Windows 10 ? Look at this:
I still think Microsoft isn't capable to maintain coherence in their own OS.
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Apple Maintains Mac Sales Momentum Amid Overall Worldwide PC Market Decline
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I still think Microsoft isn't capable to maintain coherence in their own OS.
I guess it all depends on the type of work you do. I have both a custom built Windows 10 PC that I made specifically for gaming and a 2014 15" Retina MacBook Pro. Although I feel like Windows 10 is the best version of Windows so far, I do not use my PC for anything else than gaming. I just prefer to use OS X, because it is so much more elegant. I live in a country where electronics are incredibly expensive and I paid the equivalent of 2700$ for a machine that in the US cost 2000$ at the time. They are a luxury item here, when people see the glowing Apple logo, they tend to stare at it a little bit.
I don't know what kind of things people do on their computers nowadays, but I truly believe that as of right now, a custom built PC is a much better value for the money. As far as I am concerned, I have warranty for every single component in my computer so if something breaks, my only inconvenience is detecting the problem, then send the faulty hardware to the shop. My GPU broke suddenly, sent it in, received a new one. I understand that people love being all comfy, but buying a prebuilt Windows desktop basically means wasting money. They are outrageously overpriced and you can get the same components for half the cost and have someone build it for you, if you are afraid of screwing something up.
When it comes to laptops, though, that's a whole other deal. I think that Windows is pretty stable nowadays and if you stay away from certain websites and be cautious with the software that you download onto your computer, you should be fine. Many Apple users overly-exaggerate when it comes to the amount of issues Windows has. It's far from perfect, but it's significantly better than it was in the past and with proper maintenance, it will last you a long time.
However, I am far too used to my Mac, so the only thing that my Windows PC is ever used for is Steam. While I truly love the design of my Mac and I enjoy the great experience that OS X offers, I feel like Apple are being now greedier than ever. Macs have always been expensive, but it's painful to see they still ship Macs with 5400rpm HDDs in this day and age. It's funny to see Phil Schiller saying how the iMac has always been about cutting-edge performance, when the entry-level machines are unbelievably expensive for what they offer. Going alongside with those gorgeous 4K and 5K displays, at this point, I see it as basically a design flaw rather than pure greediness. Also, how much to they want to increase their margins? 24GB SSDs instead of 128GBs for Fusion Drives?
I also think that Macs get too much hate in general. They are wonderful machines and they generally perform very well, but flash storage plays an essential part in this. I understand why people hate Windows in general, but when it comes to the current Mac lineup, I also understand the hate for that.
I don't know what kind of things people do on their computers nowadays, but I truly believe that as of right now, a custom built PC is a much better value for the money. As far as I am concerned, I have warranty for every single component in my computer so if something breaks, my only inconvenience is detecting the problem, then send the faulty hardware to the shop. My GPU broke suddenly, sent it in, received a new one. I understand that people love being all comfy, but buying a prebuilt Windows desktop basically means wasting money. They are outrageously overpriced and you can get the same components for half the cost and have someone build it for you, if you are afraid of screwing something up.
When it comes to laptops, though, that's a whole other deal. I think that Windows is pretty stable nowadays and if you stay away from certain websites and be cautious with the software that you download onto your computer, you should be fine. Many Apple users overly-exaggerate when it comes to the amount of issues Windows has. It's far from perfect, but it's significantly better than it was in the past and with proper maintenance, it will last you a long time.
However, I am far too used to my Mac, so the only thing that my Windows PC is ever used for is Steam. While I truly love the design of my Mac and I enjoy the great experience that OS X offers, I feel like Apple are being now greedier than ever. Macs have always been expensive, but it's painful to see they still ship Macs with 5400rpm HDDs in this day and age. It's funny to see Phil Schiller saying how the iMac has always been about cutting-edge performance, when the entry-level machines are unbelievably expensive for what they offer. Going alongside with those gorgeous 4K and 5K displays, at this point, I see it as basically a design flaw rather than pure greediness. Also, how much to they want to increase their margins? 24GB SSDs instead of 128GBs for Fusion Drives?
I also think that Macs get too much hate in general. They are wonderful machines and they generally perform very well, but flash storage plays an essential part in this. I understand why people hate Windows in general, but when it comes to the current Mac lineup, I also understand the hate for that.
Wait a minute, we're not talking theory here.
Apple chose to focus R&D on creating a new (and in my opinion unnecessary) machine instead of bringing the Air up to where it should be. But a lot of that focus was aesthetics-based: terribly thin and funky keyboard to make it fit, but colored to match the iPhone (matching accessories are "cool"). So, "pretty-looking" took a back seat to "better" (ie, a retina Air).
I'm not trying to diminish Apple's technical brilliance. They still make really, really great products. And I also appreciate their attention to aesthetics (this brought me to them in the first place).
But I feel you underestimate the power of their marketing team, and Apple's focus shift to "fashion" over function.
This has always been there to some extent, but they took it to 11 on the RMB, and the Mac Pro.
In that case, Apple KILLED a use case and category of machine and didn't replace it with another.
The current Mac Pro is not the equivalent of the old. But it is preeetty. It is also powerful, for what it is: A video pro machine.
In that case, it appears that making it look awesome (it does), and small (it is) took a back seat to what you can do with it. All the PCI cards and drives you had are useless. The "external" nature of it means if you were a Mac Pro user you now have to "rebuild" your entire infrastructure back up.
Buuut...it's small and the ports light up in the back and look how "cool" it looks both inside and outside!! Watch the keynote again and you'll see what I mean. It's an amazing achievement....that I didn't need. What I needed was a Mac Pro with the latest processors, TB and USB 3. Maybe a smaller case. That's it. EVERYBODY would have been happy with that and it would have sold like crazy. Hell, Apple could have sold the 2 side by side and treated the new Mac Pro like the cube.
Alas, the "prettier" machine won.
Here's to hoping that the "fashion" sense doesn't extend to the MacBook Pro line any more than it already has and they don't pull a Mac Pro on us. I already can't buy one anyway until they offer a 2TB+ SSD or aftermarket ones show up (my use case is admittedly narrow).
I would hate an MBP with one f'in port and the RMB's keyboard (regardless of it's technical marvel), even if it came in Gooooold.
....and why do millions of aftermarket motherboards get sold then? Asus alone sells more motherboards than Apple sell systems.
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Windows 10 ? Look at this:
I still think Microsoft isn't capable to maintain coherence in their own OS.
The thing that annoys me most is that settings are all over the place but impossible to find if you need them.
Quoting a friend of mine: "Windows is for power users" so that is why you cannot find stuff easily. I laughed
no....I've complained about aspects of it, but the pros out weighed the cons and became an owner.
I can say there was no drooling involved either
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I strongly think MacBook Air is the winner mainly because it's cheaper
True. It's much better value for money . And the new keyboard / one port is a deal breaker for some
You may be right. TBH I haven't had that much experience with it, because it's still so full of bugs that we won't roll it out. I don't see us doing it until at least SP1. That, and the fact that many of the specialized applications for our vertical are not yet officially supporting it.
This is the biggest thing: Windows 7 is mature and still supported. In an enterprise position, with Mission Critical production software that needs to be up and running as close to 24/7 as possible, you want to be running the most stable, and a mature OS.
Windows 10 has been great. I'm using it at home now. But at work we're stil a few years away from switching.
SP1? There are no service packs. What would be considered "SP1" was the 1511 updated which dropped in November.
To be fair that poster mentioned Latitudes not XPS's but Latitudes take the price up another notch but Dell corporate service is pretty awesome. The other nice thing I noticed about Latitudes is the Dock stays the same, I bought a dock for my '09 E6500, and it still works with my '11 6420, and it also works on our '15 6xxx at work. Latitudes in general are nice systems but they are not really ultrabooks.
OFC not I really hate the term rig no matter how many times people use it but I guess it's the best descriptor.
I'll be 40 this year and I still put stuff together for myself, my kid, and anyone who asks but you're probably right you need to like to do it to build it yourself and age definitely effects "likes".
It is in Apple's DNA to make their devices look good. I love that about them.
The issue is that lately this is being done at the expense of functionality like never before.
Today, Apple devices are DEFINITELY status symbols. That does not mean that that is ALL they are; the devices are well-built, and well thought-out.
But Apple is throwing all their effort into the (relatively fickle) mass-market and the luxury market.
The difference between, say, a Mercedes Benz and an iPhone is that the latter is comparably more affordable as a luxury item. When it comes to Macs (laptops in particular), the gap between luxury and not increases exponentially.
For example, an iMac remains a (relatively) good value for what you get. But it is the only Mac that I do not consider overpriced vs performance/capability. I still wouldn't buy it because I prefer having the ability to upgrade my machine's storage and RAM, not have upgrade the WHOLE thing. So a tower iMac would be my machine of choice. Alas, it's never going to happen outside of a hackingtosh (which I just don't want to do). But I digress.
I'd love to hear a survey that has both "why choose Apple" and "why not choose Samsung" instead.
In other words, what does Apple give an individual that it's competitors do not, and vice versa, and why did an individual go with choice A or B, while being aware (or despite) of it all.
For me (regarding iPhone), Samsung (Note 5) does everything (except force click whatever) Apple does and more, without iOS limitations (which is THE single most important factor in my decision).
While this may be true, there are things that Apple just isn't doing that other manufacturers are.
But that being said, I would still choose a mac for just the OS and the trackpad over any windows computer.
You obviously know your way around computing, especially the differing platforms. That said older users, over say 30 or 40 years old, that have come around to computing aren't as likely to be naturally savvy to understanding computer operations as say a majority of younger users. I became involved with computers when I was about 16 myself and almost now for 40 years I've seen a myriad of users on differing platforms during this period. I admit I became an Apple fanboy not with the Apple II series but at the moment I saw Ridley Scott's Macintosh commercial during the Super Bowl in 1984. When I first actually got to use it soon thereafter, I saw the light. This was a computer that truly was easy and intuitive enough that just about anyone could sit down and use it.
Even after Jobs was mesmerized by Gates offer to port Microsoft's suite of productivity apps to the Mac and gave up the keys to the kingdom so that Microsoft could produce Windows, I still felt that the Mac's OS was the better of the two. Over the years as the Mac struggled and Windows thrived it has become more apparent to others also that the Mac is the way to go, especially after Apple switched to OS X. After you use Windows for a while, you realize how much work it takes just to navigate around and utilize the different aspects of the OS and its integration with itself. Granted, over the years Microsoft has tweaked, tuned, and redone the interface with mixed results. But as I stare at my iMac's screen right now, it looks and feels almost the same as the first time I fired up the original 128Kb Macintosh in 1984. Its essence is almost seductive. In fact it's been called my mistress on more than one occasion!
With Windows I never felt that way after using it. I always felt like it was fighting me every step of the way using it. It's almost as if it were a cheap whore. You had to make sure it was using some sort of protection every time you used it because if you didn't, it would become infected and cause you heartache and misery. For the uninitiated, it is a brutal wakeup call when they startup their computer or browser only to discover it ain't gonna happen! They become angry due to their own malfeasance and then resentful and betrayed because they feel what has transpired shouldn't have. Good, bad, right, or wrong it shouldn't but it does. A person should be able to turn on a computer and just use it and then go on their merry way. The reality of this world is that certain things are true and one of them is that your computer needs protection, especially if it uses Windows. Too many people find out the hard way because they either don't know or they don't comprehend this truth.
People will be people. They are like water. They will find and migrate towards the easiest and the least resistant path possible. So over the years people have discovered or have been shown the way to the more seamless and comforting operating system known as OS X or as I like to think of it as, "The Macintosh Way!"
Laughing at some of the comments on this thread. 7.5% market share versus 92.5% market share for the Windows PCs is hardly anything to be proud of after nearly 40 years selling the Mac.
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Presumably you missed all the reports over the past few years about the multitude of problems people have experienced with their Macs and how Apple doesn't give a fig about those customers unless it generates enough bad publicity or a class action lawsuit for Apple to acknowledge the problem and do something about it .
You can't compare a £300 Windows laptop with a £2000 MBP. In my experience like for like Apple computers are no more reliable and/or robust than an equivalent Windows PC. They might seem better because they're sold in trendy Apple stores or have nice packaging but sadly they're not any better. Let's not forget that Apple kit is made by the cheapest suppliers and the cheapest Chinese manufacturers.
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Presumably you missed all the reports over the past few years about the multitude of problems people have experienced with their Macs and how Apple doesn't give a fig about those customers unless it generates enough bad publicity or a class action lawsuit for Apple to acknowledge the problem and do something about it .
You can't compare a £300 Windows laptop with a £2000 MBP. In my experience like for like Apple computers are no more reliable and/or robust than an equivalent Windows PC. They might seem better because they're sold in trendy Apple stores or have nice packaging but sadly they're not any better. Let's not forget that Apple kit is made by the cheapest suppliers and the cheapest Chinese manufacturers.
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Exactly my point
When we looked at what she needed the Dell and Lenovo were in the same range as the MBP.
Don't get me wrong, those machines are very nice. Just with the "price point" she now has more options.
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It can be done. I don't pay anything however I do use the built in Windows stuff. As for spending time and money to get back to normal ops, I don't need to. Normal ops is my daily norm. Run CCleaner 1x month and schedule a weekly scan. I also apply a lot of common sense.
That's my point. "Normal ops" for you is not normal for most Mac users. They might, possibly, run and download a free virus and malware checker on the occasional report of malicious activity reported in the wild just to make sure their precarious ways haven't got them in trouble. I still have some Mac users to this day try to explain to me with disdain that OS X is not like Windows and therefore virus protection is really not needed! However their arrogance has been bred, in way, by having been spoiled by Apple's closed and protective nature. I do have to admit though, that it is nice that as a Mac user, I don't have to be Windows "normal."
Honestly only RAM is what over 50% of users would sell-upgrade. Most people will not open up their machines and start changing hard drives, GPU's, etc...
This is probably one of the reasons why Macs haven't had aggressive redesigns for a while now. Why would they bother changing them when people are buying the current ones?
Don't you think AMD and Nvidia sell many graphics cards to the public each year?
Agree about the one port solution , but for the new keyboard I think it just takes a few weeks to get accustomed.
I'm a little worried about the durability of the new keyboard butterfly mechanism.
who cares about a 92.5% market share mainly made by crappy cheap PCs ?
Apple is proud of its high quality products (and profits)
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Apple have never gone after market share but have concentrated on high profit margin sales. To grab a majority worldwide share they would need to compete with low end PCs that start from around the $300/£200 mark and there is hardly any profit to be made in that market segment.
They are already making more money than any other PC maker by selling to that lucrative 7.5% of the market and their share is growing every year so why change a strategy that seems to be working?
I just don't get this OS business. I'm equally at home with OS X Windows or even Linux. They all do the same job equally well IMO. I think it's just about what you are used to plus people hate change.
As for the trackpad I wouldn't use one even if I was offered payment to do so - hateful thing, I sent mine back, mouse wins every time.
[doublepost=1452857918][/doublepost]who cares about a 92.5% market share mainly made by crappy cheap PCs ?
Apple is proud of its high quality products (and profits)
So leaving your snobs hat off for a moment can you tell us all what it is you can do on your Apple PC that you wouldn't be able to do on a Windows PC?
I just don't want anything like that in my house, having to deal with that in my office (sometimes).
So leaving your snobs hat off for a moment can you tell us all what it is you can do on your Apple PC that you wouldn't be able to do on a Windows PC?
You like it ? Go buy one.
Apple doesn't force you to buy a Mac.
As you get older, you have less and less time to tinker, Apple offers a product that just works, is simple and has great customer support. That is why people who can afford them, but them.
In my experience, its the Customer support that is the huge winner.
If you are a young IT student etc, I think your foolish using macs, ie, use that money to have fun, and also learn about computers/software/networks by building your own.
I do both, for hassle free experience I got my macs, for fun, I build water cooled PCs. Agree with you that inside, the components are nothing special, aftermarket PC gear is far superior, though an apple product will never OC, its build for stability.
The illusion of reliability is the support behind them. Also Apple users look after thier products alot better than PC users, the reliabilty due to hardware is a myth. The ability to tailor and fine tune an OS to just select hardware is very true, though OS X is getting buggier due to the annual major updates, the dev team is struggleing to meet markertings deadlines and hence almost beta releases at times, if OS X were to move to a 2 year cycle, things would improve in a major way