That's not a replacement for a computer. It costs slightly less than my laptop with about 20% of the functionality.
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Why Windows has been so popular?
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That's not a replacement for a computer. It costs slightly less than my laptop with about 20% of the functionality.
Both Windows and OS X have set standards. Both are high.
Linux is not my cup of tea.
before you say, iPad is not a replacement for a computer. I have a Mac, an iPhone, an iPad and a Samsung Galaxy Nexus. I have Windows 7 installed via Parallels.
Of course it's not, it is a computer, turing complete and all.
I think you mean it's not a replacement for a WIMP based system (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers).
Between work, school, family, and friends computers I have used Win 3.1/95/98/XP and Vista, and hated everyone of them. I have never personally bought a computer with Windows on it and doubt I ever will because the user experience is so bad. The only things I am jealous with Windows are games and how long they support the software. That all takes a backseat to the user experience though. I would rather use OS 9 than XP, and I was for awhile there until going to OS X.
Stop the error popups, the need for constant attention and tweaking, viruses/malware, ugliness (aero), lack of a static menu bar, Internet Explorer, XP search function, constant intrusive updates, BIOS, waiting until service pack 2 for it to even be usable, lack of iLife or equivalent, or I will never buy a product called Windows from MS. I haven't even touched on the hardware or it's integration with the OS. That is for another thread.
Oh and I don't consider apple's OSs perfect either. Them coming out with an OS every year with few updates just to obsolete older hardware is taking it's toll on more peeps than just me. But it has always been superior to Windows even before Jobs second coming IMO. I don't see that changing anytime soon, because MSs monopoly means they don't have to. Just copy a few features others are doing and charge another $200+. Rinse and repeat.
Stop the error popups, the need for constant attention and tweaking, viruses/malware, ugliness (aero), lack of a static menu bar, Internet Explorer, XP search function, constant intrusive updates, BIOS, waiting until service pack 2 for it to even be usable, lack of iLife or equivalent, or I will never buy a product called Windows from MS. I haven't even touched on the hardware or it's integration with the OS. That is for another thread.
Oh and I don't consider apple's OSs perfect either. Them coming out with an OS every year with few updates just to obsolete older hardware is taking it's toll on more peeps than just me. But it has always been superior to Windows even before Jobs second coming IMO. I don't see that changing anytime soon, because MSs monopoly means they don't have to. Just copy a few features others are doing and charge another $200+. Rinse and repeat.
Windows is popular because it's cheap and easily available to the masses.
Plus Microsoft Office is a huge plus.
Windows isn't that bad, Windows 7 is pretty amazing (better than that toilet of a OS, Vista) and I still don't get why people always say "HURR WINDOWS GET VIRUSESSS"
I have never once gotten a virus, and if you know what you are doing, you will never get one.
Plus Microsoft Office is a huge plus.
Windows isn't that bad, Windows 7 is pretty amazing (better than that toilet of a OS, Vista) and I still don't get why people always say "HURR WINDOWS GET VIRUSESSS"
I have never once gotten a virus, and if you know what you are doing, you will never get one.
Ugh. That's the one thing I hate about OSX (and Mac OSes in general for that matter). Click the wrong place and the focus goes back to Finder. Gotta click the app or alt-tab again to bring up the application-specific menu again.
Other things I prefer in Windows: resizing windows from any border (Lion finally implements this), consistent close/maximize button behaviour, cut-paste ability to move files, and Flash content doesn't overheat the computer or tax the cpu but that's more Adobe's fault.
Don't get me wrong. I still love OSX, but I never understood the fixed menu bar on top thing. Much rather have Windows' implementation any day.
There was a race to the bottom in the Windows world very early on. Apple declined to participate. It left Windows with a significant price advantage for a long time. That, combined with Windows' inherent IT-friendliness (as in "job security") and the availability of expansion options like the HardCard that Apple never allowed, catapulted Windows into the lead.
From then on, sheer momentum kept Windows on top even for the latter half of the past decade when Apple's success grew and grew. Apocryphal tales of incompatibilities and even outright fabrications about the Mac and specifically OS X among the IT high priesthood (for example, that Macs were risky to put on networks because IT managers couldn't control what they'd "spew" onto corporate LANs) kept the ball rolling along. It's ironic, because anyone serious about security should eliminate Windows first and foremost. But when companies replace Windows with Macs, there's less work left to justify IT headcounts and salaries.
Today, the number of iDevices out there exceeds 1/4 of the aggregate number of Windows machines in existence. It is dawning on senior management that there's 25% of the installed base with 0% of the problems. When their wife or kids have a question, they can saunter into the nearest Apple Store and get quick and accurate help-- for free. Consequently executives are realizing they've been sold a bill of goods by folks busy feathering their own nests. And so the world is changing.
From then on, sheer momentum kept Windows on top even for the latter half of the past decade when Apple's success grew and grew. Apocryphal tales of incompatibilities and even outright fabrications about the Mac and specifically OS X among the IT high priesthood (for example, that Macs were risky to put on networks because IT managers couldn't control what they'd "spew" onto corporate LANs) kept the ball rolling along. It's ironic, because anyone serious about security should eliminate Windows first and foremost. But when companies replace Windows with Macs, there's less work left to justify IT headcounts and salaries.
Today, the number of iDevices out there exceeds 1/4 of the aggregate number of Windows machines in existence. It is dawning on senior management that there's 25% of the installed base with 0% of the problems. When their wife or kids have a question, they can saunter into the nearest Apple Store and get quick and accurate help-- for free. Consequently executives are realizing they've been sold a bill of goods by folks busy feathering their own nests. And so the world is changing.
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They have a new kind of problems tho. and windows support is not what most of IT does anyways.
What new kind of problems? See, that's exactly what I'm talking about. Fear and uncertainty and dread, with no specifics.
I can only cite my own personal experience. My household used to be all-Windows. And every six to eight weeks, despite all precautions and costly antivirus utilities, I'd have to wipe my sons' computers down to the bare metal because of some contagion or other. Ditto my wife's machine (though not as often, thankfully) which would get spontaneously infected just by connecting to her school's network. No number of utilities prevented it.
Were I PAID to deal with that sort of thing, I'd love it.
But I wasn't, so I bought my sons their first Macs and saw my problems plummet entirely. 100% fewer issues. As in: no "support incidents" at all. Zero.
Then I went Mac myself. And when I had a question or problem, instead of spending 45 minutes listening to MuZak only to be greeted by an incomprehensible troll from the back alleys of Bangalore reading me a script that didn't answer my question, I could go to the Genius Bar and talk face-to-face with someone who really knew what they were talking about and wanted to make me happy.
I still use Windows daily, and am amazed how much more troublesome it is.
I really have no dog in the fight. From where I sit, I have several Windows machines, two Macs and a Sun workstation within cat-swinging distance. And when I need to get something done, I turn to my Mac, every time.
As to how IT spends its time, I did not mean to imply that they ONLY deal with Windows (though some shops do, such as one I know that convinced management to can all its Linux servers for Windows machines, and now enjoys big budget and headcount increases each year to keep up with the problems, while management cluelessly wonders what went wrong). But insofar as the Mac reduces IT's burden, it's viewed as a Bad Thing. Voice of experience here.
Yep your household is entirely comparable to corporate IT, not everything is web you know.
I think the main thing is fear of change, and if your company uses software that's not web based, IT would need to support two machines, the mac and the virtual image of windows or bootcamp as well.
You make it sound like there are never any problems with Macs, granted there are fewer virus issues (non existent probably) but in some companies i've seen there are no problems with virus either due to IT actually doing its job.
And as for new problems, i've seen firmware update issues, apart from that i think all have been hardware issues and not software which happens on both sides.
I have a virtual machine for Visual Studio development and have had no issues at all for years, so i know it's just the same in windows as osx, i enjoy the unix backend so i moved to OSX and virtualized what i need out of windows.
The last time i worked in an IT dept. we had support people just in charge of fixing/reinstalling/deploying/etc, they weren't a big part of the budget, they also were in charge of cabling if needed. The rest of us were for managing the servers or development.
I'm in IT, a systems administrator. I haven't touched a Windows box in quite a long time and yet I'm employed and working my butt off.
Today is saturday. I started working at around 7:30 a.m. I'll be working till around 3-4 p.m. if everything goes smoothly. I will not be touching a Windows box at all.
What am I doing ? Updating HP Integrity boxes with a new system image for HP-UX. Yep, not "solving problems" or anything, just plain old maintenance work, updating software and all.
FUD ? There is no FUD is saying "Windows" is not IT. There's plenty to do in IT besides baby sitting Microsoft software (I'd even argue our Windows guys are less busy than us).
Wait, I thought we were talking about IT here, not "your household"... Come back and discuss IT when you actually have done IT.
Reduces IT's burden ? It also adds to it. It balances out in the end. Desktop support groups don't spend their days solving Windows problems and dreaming of a Mac to make them obsolete. They write automation scripts, prepare updates for deployment, manage the inventory of PCs that come in, set them up, tear them down, send them off for resale, manage all the user configurations for the different packages we have, do tons of testing of applications to make sure they are compatible with the rest of our tools, etc..
Sometimes someone comes in with an "actual Microsoft Windows" problem and they also take care of that. It's not like the Mac doesn't have its share of those though.
If your son's computer was getting viruses every 6-8 weeks, tell him to stop looking at porn and downloading pirated software. There is absolutely no way through regular use that you could get infected with viruses that often. I've used Windows 7 for over 2 years and have never had a virus and never had to reformat once. I use Microsoft Security Essentials for my A/V (which is free and doesn't have any of that subscription BS like Norton or McAffee) and it works great.
What does downloading pirated software have to do with getting viruses?
I've downloaded pirated software in the past and never got a virus?
Well, it depends what you're downloading I guess.
Are you suggesting that consumers didn't have a choice when the OS wars were ongoing?
He's right in saying it. OS Wars ? Laughable. DR-DOS and PC-DOS never stood a chance when IBM gave Microsoft the monopoly in the first place.
There never was an OS war.
I wouldn't say rightly since in the end, the US DOJ and EU courts found them guilty of illegal abuse of a monopoly position in many cases.
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They did. And in return consumers got SHAFTED with Wintel. And MS got their behinds sued - like a boss. LOL
Steve Jobs described the situation perfectly: for the most part, MS has earned their success . . . by foisting third-rate products and services on consumers.
Thankfully, those Wintel days are coming to a close, and right quick.
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Maybe consumers, definitely not enterprise, and not very quickly.
All Lexus cars are safe and all cheaper cars are not? That's hard to believe.
Please remind me of the case, case number is fine.
Again, case reference required.
People are being shafted with the miniaturisation of OS X.
Windows + Intel aren't going anywhere. Have it your way, with OS X being the only option the word awesome wouldn't exist and people would be shafted with policies unfit for creativity.
Geez, the biggest trial in the tech industry, times 2, in the last 20 years and I need to actually dig up "case numbers". Just read up on it here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Microsoft_competition_case
The complaints ranged from vendors like Novell, Caldera, Netscape, Corel...
Either you lived under a rock in the 90s or you're very young and never were aware of how bad Microsoft has been to the tech industry in general.
Your memory. Late 90s.
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Except NOW they can choose to have that.
And they certainly are.