Vision of the future (By Microsoft not raaaid)

[Bewolf]

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger II

That is a very sad and narrow view I'm afraid, Apple is used by professionals that work with photography and graphic design, musicians, engineers and even common users, who rely on two things: hassle free and simplicity of use.



Have you ever actually owned and used an Apple computer? They simply work, no matter what you plug to it (unless it's deliberately not supporting Apple, like Dell crap peripherals), it will look for drivers and work in no time, even making up drivers for stuff that is not present! It's less susceptible to viruses, there's less possibility of damaging the OS by installing malicious software, the benchmarks of Apple hardware are superior (Windows XP on my Mac runs and performs better than on the equivalent PC platform!), they look less clunky and above all they receive continuous updates and improve performance and compatibility, introducing revolutionary technology (think of AirPlay for instance) and enlarging the experience like nobody else does.

Yes, they're not always cheap, but you can get stuff at 0% interest rate in 1 year payments and receive 1 year full warranty, which you can extend to 3 years for little money.

All of this pays you back with an incredible longevity.

Yes, they're not the ideal platform to play (although I run IL-2 1946 perfectly on mine), but that's only because most software houses don't bother to develop games for Macs. Fortunately in a few years' time we'll have cloud gaming, and that will put the word end to the Micro$oft dominion in the world of gaming.

Ok, apple products being of high quality is definitely the case, but this is a bit too much of myth making here and I say that as someone that does graphical and design art as a profession and has direct access to both Microsoft and Apple products.

First of all, recent apple OSes had some serious security faults. Leopard II had larger security holes then even Vista had. Apple did not produce more secure Ooperating Systems then Microsoft, it's just that Apple computers only share a friction of the market and thus are under the Radar of most hackers.

The apple OS also has a huge advantage in being written for the same hardware all over. This makes it rather easy to optomize apple products opposite to Windows, which has to cope with a vast amount of devices. What you prefer here is personal choice, both apporaches have pros and negs. I personally like to work on my computer and upgrade it, purely performance wise you get more bang for the buck with hardware for Windows systems, peripheral producers in direct competition towards each other, so the performance gain in apple products software wise is very relative. It's also not so easy to just upgrade apple products hardware wise.

Apple products are also greared more towards the noobs, which is not a bad thing, it's like an Audi A3 which has it's hood sealed so only mechanics from Audi are capable to work on it opposite to more basic approaches in cars that leaves your room to work on it yourself. Also a matter of personal choice, not an andvantage per se.

My judgement may be clouded here because I got introduced to Apple when they only had one mouse button, which for me was amongst the most cumbersome and agonizing approaches in regards to using a computer, you always had to press extra keys on the keyboard to make it work. Espcially in the graphics department one mouse button was a pest.

I am also absolutely no fan of Apples apporach towards Apps, banning all free programming from their devices and making everything payware as a matter of principle. I am also not so convinced about Apple deisgns as in some cases, they were in some instances almost 1:1 copies of Braun industrial design from the 70ies. And lest we forget that in the modern age Apple was highly successfull in abusing modern patent law to kick any competition in the nuts.

In my opinion apple created some very noteworthy and in the later stages, easy to use and good looking devices, but there is a bit too much of a hype going on. Windows once was hailed very similiary after it replaced DOS, good looking, easy to use in comparison, quite like Apple today. And like the Windows fans are rediculed nowadays, Apple fans should be cautious not to lean too far out of the window.

It all comes down to the point that you pay a lot of money for good looks, a brand name and rather easy usage. If people are willing to pay for that, and if they have the money I do not blame them, cool, but that does not make it a revolution.