Microsoft to Respond to Apple's 'Get a Mac' Ads

[milo]

You're forgetting the fact that Apple's top selling Macs have INTEGRATED INTEL GPUs and cannot run games. Those it can run you might as well not even bother with because they're essentially unplayable or ridiculously ugly compared to how they would be on a PC costing several hundred dollars less.

Where to start? Sure, the macbook and mini have integrated graphics, but none of the others do, including the MPB and the imacs, which are big sellers.

And even the lowly mini can play games. Sure, not every game, and not at the highest settings, but you're looking at a similar situation with many budget pcs and laptops. And if you really want to play games, the best bang for your buck is a console anyway.

10s of millions of Windows notebooks sold over the last 2 years include the hardware (GPU + HDMI, minus the blu-ray drive) to play high definition movies.

And I've read many accounts from PC users who had what they thought was the right hardware yet were still unable to play blueray movies due to copy protection snafus. Personally I'm OK with apple waiting until things are sorted out, although I hope they start offering the format as an option soon.

I'm not sure why you're so fixated on systemwide hardware video acceleration. It would be nice, but my old, low end intel mac plays even HD just fine.

You mean just like every other post here?

The vista bashing here is nothing compared to what I've seen on windows boards. The most vocal complaining I've seen is from XP users.

 

[BongoBanger]

Where to start? Sure, the macbook and mini have integrated graphics, but none of the others do, including the MPB and the imacs, which are big sellers.

MBPs and iMacs use mobile GPUs. These are hardly suitable for modern gaming.

And even the lowly mini can play games. Sure, not every game, and not at the highest settings, but you're looking at a similar situation with many budget pcs and laptops.

You don't buy a budget PC or laptop to play games though.

And if you really want to play games, the best bang for your buck is a console anyway.

No it isn't. PC game titles are invariably cheaper than their console counterparts, have better downloadable content and usually better features.

And I've read many accounts from PC users who had what they thought was the right hardware yet were still unable to play blueray movies due to copy protection snafus.

Which firmware fixes.

Personally I'm OK with apple waiting until things are sorted out, although I hope they start offering the format as an option soon.

It is right for most people. A few people with firmware conflicts don't change that.

The vista bashing here is nothing compared to what I've seen on windows boards. The most vocal complaining I've seen is from XP users.

From XP users who don't want to change and who've never really tried Vista. They're a bit sad really.

 

[inkswamp]

MBPs and iMacs use mobile GPUs. These are hardly suitable for modern gaming.

Regardless, there are plenty of people using iMacs for modern gaming. Search on YouTube if you want proof.

No it isn't. PC game titles are invariably cheaper than their console counterparts, have better downloadable content and usually better features.

Consoles tend to be designed and built with gaming in mind so they are cheaper and more powerful for the purpose of gaming when compared to computers. For what you pay, consoles are in fact a better arrangement all around. Any device dedicated to one activity is invariably going to be better than a device used for general purposes.

Which firmware fixes.

Sort of off-the-topic, but can a firmware update help all those PC users who bought PCs with built-in HD-DVD? Just wondering.

From XP users who don't want to change and who've never really tried Vista. They're a bit sad really.

It's astonishing to me that you can shoehorn a market as big as Windows XP users into one group like that. Amazing. I know lots of Windows users. None of them are using Vista, and that includes people who work in IT and have used it. I guess I have a lot of "sad" friends and colleagues.

Might be why half of them have asked me about Macs lately.

 

[NovemberMike]

Regardless, there are plenty of people using iMacs for modern gaming. Search on YouTube if you want proof.

You can do a lot of things, but for the most part you have to accept lower performance and worse graphics.

Consoles tend to be designed and built with gaming in mind so they are cheaper and more powerful for the purpose of gaming when compared to computers. For what you pay, consoles are in fact a better arrangement all around. Any device dedicated to one activity is invariably going to be better than a device used for general purposes.

No. The pc is a necessity these days, so it is already a given. It is the addition of the graphics card that turns it into a gaming machine, and for around $100 I can buy a graphics card that runs PS3/360 ports at a higher resolution, framerate and detail.

You do miss out on some console exclusives, but you gain PC titles like Neverwinter Nights, Crysis, Starcraft 2, many MMORPG's and many smaller titles. If you really want MGS4 then it isn't that great of a deal, but the PC as a platform is still going quite strong.

Sort of off-the-topic, but can a firmware update help all those PC users who bought PCs with built-in HD-DVD? Just wondering.

Did they stop being able to play HD-DVDs? They wanted to be able to play HD movies before everyone else, and they got it. As early adopters, I don't feel any more sympathy to them than I do to the people who bought first generation iPhones. If you feel the need to be protected as a consumer by Apple that is fine, but I would rather they offered compatibility and let users buy third party solutions (ie. external HD-DVD drives).

It's astonishing to me that you can shoehorn a market as big as Windows XP users into one group like that. Amazing. I know lots of Windows users. None of them are using Vista, and that includes people who work in IT and have used it. I guess I have a lot of "sad" friends and colleagues.

Might be why half of them have asked me about Macs lately.

The general consensus I get from IT types I know (I work in IT) is that Vista is great as long as you have program compatibility with it. If it doesn't have a program you need then you can't use it, but in that case you are just stuck with XP and can't move to Macs any more than Vista.

This is from the people who used Vista recently. There are a lot of people who just bash it, and IT generally sees things at its worst.

 

[Cormier6083]

Software is made to be compatible with your whole life? Like Zune is compatible with OS X, or like IE very current with a software version of Version 5?

 

[DiamondMac]

Not sure why Microsoft thinks this will somehow help them

The problem for them isn't the Mac Commerical. It is that the Mac Commerical is funny and their OS blows Vista away

 

[Quillz]

Not sure why Microsoft thinks this will somehow help them

The problem for them isn't the Mac Commerical. It is that the Mac Commerical is funny and their OS blows Vista away

I don't find the "Get A Mac" commercials at all funny, and I also don't feel Leopard is any better than Vista. They are both good OS.

 

[clevin]

Regardless, there are plenty of people using iMacs for modern gaming. Search on YouTube if you want proof.

lets not being dishonest here, "plenty" is a meaningless word, how many is plenty? "modern gaming" is another meaningless word, what is modern game?

you want to say mac can do games? fine, we only argue the quality and quantity from the start, nobody said mac can't do any games made in past 5 years.

Consoles tend to be designed and built with gaming in mind so they are cheaper and more powerful for the purpose of gaming when compared to computers. For what you pay, consoles are in fact a better arrangement all around. Any device dedicated to one activity is invariably going to be better than a device used for general purposes.

consoles has significant limitation in gaming, complicated RPG, RTS games etc, won't run on console in foreseeable future. Do not use this type of "mac doesn't do it so it must be useless or have no future" logic.

Sort of off-the-topic, but can a firmware update help all those PC users who bought PCs with built-in HD-DVD? Just wondering.

another advantage of PCs, they don't need to build-in everything, unlike mac, w/o build-in, not much option left.

for your question, I would imagine HD-DVD can do normal DVD, can it? I don't think they can firmware update HD-DVD reader to Blu-Ray reader tho.

It's astonishing to me that you can shoehorn a market as big as Windows XP users into one group like that. Amazing. I know lots of Windows users. None of them are using Vista, and that includes people who work in IT and have used it. I guess I have a lot of "sad" friends and colleagues.

Might be why half of them have asked me about Macs lately.

well, everybody can slice and dice any statement, Vista has 14% marketshare, not much to argue about.

Where to start? Sure, the macbook and mini have integrated graphics, but none of the others do, including the MPB and the imacs, which are big sellers.

I guess we need to do a data collecting work and find out which one are better sales?

And even the lowly mini can play games. Sure, not every game, and not at the highest settings, but you're looking at a similar situation with many budget pcs and laptops. And if you really want to play games, the best bang for your buck is a console anyway.

with budget PC, you can pay an extra $100 to get a NVidia GeForece 7900 GT, and play best game you want.

And I've read many accounts from PC users who had what they thought was the right hardware yet were still unable to play blueray movies due to copy protection snafus. Personally I'm OK with apple waiting until things are sorted out, although I hope they start offering the format as an option soon.

I'm not sure why you're so fixated on systemwide hardware video acceleration. It would be nice, but my old, low end intel mac plays even HD just fine.

The vista bashing here is nothing compared to what I've seen on windows boards. The most vocal complaining I've seen is from XP users.

well, keep in mind complaints are always minorities. Just as people here at MR who complains about leopard.

 

[kaiwai]

What games must a person play to be considered a 'gamer'?

I play Civilization, does that make me a gamer? my brother plays Rainbow Six on his Macbook, does that make him a gamer?

Is a gamer only one of those people who have a cooling and over clocking fetish?

I'm using an iMac 2.6Ghz 20inch model - and quite frankly, for most people, it is an over kill for gaming. Those who play games like crysis could fit into a telephone booth with enough room left over for a BBQ, dj mixing table and a disco ball.

 

[BongoBanger]

I'm using an iMac 2.6Ghz 20inch model - and quite frankly, for most people, it is an over kill for gaming. Those who play games like crysis could fit into a telephone booth with enough room left over for a BBQ, dj mixing table and a disco ball.

*Looks at sales figures for Crysis*

Nope, you're wrong there.

A gamer is someone who enjoys playing games on their PC. Some games don't need high specs to run - Civ IV being an example - some do. We like to play all of them though.

 

[DMann]

nobody said mac can't do any games made in past 5 years.

Several posters have directly stated this.

I would imagine HD-DVD can do normal DVD, can it?

Yes

Vista has 14% marketshare, not much to argue about.

Not much indeed, considering Windows market share is presently at +-89%

well, keep in mind complaints are always minorities. Just as people here at MR who complains about leopard.

Not necessarily true, rampant complaints pour in from all sectors while viewing current Windows bulletin boards.

 

[DiamondMac]

I don't find the "Get A Mac" commercials at all funny, and I also don't feel Leopard is any better than Vista. They are both good OS.

Vista's been an absolute disaster for Microsoft.

Microsoft wanted to take that next step for an OS and failed miserably at it.

 

[Maestro88]

Apple Versus Microsoft

I like that thread title...

I love the get a mac ads - they rock. I laugh at all of them, and I always feel like Apple got a well deserved solid elbow in the ribs to Microsoft each time.

Microsoft sucks ass I used it for many years through to XP which I currently hate very much. I just did a restore today at work again, it's garbage. Vista is still unusable.

Microsoft makes systems that require you to know how to use them like some kind of qualified technician, but it's just arbitary operations, and in fact, does not make you smart, in fact, you're stupid if you think you're smart for being able to use things the windozey way. Mac users don't give a crap about that - they know they're NOT smart for being ABLE to use leopards 98% user friendly features.

So why do Windows fans think Apple users are so smug - it's not that we think we're smart for being ABLE to use the machine it's because we KNOW we're smart enough to not need to feel smart in using it. That makes us feel smart when we see how dumb the windows mob are for feeling clever about their laborious mundane rediculous little poor ass system. We feel smart because we have better things to do with our time than tinkering fixing, and recovering (and not recovering).

Also despite the way that many try to label Jobs as a microsoft wannabe, I don't think even if they had the same marketshare as ms, that apple would ever become ms, I think they would :SHOCK: actually behave as ethically as any company of that size could. I think they would continue to innovate and improve, perhaps more slowly, but nevertheless it has been and always will be (as long as Jobs and anyone who values his values) what it is - Apple - and Apple is not microsoft. Microsoft was Microsoft from day one, and as such, they've always sucked, because from day one it was always about money first for MS. Jobs and Woz wanted to change the world. Yeah, crazy hippies eh. Look how it turned out. Strike one up for the dreamers...

I look at Jobs et al and I think, that's somebody who's lived and loved the dream, and I look at Gates, and Ballmer and I see DREAM KILLERS...

AND The only reason that Gates actually gives money to charity is to try to clean that dirty feeling from his chest. It won't go away Bill. You'd have to give it ALL Away and start again to feel any kind of balance there "my friend".

To be fair, macs don't always work, and I spend time cursing them also. I have a mac pro that crashes sometimes, but I have just about every conveivable piece of software running on it, often mostly at the same time, with about 10 hard drives hanging off it. But they are rare, on the whole it is extremely stable, fantastic modern operating system and I love where they are GOING with it. (skate to the puck...).

Blah blah about windows being able to support more hardware. I've played games on the mac plenty of times in very high resolution and was always surprised at what it could do after reading these types of posts that say macs aren't good for games, that's a bit out dated rhetoric I think. Although, I don't really game on the mac I'm too busy working. I ditched office (hooray) and I'm so damn happy about that, I think "never again" and it feels good, and is a lot cheaper. iWork rocks for what I need. I hope windows is always around for people who care about hardware configurations, good for them. Personally I just want something decent, well engineered that works well and has a personality. Leopard is just a superior system to anything ms has ever made hands down. It's like comparing apples to sloppy cow turd both come from a farm and are organic substances but that's where the similarity ends.

And since when has macrumors become a hang out for windows pushers anyway, all these people here "I like vista" and so on... ??

Mac OSX isn't for everyone, it's only good for about 80% of the population, the rest will be linux users and 1% windows fans.

 

[BongoBanger]

Microsoft sucks ass I used it for many years through to XP which I currently hate very much. I just did a restore today at work again, it's garbage. Vista is still unusable.

Specific please because, you know, for the vast majority of people Vista is perfectly OK.

Microsoft makes systems that require you to know how to use them like some kind of qualified technician

Sure, that's why 95%+ of the world's computer operating population use Windows. I mean, seriously, what the hell?

So why do Windows fans think Apple users are so smug

Probably because of ill informed rubbish like your post, the rest of which is just too laughable to dignify with a response.

 

[mixmacface]

I love everything Apple, but I still root for Microsoft sometimes because I know competition = better products. If Vista is selling, OSX has to improve and I like that.

i couldn't agree more. and after having vista for about a year, i would also say that it IS more stable than when i first bought my laptop. windows has come a long way since first introducing vista. granted, i still don't own a mac (money issues) and hope to one day get one, so i can't exactly say that os x is indeed more stable. but i can't say it's less stable. but i can honestly say that vista is more stable than last year.

 

[kaiwai]

Specific please because, you know, for the vast majority of people Vista is perfectly OK.

You accuse the person you replied to for not having specifics; where is your specifics to back up the claim that 'Vista is perfectly ok'? is the supposed position of something, 'ok' until proven otherwise?

Sure, that's why 95%+ of the world's computer operating population use Windows. I mean, seriously, what the hell?

95% think that drinking wine from a card board container is acceptable.

Probably because of ill informed rubbish like your post, the rest of which is just too laughable to dignify with a response.

Ill informed rubbish? the fact he has a differing opinion to you some how makes him 'ill informed'?

 

[NovemberMike]

Microsoft makes systems that require you to know how to use them like some kind of qualified technician, but it's just arbitary operations, and in fact, does not make you smart, in fact, you're stupid if you think you're smart for being able to use things the windozey way. Mac users don't give a crap about that - they know they're NOT smart for being ABLE to use leopards 98% user friendly features.

Macs have their own share of unintuitive features, such as windows only having one corner they can be resized at, and I personally don't like the permissions system used as much. The UNIX file hierarchy can also be weird and like any UNIX system it is pretty heavily biased towards the command line, although I am comfortable with both so they aren't really negatives to me.

So why do Windows fans think Apple users are so smug - it's not that we think we're smart for being ABLE to use the machine it's because we KNOW we're smart enough to not need to feel smart in using it. That makes us feel smart when we see how dumb the windows mob are for feeling clever about their laborious mundane rediculous little poor ass system. We feel smart because we have better things to do with our time than tinkering fixing, and recovering (and not recovering).

Personally, I have seen as many or more issues from people with macs as I have from people with Vista, ranging from printers not working in leopard to somebody's MacBook failing and them rushing around to find somebody that could mount their hard drive (hint: Pretty much nothing but macs support HFS).

Also despite the way that many try to label Jobs as a microsoft wannabe, I don't think even if they had the same marketshare as ms, that apple would ever become ms, I think they would :SHOCK: actually behave as ethically as any company of that size could. I think they would continue to innovate and improve, perhaps more slowly, but nevertheless it has been and always will be (as long as Jobs and anyone who values his values) what it is - Apple - and Apple is not microsoft. Microsoft was Microsoft from day one, and as such, they've always sucked, because from day one it was always about money first for MS. Jobs and Woz wanted to change the world. Yeah, crazy hippies eh. Look how it turned out. Strike one up for the dreamers...

The anti-trust lawsuit that everyone loves to lay at MS feet occurred because they were bundling software with the OS. Apple does the same thing, the only difference is that they aren't as big of a company.

And since when has macrumors become a hang out for windows pushers anyway, all these people here "I like vista" and so on... ??

I am personally platform agnostic. I use programs for the most part, and the OS just lets me run them.

You accuse the person you replied to for not having specifics; where is your specifics to back up the claim that 'Vista is perfectly ok'? is the supposed position of something, 'ok' until proven otherwise?

Historically, that is the way things work (see scientific theory and law).

 

[clevin]

Microsoft sucks ass I used it for many years through to XP which I currently hate very much. I just did a restore today at work again, it's garbage. Vista is still unusable.

Microsoft makes systems that require you to know how to use them like some kind of qualified technician, but it's just arbitary operations, and in fact, does not make you smart,

So why do Windows fans think Apple users are so smug - it's not that we think we're smart for being ABLE to use the machine it's because we KNOW we're smart enough to not need to feel smart in using it.

Also despite the way that many try to label Jobs as a microsoft wannabe, I don't think even if they had the same marketshare as ms, that apple would ever become ms,

I look at Jobs et al and I think, that's somebody who's lived and loved the dream, and I look at Gates, and Ballmer and I see DREAM KILLERS...

AND The only reason that Gates actually gives money to charity is to try to clean that dirty feeling from his chest. It won't go away Bill.

Mac OSX isn't for everyone, it's only good for about 80% of the population.

you think too much, does false imagination change the facts? sorry it doesn't.

Not much indeed, considering Windows market share is presently at +-89%

Not necessarily true, rampant complaints pour in from all sectors while viewing current Windows bulletin boards.

95% if you read world wide #, not the # from US dominant sampling by net applications

complaints are always like that, make you feel overwhelmed. And 20x more users sure generate 20x more complaints, if not more due to the complaining nature of windows users.

You accuse the person you replied to for not having specifics; where is your specifics to back up the claim that 'Vista is perfectly ok'? is the supposed position of something, 'ok' until proven otherwise?

Doesn't the first people who proposed a point have the obligation to present details first?

95% think that drinking wine from a card board container is acceptable.

70% MP3 users use iPod.

Ill informed rubbish? the fact he has a differing opinion to you some how makes him 'ill informed'?

ill informed, means the points or "facts" presented are false, or biased, offering an false facts is "ill informed"

PS. ill informed rubbish post != ill informed rubbish person, you should not alter the quotation in a way that seems like a personal attack when its not.

 

[Tweeksy]

"Vista is finally stable and ready".. Microsoft is on something really good because its still not very stable or ready. I installed it last week because the Service Pack was out for it so i thought maybe it will be better but it felt the same

Have to love that wording though "finally stable and ready" I am looking to switch to mac (as soon as they update the mini) and this kind of wording simply puts me off Vista and continuing on the PC route even more. Suggests to me "Vista is now ready for launch, a year after launch"

 

[BongoBanger]

You accuse the person you replied to for not having specifics; where is your specifics to back up the claim that 'Vista is perfectly ok'? is the supposed position of something, 'ok' until proven otherwise?

The fact that PC sales are growing and that Vista is installed in over 85% of all new PCs (which includes Macs) sold? See, the difference is that his comment is subjective drivel whereas mine is backed up by an expanding PC market.

95% think that drinking wine from a card board container is acceptable.

Is there a point to this comment or did you just feel like making a stupid and inaccurate analogy?

Ill informed rubbish? the fact he has a differing opinion to you some how makes him 'ill informed'?

No, it's the huge amount of fallacies and inaccuracies he's put in his post that does that.

Now if you really want to discuss this then I suggest you come up with some salient points.

Let's start with a question:

How many major updates has Vista had in 18 months and how many has Leopard had in one year?

 

[DMann]

95% think that drinking wine from a card board container is acceptable.

Is there a point to this comment or did you just feel like making a stupid and inaccurate analogy?

Actually, the point is quite clear. People will eat s**t willingly, up until they are led to discover something better, without the rancid flavor, and higher in nutrition content. One of the reasons that the Mac retail stores have been, and continue to be, so successful is that people are able to actually compare their rather dismal experiences to something far more refined in terms of quality, elegance, productivity, and lack of bloat. For those who have experienced drinking fine wine out of fine crystal, cardboard cups tend to be quite a let down.

If anything is inaccurate and ludicrous, it is the claim:

Specific please because, you know, for the vast majority of people Vista is perfectly OK.

Vast majority? You are clearly hallucinating.

Let's start with a question:

How many major updates has Vista had in 18 months and how many has Leopard had in one year?

Great point, how many updates does Vista (still badly) need, and how few updates are necessary with a solid OS like Leopard?

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

I hate to be one of those people, but have you even used Vista recently? it's a pretty solid OS. I like to play around with it (I don't have any serious use for it), but I find it very pretty, but at the same time very stable.

I would agree that for the VAST majority of computer users Vista is a great OS.

 

[Cloudane]

Microsoft should do something like:

PC: So, Mac, how's this push thing going?
Mac: ....
PC: Uh, Mac? *waves hand in front of Mac's face* Hmm strange. Can you hear me?
Cloud: I can hear you! Hold on, I'll write him a letter and get back to you.
PC: What the? Riight... well I'm just going to rearrange a couple of appointments, maybe do some instant emailing and trade some instant contacts with Pockie.
Pocket PC: You called?
PC: Hi Pockie. Here's some new data.
Pocket PC: Cool, got it, I'll be on my way.
Mac: Huh.. what? Oh, hey PC. The push thing is going great!
PC: Looks like a syncing ship to me...
* Cut to Windows logo *

 

[DMann]

I would agree that for the VAST majority of computer users Vista is a great OS.

However, the VAST majority of computer users have machines barely capable of running XP, and have little interest in the investment of upgrading.

 

[BongoBanger]

Actually, the point is quite clear. People will eat s**t willingly, up until they are led to discover something better, without the rancid flavor, and higher in nutrition content.

No they wont.

One of the reasons that the Mac retail stores have been, and continue to be, so successful is that people are able to actually compare their rather dismal experiences to something far more refined in terms of quality, elegance, productivity, and lack of bloat.

Sorry, this is Leopard were talking about? You know, the OS with a higher SLOC than Vista and a similar installation size?

For those who have experienced drinking fine wine out of fine crystal, cardboard cups tend to be quite a let down.

I'm sure it does, however since Vista is a good OS it's a rubbish analogy.

If anything is inaccurate and ludicrous, it is the claim:

Vast majority? You are clearly hallucinating.

Really. Ok, go and look at the number of PCs sold last year then go and see how many had Vista installed and still do. I'll be here when you come back with your tail between your legs.

Great point, how many updates does Vista (still badly) need, and how few updates are necessary with a solid OS like Leopard?

LOL!

Vista has had one SP. Leopard has had four.

Fanboys!