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Why is mac not as popular as windows?
- Thread starter manapple
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It's more expensive, it's closed off, there's fewer programs for it, it's not enterprise friendly, people aren't used to it, and it's more expensive.
The main sticking point is price. You can spend $500 for a good computer that will last four or five years. Sure those desktops aren't the fastest and the laptops are either bulky with poor battery life or light and slow netbooks with decent battery life but they are good enough.
Most people are fine with something that gets the job done. Namely checking e-mail, writing documents, surfing the web and to a lesser extent saving some pictures and viewing the occasional asinine video clip on Youtube.
I'm sure many of them would like to have a Mac. But they are expensive. That money can go to something more useful to them. The computer is just a tool that they have to use. Their lives don't revolve around them. Many would rather they did not ever have to touch them.
Most people are fine with something that gets the job done. Namely checking e-mail, writing documents, surfing the web and to a lesser extent saving some pictures and viewing the occasional asinine video clip on Youtube.
I'm sure many of them would like to have a Mac. But they are expensive. That money can go to something more useful to them. The computer is just a tool that they have to use. Their lives don't revolve around them. Many would rather they did not ever have to touch them.
Closed off as far as hardware choices yes, as far as software, no its more open that Windows is. Mac OS is built upon Darwin Unix. I also disagree with the "not as enterprise friendly". They work fine for us. Now if your place of work uses some custom in house apps then maybe its an issue but for almost everything the macs are actually better, much easier to set up on the network. We usually only ever have to deal with them when setting up new ones.
To the OP:
Price and myths are the two reasons its not as popular.
First, price:
People have this idea that "you're paying more for less" with a Mac, yet they fail to take into account the quality of hardware and OS you get. You simply can't find the same quality of machines in the Windows world. It would be like comparing a Lexus to a Neon. Sure both can get you to the same place but one is a much more pleasant experience.
Also people forget that Apple and Microsoft have different business models (Apple makes money from hardware, MS for software). This is where you get dumb people who talk about the "Apple Tax". One could easily say Microsoft has a "Microsoft Tax" since they charge so much more for their software than Apple does ($400 for the full version of MS Windows, $400 for the full version of Office, etc). The thing is NEITHER company has a so called tax, they have markup on different products and thats how the make their money. Apple is a hardware company, Microsoft is a software company. If you want high quality hardware in the Windows world you will pay almost the same as if you were buying a Mac.
Second, myths:
I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say things like "Well I heard Macs wont work with anything." Maybe back in the day that was true but not in todays world. I haven't came across a printer, hard drive, mouse, keyboard, scanner, speakers, cameras, camcorders, or other misc peripherals that I haven't been able to connect. Unfortunately for some reason people still believe that macs aren't as compatible. I find the reverse to be true actually.
I love being able to have multiple desktops, built in ISO support, the ability to create and resize partitions on the fly without a special program, etc. I can even run Windows on my Mac (which I do, I work with Windows for a living so it only makes sense for me to have it on my Mac).
Anyway those are the two reasons (there may be more of course) that people don't like Macs.
Also I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure Apple rakes in more profit than HP and Dell.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/full_list/index.html
thats why.
apple is so high mostly coz of ipad, ipod etc sales. not coz of the mac. plus mac competes with dell+hp+ibm+what not on one side, coz they all run windows.
Also, its had to believe that people would go for poor quality for a few bucks more. Is there more to this, like a loyalty issue developing over the years? That windows got the market in 95' when apple wasnt doing that well?
thats why.
apple is so high mostly coz of ipad, ipod etc sales. not coz of the mac. plus mac competes with dell+hp+ibm+what not on one side, coz they all run windows.
Also, its had to believe that people would go for poor quality for a few bucks more. Is there more to this, like a loyalty issue developing over the years? That windows got the market in 95' when apple wasnt doing that well?
Just a few weeks ago, I had a friend ask me for computer advice (they were buying a new one). First thing I asked was if they were interested in Windows or Mac. Their response: "I could never use a Mac, I need a right-click."
In 2011, some people still believe Mac's don't have right-click. Whose fault is that?
In 2011, some people still believe Mac's don't have right-click. Whose fault is that?
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1) You're really going just on the fortune 500 numbers? That's highly flawed. As you note, Apple's business is more than just the Mac. The same goes for the other manufacturers (you very likely have an HP printer nearby at the moment).
2) Windows is "more popular" because of its moves over a decade over ago. Consumers and businesses got hooked on windows machines and haven't wanted to learn a new system. This especially is key in the enterprise market, where the bulk of Windows licenses are.
3) Why do you care so much about whether the mac is "less popular?" Do you enjoy it? Then who cares what others think.
Plus those very numbers show Apple with much higher profits than both Dell and HP, and bigger annual revenue than Dell. I'd say that shows Apple is doing quite well relative to those two companies.
And if you go by market capitalization Apple is the third largest company in the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_corporations_by_market_capitalization
The current market share of OSX versus Windows is a legacy of marketing and strategic decisions made decades ago. When Jobs came back to the head of the company and there was a young, tentative Mac clone market, Jobs said something to the effect of "Maybe we should have allowed clones in the 80s, but it's too late for that now."
When computers were just moving into homes in a significant way, you could pick a Mac or an Amiga or a Commodore 64 or an IBM. Or, you could pick an "IBM Compatible" computer that did everything the IBM did without the price. IBM compatible machines ran Microsoft products. They grabbed the critical market share. Computers improved, graphics and colors increased, and the third party software was being written to run on DOS.
Most other brands dropped to the wayside. Mac kept chugging along, but "IBM compatible" was where the growth was the strongest. Remember Windows 3.1? I do, and I remember exiting to DOS to play all my games. A pain? Yes, but I couldn't play any of those games on a Mac. Never even crossed my mind, or the minds of most others. As the internet age dawned, a Jobs-less Apple was foundering and Mac was thought to be a dying platform. It had its loyal users and its strong points, but its direction was bad. Think about it: One of my reasons for moving to Mac is that I wanted to invest in its ecosystem, a great OS with good software and long-lasting hardware. But back in the 90s, anyone considering such things would have been foolish to go for Mac--Windows ruled the world. Almost literally. Windows 95, the browser wars, enterprise, all of it--Microsoft was skilled and well-marketed and dominant.
Jobs started turning things around. The translucent iMacs were the first stylistic step, but I started paying attention after an iteration or two of OSX, and the world paid attention to the iPod. Mac is growing again, but it's still a niche.
Now, Windows is still widely available with many compatible machines. Everyone knows how to use it--you have to for work or school. There is a product for every conceivable budget or need. Apple, selling its own hardware, simply isn't interested in that anymore. They know better than to try--they are taking over the new markets instead. Is OS X superior to Windows? Until Windows 7, definitely, and now, probably; but technical superiority has never been the only reason something succeeds.
Ironically, Apple has mastered the lessons it learned against Windows--there have been technically equal or superior MP3 players, smartphones, and tablets. The newest Droid products have that much-discussed "openness" and beat iPhone 4 in technical specifications. But people are buying Apple. The shoe is on the other foot.
When computers were just moving into homes in a significant way, you could pick a Mac or an Amiga or a Commodore 64 or an IBM. Or, you could pick an "IBM Compatible" computer that did everything the IBM did without the price. IBM compatible machines ran Microsoft products. They grabbed the critical market share. Computers improved, graphics and colors increased, and the third party software was being written to run on DOS.
Most other brands dropped to the wayside. Mac kept chugging along, but "IBM compatible" was where the growth was the strongest. Remember Windows 3.1? I do, and I remember exiting to DOS to play all my games. A pain? Yes, but I couldn't play any of those games on a Mac. Never even crossed my mind, or the minds of most others. As the internet age dawned, a Jobs-less Apple was foundering and Mac was thought to be a dying platform. It had its loyal users and its strong points, but its direction was bad. Think about it: One of my reasons for moving to Mac is that I wanted to invest in its ecosystem, a great OS with good software and long-lasting hardware. But back in the 90s, anyone considering such things would have been foolish to go for Mac--Windows ruled the world. Almost literally. Windows 95, the browser wars, enterprise, all of it--Microsoft was skilled and well-marketed and dominant.
Jobs started turning things around. The translucent iMacs were the first stylistic step, but I started paying attention after an iteration or two of OSX, and the world paid attention to the iPod. Mac is growing again, but it's still a niche.
Now, Windows is still widely available with many compatible machines. Everyone knows how to use it--you have to for work or school. There is a product for every conceivable budget or need. Apple, selling its own hardware, simply isn't interested in that anymore. They know better than to try--they are taking over the new markets instead. Is OS X superior to Windows? Until Windows 7, definitely, and now, probably; but technical superiority has never been the only reason something succeeds.
Ironically, Apple has mastered the lessons it learned against Windows--there have been technically equal or superior MP3 players, smartphones, and tablets. The newest Droid products have that much-discussed "openness" and beat iPhone 4 in technical specifications. But people are buying Apple. The shoe is on the other foot.
well to me I have both and apple has it's good points and bad. Now with win 7 there is little difference in performance and ease of use.
but myself I run a lot of the same software on both and it always works better on win7. I am talking about firefox and chrome. none of the plugins work as well on my mac if at all. both eat up memory more and slow down more after a few days running.
installing apps for the most part is smoother in windows. with a mac sometimes you double click sometimes you drag sometimes you can't find running install app sometimes a drive is left on the desktop and you have to drag it to the trash. copy and paste sometimes you can right click with the mouse sometimes you can't the delete key won't delete a file. you can't drag and drop files into a open folder with files in the way.
Quite a few apps won't close down and need a forced close.
but myself I run a lot of the same software on both and it always works better on win7. I am talking about firefox and chrome. none of the plugins work as well on my mac if at all. both eat up memory more and slow down more after a few days running.
installing apps for the most part is smoother in windows. with a mac sometimes you double click sometimes you drag sometimes you can't find running install app sometimes a drive is left on the desktop and you have to drag it to the trash. copy and paste sometimes you can right click with the mouse sometimes you can't the delete key won't delete a file. you can't drag and drop files into a open folder with files in the way.
Quite a few apps won't close down and need a forced close.
Because the license says you can only run Mac on an Apple product. Or were you really comparing a piece of hardware to a piece of software?
I left off the x button that does the same as the minus button and you have to either right click or use hot keys ot shut a app down. I remember mac users whining about how windows copied the buttons? but it seems they work in windows.
Seriously? You had to ask this question to a bunch of people that are sure that 1. MS is going to go bankrupt in a year or two and 2. Google is going to give up on Android because it's a failure already?
Come on.
Here's why: The cheapest MacBook, costs more than almost every single computer Best Buy sells that doesn't have the Apple logo on it. When Steve Jobs was pushed to make a more affordable Mac, Apple introduced the Mac Mini - at just $499. Ever since its introduction, Apple has been almost adamant in making sure the Mac Mini was a failure; it never has come with a keyboard or mouse, it cost too much for what it was, and Apple has done nothing about that but jack the price up. Yea, because people that want a budget computer really need something that can fit in their jacket pocket.
Apple is the Hollister of computer companies - they annoy the (@# out of everyone else and go out of their way to prove they're not just another company, but at the end of the day that's all they are.
The only thing I can give Apple credit for is making a Unix-based operating system that I can use without having to crack open WINE every time I want to do something more than read slashdot and bitch about people that use KDE and Gnome while I use my obviously superior <insert window manager here that makes Windows 1.0, yes 1.0 look like a bitmapped masterpiece>
So that's it. I have to suffer with these morons that think they're saavy and yuppy and trendy and all that stuff, go to stinky apple stores, and put up with pretentious morons that drive BMWs and act like iPhones are too good for people that have MetroPCS.
But I have OS X <3
Come on.
Here's why: The cheapest MacBook, costs more than almost every single computer Best Buy sells that doesn't have the Apple logo on it. When Steve Jobs was pushed to make a more affordable Mac, Apple introduced the Mac Mini - at just $499. Ever since its introduction, Apple has been almost adamant in making sure the Mac Mini was a failure; it never has come with a keyboard or mouse, it cost too much for what it was, and Apple has done nothing about that but jack the price up. Yea, because people that want a budget computer really need something that can fit in their jacket pocket.
Apple is the Hollister of computer companies - they annoy the (@# out of everyone else and go out of their way to prove they're not just another company, but at the end of the day that's all they are.
The only thing I can give Apple credit for is making a Unix-based operating system that I can use without having to crack open WINE every time I want to do something more than read slashdot and bitch about people that use KDE and Gnome while I use my obviously superior <insert window manager here that makes Windows 1.0, yes 1.0 look like a bitmapped masterpiece>
So that's it. I have to suffer with these morons that think they're saavy and yuppy and trendy and all that stuff, go to stinky apple stores, and put up with pretentious morons that drive BMWs and act like iPhones are too good for people that have MetroPCS.
But I have OS X <3
I am comparing the popularity of MAC OS, on a Mac, vs Windows ( Xp, 7 whatever) on other makes such as Dell, IBM, HP, Sony and others. This is a fair comparison, as you cannot load MAC OS on other laptops (can you?). So essentially it comes down to an OS comparison. Mac vs the others. And in this race, the others seem to be winning (and promoting their OS which is windows). But why? I've used a Mac now, and would never go back to a windows pc. Using the mac is like coming to civilization, while windows is so edgy.
So you'll have all justified why this is so, with so many reasons. But what about the future? Are we heading towards a MAC OS world? (unlike todays windows world).
Why is BMW not doing as well as Ford and Toyota? (Actually, BMW right now is making substantially more profits than either of them).
BMW sells fewer cars than Ford, because Ford sells a lot of cheap little cars, and BMW tends to sell more expensive cars. Ford probably needs to sell four times more cars to make the same revenue. Same with Apple vs. Dell and HP.
I think Apple could be close in computer revenue to Dell; they make definitely more revenue with laptops than Dell (Dell sells gazillions of boring old computers that run business software in boring old offices). And Apple definitely makes more profits from desktop computers and laptops than HP does. Apple has 91% of all sales from laptops over $1000. That's were the money is.
My MacBook doesn't have "right click". It has "two finger tap"
1. pay more
2. pay less but get worse OS
3. build hardcore PC/any system u want and put hackintosh on it.
clear?
well, most ppl buy mac for elegance.
i buy mac for game
and they have a higher resale value
i still don't understand why ppl like other computers
2. pay less but get worse OS
3. build hardcore PC/any system u want and put hackintosh on it.
clear?
well, most ppl buy mac for elegance.
i buy mac for game
and they have a higher resale value
i still don't understand why ppl like other computers
I was at a trade show a few years ago where a salesman was offering PC promotional material including some free software. I told him I wasn't interested as I owned a Mac. He replied "Ahh, Macintosh. The Rolls Royce of computers!". While I don't think this is totally the case, I was happy with his assessment. For me, yes...more expensive and I like the ride.
KD
Blah...another one of these posts. One side boasting how awesome one is, and how crappy the other is. Then Idiot 1 yapping about it costs more, or is closed, and Idiot 2 saying because a $500 system is just as good...
Here's an idea; buy what you want, and what you can afford. If you can't afford an MBP, then go get a lower end system and be happy, rather than coming on a board, and bitching about how you got an awesome new system that's better than a Mac, and cost 1/2 the price. When you make arguments like that, it really just sounds like you're trying to justify what you did, and convince yourself you did the right thing.
Most stating that they're more expensive, have less programs, and don't work in the enterprise don't know what they're talking about. You can use them in the Enterprise without any issues. In fact, most Mac's IN the enterprise, such as an MBP, are actually less $$ than that of an equivalent Windows machine. Don't believe it, look it up and do you homework. And no, a $400 HP Pavilion isn't a business machine. It's a machine for a pimple faced teenager to FB and YouTube. As someone else said; if you have older legacy systems in your enterprise, then there's a chance that it won't work on a Mac. If you do have older legacy systems, then I'd hate to work at that company. Usually places using "Legacy" code are either going broke, or lazy. Regardless of what one, they're on a steady decline with either mentality. Usually points to bad management.
So there...choke on that a bit...
Here's an idea; buy what you want, and what you can afford. If you can't afford an MBP, then go get a lower end system and be happy, rather than coming on a board, and bitching about how you got an awesome new system that's better than a Mac, and cost 1/2 the price. When you make arguments like that, it really just sounds like you're trying to justify what you did, and convince yourself you did the right thing.
Most stating that they're more expensive, have less programs, and don't work in the enterprise don't know what they're talking about. You can use them in the Enterprise without any issues. In fact, most Mac's IN the enterprise, such as an MBP, are actually less $$ than that of an equivalent Windows machine. Don't believe it, look it up and do you homework. And no, a $400 HP Pavilion isn't a business machine. It's a machine for a pimple faced teenager to FB and YouTube. As someone else said; if you have older legacy systems in your enterprise, then there's a chance that it won't work on a Mac. If you do have older legacy systems, then I'd hate to work at that company. Usually places using "Legacy" code are either going broke, or lazy. Regardless of what one, they're on a steady decline with either mentality. Usually points to bad management.
So there...choke on that a bit...