“People talk about changing platforms. They promote Mac and Linux as vaguely better than Windows because these operating systems crash less, because they’re cheaper, or because Microsoft isn’t involved. Meanwhile, Windows users complain bitterly about everything. But few actually switch. Why is this? Let’s look at the reasons to switch and try to determine exactly why Windows has such a viselike grip on its user base. If I am correct in my assessment, then everyone has been barking up the wrong tree for decades,’ John Dvorak writes for PC Magazine.
Dvorak then goes through a list including “ease of use,” “total cost of ownnership,” “viruses and security,” and more and concludes, “When Steve Jobs first rolled out the Macintosh and eschewed games on the machine, telling people to put them on the Apple II instead, he made the biggest mistake of his life right then and there. This is the main differentiator in platform preference. PCs can play tremendous games, and there are many more to choose from than there are cross-platform titles. Families are hard-pressed not to own a PC because of the tonnage of children’s games, for instance. Although Macs are easier for kids to use, children still want machines that can play the games they like. All the wheel spinning about the superiority of this platform or that platform just boils down to the fun side of computing: games. No other single factor is so skewed. Everything else is a wash.”
Full article here.
Sad, but true.
I will have to agree, if it were not because I could not play Tribes 2 on PC, I would own a Mac. That said I am still in process getting a PowerBook anyhow. I’m really tired of PC updates and crashes. Mac is starting to get all the popular games now, so that article will soon be null. Tribes 1,2 and the upcoming 3 are all on PC only, so that is the only thing that is salvaging my computer from become scrap metal. I <3 MAC.
Well, I’ve died, and I’m in hell now for all the lying I did about Macs. They are the best. Even when I was pushing OS/2, I knew Macs were better.
Too take to apologize, but take my advice, don’ believe a word I said…ahhh, it’s hot! Ow ow ow ow ow!!!
I’m looking to get a new Win POS for no other reason than to play Dark Age of Camelot online with my friends. I’d much rather using my mac (I’ve played some robust stuff on my PowerBook) but the game titles just aren’t being made readily available.
Sigh…
Typical Windows mentality. They need to remember, Productivity=Linux, Creativity=Mac, Games=Windows.
PC gaming is dyeing as majority of games sold are played on the consoles. I read a while back in the US Electronics Boutique may stop selling PC games as they don�t sell a lot compared to consoles.
gamers. heehee.
This may all change when the when xbox and PS3 switch over to the PPC.
It should be easy to port these games over to Mac.
Who are these sad people that really spend that much money on a game machine?!?! You can get a good game machine for lots less that is made for games, and it doesn’t crash!!
If you are that addicted to gaming, you need to take your whithering little gray body out in the sunlight and find real life. Gollum!
Jimbo is 100% right. If I played games regularly (and I don’t), I’d plunk down $200 for a PS2 to hook up to my TV.
Exactly. I’ll take a PS2 anyday over any “gaming” PC, Mac or anything else…
artist: I don’t believe that. Xbox PPC won’t make a port any easier. It’s not the processor that is the big deal, it’s the Windows API different from the Mac API.
Any programmers here? Am I right or wrong?
Though consoles are more popular for gaming, games still make a big difference to a family buying a computer. They will choose the one that provides the most bang for buck, and satisfying a child’s need for games is a big bang.
The problem with Dvorak’s theory is that family computers account for a very small slice of the computer pie. Even if the Win/Mac gaming situation were reversed, Mac’s market share would still be small. Most computers are purchased for work (I have no statistics to support that statement, so quote ’em if you got ’em).
Dvorak once said the mouse wouldn’t fly, err the mouse was not going to gain popular acceptance. This guy is just trolling for hits again. Anyway, Steve now says get a Playstation, Gamecube or even a Xbox if you want to play games.
?
!
You guys pushing PS2 and other consoles don�t get the PC game world. Our household has PS2, GameBox and PCs.
Our teenagers never touch the game consoles, but spend hour after hour on their PCs playing games over the internet.
It is just an entirely different world.
Oh yeah, we were going to Macs for the boys, but they wanted PCs so they could play the newest games.
If in the customers wants to play games on their computer – they will choose Windows.
For years PC users used to sneer at Macs because, in their words, “they were just toys and were only good for games and pretty pictures”. Now, in a complete about face they appear to be saying they won’t buy one because Macs don’t have all their favorite games — yet. Come on, guys. That’s the stupidest excuse. Make up your minds. If you really want to do serious computing get a serious machine that does EVERYTHING well — including games. Get a Mac!
I rarely play games on my mac or PC. I play them on video game systems. I hate playing computer games.
Matthew
Thank someone, because this will change soon.
Sony/Nintendo/xBox uses IBM�s RISC chips. Conversion is much easyier today. I still need my SAP and other REAL Business Suites to run on my Mac.
(Not toys like Mickey Mousesoft)
So, finally the truth comes out. Macs != toys. PCs == toys.
Hogwash… Corporate purchases drive PC purchases… It used to be that you purchased a Windoze box because that’s what you had at work, and that’s all that work purchased.
Apple continues to attract free-thinkers and Windows users – especially with its stability and lower cost of ownership: not to mention the whole virus plague.
If Apple would put a voice recording capability onto their iPods – then corporations would embrace the iPod in lieu of the Sony Digital Recorders (which are pretty much the same price).
People are switching… Windoze is also under attack in many countries, as governments search for stable and secure alternatives.
In two more years, Dvorak will eat his words.
Actually Apple lacks the high end business and low end consumer…
That is SAP and Games…
High end media and middle consumer and the UFO consumer are well covered.
So it doesn’t help that Command & Conquer: Generals, Unreal Tournament 2004, Warcraft 3, and a bunch of hot games are out of the Mac?
I hear rumours that ‘M$’ maybe working on a FlightSimulator version for OSX! Probably the only thing I miss from windows.
True that little gaming is available on OSX
I think it’s a bit of a sweeping statement by Dvorak, however there is a lot of mileage in what he’s saying. Adolescent children tend to drive the purchase/upgrade of the family computer as they enter the high schooling era. The last thing kids at this age wish to be is ‘different’! Conformity and acceptance is the key for early teenagers. This is an incredible pressure placed on the parents who primary motivator is the gaming not the education. It then establishs an OS comfort patern for the rest of their (and their younger siblings) computing lifes.
I think Dvorak’s on to something quite important in this case.