by Don Burnett
Well there are a few things amusing about the Apple Mac community. Most of it has to do with how they feel about PC's and Windows, and other operating systems. If you listen to the overall theme from Apple, with their Mac Vs. PC ads you'd believe that no one owning a Mac ever wants to touch Windows or needs to do interoperability with other platforms. Well, I have owned Classic Macs in the past as well as currently owning an Intel Leopard Mac, along with many Windows machines in the past. I have done development on QuickTime and Photoshop on the Mac for folks like Disney, Universal, and SegaSoft in the past.. So believe me I have covered the gamut of development. Having said that I like Apple's past and current work.
I use Windows machines too. I find the interface more sophisticated and customizable on Windows, but that's my own opinion. What I like about Macs is that they are very easy to use and work with and it's great for non-technologists. But in the current situation of things (even with Leopard and Vista) they both approach parity for ease of use and capabilities. There isn't one with a big edge over the other. I find many people not into "technology" like the Mac because they can get things done faster and approach people without a great deal of computer knowledge in a very easy to use way. Even though I really do like the "Mac vs PC" ads because they are witty, I don't find them very insightful or really say why it's better to use a Mac than a PC. Both platforms have very mature software for specific tasks. One really isn't that much easier to use than the other these days. But that's a perception issue that the individual will find.
I saw this video up on VisitMix.com and just had to respond, because I see it every day with designers, because they have got it right, they have merged the best together into one box and are using it..
Vista on Macintosh at IdentityMine
So expanding on the article there... What's attracting PC users to Macs these days, certainly not Mr. Jobs advertising. I asked a bunch of designers what appeals to them about having Apple hardware.. They told me the following:
- It's the best of both worlds, all Mac's are Intel designed hardware with great performance.
- They can run both Vista and OS X on the same hardware. The OS X Leopard disc includes drivers with BootCamp for Windows Vista. So you can run it natively or in a virtual machine with a product like VMWARE or Parallels.
- The performance tracking under Vista gives the Mac hardware on a Mac Pro a "4.8" which is almost top of the line performance that you can get in Windows..
Here are some current Mac facts that the Mac community doesn't like to talk about but it's true...
According to Marketshare.Hitslink.com the marketshare of Mac's look like this (those hitting the Internet and looking at websites)..
Current Macs make up about 3.59% of the Internet consuming users, while dropping drastically to 3.22 is the older PowerPC chip based Macs. That seems to indicate people are going out and buying new Mac Intel machines quite a bit and the population of Intel Macs have caught up with and surpassed the PPC Macs of the past.. Note, just in browser usage it seems Vista is doing quite a bit better there than folks are giving it credit for a 9.1 percent..
This really speaks to the fact that every time I go do a design forum or conference I see many Mac laptops running Vista along with Mac OS. Someone told me, though I don't remember who that Mac hardware folks are the biggest group buying Windows Vista Ultimate retail copies. I don't doubt this at all.. Windows is so big, most Mac folks can't ignore it because of work or whatever reason, even if it's not the choice they use at home for themselves.
I am sure I will get some computer religious Mac Hack out there to be upset by this and reply to the information I am presenting here and tell me it's the Mac, but what is the Mac anymore it's just and OS like Windows, the hardware will basically run any OS out there you want.
It's really not my intent here to be smug, or to try to say "Windows is Better", but honestly this is what's going on in the market, people are en mass buying Apple hardware and putting Windows on it to run alongside OSX to get what they are required done for work or some other reason. Apple has created one of the best hardware compatible Windows systems ever, in addition to being able to run Mac OS (and Linux, and AROS, etc..). If you want a great hardware solution that's going to do what you need it to both on Apple and Microsoft platforms, go out and buy the Apple machine. You really can't get better price performance.
There might also be something to the fact that the "speed and performance" improvements may have something to do with their BIOS which isn't a legacy thing, like most PC hardware makers use. Intel also worked with Apple to provide a top of the line performance and design which completely shows through, no matter your OS of choice.. In my opinion if I was going out for performance, over the other PC hardware makers for a Vista machine, it would be hands down to Apple at the moment. Sure you have PC makers mimicking the design shapes of machines out there, but it's all about the overall design and how everything works together. In hardware Apple really has that down.
Unlike one of the commenter's on that VisitMix blog article who accused this of being "anti-mac", it's not. I think both articles, his and mine are telling people to go out and buy Mac hardware and explaining why people are doing it to run Windows and Mac.. It's actually a tribute to the Mac's hardware functionality. Apple gives you Windows support on Mac for a reason, and I expect that it will totally merge these platforms eco-systems in very new ways (Especially seeing Vista programs running along side Mac ones on the same desktop).
The story is a good one, because you finally don't have to "CHOOSE", consumers are winning this one with the melding of these to environments into possible one better one together.. It certainly makes the job easier for designers and is a better story if you have to work with both or even *WANT* to.. Which personally works for me..
If I were a zealot Mac user, I would consider the fact that the hardware wars are OVER.. It's not about what OS you run or what hardware really now (beyond the performance question, it's all the same hardware). I think the smart companies are realizing that most people's computer experiences with software are now in the web browser. It's what you have there cross platform is going to tell you who wins the hearts and the minds of the public. I think Silverlight for Mac and PC is one of those technologies..So it's not the OS but the browser that has become the center of the universe for most people now.
