Re: Vista Myths

On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 13:25:04 -0500, ZnU <znu@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>In article <pgs6r15oorv1obabvldpqulusjbv6u2q7q@xxxxxxx>, foo@xxxxxxx
>wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 28 Dec 2005 00:30:44 GMT, Eddie LeBaron
>> <elebaron@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> >On Tue, 20 Dec 2005 10:55:06 -0800, Mr Ed Of Course wrote:
>> >
>> >>
>> >> Martin Kess wrote:
>> >>> > They've screwed this up. Badly.
>> >
>> >> Imagine the billions and billions Microsoft could've made each year or
>> >> two with Windows upgrades and something like iLife.
>> >
>> >No, this is wrong. It actually doesn't make sense for Microsoft to have
>> >frequent upgrades to Windows. Who would buy it? Microsoft's corporate
>> >customers wouldn't buy it. They don't want to upgrade. What about
>> >consumers? Won't sell much to them, either, because most consumers use
>> >whatever OS comes with the PC they buy. Whether it's XP or XP 2, they
>> >don't care. Most people don't buy computers for the operating system, they
>> >buy it for the software that runs on it. Having frequent upgrades only
>> >increases the chance that you'll break compatibility for older software,
>> >nullifying the greatest strength of Windows.
>> >
>> >Microsoft knows about this problem and they're quite worried about it. It
>> >shows that they going to be facing diminishing revenues in the future,
>> >because businesses and consumers are becoming less and less willing to
>> >upgrade. Except for the security problems, many Windows users are
>> >perfectly satisfied with XP. They're even more satisfied with Office.
>> >These programs are packed with features, many of which are rarely used.
>> >How on earth can Microsoft make compelling upgrades to these products? It
>> >can't, not in the long run.
>>
>> I'd tend to agree with this, for the most part. Oh, there are a few
>> issues with XP (packaging, deployment, VPN) but those are minor
>> issues; for the most part, XP works very, very well, and there's no
>> great rush to change anything, either in the corporate world or the
>> home world.
>>
>> It's becoming less and less about the OS with each subsequent release
>> as differences become more and more superficial (c'mon - just *look*
>> at what Apple's touted in 10.3 and 10.4! Preemptive multitasking and
>> memory protection this isn't.). When that happens, MS has won.
>
>Uh, no.

Uh, yeah.

>When that happens, MS is in very serious trouble, because people
>are going to get tired of paying lots of money for the same old generic
>software over and over again.

Software has costs; I think people are OK with that.

>Seriously, do you really think that if
>people are satisfied with Windows, and aren't going to want anything
>more, ever, that they'll be happy to pay Microsoft $40 for every PC they
>buy (with the hardware itself getting cheaper every year) for the rest
>of eternity?

Will they be happy to pay $40 for an OS that works, runs all their
apps, is reliable, and does all the right things? Well, in a word,
yes. PCs are cheap. Fast models with 19" LCDs from Dell are $570-ish
these days.

>No, if the market works as you describe -- and I think most of it does
>-- Windows will not be the dominant operating system in 10 years. Linux
>will be.

Why?

>None of this has much to do with Apple's future prospects, however, as
>Apple now caters to the portion or the market that *isn't* willing to
>settle for 'good enough'. This market segment is small, but unlikely to
>shrink, and, of course, quite profitable, as these folks are, by
>definition, willing to pay more for a premium product.

Hey, I like OS X. I have 2 Macs; it's great. One of these days, when
they move to Intel, I hope Apple will release a fast laptop.
.

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