Microsoft Says Windows 10 PCs 'Do More' Than Macs in Latest Ads

[srminton]

I've had the opposite experience with Windows 10. I use it at work and at home and it works very well for me.

I use it every day too, and it's OK, it mostly works fine, but I still prefer OS X. None of this is to say that Windows 10 is garbage, and while I do still prefer OS X, it's nothing like the kind of huge gap which existed a few years ago.

I switched to Mac during the Windows Vista era, and it was like night and day back then. Windows was stale, bloated, unreliable, uninspired and frequently annoying. OS X is still just about ahead for me, though, and I do use both every day.

Maybe it's just because OS X is more natural to me, now that I've internalised all the trackpad gestures and everything about the OS has become second-nature, I don't know - I just know that I get stuff done more quickly on a Mac.

 

[MacScott]

I bought a Windows touch screen laptop. It is now running Slackware and I am much happier. I certainly don't need a touchscreen on my desktop, so it will remain a Mac OS.

 

[vampyr]

I just saw this ad... funny thing was I thought it was an ad for the new iPad... wasn't until the very end that I realized it was for Windows 10. And it wasn't even for a Windows Surface.
I didn't get the point of what they were trying to sell. Was it for Windows? For a HP computer? or for whatever application that they were using for the drawing on bugs???

 

[NachoGrande]

Funny since any "Mac" can do Windows with a VM... Unless they specifically say "Mac OS X" somewhere

But you couldn't use a touch screen in that vm.

 

[azentropy]

Good commercials. Of course they are going to highlight what many Window's PCs do over Macs. Touchscreen (which I don't care about), Cortana Search (which IS really good and pretty sad Apple still hasn't brought Siri to Mac), Advanced Login etc.

 

[towdow3]

They work 'better' until the s***load of spyware/viruses/adware arrive on your PC.

And then you wish you had bought that Mac instead.

LMMMAAAAOOOO

 

[Dave-Z]

who the hell wants to look at bugs?

I hate bugs...

 

[TRDmanAE86]

To tell you the truth, In my experience, I feel that a Touchscreen PC is a little bit better than a non touchscreen one.

I broke down and bought my first touchscreen laptop last year, a Alienware 13 laptop (with the notorious Windows 8.1). After unboxing it and, tweaking Windows 8.1 to fit my style, I found it much more useful for common the tasks I do.

In Word, It's easier to select part of the document. In my web browsers, I can zoom in and out of a page without having to do it manually with my mouse. In Photoshop, I have the ability to use a stylus for those annoying edits. And finally for those seldom times I go into Metro Mode, I can swipe around and, touch a program to start it up.

However, my only complaint is that with a touchscreen, I have noticed that the screen feels much more fragile compared to a similar PC we have in our house [We also own a a non touchscreen Alienware 15 to compare]. Then of course, there is the issue with your PC getting more fingerprints. Since I use it in a dusty room, I always have a special cloth and, a superb solution to wipe them down.

Now with Windows 10, I've tried it out and, dislike it greatly. Even on a Dell XPS 13 with a I7 processor and 16gb of ram, without optimization, I find a great amount of lag. Also, the fans are always running at high RPM's over all of the information Microsoft is collection.

I prefer the controversial Windows 8.1 over it. With Windows 7, it is a legend that is 50x better than Windows 10. It has a simple UI, is a industrial standard (for business) and, the pro versions can run a hassle free XP VM!

 

[H2SO4]

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm saying in general Macs crash a hell of a lot less on average.

Per head of population?

 

[persianemu]

Why the F is Apple going to wait until June to announce new Mac hardware? That's ridiculous.

Doesn't all the new intel chip sets come out around that time? To me it seems in part one of the frustrating byproducts of being reliant on outside chipset providers. On the other hand, I'm grateful to be able to run my work software on my mac on bootcamp without having to use a PC day in and out.

 

[H2SO4]

The thing that really bugged me about Windows in the past was how quickly the system would slow down. In a matter of months. I would need to reinstall everything manually to make it quick again. My Mac seems much less prone to this problem.

You’re installing it wrong.

 

[teslo]

Apple has previously admitted it has no plans to release a touchscreen Mac.
"We don't think it's the right interface, honestly," said Craig Federighi

here's where Apple and I part ways 'ideologically.' Bg Time.

they're holding out. kicking the inevitable can. it's not like they've never seen a wacom cintiq in action: OS X is a DREAM with a stylus, even on the 12-13" inch versions - i find myself trying to use my finger ALL THE TIME. it would be absolutely 110% perfect. no nay-sayer could ever convince me otherwise: cause the naysayers are either ignorant, totally uncreative, or there's something blocking their logical thought patterns. yeah, i'm that convinced.

Give Me A Touch Screen Mac. Do It.

 

[macduke]

So much for putting aside the past, like in that Christmas commercial just a couple months ago:

Microsoft would be smart to partner with Apple as much as possible and work together towards their real common enemy: Google.

 

[Paul drive]

Hello I am a Pc.....

And I phone home better then Mac,s

 

[iSee]

I don't usually post but here goes:

I do like Windows 10. The Start Menu is a little slower then i would like but its definitely a step up from Windows 8 and some improvements over 7. Do I prefer a Mac, oh definitely yes. BUT I do believe the one feature missing from Mac line is something similar to a Surface. I do a lot of traveling. I have a 2011 Macbook Pro. It's time for an upgrade. She sports 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. But the hardware is old. I have used a Surface and love it. To me it is a laptop replacement. What i would love to see is a Macbook Air with detachable keyboard. I see a lot of people say they don't want to touch their screens. I get it then lets use a Pen or something. Think of it, a Macbook Air that has detachable screen would give the Surface a run for its money because again Mac's run Windows . An iPad just isn't a laptop replacement . That's just "my" opinion/suggestion.

The problem with a touch screen Mac is that none of the OS X software is designed for it. Windows software has the same problem -- some of it is OK (at least partially) but most is not. It's the same issue whether its finger or pen -- these are both great modes of user input, but not for software designed for pointer and keyboard.

Let OS X run iPad software (or an iPad run OS X software) and now a convertible starts to make sense.

(There are still significant design tradeoffs -- e.g., compare a Surface keyboard and trackpad to a Macbook's or Macbook Air's. That's not to bash the Surface, which is a good device, but to point out there's no getting around the tradeoffs: add touch and convertibility and you *have* to subtract something else... battery life, or it gets larger and heavier, or the quality of the keyboard and trackpad suffer, or all of these.)

 

[scottsjack]

I moved to Macs to 2008 and now have three including a six-core 2012 Mac Pro. I switched back to PCs for several reasons. I like the W10 user interface better. Windows machines have real keyboards all the traditional keys and shortcuts so Office applications are easier to use. On Windows the user can disable all sliding, fading and rubber-banding silliness. There are USB ports all over the place. Photoshop CS seems to work a little better. El Capitan will have been long gone before W8.1 and W10 hit the trashcan.

Additionally my HP Z230 was super easy to upgrade using very affordable HP-branded accessories. It came with both W7 Pro and W8.1 Pro on CDs for maximum OS flexibility. It also has a three-year warranty so I didn't have to buy Applecare. For the price of a base Mac Pro with Applecare I've got a powerful machine, 3.6GHz i7, 32GB RAM, 4GB Quadro 4200 GPU, internal USB 3 card reader, and Blu-ray.

Seriously I still love working on my Macs but i doubt if I will buy another one. Apple just does not seem to care about computers anymore.

 

[gaximus]

Doesn’t appeal to me either but I’d rather have the choice to do both.

As it is, I prefer Apple hardware and software, have done for about 15 years now. Over time I’ve built up quite a collection of gadgets for myself and family but I will say though that my patience is wearing thin with the constant dumbing down, feature removal, nickel and diming etc etc.
I find that more and more of my time is spent with Windows now and I find it less awful/irritating than I used to. I’m just wondering if the rot has set in.

The problem with having a choice is that touch screens are more expensive. Which means for the total price to be the same as a non-touch screen, cheaper components will need to be put in.

 

[Zaft]

Listen I lke OSX more then windows, but some things annoy the crap out of me.

• Why do I have to individually open photos I have to see them?
• Why cant I just drag a picture from (that terrible thing) iPhoto to the desktop?
• Why cant I find what the hell is taking all my space?

This may be just user error. I would love to be enlightened.

 

[JoelTheSuperior]

Good commercials. Of course they are going to highlight what many Window's PCs do over Macs. Touchscreen (which I don't care about), Cortana Search (which IS really good and pretty sad Apple still hasn't brought Siri to Mac), Advanced Login etc.

Regarding Cortana, why do people love it so much? On Windows 10 it's the first thing I'd disable. I can type much faster and more accurately than I could ever relay information to cortana.

Just about everything it does I can do quicker myself.

 

[femike]

Why the F is Apple going to wait until June to announce new Mac hardware? That's ridiculous.

It is because Apple is dependant on Intel. Skylake after a long delay has been a disappointment. I hope Apple has plan to wean themselves off being dependant on Intel. Apple doesn't redesign Macs without a processor upgrade. But I'm hoping for re-designed Mac mini and iMac.

 

[mountain]

I like windows 10 so far.

 

[TallManNY]

I will be very perplexed and confused if Apple releases new computers in 2016 without always on "Hey Siri" support. Sure, it doesn't work all that great. But it does work. And if they can put it in a 6s they should be able to put it in a laptop. And Siri is just going to get better. So getting the hardware in now in 2016 is going to be important when using that computer in 2018 and even more so in 2020.

 

[kingtj]

Seriously, this is the problem. Both OS's have advanced to the point where either one will do pretty much anything you expect a personal computer to do for you.

In Apple's case, they could have cut this advertising attack from MS off at the pass, had they paid a little more attention to the Mac side of their business. But Apple's focusing on iOS and watches meant that Siri in OS X wasn't made a priority, and touchscreen Macs were probably looked at internally but decided against since it might eat into iPad sales.

I've used Windows 10 for a while now, and I still prefer OS X, but don't believe the people saying Windows 10 is full of bugs and will crash regularly. Even the accusations that it leaks all your info out to the government is quite likely a bunch of misguided fear. (It *does* upset people that they make it so difficult to find all the places it "chatters" with other servers over the net and to turn them off. But people analyzing the traffic seem to be concluding it has to do with features in the OS itself like Cortana. They're not finding it connecting up to IP addresses owned by govt. entities.)

Going forward, Apple needs to keep finding ways to make OS X more desirable to use with small improvements that don't break the basic usability. (As long as people find it pretty familiar to get around in it, they'll see that as the advantage over Windows 10.)

If that's all they've got then things don't look good for MS.
If the Only Must Haves are Cortana and a Touch screen then they are in deep do-do.

 

[TallManNY]

Kind of surprising to see the market leader with around 90% share going on the offense against a tiny competitor in terms of market share. Guess even Microsoft knows who's making most of the money in the PC hardware market.

I switched over to Mac back in 2011 after using Windows basically my entire life. Now I won't touch that OS except when I'm forced to for work.

Because Microsoft doesn't have 90% market share. And of computers that people in the U.S. buy with their own money and put in their homes, it is vastly less than 90% market share. It is somewhat difficult to use OSX at home, iOS on mobile devices, and then Windows at work. I think Mcsoft knows that employees are pushing back on being forced to use Windows at work.

 

[balamw]

Jack of all trades, master of none.

I like my SP3 (on 8.1) and have 10 on a desktop. It's just not as good a laptop experience or tablet experience than my Apple devices.

B