It has held true that none of my blog posts get as many comments as those that discuss Apple products as real estate technology solutions. The passion and devotion of the legion of Apple fans, not to mention the hordes of Windows users, has made for some spirited debates and turned many new readers on to MyTechOpinion.
In an effort to spark a discussion to rival any that we have had on MyTechOpinion, I would like to try something a bit different. A sort of editorial piece if you will.
I will ask a question, provide a few pieces of information to fuel the discussion and then allow you to weigh in. My hope is that different opinions and points of view can be presented in a way that will shed new light on the subject, as this is a question that has bewildered me for years.
With that said, here we go:
Is the Apple computer really as superior to a Windows computer as many Mac users would have you believe?
And now for the reasoning for this question:
Market Share
Although Windows and Apple computers have been around for decades, Windows has enjoyed dominate market share. Actual numbers vary, but Apple appears to have around 10% of the U.S. market (one analyst claims a 21% market share) and less than 3% of the worldwide market. Windows market share is slipping, but it still holds nearly 90% of the market.
Apple sales are growing rapidly, with sales 6 times that of the overall growth in computer sales. Coincidentally, the largest growth in Apple computer sales has come since the switch to an Intel platform allowing Windows to run on an Apple.
If Windows is so flawed and the Apple OS so superior, why are 9 out of 10 computers running Windows?
Apple Knows How to Dominate a Market
There is no doubt that Apple knows how to produce and market a product that can slaughter the competition. Take the iPod for example. Roughly 70% of all MP3 players are iPods. Look around any gym in America and you quickly realize just how many devices Apple has sold.
When Apple entered an already saturated phone market with the iPhone, they quickly made their presence felt. In 2008, over 10 million iPhones were sold. Apple has become the third largest cell phone company in terms of revenue and shipped more phones than RIM (the maker of Blackberry smartphones) during the third quarter of last year. During that same quarter, the iPhone outsold the well-established Windows Mobile smartphones in all of their various incarnations.
Add to these remarkable successes the strong media sales through iTunes and the App Store and you really get the feeling that Apple knows how to sell a product.
With such dominance in the electronic device market, why does Windows still dominate in the computer market?
Back To Our Question
If Apple has shown that they can dominate a market on numerous occasions but still hold a very small percentage of the computer market, is the Apple computer really as superior to a Windows computer as many Mac users would have you believe?
I can’t wait to hear what everyone has to say.
By the way, I am hoping for an intelligent discussion on the subject. Since I have already had Apple enthusiasts claim that Mac users will “eat my lunch” and that I should “consider another vocation”, let’s keep me out of the discussion. I got enough harassment at family gatherings over the holidays. This is purely about which computer system is better and why.
In my early years of web development I was a PC fanatic. I loved Windows and got a new Dell almost every year. Always on top of technology, spending thousands a year, thinking Windows was the way to go. I felt this way until one day my system crashed… for the third time that week. I ran a website development company at that time and I had three projects due by the end of the week. I was sick of reformatting my three month old Dell so I took a ride to the Apple Store.
Since that trip to Apple I haven't looked back! I got a nice Mac Pro and started my life as a Mac user. I was a little out of my element at first, but once I got used to it was amazed at how much easier, faster, and more reliably I could do things. I was heavy into graphic design / large format printing at the time so a Mac was essential. I never had to reformat it, reboot it, fix it, replace it… it was great! This was only five years ago, and I've since moved onto laptops, which surprisingly can handle the same workload as my Mac Pro. I'm more into programming now, but when I do dabble into video editing, graphic design, etc my MacBook Pro can handle it just fine.
How does this relate to real estate? Well, I know most real estate agents aren't doing large format printing or graphic design, but they are creating flyers, postcards, and hopefully editing video, which is made much easier with a Mac. And yes, I know some MLS' still require Internet Explorer (seriously!? come on now!) to access them, so I simply tell people to either use Boot Camp or Parallels for those essential Windows programs you still need. Contrary to popular belief Mac's can sync with your Blackberry, they DO have a right click button, and the internet looks the same as it does on a PC.
So if you're on the fence about a PC or a Mac for your next system, do yourself a favor and go Mac, you'll be glad you did!
Apple is a great example of a marketing led organisation. In my opinion, their products are not as superior as many mac fans believe. I find them difficult to use (yes, really) and often prohibitively expensive. Microsoft do some great stuff technology wise but they don't market it at all well. I guess they have a culture of being complacent. They have always enjoyed a superior market share but with new technologies emerging, they need to change this culture and that takes time. I have no doubt in my mind that they are aware of this, that's probably why Bill Gates stepped away.
If Microsoft could market their products as well as Apple and create they "hype" (often over nothing in my opinion) then they will overtake the recent success of Apple.
This has started, look at the flood of interest in Windows 7 beta. Microsoft say they only expected "tech experts" to be interested and didn't prepare for the demand. This just goes to show how far removed from their customers they have become – but, they will pull back on this. I hope. I prefer a mouse with two buttons any day…
Mac's suck. Anyone who uses a Mac is an idiot.
Hey Chad,
Great question, and when you consider the two words that are changing the way Realtors do business in the online world, the answer is obvious.
Those two words: New Media
The logical choice: Mac
As the audio podcasts of 2008 give way to the video creations of 2009 (and whatever else emerges) there's simply no easier nor better platform to create, edit, and distribute new media. No knock to Windows — they've got great stuff. But this has always been Apple's turf, and the changing needs of today's real estate market made this match inevitable.
Garage Band for podcasts, iMovie for video, and iPhoto for still photos….game over.
Chuck
For the money Macs are nothing special. you essentialy pay hundreds more for the OS. Im a PC.
- great comment Jeff "the instigator" Turner haha
Got to go with Windows for the office. Trying to do loans and integrating a MAC I don't see how its possible. MACs run a hell of a lot better though. Any time to come fix my computer? LOL
Brian – you can actually run Windows on a Mac machine. That way when you NEED Windows you can use it, but when you don't you can use the power of Mac.
I was a Mac user early on in the 1990s and then switched to PC because of the large selection of software available. I got a Thinkpad in January 2007 and it had Vista on it and it was a dog, dog, dog. It crashed all the time, no one supported Vista on the real estate apps I needed to use and then the hard drive went. I had had it! My husband who thinks Microsoft is the gift to the world thought I was nuts when I wanted to go back to XP and suggested I get a MacBook Pro and thus I moved over to it in June of 2008 and haven't looked back since.
If I need to run something on the Windows platform I do it. I can move items from the mac side to the windows side by dragging. It's made my life a joy and as more and more real estate apps now support Safari and/or the Mac platform it's pretty easy to operate in both worlds. It does help to have an iMac at home so my calendars sync to each other automatically. I don't have an iPhone and am not sure I'll get one, although I am looking at it seriously, but should I get one it will allow my life to be in sync from phone to office to home virtually.
What more can anyone ask? And, by the way, I don't think there is a PC that does the same thing, right?
The market has changed and with it the needs of real estate marketing "are" changing.
For that reason I would recommend Professional Agents to look into a Mac the next time the need to buy a computer. As a long time PC user, the transition is not always easy, but very doable. From now on we will need to video conference, video e-mail, share videos as a way of communicating with our clients. Yes the PC can do all those things, but the Mac makes doing all these things much easier.
There is a Mac Tax, ie. they are more expensive on a spec basis versus a similar based PC. But there is no comparison on a support basis. Buy a Mac, have a problem, go on line and make an appointment at the local Apple Store, show up for the appointment – problem goes away.
The whole Apple Store experience is radically different than going to Fry's.
Microsoft Office, the Internet and E-Mail are all the same on a Mac, the big difference comes when you plug in your camera, Ipod or deal with music, all the supporting software assumes you want to mix and match to create a final result.
Would I rush out by a new Mac just to have one – No – But I would recommend that you go to an Apple store with a list of things you use your PC for today and have one of the Apple Staff show you how it would work on a Mac, you might really be surprised.
Good Luck
We purchased one Mac a little over a year ago. I bought a MacBook Pro and my intention was to use it more for play (photo editing, multi-media experimentation). Initially, I regretted the purchase but within a couple of months found that I was preferring the MacBook to my Windows notebook and using the Mac whenever I could (work I was doing didn't require Windows). My assistant has been using a Dell which we finally had to replace yesterday. We opted for a new MacBook for her.
The hardware is expensive and the software selection is more limited but now that Top Producer and my website provider both provide support for Mac I find that there is little I can't do with the it and rarely find myself needing windows.
Naturally, a PC will do nearly everything a Mac can do. In my experience, the Mac almost always does it faster, and to me, that's a big deal. For instance, a PC notebook running MS Office Suite, Photoshop and an anti-virus program can easily take five minutes to boot. At a year into this Mac experience I can still have this computer on and be responding to email within 90 seconds. It shuts down in 10 seconds flat. The OS is stable and rarely requires a "reboot." I know this sounds like a little thing but for me, it makes a difference.
I started on a Mac Plus in 1987. My last Mac before going PC was a Mac SE. I lived the fun of advancements like MutilFinder & Hypercard. Moving to Windows 3.11 was a huge step backward, but I was forced to switch do to software constraints at the time with my buisness. Mac's move to the intel chip is the greatest because now the three applications that will only run on windows will not hold me back on a windows machine any more.
I run XP in VMware's Fusion. Windows runs better on my Macbook Pro than on my Dell. Hands down this is the best move I have made, it nice to be back with Mac.
I am tired of people saying…"oh you do so much graphic and video you need a MAC"…..I say BS, I need to increase my productivity and efficiency. Fewer key strokes, fewer drill downs in menus, less navigation gets the same work done on a Mac vs Windows. Far better synergy between different software products etc.
I am very mobile and working out of my car everyday, the WIFI connectivity is ten times more simple on my Mac vs my PC. Networks are easy for me as I maintained my own Lantastic PC network in the 1990s. I've done my own coax cable networks in the early days and wired my last house myself with CAT 5 so I know the difference. When I ran my small business in the 1990s I built all the 386 pcs in the business myself and built the networks. I can still manage around the DOS command prompt. I am totally qualified to say going to a PC from a Mac is a big step backward.
My main software needs are Acrobat, Word processing, Spread Sheet, Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe Premiere. Of course email and the internet. I will miss google chrome, but this forces me to really leverage Firefox.
The biggest stumbling block to going Mac is the investment….and it is more on the software side as you have to replace what you have on the PC side. Example is as an agent I really believe that you have to have at the very least a copy of Acrobat Standard if not Pro and this is not a cheap program. However I was thinking of all the headaches that are gone and the anti virus subscriptions and spyware…blah blah blah, so the cost will probably in the long run be a wash.
I'm a bit confused about a comment that I keep hearing. It seems to be a general feeling that Windows runs faster on a Mac. How can this be?
If both platforms are running similar and compatible hardware (processors, video, RAM, etc.), how could the Apple hardware run Windows better?
Could it be that Apple forces you to purchase premium hardware? Steve Jobs has recently said that Apple wouldn't enter the budget computer market because of quality concerns.
Are people comparing a $2500 Apple to a $1000 Dell? If so, is that really fair?
I would like to see a comparison between a premium Windows machine and a comparably priced Apple machine.
I doubt a high-end Velocity Micro computer couldn't run Windows as well as an Apple does.
Chad,
I am not sure why. Maybe because PCs (Dells, HP, Sony, etc) all are very different when they build their machines that the performance is impacted. A million driver combinations, hardware differences. You figure if Fusion or Parallels is writing for OS X then they have a clear advantage in optimizing it to run Windows.
Essentially it is the Fusion or Parallels software between the Mac hardware and Windows software.
Ted,
I can see running Windows through a virtual machine as having some impact on the comparison, but what about Boot Camp. Doesn't that simply run Windows on it's own? I haven't used it, so I am a bit in the dark on the subject.
I have heard of this performance advantage even from professional technology writers for major publications and websites, so I am quite baffled.
Chad,
I have not used boot camp nor is my Mac set up with windows to run boot camp. From what I understand is that with boot camp you boot the computer up in windows….that as far a productivity would not be a solution for me. The Virtual Machine is perfect. I can run windows on my Mac and it functions like any other application open on the desktop. Now set up "SPACES" and the functionality moves up a notch higher.
Ted, Chad – boot camp requires you boot in Windows and OS X separately. It defeats the purpose of dual operating systems. Virtual Machine is amazing… Switch spaces and you're on a PC, then just as easily back on Mac. It's amazing!
Computers are tools, if it works better for you use it. I come from a back ground as a chef. I want what will help me get the job done with the least head ache. Mac does it for me. I can care less what someone else uses. If I pay a little more because i can do what i need to do easier, cost ot doing business. My mac is like a range it helps me cook, can i cook over an open flame? yes. Macs are for people how do not want to be able get things done with out learning a program.
I have 3 windows and 2 24 inch IMacs. Never loaded Vista – pretty happy with XP Pro though. I generally like the mac for photography and video, Use Lightroom, and I movie a lot, easy file access on the Mac OS is great. Like the simple all in one of the Imac – its very quiet. Pretty much a dream to use. Have Windows installed on the Mac with VMware and this works just fine! Needed for our MLS. BOOOO!!
Have an old windows Dell Latitude D610 which I would like to replace with a MacPro 15" Someday when I get a few more houses sold. Dell is going on 5 years old and works great. A workhorse.
One of my windows machines is going on 7 years old. Built up from parts, works great – pd 800 dollars. Could not do better. Use this with a 24 inch monitor and I am a happy guy. Actually my assistant uses this machine she never complains. No need to replace, though I want to build a machine with the new Intel chip – i something?
One of the best things about the Mac is their training program – you can set up one to one training in the store on any of their programs. This is the best thing going!
Hoping I can just get through until windows gets over Vista, then will probably be more excited about their new operating system.
Jim,
Well put. I think that ease of use is one reason that I have resisted the temptation to go Mac. While a new Macbook Pro would be a beautiful piece of equipment to have, I have 15 years invested in the Windows platform. A change to a Mac would take me from a power user to a novice very quickly. For someone with my knowledge and experience on the Windows platform, the transition would be tough.
On another note, the lap of selection would be bothersome. When I went to buy my last desktop computer, I had numerous manufacturers to choose from. It was a lot of fun. I looked at Dell, HP, Gateway and several other companies' offerings before stumbling on Velocity Micro. If I was an Apple user, I would be limited to what Apple was offering at the time.
A lack of selection and controlled environment almost makes Apple the communists of the computer realm. Oh, I am going to get beat up for that comment.
Alright Chad….I'll bite.
Computers are like cars. Some cars have a manual transmissions, some have an automatic. Some have four wheel drive, some are convertible. Some cars have the steering wheel and controls on and left side and some on the right. I can drive all. I've driven large trucks, tractors, motor cycles and none have stumped me and nor will they ever.
i never invested 18 years in windows, I was in exile. It's what was available to get the job done. It worked and I knew how to get more out of my windows machines, more that most. My computer is a tool, Windows is like getting your tools at Walmart and Apple is like getting Craftsman.
As far as selection, HP and Gateway are CRA@! My Sony Viao laptop was an embarrassment, my Dells and I still have 5 Dell laptops in my house for the family are very good. Desktops have no purpose and I'm a guy who shoots lots of video and digital stills.
You'd be surprised how quickly you'll pick up the Apple OS; where do you think Bill Gates got the idea for the Windows interface? And windows was not an improvement.
We can't give Jobs all the credit for Gates' ideas. Neither have had many truly original ideas.
We have Xerox and their PARC facility to thank for showing Gates and Jobs the graphical user interface, mouse, network and many other technologies that capitalized on.
If not for poor choices by Xerox executives in the 70's, we'd all be using Xerox computers.
Yeah I know the whole Xerox story, sad for Xerox. Where Jobs is way ahead, is all the way back in the Mac and Mac Lisa days. The idea behind the Mac was to transform the computer in to a regular everyday household appliance. Apple was always forward thinking. I was using the apple scanner, OCR, they had a CD rom, and the software was all there. Other innovations like the Newton (was a rip off too) always showed that Apple was thinking on ways to bring tech to the masses. They were just a few years early every time.
Hypercard was genius and I believe a major influencer to the Wide World WEB.
In 1987 I was on a Mac plus writing letters with a true WYSIWYG word processor printing on a Lase Printer, while my friends would be stuck on Word Perfect (with reveal codes) and a dot matrix printer for several more years until Windows 3.11 would come to market.
Even if Apple is guilty of taking other ideas and improving it, one thing that Microsoft has never done is improve their products. They get bigger bulkier, more cumbersome, over engineered and continue to have stability issues. My windows computers run, because of the time I invested over the years to learn how to trouble shoot.
Whether any of us lover or hate Windows, love or hate Apple, Apple is good for Windows users and good to the progress in Tech. It has always been that way. Where Apple had changed the playing field, is that the move to intel now allows people such as myself to no longer be handcuffed to a platform over software issues and work with a much more stable computer that all the computer hacks don't care to write viruses for.
You are so right. Competition always benefits the consumer.
Apple being a leader is good for Microsoft. Microsoft is such a follower and can get quite complacent without the fear of losing market share to Apple.
Wired Magazine reported from CES this month and made a good point about Microsoft. I wish I could quote their reporter, but I can't seem to locate the video. Essentially, they said that yet again Microsoft has failed to WOW anyone with new products.
My hope is that Windows 7 is as light and clean of an OS as it is being sold as. One thing is for sure, Microsoft did model the new user interface after Apple OS X.
Competition is key for any company to produce the best products possible. If a company rules their market and has no one to beat with the latest features, speed, etc, how can a company better themselves.
Apple is innovative, yes. Quite possibly one of the most innovative companies around. However even they borrow ideas. Take for example "Spaces" in Leopard. This is a great feature, I love it, I use it daily… it's been around for almost a decade. Known as "workspaces" in Linux, it's been helping people maximize screen real estate for years. Now OS X is a Unix-based operating system so it makes sense, but it just shows how Apple can take a simple idea that's been around for a while and introduce it to the masses.
Windows Vista has hints of OS X in it and I'm sure Windows 7 will have even more. I'm curious to see what Windows 7 is like, and wonder if it will perform better on my Mac than PC like Vista does.
I have a client that is a programmer. He has Windows 7. Says it is basically a Vista fix. He did comment it is much faster is what Vista should have been.
Anyone remember NeXT?
I'm really hoping Windows 7 is a Vista fix – it is much needed.
NeXT yes – OS X is built on technologies developed at NeXT.
I would be happy with a faster, less-bloated version of Vista.
One thing that Microsoft really needs to do: give Vista users a major discount on an upgrade to Windows 7 (we deserve it).
While I'm at it, I would also like a refund for Windows Me. No matter what anyone says about Vista, it is a huge success next to that piece of junk operating system.
I just converted on Dec 31st. Being an avid Outlook user for 10 years I bought fusion and Windows XP to run on the Mac. No problems.
I bought the MacPro because I am wanting to do video's and podcasts and I heard this was the way to go.
But I do miss Outlook
Entourage is ok, but falls short. I am rotating back and forth between Mail and Entourage. In many ways Mail functions more like Outlook with things it will do. But, my big complaint is the fonts are too small and I have to command + to get it bigger on each email.
I also have to go to my Vaio to use Quick Books so I guess I will continue to use both.
OH yea when Apple transferred my folders in Outlook to the Mac, they deleted all my folders on the Vaio. They tried for a week to get them back, it was the worst week of my life. I finally hired someone at U of M who knew both operating systems and he got them all back and organized.
It was human error from a Mac genius.
To Apples credit they did give me the 100.00 back that I had to pay to get this done.
I am sure I will eventually love it but right now I am still trying to figure out what it will do.
Hi Missy,
Way before I moved to Mac this year I ditched Outlook on August 1st and completely went to gmail. I bought a $4.00 program on my iphone to sync my gmail contacts with the iphone.
Mail searches are lightning fast and I have my email where ever I go. I am so glad to be free of Outlook. One thing I miss on Windows was Google Chrome. You could turn webpages into applications. I did this with gmail and it was very nice.
I love my I-phone, but for desktop work its Windows all the way! Vista gets a bad wrap IMO.
Jenn,
I just got an iPhone and I am in love with it. In fact, I now have 3 Apple iPod devices and think they are the best. But, I don't see myself jumping ship with my computer platform.
Why windows has market share
Because during years when Apple was not marketed at well as Windows, Microsoft gained a large foothold on the business user's market. As a result, many home users who use Windows at work, also used Windows at home, partially because of familiarity, but also because at the time, there were compatibility issues. Now that there is a legacy of Windows use in the business world, it's hard to change that. It would have been the same if it was Mac or Linux. It's mostly familiarity and investment.
The reason they were able to move into the phone market is because email/text/internet, which are the primary data uses for these devices are largely platform independent. As a result, the playing field is more level. Also, besides blackberry, the smart phone market is pretty open for competition. It appears the blackberry platform is most widely acceptable for most businesses, however, if a company is using the Palm of Windows Mobile devices, then the use of the iPhone is also fair game. Additionally, Apple's move to include the blackberry functionality into the iPhone has opened the door for their use on those networks.
I think one of the best advantages of an Apple computer is that they've integrated their products much better than Microsoft. MS has been better at this lately. Don't get me wrong, you CAN integrate MS products, but Apple has made it a point of maximizing/simplifying the user experience. For the most part, you just introduce one Apple product to another and everything just starts to work automatically.
So, from my experience, either will do. My Mac, however, has had WAY less problems than my PC ever had.
On another note: I can't stand when people think that because they're not a graphics artist, they don't need a Mac. That would be like saying if you’re not crunch numbers in excel, you don’t need a PC. Both computers do both.
I’ve found that there are primarily three reasons people don’t want to move from PC to Mac. One is ignorance, one is fear of change and the other is they are fine with what they have. There is no particular reason why they should change, but if they don’t because they think there are no programs that run on a Mac or some other 1984-type reason, then that’s just ignorance. If they don’t want to change because they are used to a PC and fear a new user interface, then they probably just aren’t a very adventurous person in general, so can you blame them?
All that said, I vote Mac, but if I had to have a PC, I’d use it.
Augie,
Thank you for contributing one of the best blog comments I have ever read.
Augie stated what attracts people to Apple – their products interface well. That's to be expected when Apple is in tight control of the hardware and software. Microsoft doesn't have that ability since they develop products that run on many different pieces of hardware, and they have to trust the third-party manufacturers to write solid device drivers. How many times have you been asked by Xp or Vista that the device driver about to be installed hasn't passed Windows Certification – do you wish to install anyway? Even Linksys fails at this.
The tradeoff for tight interfacing is you are then LOCKED into Apple's vision and products. If you wanted a faster processor than what came in your Mac, tough beans. If you want 100 business machines built without a high end graphics card because your business machines don't need to play Quake, tough beans again – your purchase price cannot be trimmed – pay a premium, buy less machines, or do without.
For many individuals that isn't a problem, but businesses are not like our public schools (where Apple still reigns supreme) and they need to watch their bottom dollar, and Apples are far more expensive in comparison.
With a Windows OS, if you finally figure out Toshiba makes horribly unreliable laptops (they do), you can get a Dell next time, or an Acer, or a HP, etc.
Now, if your business computer is a Windows OS, chances are you will lean to buying one for your home as well. That was more true in the past decade before the Internet. Since then interoperability became a big consumer wish – mobile devices, set-top boxes, game consoles, etc, should all be able to view the same files.
That said, I still think Apple has a better marketing department. For all the cool features the iPhone offered at launch, it still fails in my opinion as a reliable phone – it still drops calls, doesn't ring at times when receiving a call, and quite frankly, it is difficult to comfortably hold a device that has the form factor of a glass cassette tape. But the iPod, iTouch, and the Mac Minis are actually great devices that are successful not just because of marketing.
Ran a PC forever. Switched to Mac in 2005, loved it so much that I converted many of my friends. Kept running into problems with the ever MAC work-around that many business software services require. Now I'm back to the PC.
What did I come back to? Vista – OUCH!
My degree is in graphic arts, obtained in 1980. I started working on the computer in 1993 and after asking fellow designers who already had begun working on computers I chose Apple. I remember how when Microsoft came out with Windows 95, we referred to it as Mac 89. Apple had been there, done that already. We used to call PCs, Retarded Macs, because a PC was not nearly a "intuitive" as the Macs were when installing new software or in recognizing peripherals.
Over the years, Microsoft has increasingly tried to make Windows software and manufacturers have tried to make PC hardware more Mac-like. They are always playing catch up to Apple. Apple is the innovator. Microsoft is the "late arriver". I have to admit, that 2 years ago, in order to by-pass MLS programs' incompatibilities with OSX, I bought a PC with Windows Vista. I like it. Almost as much as OSX, but not as much. Apple is still superior in hardware and software.
Here is my story of comparison between the two. This happened 12 years ago. A long time ago, I know, in the "computer" scheme of things, but it represents full well why Apple is a superior product to PCs and Windows: I bought a CD Game in 1997 called Titanic. They had built the Titanic in 3D and you could go about the ship trying to solve a mystery. Well, the instruction book had installation instructions for both a Mac and a PC. The PC instructions we 12 pages long. No kidding. The Mac instructions were 2 pages long. Why? Because PCs were "retarded".
Its too bad Steve Jobs refused to license out the Apple OS like Bill Gates ended up doing with Windows. If not for that the world of computing would be far better of than it is now. It's like the reason why we use the QWERTY method to type with, yet today. The keys to the old typewriters stuck. And to slow the hands down so they would not over tax the old sticky typewriter keys, the QUERTY typing method was developed. PCs are like using QWERTY. The cross over will never happen because of the hardship of the transition period. Though superior, the world's market will never switch over to Apple for the same reason. Creatures of habit and the current systems are to monolithic to convert over on any grand scale.
Brendan King recently posted a link to this article on Facebook and I thought it was a worthy addition to this discussion. Good for a laugh for sure.
Microsoft's grinning robots or the Brotherhood of the Mac. Which is worse?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/…
I'm late to the table on this one but I have an opinion. I purchased a MacBook Pro in June 2009 intending to try and see what the hype was all about. Within a month I was basically running my entire business on my MAC. MobileMe my new iPhone 3Gs and the Apps just brought everything together. I LOVE having everything updated at once. Thank you LORD for sync. I am investigating a more RE specific CRM. how about a tech revie for RE specific CRMs MyTechOpinion? Give us the full scoop in side by side comparisons. I hear good things about Wise Agent. iCal just cannot follow RE transactions the way I need it too.
To answer your question I think the MAC is 1000 times easier and basically so incredibly user friendly and intuitive. It just works well. I've had it several months and never even one hang up.
The laptop picks up wifi everywhere. I can't tell you how often I sit in neighborhoods and work off poached wifi. My Dell just can't do that. The Dell will barely connect at Starbucks. My iPhone picks up WIFI as I'm driving down the road. I'm always amazed.
Support. I cannot say enough about Apple support. I couldn't figure out how to connect an old printer to the network and dreaded calling them. Not only was my call answered on the third ring by a live English speaking person they had me connected and done all within 10 minutes. The entire call was 10 minutes…I'm used to waiting on hold for 45 – 60 minutes for MSFT help. Sorry but MSFT has lost me going forward unless Apple does something really stupid.
Steven,
Are you using iWork. Check out this chart I just posted the other day. Took under 10 minutes to create, grab as a tiff, convert and upload for my AR blog post. In Excel probably would have taken 30-40 minutes most just screwing around with legends and axis'
http://activerain.com/blogsview/1290907/simi-vall…
I am going to do a List to Sell ratio chart and that takes way more thought, but again on iWork-Numbers, manipulating the database is 1000 times easier than in excel. Way bigger project.
"Market Share
Although Windows and Apple computers have been around for decades, Windows has enjoyed dominate market share. Actual numbers vary, but Apple appears to have around 10% of the U.S. market (one analyst claims a 21% market share) and less than 3% of the worldwide market. Windows market share is slipping, but it still holds nearly 90% of the market.
Apple sales are growing rapidly, with sales 6 times that of the overall growth in computer sales. Coincidentally, the largest growth in Apple computer sales has come since the switch to an Intel platform allowing Windows to run on an Apple.
If Windows is so flawed and the Apple OS so superior, why are 9 out of 10 computers running Windows?"
This comment is quite flawed and not very well thought out.. Apple is in the business of selling hardware. Microsoft is in the business of selling software (Windows). Although market share can be important I find it hard to understand why people can't get the fact that Apple has little to no interest in dominating the market and care more about PROFIT MARGINS of which they have the best in the business.
Sure I guess Apple would love to all of a sudden have 90% markets share, but in reality they're not competing in the same space necessarily as WIndows. Windows is purposely licensed to any an all PC vendors and is meant to be a low cost OS solution for any type of PC (Netbooks and so on). Apple on the other hand competes in the higher end computer market and goes after large profit margins which they continually find ways to increase.
The easiest way to look at it is this quote I saw on a forum recently… "On the larger point of market share, we've been through it before: it's better to sell 10 units for a profit of $9 each, than 89 units for a profit of $1 each. Moreover, on top of the profitability, in the $1000+ category, Apple's share is massive (in the 80%+ range?). Additionally, the company ain't doing too badly in the PMP segment (75% share) or in the smartphone segment where it's profits are higher than those of the next three largest cellphone producers combined."
The point is of course Microsoft has a larger market share. They reach all levels of the market all the way down to the low cost netbooks and their profits aren't hardware based and are relatively small, but in the space that Apple chooses to compete they're killing the competition.
I'm sure if Apple tomorrow decided to license OS X out to all PC vendors their market share would jump drastically within months, but that's not their core business. Most would agree OS X is superior or at least more user friendly and prettier than Windows, but Apple wants to control the user experience by tying it to their hardware and by giving it away to anyone and everyone like Windows you dilute the market and your own image somewhat in the eyes of consumers.
Microsoft does some great things and they simply chose a different business model than Apple. Both work for each individual company and so when making a computer purchase one has to ask what they want in a computer and what's important to them and what they're willing to give up in return.
If you're willing to untie the hardware component with the software one and price is most important to you then a Windows based PC is probably the right choice, but in return you're probably giving up a few things like support and knowing that you're now dealing with numerous different vendors so if something goes wrong you might find yourself struggling to get an answer.
On the other hand if you are willing to pay a little more you get the tie in with the premium hardware/software so getting support is as easy as going to your local malls Apple Store and one dedicated site to support. You also have a more tied in software experience as most programs work together seamlessly since they're from one company. You also have what most would consider a friendlier/prettier user interface that works well with advanced users or newbies. You also have less worries when it comes to security for various reasons, but one being there's just less attacks on the OS since there's less overall users.
Again both systems are great for what they are and both go after completely different markets. Market share is one form of measurement, but in this case it's quite flawed. In some ways comparing it simply based on market share is like comparing a luxury car company with Ford, Chevy or Toyota. Of course the latter 3 will have a huge market share as they're cheaper, but the question comes down to what segment of the market do you fall and what are you willing to give up to get it at that price. As one commenter above pointed out a better comparison would be a high end PC running Windows vs. say a MacBook Pro, but even in that case the market has already decided the winner as Apple dominates that market.
Well here goes! I definitely have an opinion on this topic.
I’ve long been a big PC user & a Mac hater. Back at Sonoma State ~10yrs ago, the campus only had Macs which I thought were horrible since they were not user friendly/intuitive hence my purchase of my first PC.
About 6 yrs ago, my SO started buying Macs (notebook and desktop) so I had the chance to become reacquainted with Mac and noticed that the interface had become more user friendly. There was definitely a learning curve in figuring out the Mac system but they are now so much more intuitive then the Macs of 10 years ago.
I finally made the switch from a PC to the MacBook Pro in January 2009 and I’ve never been happier!! My PC was driving me insane with constant slowness & crashes & taking what seemed like 10 minutes to boot up; even after upgrading the memory it quickly started to slog. I tend to keep 3-4 programs open at the same time which the PC definitely didn’t like. I was also worried about the possibility of a virus and my understanding is that Macs are much less prone to security breaches.
Sure, you pay more for a Mac but it is a computer that just works!!! Which is worth the money not wasting time tinkering with getting basic tasks to work (IE: it picks up our 2 printers on our wireless system unlike my PC).
The Mac also has great styling, is light and in general is just less glitchy then a PC. I do run VMFusion Ware on the Mac since I’m a heavy Outlook user.
Outlook is the one remaining Windows software that I’m using but I hear that Outlook for Mac will be out in late 2010. Yippeee!!!
I’m happily working with Pages (Mac’s version of Word which will also save docs as a Word doc), Numbers (Mac’s version of Excel which will save docs in the Excel version), Adobe Pro9 for Mac and Quickbooks for Mac (although Quickbooks has really reduced the number of features in the Mac version which is frustrating). As Bryan mentioned, Microsoft is a software leader and they have put out great software over the years.
Now, I’m just waiting for the S.F. Association of Realtors to get off the much hated Internet Explorer platform! There are work arounds for Winforms online but they too need to get on the Firefox platform which I hear they too are working on.
I’m now a Mac addict, religiously reading each issue of Mac Life, loving my Iphone, Macbook Pro, & Itunes!
From a Realtor’s perspective it is possible to do business in the Mac environment.
I've got both – makes it easier.
Put it this way each day it s pure JOY to turn on my computer, a MAC.
(I'd be surprised to find one PC user who can honestly say that)
Actually macintosh is much more creative than windows.
there are both the same, starting from zero to hero.
I was a long-time PC user (personal and gov't jobs) and used a Mac (years ago) at another gov't office that I worked at for just a few months. What a difference! I rarely saw the Mac IT support staff…because we never needed them! Not once do I recall them coming to my desk. For offices which used PCs, the IT staff and regular staff were on a first-name basis and we saw each other regularly. What a waste of time and productivity!
When I started working part time from home, I needed a PC. Within the year it already slowed down considerably. Within two years, I felt I needed a fresh new PC for the speed that I needed on the job. What a waste of money for someone who makes money based on speed. I have had my MacBook for two years now and it is still just as fast as when I first purchased it. There has been no slow down and rarely does it need to reboot. I see no reason whatsoever for replacing it after just two years. So for those who say Macs are expensive, have they accounted for lost productivity time? replacing it (in my case) after just two years? Macs are actually not much more than PCs and the reduced need to replace and maintain them so darn often is worth every extra penny.
By the way, the fact that Windows has 90% of the market says nothing of the quality; that actually has all to do with *history* and the big mistake Apple made in the beginning of the emerging personal computer market.
To Chad,
Sorry to be so blunt, but you're not much of a computer expert if you can't see yourself learning the Mac easily, even if you've been on PCs for 15 years. That's nothing. I was on PCs for 16 years myself (and am considered an expert user) before I switched to Mac. Easy peasy!
Actually macintosh is much more creative than windows.
I would rather walk across broken glass than use a PC. Apples rock!
Last night I took out my new iPad for a "spin." Loaded with a couple apps, I was able to drive into a neighborhood and see a map and details of all homes listed for sale in the area. The blue dot tracked my every turn. As I pulled up alongside houses, I was served the price, pictures and descriptions. All in the palm of my hand and beautifully and simply presented. I'd owned the "computer" for less than 2 hours. No programming, no IP addresses, it just works. It is a beautiful advantage to have against my PC competition.