Ballmer takes another Jab at Apple

[PeterQC]

Oh rly?

http://mymacbuzz.com/2009/01/27/mac-osx-trojan-virus-in-pirate-software

http://www.intego.com/news/ism0901.asp

http://www.webmasterworld.com/macintosh_webmaster/3576498.htm

http://mac.blorge.com/2008/03/05/troika-creates-mostly-harmless-newton-mac-osx-virus/

No rly. NONE are virus. Their trojans. Different things.

-First two, basically, won't do harm if you don't download hacked apps.
-The third is a 2 years old trojan that never really caught which was using spam (porn ads!). It then ASK your admin information.
-The forth is "trojan" prank, and you need physical access to the Mac to do anything.

Just TRY to find a working VIRUS (self replicating, that does DAMAGE), and not a trojan, that is still in circulation. Just try.

 

[Goona]

Yeah, he's retarded, save for the fact that he runs one of the most successful businesses in American history.

What are some of you all getting upset about - Apple's "Mac vs. PC" commercials had plenty of you laughing. Oh, I get it - when Microsoft fights back, it's because they are retards. Gotcha.

You can say what you want about his goofy antics, but he makes very good points. By the way, I see a awful lot of people here casually returning 2,3 and even 4 iPhones, and it's seen as totally normal.

Yeah so we should use what a bunch of anonymous people on this forum say as facts. If the iphones are being returned so much, why do they have the industry's highest satisfaction rates.

NPD numbers for February, which is likely what Balmer was talking about. Apple took a fairly big hit, larger than most analysts expected. The main product that helped other PC manufacturers hold off bigger losses were their netbook sales.

http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/03/10/mac-sales-bottomed-out-in-february-says-analyst/

http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/03/16/mac-ipod-sales-each-down-16-in-february-npd/

http://www.macworld.com/article/139425/npd_mac_sales_figures_dropped_16_percent_in_february.html

http://blogs.barrons.com/techtrader...eb-mac-units-off-16-vs-yr-ago-npd-data-shows/

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE52F7KS20090316

Let's wait until Apple releases their own numbers, these same numbers have been showing declining sales for awhile but yet Apple has managed to beat them when they release their own.

Soooo, let me seeeee.

Mac Mini: $599

$599 - $500 = $99....

I can get a Windows Vista Machine for $99???

What a COMPLETE idiot...

Dear Bill Gates:

Thank you for putting Steve Ballmer in charge. He actually is making Apple more popular than ever...

Yeah show me all those 99 dollar PC's.

 

[MisterMe]

...

I'll admit, it's a bit more difficult for a Mac to get a virus, but it's far from being obsolete. Last I checked, Macs were hacked the fastest as well in the Pwn2Own competition in a matter of seconds using simple exploits that completely opened up the entire system to another person's control. Me thinks Apple and its fanboys are getting too lax in their whole imaginary world of security. ...

This may be your first rodeo, but it isn't mine. The Windows apologists have jumped up and down shouting that the Mac has been breached several times in the past. As the story developed, however, the truth turned out to be just a bit different. We also know that Miller is violating the rules of the "contest" by not revealing to Apple what he did. My rule of thumb is that people don't hide the truth when it's in their favor. When the truth is revealed, we will see how much clucking you do.

 

[Unspeaked]

Yeah show me all those 99 dollar PC's.

Will $115 do?

(I know it's XP and not Vista, but still...)

 

[IJ Reilly]

Will $115 do?

(I know it's XP and not Vista, but still...)

Used, P4 processor. Probably you could buy a used Mac of a similar vintage for around the same price.

 

[redgaz26]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

No one forces us to buy macs. I bought my new 24" last week. Didn't even enter my head to look at anything else. If you want it and have the money what's the problem????

 

[FX120]

No rly. NONE are virus. Their trojans. Different things.

-First two, basically, won't do harm if you don't download hacked apps.
-The third is a 2 years old trojan that never really caught which was using spam (porn ads!). It then ASK your admin information.
-The forth is "trojan" prank, and you need physical access to the Mac to do anything.

Just TRY to find a working VIRUS (self replicating, that does DAMAGE), and not a trojan, that is still in circulation. Just try.

Apply these same parameters to the number of Windows malware and you'll also end up with a much smaller number. Start delimiting out spyware, trojans, only ones that do damage, and only ones that are still in circulation, and you'll end up with a very small number.

The fact is that in the last two years while Vista has been out, I have heard of two actual worms for Vista, around when it was released, and haven't seen a single one of them on any computer I have come in contact with. I don't run AV software on any of my computers, including my windows machines, and yet to have a single problem with any one of them. Viruses for the most part are a dying breed because computer security has gotten smarter.

What malicious applications will have to start relying on is human engineering, for more trojan style attacks, where the user activly opens and runs the application. No computer is safe from these sorts of attacks, whether it is based on NT or UNIX, because both still allow users to use them.

 

[Unspeaked]

Used, P4 processor. Probably you could buy a used Mac of a similar vintage for around the same price.

It's being sold as "refurbished" (despite some comments to the contrary).

Otherwise, the lowest I can find is $279 (but you get a keyboard and mouse, which a Mini lacks, and this one has Vista).

 

[dsnort]

... and by doing so saved well over $1000 and ended up with superior machines.

Depends on your definition of superior. My first ever Mac is a Jan. 2006 2.0 Ghz Intel CD 20" iMac. It has been sitting on this desk for 3+ years, chugging along, doing everything I ask of it, only being shut down when Software Update requires restart, and I've never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever done a dratted thing to it. This is a "Superior" performance that I'm sad to say no Windows PC I've ever owned has ever matched.

My wife thought I was crazy for buying it and paying $2000+ for a computer when we could have got a PC for much less, but even she recently said "it's the best computer we've ever had".

As a bonus, this iMac gets much more use than the PC's that preceded it. Since I spend so much less time doing thing to the computer, I find I'm much more willing to do things with the computer.

Isn't raw performance more worth it?

See above, performance is nice, but at what cost to the user experience.

So another way to look at this is putting a Windows logo on a PC immediately devalues it by $500.

Quite the sales pitch.

Made me laugh out loud!!!!

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

We also know that Miller is violating the rules of the "contest" by not revealing to Apple what he did. My rule of thumb is that people don't hide the truth when it's in their favor. When the truth is revealed, we will see how much clucking you do.

He didnt reveal the exploit because he wants to be paid for it. Apple(and MS, for that matter) hire people to find and fix exploits in their OS, so this guy doesnt see how its fair for him to hand out his knowledge for free.

I still dont understand the last part of your post. OSX was hacked quickly, it doesnt matter how he did it, he got into OSX in ten seconds. Use whatever excuse you want to justify to yourself that OSX is invincible, the truth still remains in those 10 seconds.

 

[FX120]

Depends on your definition of superior. My first ever Mac is a Jan. 2006 2.0 Ghz Intel CD 20" iMac. It has been sitting on this desk for 3+ years, chugging along, doing everything I ask of it, only being shut down when Software Update requires restart, and I've never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever done a dratted thing to it. This is a "Superior" performance that I'm sad to say no Windows PC I've ever owned has ever matched.

So far (it's been about 6 weeks), both Dell machines have been flawless, in fact they've been good enough so far I am considering purchasing another one to replace one of our aging production computers. They're surprisingly decient machines, and so far very good performers, especially for the price.

My wife thought I was crazy for buying it and paying $2000+ for a computer when we could have got a PC for much less, but even she recently said "it's the best computer we've ever had".

I have a 24" iMac on my desk at work next to my custom built PC, and I have to say that in the year and a half I've had them both, neither has given me more greif than the other. Both do what they need to do just fine, running certain applications that the other can't. But cost wise, especially when we're dealing with less cashflow at work right now, it's a hard sell to even consier buying iMacs when the cost difference is as great as it is, when the end benifits to the user would be minimal at best. In my experience, OS X isn't at flawless, or Windows as bad as many people on here would lead you to believe, and while I will say that OS X does have a leg up with the user interface and user friendlyness, the differences aren't big enough to justify the more expensive Macs.

 

[pdjudd]

He didnt reveal the exploit because he wants to be paid for it. Apple(and MS, for that matter) hire people to find and fix exploits in their OS, so this guy doesnt see how its fair for him to hand out his knowledge for free.

If he wants to get paid for finding bugs, he should work for a company that will pay him an honest salary. Security is not something you bribe someone to so. Thats' why this contest requires that they disclose the hack to the company - something that apparently he did not do.

I still dont understand the last part of your post. OSX was hacked quickly, it doesnt matter how he did it, he got into OSX in ten seconds. Use whatever excuse you want to justify to yourself that OSX is invincible, the truth still remains in those 10 seconds.

No, its not. He prepaired a site monthes in advanced to so a task that a computer can execute quickly. He did not sit down and go from nothing to root access in 10 seconds, he allready knew how to get in since he prepared a website in advance. Its a dishonest statement because the volunerability was known long beofore hand. He just went to a site that he knew would quickly work and entered it in. All the eavy lifting has been done long before the contest started.

Executing code to give you root access is not something that requires a huge ammount of work - it takes seconds. Finding out what that code is, is a lot more difficult. This guy only executed code - thats it. The discovery and explitation of that cose was allready waiting in the wings and undoubidly was much tougher to do.

 

[pilotError]

This guy is really off the wall. I am curious why he is so upset over Apple when Windows has 90%+ of the market? It points to internal problems and insecurities at Microsoft.

He's trying to remain relevant... The Mobile OS wars are definitely not going his way. Even the phone guys are trying to figure out what the hell happened...

Depends on your definition of superior. My first ever Mac is a Jan. 2006 2.0 Ghz Intel CD 20" iMac. It has been sitting on this desk for 3+ years, chugging along, doing everything I ask of it, only being shut down when Software Update requires restart, and I've never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever done a dratted thing to it. This is a "Superior" performance that I'm sad to say no Windows PC I've ever owned has ever matched.

This is what really made me a convert. It seems I'm always dickie doin around with my PC's, my Mac's just chug along.

My Dell with 3 year at home warranty drove me to Apple...

In a Limo...

With a Full Bar...

As a bonus, this iMac gets much more use than the PC's that preceded it. Since I spend so much less time doing thing to the computer, I find I'm much more willing to do things with the computer.

The household PC was an IBM laptop that was severely beaten to death by my kids. They loved that thing to death. In 24 hours after I brought that iMac home, my kids will no longer use the laptop. I have a Dell XPS gaming laptop and they won't use that either. I can't even talk my wife into using it.

It's a sad state of affairs, but Mr. Balmer knows that Windows is becoming irrelevant in the Consumer Market. The Truth is that Apple had no where to go but up a few short years ago. They are on a roll, let's see what the next few years will bring.

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

No, its not. He prepaired a site monthes in advanced to so a task that a computer can execute quickly. He did not sit down and go from nothing to root access in 10 seconds, he allready knew how to get in since he prepared a website in advance. Its a dishonest statement because the volunerability was known long beofore hand. He just went to a site that he knew would quickly work and entered it in. All the eavy lifting has been done long before the contest started.

It doesnt matter if it took him ten years to prepare for it, all you have to do is click a link in safari and you are compromised. Try to spin it in apple's favor however you want, but this bug afflicts the common user, and it takes a single click from them to lose control of their computer.

 

[gkarris]

Soooo, let me seeeee.

Mac Mini: $599

$599 - $500 = $99....

I can get a Windows Vista Machine for $99???

What a COMPLETE idiot...

Dear Bill Gates:

Thank you for putting Steve Ballmer in charge. He actually is making Apple more popular than ever...

Yeah show me all those 99 dollar PC's.

Will $115 do?

(I know it's XP and not Vista, but still...)

Okay, okay.

Granted, let's add the Apple Wired Keyboard and Mighty Mouse, $98. (BETTER VALUE - at work I've got the Wireless MS 1000 Keyboard/Mouse for $50, and the box says OS X Compatible with the "*" symbol on the Ctrl key )

Mini + Mouse/Keyboard - $500 = $197

Now possible, but it'll have Linux instead....

It's being sold as "refurbished" (despite some comments to the contrary).

Otherwise, the lowest I can find is $279 (but you get a keyboard and mouse, which a Mini lacks, and this one has Vista).

oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh... $279 - $197 = $82 extra for Windows...

 

[Unspeaked]

oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh... $297 - $197 = $100 extra for Windows...

And it's a Celeron...

 

[gkarris]

^^^ that's the "cheap PC market"...

Whatever works... for many, good enough.... (good enough for Ballmer - as long as MS gets their money).

 

[brisbaneguy29]

I don't pay and extra $500 to have a fruit logo, I pay and extra $500 to NOT have a windows logo.

 

[IJ Reilly]

And it's a Celeron...

Right. Add $140 for a C2D. Still cheaper than a mini, but not $500 cheaper. I mean, we know Ballmer is bloviating, because that's his main talent in life. What's surprising is how many people here are prepared to endorse his hyperbole.

 

[andiwm2003]

Yeah, he's an idiot. Sure. I bet you're even smarter than him too.

woa, cool down

ballmer is certainly not stupid. he's certainly very intelligent. but his intelligence and ambitions are limited to being economically successful. he could as well have worked at AIG and would have been a millionaire there as well. and he would also have screwed up the company. he was lucky that his skills and ambition came together with the creativity of MS and their good products (MS is not great but also not total rubbish. some products are good).

Jobs and Gates would never have worked at something like AIG. They would always be successful in a creative way and would always create something new and cool and powerful. thats why they are inspirational leaders and Ballmer is an idiot. Although he's smarter, more successful and richer than I am.

 

[Unspeaked]

^^^ that's the "cheap PC market"...

Whatever works... for many, good enough.... (good enough for Ballmer - as long as MS gets their money).

What's ironic is that the real computer geeks who could put together a usable, inexpensive system for around $200 or choose to buy a bare bones system for $150 are most likely either running Linux or using a pirated copy of Windows, neither of which doesn't contribute a dime to Microsoft!

 

[michael.lauden]

don't get me wrong i would have loved to get my UMB for 900 and my Mac Mini for free,

but i think they are worth it by far

 

[IJ Reilly]

A little history may be in order here. Steve Ballmer is where he is today because he's an old FOB (friend of Bill). They went to school together at Harvard. Gates recruited Ballmer to join Microsoft when the company was still very tiny. I would not argue that "Ballmer is an idiot," but I would argue that as a corporate leader, he is mediocre at best, and would not be running a company the size of Microsoft had it not been for his fortunate friendship. He's got great enthusiasm for running the company, but little detectable vision. Let's put it this way: If Ballmer left Microsoft today, who else would pay him big bucks to run their company?