Windows: Life without Walls

"Where they ACTUALLY COMPETE, there is not much a Mac cant do that PC can and vice versa." Mac servers are a joke. There, I said it. Of course, Apple has no business solution strategy in the first place, so they aren't competitive with Windows business solutions anyway, and I guess that makes you at least partially correct.

Hmm....still 20 hours left before this article gets locked and we're already over 100 comments???

sbrown23 Apparently you missed the Apple mantra of "If we don't make it, you don't need it" Therefor HPC clusters and domain systems and hypervisors and OEM products are all the same as stealth bomber wings. Of course, the Mac Faithful used to say that about smartphones as well until Dear Leader changed his mind.

"Good stuff. And a sharp contrast to the what the other guy is doing. Humanity vs. smugness. Which side are you going to choose?" Easy: I'll choose humanity. However, it doesn't have much to do with this tacky, syrupy, dishonest but ultimately lame ad campaign. It will not make me believe that one of the largest companies in the world represents humanity in any way. One never sees this sort of advertising in Europe, which is why US companies generally hire local agencies to design local campaigns. So, if I continue using Macs, can I, in your opinion, still choose and practice humanity? "I do know that people who succeed at Microsoft are the ones who want to change the world" For better or for worse?

It's the ecosystem, stupid!

"Final Cut server?" "If we don't make it, you don't need it." Isn't that right pappy? www.avid.com

@ Waethorn Then who's the Obama of computer companies? Eloquent. Shallow. Unqualified to lead. I kid, I kid...

"Truth is, I don't mind either way. What annoys me is people who adopt their platform religiously." And why should that annoy you? Sounds like you have problems. Fans don't annoy me. What annoys me is people who won't accept choices of the others (bashers). Neither can be called good or bad, but the latter certainly suffer from mental problems. I suppose it comes from when in the 90's I got a Mac (by a professional's recommendation) to do design and photography stuff and the first people I told about it who actually said anything called me an idiot and said PC's could do the exact same thing (which they certainly didn't, and arguably still quite can't, although close). I knew nothing of Macs or PC's at the time and couldn't really care less. Now it's part of my work which is why I need to keep up with certains areas of technology at least a little.

Mum Serious question, what do you think Windows based PCs can't do in design and photography that Macs can? In the 90s that may have been true (and it was less so than people thought) but I really don't know of anyplace where Mac still has the edge in these areas. After all, Adobe has been building their stuff for Windows first and then porting to the Mac since the late 90s and the plug-in ecosystem pretty much universally supports both platforms and even the small, niche players in workflow and processing tend to be on Windows first.

"Windows vs Walls" What about Doors? Don't Doors beat Windows? Jim Morrison (RIP) would agree.

Jim Morrison did an operating system? Trippy!

@ Mikegalos I like your question. Actually I would never have been able to become an art director and a designer in graphics (both on paper and web) if Microsoft didn't came with Windows on PCs. Macs were so expensive and my family couldn't pay all that money for that. I also started my deep knowledge of computers with a Dos first then a Windows PC (it was Win 3.1 at that time). When Win95 came out, my brother and I decided to buy a low-cost pc which had a lot of oem software on it. It shipped with Word 6, Excel, Corel Draw 4 (all the suite including Photo Paint) and so I started to be interested in the world of pc graphics. I simply loved it. And, during all these years, I developed my skill using all the apps that common graphics use on Mac. They worked the same, exactly the same, I was able to exchange files without doing anything (and I had a free tool to convert truetype fonts onto mac suitcase font). I spent so many years being ridiculized by other graphics and labele as a "loser" for using a "crap" pc with Windows on. The fact is that I'm working fine and better than common graphics. And this is not because I'm a geek or a genius. It's only because working with not-so-perfect hardware maybe tought me being more creative in finding solutions on a wide range of cases. I improved my skills this way. "This driver is not working properly? Ok let's see why and let's find a solution. Solution found. End of the problem. Back to my workflow." This is everyday reality and this is where my passion for IT came out. I made it myself. And, guess what? I really like a lot Windows. Never got serious problems since Win98. Never had a problem at work. I'm a common human being. I'm happy like this. :-)

Nickelgreen To be fair, there are some Macs in some of those markets although it's a tiny number even by Mac standards and generally done with no support from the mothership.

I didn't realize that it was "The Doors" and not "Doors" so I guess they're disqualified. Mike, you can still try The Doors in a virtual machine as long as you install Windows and the Zune software. :-)

I learned the same way Nickle. Macs are uncommonly found in most areas. However, most medical device vendors abandoned the Mac years ago, around the G3 era. Many started adopting Linux,as it was free and the industry was trying to go to open platforms. The Windows got even better with so many developments that it is just too much to write. The FDA made stringent rules for approval of medically relate wares and Security rulesjust about made Linux go away. I still see some vendors try to sell Linux workstation, which actually have better custom apps than our Windows versions. PACS compatibility and DICOM standards were issues as there was always some proprietary reason for the lack of compatibility. MY old fellowship went completely Mac in the early 90's, but that was replaced with PACS long ago. Recently, I've seen some Mac fanatic docs write papers on a Mac only PACS system, but if you read how it's done, it's all Windows first, then converted, so what's the point. It's been a long time since I taught physical chemistry lab at my university, but I understand that they use Macs now. Physics hasn't changed much since then. As you know, 'you can't change the laws of physics.' But dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a computer repairman....until after 8 PM when my partners call.

@gorath I'm aware of that, but outside of usa market, macs have not too much appeal in those sectors. USA is a different market for obvious reasons. However, I think that reporting a story like mine, is the real point the ad campaign Windows not Walls is all about. Isn't it?

mikegalos@msn.com said: Dude Reading problem? The 95% discussion was about who the ads targeted. It wasn't saying "Windows 95% thus good; Mac 3.5% thus bad", it was saying "95% use Windows thus they're the audience; 3.5% use Macs thus they're pretty much irrelevant" ************** Maybe you might want to look in the mirror I wasn't addressing you.

Waethorn, I use both PC's and Macs for what I do. "Serious question, what do you think Windows based PCs can't do in design and photography that Macs can?" Complete color management across all applications is still shaky even in Vista. At the moment nobody seems to know whether a profiled monitor keeps its settings or loses them from time to time randomly like it did in the early days of Vista, but SP1 apparently didn't fix the problem. That's why the wording is "not quite" - because it just doesn't do it as reliably. That doesn't stop me from using PC's for imaging, of course. "Curiously, we seem to have had the same experience, but you can't see it from my view?" I'm extremely allergic to bashing, especially bashing without knowledge & experience. And that's almost the only kind. I have nothing against someone being a fanatic, unless they're shoving their religion down my throat, or worse, bashing mine when they find out what it is. That's why I used the harsh wording. Sorry.

Damn (where is the edit button!) "thin skinned" Anyways roll on the ads , I look forward to seeing what the approach will be in these, to me it looks like this is "Plan B" but we will see.

"OK. Done. Just saw the ad. " Watched. :-)

Wow....just wow! I cannot believe the amount of BS being spewed by fans of both sides here today. THEY ARE COMPUTERS, PEOPLE...GET OVER IT!!! THIS REMINDS ME OF WHEN A CERTAIN BONCHY YOUNG MAN ONCE TOLD US ABOUT HIS HONEY. --tayme

And, just one more thing, then I swear I'm done with this: Look here for what Paul really says: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/ms_swiftboat.asp And, note well the concluding remarks: "As for the Switcher ads, Microsoft has been notably silent, allowing Apple to control the discussion and let perception become reality. And honestly, why would Microsoft even license Exchange to Apple? Are they crazy? Between this and all the other ActiveSync licensing, they've effectively ceded the smart phone market to their competitors. What's next? A license to run Windows applications on the Mac? It's time for Microsoft to respond to the challenges it faces with leadership and authority. And if you care about the systems you support now, your jobs, and your very livelihood, you might do demand the same from the company. All of us have backed the same horse. And from what I can tell, that horse looks like it's' ready for the proverbial pasture." This is not about truth, justice and the American way of life. It is not about the good guys vs. the bad guys (as if that even makes sense). It is purely and simply about what PAUL MAKES MONEY FROM. As he would say himself: Obvious. SO, think what you want. I admire the passion, although the motivation for defending a wretched company like Microsoft totally escapes me. Just don't think that Paul has any stake in this other than how he earns a living. Any pretense of objectivity, now or at any time was thrown away with that line "And if you care about the systems you support now, your jobs, and your very livelihood, you might do demand the same from the company. All of us have backed the same horse." Apple is only the bad guy in the sense that it threatens Paul's livelihood and that of thousands (at least) of other "IT professionals" who aren't objective. The difference is that most of them make no pretense of objectivity, while Paul does.

"Humanity vs. smugness. Which side are you going to choose?" I'll choose the side that's making a better product that works better.

and running --tayme

I think they should have let the Seinfeld ads play out. However, I do like the new ads. They're a nice right cross and kick to the balls of the I'm a Mac ads. This really shuts up and makes people take notice that Windows has powered the Internet Revolution. The Macs were in too insigificant numbers during the Internet revolution and still are compared to the over 1 billion users and counting. John was right that the ads are dangerous. If Microsoft can show to people that Apple has been insulting more than one billion plus computer users, that would become a PR nightmare. If they could turn the Apple ads on their heads, it would kill it. Other than the fact that Vista now has sold 200,000,000 copies of Vista and outsold Leopard 30 to 1. How much of an butt kicking do you need? If this was a boxing match, Windows would be Mohammed Ali, and Apple would be Sonny Liston down on the floor. With all this press, Microsoft is still on top. If they can't beat Microsoft in this anti-Vista environment, then perhaps Apple really needs to start thinking. "Can we ever beat Microsoft?" I think the answer by now is obvious.