This is an interesting discussion with good points on both sides.
I purchased a Surface Pro 3 to use for school because of its stylus capabilities. Basically I felt if I wrote stuff down using a "pen" I'd memorize it better. While that is true to a small extent, I've found other methods of memorizing information that were more efficient for me. Still, I am able to write over typed pages to correct stuff a lot easier then I could do it with the traditional word processor interface for corrections. In other words, Microsoft made a pretty innovative product and should be commended for it and the fact is it only improved with Windows 10.
Yet, to be honest, I find myself regretting my purchase and will likely sell the device in favor of a Mac Book Pro 13 inch. Simply put, I love OS X, even if Yosemite has been a disappointment compared to other OS X releases. It seems Apple has made the right decision in focusing mainly on fixing bugs and improving the overall performance of the OS, and that gives me some hope. It's a good thing too, because Microsoft has realized the same thing and has made significant progress.
I think that Windows 10 will allow options that didn't exist before. It will give people a choice. If companies like Dell, Lenovo, etc. can improve their hardware offerings (their already seems to be some progress by Dell) and provide competitive pricing, many may jump OS X ship and move to Windows 10. I see that as a real possibility. But these are early days, and Microsoft has made progress in the past only to take several steps back.
The fact is, it still seems like the lessons learned from Apple's comeback have yet to be learned by other companies. What's scary is that Apple may be forgetting those lessons themselves. It's clear we are going through a major transition. It appears that tablets were going to take over the laptop market, but users learned laptops were superior in many tasks they required. Also, since products like the iPad don't need a replacement as often as Apple hoped, it may be a product less important to Apple's future then Apple may have hoped.
Frankly, the iPhone sells so well in the U.S. because it was subsidized and now can be financed with zero interest. The iPhone is kinda like owning an oil company in the 1940s and getting your expenses paid by the U.S. government while keeping all profits from successful oil rigs. It's not like there exists a market like that for Apple elsewhere. Fact is, in the next year or two (maybe sooner), Apple will reach it's peak in profitability and then it will decline. During that challenging period, will Apple make good decisions and focus on future innovations, or will it lash out like a spoiled child at its customers?
I know that the biggest complaint about Tim Cook is that he's a bean counter and not a product man. I think that's a fair complaint, but I don't think it's *the* big issue with him. Steve Jobs had the ability to have open disdain for Wall Street and do things the way Steve Jobs wanted them to be done. Steve Jobs recognized that Wall Street lived for the quarterly profits, but a successful company needed to focus on the long term; more importantly, Steve Jobs was capable of ignoring Wall Street almost completely and making his vision become a reality. I believe Tim Cook has learned many lessons from Steve Jobs and probably understands the shortcomings of Wall Street to an extent, but he doesn't seem to have the ability to stick the proverbial middle finger at them and say he's going to do things the right way regardless of what investors think.
Sorry for going off on a tangent in an OS thread.....
What I'm saying is in my experience OS X is better then with Windows 10, even with Yosemite. But Microsoft looks determined to continue to improve Windows 10, and those improvements will move quickly into the hands of end users. Apple has a more advanced way of deploying their OS by making it free and providing timely annual updates. Now Microsoft has a free OS and will be providing updates much more frequently then annually. All of a sudden Microsoft has the more modern delivery format for OS improvements than Apple. Will Apple recognize this and make necessary changes?
