new OS’ advantages will be yet one more reason to switch. That and the new iLife - sold separately which updates Apples biggest app features, of course these will come free with all new systems sold.
But what do you think? Is this just hoo hah?
Is this just sound and fury signifying nothing?
Have you made the switch?
Considered it?
Made it and loved it, or conversely regretted it?
And what about Apple Care?
Does Apple match up to your PC maintenance plans.
And how much of a mistake, if any is Microsoft making by letting Apple get the jump on them? Do they really have anything to loose here?
Tiger, by itself, will not make a lot of people “switch” (or even “add on”).
However, Tiger + Apple’s retail stores + MacOS X’s inherent security + Apple’s emphasis on design and ease of use + Apple’s current reputation of “cool” + the low cost of entry-level computers is prompting a fair number of folks to look at the other side of the fence, as it were.
Getting geeky for a minute, the only problem with Tiger is that the real innovations are under the hood; Apple may try to dress up Spotlight or Automator or Dashboard as selling points, but the casual user will probably dismiss them as minor enhancements. The big stuff is in the architectural changes, such as CoreImage and CoreData. That, in turn, will give developers the tools they need to make more impressive, appealing, and innovative programs…
…but such development takes time, and might not even come from Apple itself. So while Tiger will bring lots of benefits to Mac users, many of them won’t be (a) immediately obvious nor (b) immediately available.
Personally, I have no intention of buying Longhorn. Heck, I’d still be using Win98SE if it wasn’t for the fact that XP really was a useful upgrade. So I don’t care how long Microsoft delays, I ain’t gonna buy it. I’m not about to switch to Apple either, however.
The last I heard was that Apple had about a 5% share of the market. I don’t think Micrsoft is scared nor do I think people will switch in any great numbers the next time they are looking to buy a new computer.
Who’s going to switch over a small delay like that? Hard core PC gamers? I don’t think so. Not enough games for the Mac. Big business? Nope, too much invested in the MS infrastructure. Casual PC users? Nope, everyone else is using Windows. Why should they run into compatibility headaches if they are just casual users? Computer newbies? Maybe but if all Apple has is one low priced alternative to PC’s, that are widely available in many retail outlets, unlike Macs, then I don’t think so.
Computer market share is a tricky thing to calculate. For one thing, it counts all computers sold, regardless of how they’re used – each of the Intel-based cash registers at the local supermarket count as a unit sold, even though that’s not how you or I would think of market share.
For another, it only counts the number of computers sold in a particular month/year/quarter. People who are actively using computers that they bought four years ago aren’t counted in those figures.
Considering that Linux has an even smaller share of the market than Apple does, and Microsoft is scared enough of the Linux threat to try and scare people back to windows (up to and including funding “independent” studies showing Windows usage is more secure and less expensive than Linux usage), I don’t believe for a second that Microsoft isn’t keeping a worried eye on Apple, regardless of marketshare numbers.
Microsoft is scared of Linux as an alternative to Windows-based servers. They know they don’t have anything to fear (yet, or in the forseeable future) from Linux on the desktop.
I wouldn’t mind switching operating systems to Tiger. But there’s no way I’m switching my computer to a Mac.
If Apple ever comes out with a stable, useful, well-made OS that will run on the hardware of the user’s choosing, then they will be a threat to Microsoft.
I don’t care how you calculate it, Apple has a less than significant market share. What is your biased estimate?
Apples and oranges. Linux can potentially run on all of the installed base of Intel based computers. OS X is not a comparable threat, because it can’t run on all the Intel computers already out there. Apple would have to sell billions of dollars of hardware to approach the potential threat that Linux poses to Microsoft.
Why is it that whenever Apple does anything, even the most blatantly pointless media stunts, it is hailed as a huge revolutionary change which will alter the whole world, and everyon should go out right now and get one?
Like Apple’s various players and iPods. Not one person has yet been able to tell me why these are so great when I’ve seen the exact same thing being done for years? Or the iPod Shuffle, which was just weird. (“Ooh look, I have a random button!!!111” :rolleyes: )
Look, Apple is just another company, and not a terribly sucessful one overall, although it’s certainly nicely profitable now. A new OS for their own hardware will not and (looking at macroeconomics) cannot change that.
There’s no way that this Tiger OS will do anything to Microsoft’s market share, bottom line or anything else.
i-Macs are still around what… $900? Dell’s mid-range PCs are less than that.
People aren’t (and don’t) want to shell out more money for more or less the same computer, AND in the bargain instantly render all their previous software investments useless.
If someone threw down the money for MS Office or any number of other expensive software packages, then they’re unlikely to switch based on the difference in the OS.
This goes double for the corporate market- they usually have significant money tied up in software licenses and hardware, and are unlikely to switch without pretty compelling evidence. Plus, the real sweetheart deals are done on the corporate side of things, and they get the hardware cheaper than retail.
all this talk of “upgrades” sounds so old fashioned…so…well, nineties.
I predict that Mr. Gates is gonna get a slap in the face when he excitedly announces that Longhorn has arrived and the world will never be the same.
Computers are like TV’s now. Everybody has one, and nobody gets excited about it any more. In 1951 (?) my parents had the only TV on the street, and inviting people over to watch it was really ,really exciting. Moving pictures!.. You can see the president in your own home… Wow!!!
When the internet burst out ,it was really, really exciting. Email!!!.. You can send jokes to all your friends!!!.. Wow!!!
But the excitement has disappeared,-- forever. Win 95 sold well because it made it easy for dummies like me to browse the net.Win 98 and XP got gobbled up because Pentiums were getting faster, modems were getting faster, and there was enough real improvement that people were willing to pay for new hardware, so they took the new software too…
But those days are over. Computers already do everthing that the average user wants, and most people dont care about the internal workings of their CPU any more than they care about the internal workings of their car’s catalytic converter.
So, no tigers for me, please. And no cattle either (longhorns, get it ?)
For the geeks who care, Ars Technica has a mind-numbingly detailed technical dissection of Tiger here. Be warned, it’s a very long read, and geared primarily towards propellerheads.
Go read sections 4-16 in the afformentioned link and get back to us.
Ditto. You keep saying exactly what I want to say about Macs (but better than I could phrase it!)
Three major problems for switching:
Fear. Take PC wifi networking. It’s still often a nightmare to configure on a PC, such that there is no way a home user is going to dare to try a new system. The irony is that wireless on Mac is easier on OS8.6, a five/six year old operating system, than it is on the most advanced Windows OS currently available (XP).
Cost. There is still a perception - fair or unfair - that a Mac is going to cost more.
Office. Yes, there is Mac Office, but most Windows users don’t realise this. They use their machines for IE and Word, maybe some Excel, and do not realise these programs (and better!) are available elsewhere.
At least from my observation, the biggest “new growth” for Mac users these days is in IT and scientific research. A Mac can be used simultaneously for inter-office stuff like email, IM, and document exchange (MS Office again) and hardcore C/C++/Java/web development, which makes it very attractive for a number of folks. Throw in the ease of using applications from Unix and Linux, along with built-in support for grid computing, and you have a package that makes a good number of geeks drool.
