Microsoft Remains on Offensive with 'Apple Tax' Report and Latest Laptop Ad

[milo]

Allegedly it can, but not fully functional. Not worth the effort. Eeebuntu is really as osx as you can expect from something that is
a) free
b) non osx.

And everything works (almost) out of the box (wireless, webcam, ethernet, etc).

Lack of audio is a deal breaker. What's the "almost" on Eeebuntu? And if I'm not going to be able to run OSX, might as well just leave the damn windows on it.

Err... who does that? Are those the same people who think the DVD tray is a beverage holder?

I know people who have had machines become unusable due to spyware and similar things and when they couldn't get it fixed, they just ended up buying a new machine. These people would save a LOT of money by just switching to mac.

 

[southernpaws]

Sorry, but food comparisons always fail. Why? McDonalds became the largest food chain in the world because of quick and cheap food..

You can't disprove an analogy simply by showing how they're different.

if I remember correctly, someone said Microsoft is good because it's the most popular system.

And the analogy was saying McDonalds is good because they're the most popular hamburger.

Pointing out that they utilized different business models has no bearing on the basic analogy.

 

[AidenShaw]

One thing I've noticed so far with the 3 ad's is that all of the costumers purchase notebook computers.

Will any of them every buy a Desktop computer instead?

You did notice that the official title of the ad campaign is "Laptop Hunters", didn't you?

 

[southernpaws]

The abbreviation is "BD", not "BR".

The logo is a stylized "BD"

The blanks are BD-x

.

It's simple - CD, DVD, BD .

Doesn't this strike you as a little nitpicky? I mean, at least he said BR disc instead of BD disc or ATM machine.

 

[linuxophile]

Lack of audio is a deal breaker. What's the "almost" on Eeebuntu? And if I'm not going to be able to run OSX, might as well just leave the damn windows on it.

Everything works:
sound in certain apps (VLC, skype) was not working at first, but the fix is trivial.
That was the "almost".

I still have windows: the eee 1000HE comes with three partitions (80GB ,60 GB and a third partition for recovery of factory-installed windows); I used the 60GB partition for eeebuntu.

Also, it has a better CPU (N280) and GPU than most competitors, and allegedly can play HD movies (I don't have any, so I can't verify).

 

[iPhoneNYC]

Why don't they also advertise "Free Viruses"

From todays NY Times (front page): The riddle of a malicious software program that has spread throughout the Internet deepened Thursday as security researchers examined a new version of the software that they said made it more difficult to eradicate the program.

The program, known as Conficker, targets versions of Microsoft’s Windows operating system and has now been distributed in four versions, computer security specialists said.

 

[AidenShaw]

Doesn't this strike you as a little nitpicky? I mean, at least he said BR disc instead of BD disc or ATM machine.

Search the forums for "BD".

You don't see his post, do you?

That's the reason for trying to use the correct terms, not because we need language monitors.

 

[Rob0711]

why should they bother to go offensive. even ms fans start to sign up on apple fan sites like this.

and the point about it being good for new users doesn´t make it any bit less good for experienced users. my first pc came with dos 5 and i´ve built my share of machines in my days (and no. the dos5 386 sx 25 wasn´t my first computer) still i swapped over to a g5. and in time added some mac pro´s.
oil companies (actually a great reference !!) simply use the cheapest thing available because you don´t need anything for spreadsheet work. no experienced user will have problems with malware or viri on any platform. the point is. the vast majority of pc users are utterly inexperienced in what they are doing.

this does not change anything about vista being a failed visual clone of osx (besides the visuals, the rest was (or is ) still just a new windows revision. and yes. it did fail epic) now they bring out a fixed version which really is good !! guess what. i heard that crap a few times too often from them. in the company i work in. which is basically mac only and a bit larger than mid sized(except for some machines to test stuff on) the macs were mostly chosen out of cost and reliability reasons.

and for the 64 bit shizzle... sure it´s nice to use huge chunks of memory for your apps. but the people using software which could utilize it (and yes i´m one of them) are a pretty low percentage of the worlds population.

 

[IrishSniper87]

No I was referring to the server side. An individual here doesn't think you can install Office apps on a server, and didn't comprehend Terminal Services, Citrix XenApp, or client/server computing in general.

Oh, sorry. Well, we have over 50 VM's running and each has Microsoft Office installed. We have to though, we use Exchange for our e-mail at work.

So tell that individual that it is possible to run Office apps on a server. I do it everyday at work. I also use Adobe Acrobat Professional, Firefox, Exchange and work database and billing software on my VM (running XP).

I can also access my specific VM from other machines, including regular computers at work. All i need is my user ID and PW and my VM can be brought up on any machine on our network. Quite handy really.

 

[pr5owner]

One thing I've noticed so far with the 3 ad's is that all of the costumers purchase notebook computers.

Will any of them every buy a Desktop computer instead?

i think they are waiting for desktop hunter as the final blow, with desktops , apple really will get hurt with the pricing diffrence

$999

Studio XPS featuring Core i7 processors
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-Bit
No Monitor
Intel® Core™i7-920 Processor(8MB L2 Cache, 2.66GHz)
6GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs
500GB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB
Single Drive: Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)

Additional
S2309W 23" 16:9 1080P FHD Wide Flat Panel LCD Monitor
$209

TOTAL $1208 vs $1,199.00 (so there is a $9 diffrence)

LETS COMPARE!!

Core2duo Vs Core i7 (apple fails really bad at this one)
2.66 vs 2.66 i7 (apple fails, not only is the i7 over 30% faster at the same clock speed vs a core2duo, the i7 is a QUAD core)
2GB vs 6GB tripple ch (apple fails, the core2duo does not have a memcontroller, the i7 does, tripple ch is WAY faster than dual ch)
320GB 7200RPM guessing 8mb cache vs 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache (apple fails plain and simple)
nvidia 9400 0MB of deticated ram vs ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB Deticated (apple fails, not only is the video card stealing from slow system ram, the video card is onboard)
DVDRW Vs BD Combo (obvious who sucks here)
Monitor 20" 1680x1050 vs Monitor 23" 1920x1080 (LOL)

now all you are going to say OMG ITS MISSING N wireless and BT!!!

the 2 components do not make up for anythign really, an N wireless card is like $25 and a bluetooth 2.1 EDR CLASS 1 (class one is more powerful than the class 2 in the mac) is like $10

the Pc is missing $35 worth of HW how much performance is the mac missing? over 100%?

 

[whitefang]

So who is winning this great internet debate?

 

[Rob0711]

i think they are waiting for desktop hunter as the final blow, with desktops , apple really will get hurt with the pricing diffrence

$999

Studio XPS featuring Core i7 processors
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-Bit
No Monitor
Intel® Core™i7-920 Processor(8MB L2 Cache, 2.66GHz)
6GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 6 DIMMs
500GB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB
Single Drive: Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)

Additional
S2309W 23" 16:9 1080P FHD Wide Flat Panel LCD Monitor
$209

TOTAL $1208 vs $1,199.00 (so there is a $9 diffrence)

LETS COMPARE!!

Core2duo Vs Core i7 (apple fails really bad at this one)
2.66 vs 2.66 i7 (apple fails, not only is the i7 over 30% faster at the same clock speed vs a core2duo, the i7 is a QUAD core)
2GB vs 6GB tripple ch (apple fails, the core2duo does not have a memcontroller, the i7 does, tripple ch is WAY faster than dual ch)
320GB 7200RPM guessing 8mb cache vs 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache (apple fails plain and simple)
nvidia 9400 0MB of deticated ram vs ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB Deticated (apple fails, not only is the video card stealing from slow system ram, the video card is onboard)
DVDRW Vs BD Combo (obvious who sucks here)
Monitor 20" 1680x1050 vs Monitor 23" 1920x1080 (LOL)

now all you are going to say OMG ITS MISSING N wireless and BT!!!

the 2 components do not make up for anythign really, an N wireless card is like $25 and a bluetooth 2.1 EDR CLASS 1 (class one is more powerful than the class 2 in the mac) is like $10

the Pc is missing $35 worth of HW how much performance is the mac missing? over 100%?

why don´t you go cool down and just buy that dell then ? the way you sound i wager you´ll actually get happy with it

 

[southernpaws]

Search the forums for "BD".

You don't see his post, do you?

That's the reason for trying to use the correct terms, not because we need language monitors.

That makes sense, although a simple explanation would have done just as well as a snide interactive lesson. It never really crossed my mind to search forums for posts about blue ray discs.

 

[AidenShaw]

64-bits is for the system, not for apps

...and for the 64 bit shizzle... sure it´s nice to use huge chunks of memory for your apps. but the people using software which could utilize it (and yes i´m one of them) are a pretty low percentage of the worlds population.

For the systems with more than 3.25 GiB of RAM, the 64-bit OS lets the system efficiently use all of the RAM.

So, x64 support is good for the system, even if (as you say) few people need 64-bit applications.

(Even if Windows client did support PAE - life is simpler in a pure 64-bit environment. Even Apple realizes this - OSX 10.6 will be a 64-bit OS instead of 32-bit like OSX 10.5.)

I haven't been able to find the statistics, but I imagine that half or more of the Vista systems being sold now are 64-bit. (Both because Microsoft said that it was 20% in June, and that most laptops and desktops in sales fliers are 4 GiB or more.)

 

[pr5owner]

Lack of audio is a deal breaker. What's the "almost" on Eeebuntu? And if I'm not going to be able to run OSX, might as well just leave the damn windows on it.



I know people who have had machines become unusable due to spyware and similar things and when they couldn't get it fixed, they just ended up buying a new machine. These people would save a LOT of money by just switching to mac.

both the dell Mini 9 and MSI wind is 100% compatible with OSX. the eee pc isnt as good as a hackintosh

 

[steve31]

Hey...I love the ads. Its good to see pc taking it's shots. They lose when you turn it on for the first time and see that Windows logo. I do wish that Apple would get Blue Ray in there notebooks.

 

[Journojulz]

i think they are waiting for desktop hunter as the final blow, with desktops , apple really will get hurt with the pricing diffrence

the Pc is missing $35 worth of HW how much performance is the mac missing? over 100%?

But the pc comes with an os so unloved that even its mother can't be bothered to advertise it.

in the uk vauxhall (GM) put more "performance" in its hot vectra, but it would dangerously understeer through corners.

 

[flopticalcube]

So who is winning this great internet debate?

MacRumors.

 

[pr5owner]

For the systems with more than 3.25 GiB of RAM, the 64-bit OS lets the system efficiently use all of the RAM.

So, x64 support is good for the system, even if (as you say) few people need 64-bit applications.

(Even if Windows client did support PAE - life is simpler in a pure 64-bit environment. Even Apple realizes this - OSX 10.6 will be a 64-bit OS instead of 32-bit like OSX 10.5.)

I haven't been able to find the statistics, but I imagine that half or more of the Vista systems being sold now are 64-bit. (Both because Microsoft said that it was 20% in June, and that most laptops and desktops in sales fliers are 4 GiB or more.)

actaully i think your statement should say for systems that have more than 4GB of ram TOTAL

32bit windows can address 4GB of ram if there is NO OTHER memory in the system, this includes any RAM including your video cards ram.

that 3.25 figure isnt always 3.25, my dad has a 1GB video card in his machine and he can only see 3GB of system ram when he had 32bit XP

but it doesnt even matter anyways, almost every laptop with 4GB of ram has 64bit vista preinstalled. no issues anymore. (this is the year 2009, not 2007)

 

[Rob0711]

For the systems with more than 3.25 GiB of RAM, the 64-bit OS lets the system efficiently use all of the RAM.

So, x64 support is good for the system, even if (as you say) few people need 64-bit applications.

(Even if Windows client did support PAE - life is simpler in a pure 64-bit environment. Even Apple realizes this - OSX 10.6 will be a 64-bit OS instead of 32-bit like OSX 10.5.)

I haven't been able to find the statistics, but I imagine that half or more of the Vista systems being sold now are 64-bit. (Both because Microsoft said that it was 20% in June, and that most laptops and desktops in sales fliers are 4 GiB or more.)

sure. it´ll speed up things even more. and i guess we´ll all meet here in 8 years talking about the switch to 128 bit or even processors without clockspeed. still 99% of the earths population wouldn´t need it. not even the speed bump it brings.

 

[pr5owner]

But the pc comes with an os so unloved that even its mother can't be bothered to advertise it.

in the uk vauxhall (GM) put more "performance" in its hot vectra, but it would dangerously understeer through corners.

the car analogy again? please see the other thread, cars and computers simply cannot be compared to each other.

also Vista is more visually stunning than OSX for people that are NEW to computers

 

[Journojulz]

So who is winning this great internet debate?

Whoever wakes up with the hottest wife?

MMmmm imac and macbook - does it for me.

If you love your sony, hp, dell - you win too.

 

[AidenShaw]

That makes sense, although a simple explanation would have done just as well as a snide interactive lesson. It never really crossed my mind to search forums for posts about blue ray discs.

I didn't mean to be snide - it was simply brief and to the point.

I think the images showing "BD" and "BD-R" help to reinforce the point, and show that it's not just Aiden's preference - it's the actual industry nomenclature.

 

[APPLENEWBIE]

As business owner, who switched all my office computers to Macs nearly three years ago, I can honestly say that there is no comparison between my Windows experience and my Mac experience. While mine is not a big office (we have only five computers currently) since switching I have saved hundreds of dollars and many hours of billable time because the macs just are more dependable, easier for my people to operate, and have experienced very little need for expensive professional (as in IT assistance) help to keep things running. In my professional experience Macs have been a great investment. I am certain that they have paid for themselves several times over.

My experience with the macs that we have at home has been the same. Other than some recent hardware issues, they are a joy to use.

If MS can demonstrate similar characteristics with Windows 7, I will be interested.

 

[pr5owner]

why don´t you go cool down and just buy that dell then ? the way you sound i wager you´ll actually get happy with it

what.... no argument with numbers? tell me why the mac is a better buy...

anyways i build my own computers that outperform both of them anyways. dell is just an example because dell is as EASY to buy as a Mac (both you can get buy walking into SuxBuy)