“As sales of smart devices such as mobile phones, hand-held PCs and MP3 players outstrip PCs, consumers expect their technology to behave more like Apple’s iPod: sexy and simple to use. Not many people say that of Microsoft’s offerings,” Dan Kaufman writes for The Sydney Morning Herald.
“Its Windows XP operating system is widely regarded as being harder to use than Apple Mac OS X. And many of the features expected to be included in XP’s successor, codenamed Longhorn, are already in OS X, such as advanced search features and 3D graphic effects on the desktop,” Kaufman writes.
Kaufman asked Microsoft’s Bill Gates, “Does Microsoft have an image problem? Gates wouldn’t provide a straight response when the Herald posed this question. ‘You’re a Mac user, aren’t you?’ he said, before explaining that Apple accounts for only a small amount of market share, while avoiding the question of whether there is an image problem. Oh, and as the microphone was pulled away before I could say anything else, no, Bill, I’m not a Mac user.”
Full article here.
Short and to the point. I’ve found that Apple seems to stick to the KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) principal better than any computer or OS maker out there.
Bill Gates, when asked about Microsoft’s image: ‘You’re a Mac user, aren’t you?’
YES! YES! YES!
Methinks Bill has been hearing quite a bit about Macs recently.
“Bill, why are there are no virus on the Mac?”
“Bill, why is everything you are talking about for Longhorn in 2006 is in OS X now?”
“Bill, howcome all the new supercomputers are Mac clusters?”
“Bill, did you see what Mac is going to be doing in Tiger.”
“Bill, did you hear that Oracle and Peoplesoft like Macs?”
“Bill, why are all those scientists choosing Macs?”
Poor Bill.
Mike
Yes, and Microsoft adheres to the SUCK (Stupid Users Choose Krap) principle.
Notice that even when saying nice things about the Mac, tech reporters consider announced features current?
“…are already in OS X, such as advanced search features and 3D graphic effects on the desktop,” Kaufman writes.
Um, those were announced features for a version of OS X which will be released in 2005. Before Longhorn, for sure, but not “already in.” Just goes to show that you can’t trust reporters to get their facts straight, just hope they err in your favor as often as they err in favor of your opponents/competitors. Very sad state of affairs.
Apple’s KISS is tainted by a bit too much DIMS [Do It My way, Stupid], but it’s far superior to Bill’s DIMWIT [Do It the Microsoft Way, I.T.].
I very much doubt that M$ can turn over a new leaf with Longbone. Bill must be having a tough time sleeping, worrying that he will wake up with a Longboner and nobody will notice or care anymore. Naah … the I.T. people will support it because they will be fully trained and backed up by a few hundred million marketing dollars plus Bill’s secret weapon: patches that degrade XP. If micro-softies won’t upgrade, he’ll unleash FUDGE [Fcuking Unbelievable Degradation-Generating Excrement] to get the lemmings moving again.
Typical Bill Gates – avoid the question!
He’s getting more like a politican every day!!
The simple answer is YES – Microsoft has an image problem!!
Working in marketing and design, Microsoft’s image is too corporate and not very consumer friendly – wheras Apple’s is seen as the opposite!
Alot of the comapny’s image is determined by what the company CEO looks like on TV, Keynotes etc.
Bill wears tank tops, glasses, greasy hair and dull suits, of course he has an image person.
Steve Jobs wears jeans, black shirts and doesn’t shave and says things like ‘hi guys’.
You decide! Which CEO has the more people friendly image??
Steve Jobs or Bill Gates??
Wow…very interesting article. And Gates’ response was something I figured happens a lot, but I’m very pleased to see someone actually report that. How much do you want to bet that even though he’s not a Mac user now, this reporter decides to switch, soon?
I think this is just further proof that Bill Gates is, indeed, a robot. The only thing missing in his response to the reporter was “That does not compute”. When Apple is brought up and there’s no good answer, he must be programmed to automatically spout info about small market share.
Well, the good news is, he’s surely running on Windows so he’ll crash soon enough!
😀 😀 😀
I didn’t know Gates was a funny guy. That was hilarious.
But that answer offers a little insight to Bill’s head. He is obsessed with Apple.
Q: “Does Microsoft have an image problem?”
A: “You’re a Mac user, aren’t you?”
It seems he believed that all MS image problem stems from Mac users.
Explaining that Apple accounts for only a small amount of market share, I think he is really bothered by the fact that a little company and its customers can make him and his huge company seem mediocre and a bully. Any negative questions therefore must come from that damned Mac users. We are like thorns in his brain he can’t take out. Glad we can be of service, Bill.
“You’re a Mac user, aren’t you?”
Reminds me of John Kerry’s response when someone pointed out a self-contradictory position Kerry had taken: “Are you a Republican?” The guy was a citizen, asking a candidate to explain himself.
What happened to the idea that it is IDEAS and principles that matter, not political parties? It seems that it is possible to avoid serious discussion by attacking the person instead. “If I can’t win the war of ideas, I’ll try to make sure no one can hear those ideas I don’t like.”
Very sad.
If Billy saw the keynote and demonstration of Core Image and Core Video realtime effect editing that is gonna be built into future Apple apps like iMovie, iDVD, and iPhoto, then he really knows that “Microsoft lags behind Apple’s offerings”. This little incident planted alot of seeds…thanks Billy.
So More Is Less, are you saying that the IT groups will continue to KISS Bill Gates’ Longbone? Is that what you are saying? You must be a Mac user…
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Longboner, more or less, depending on who is kissing it.
The funniest part of this article is that Bill is DIRECTLY spouting his own FUD. You see, if anyone really knows anything about Apple’s installed and working user base as a percentage of all working units, it’s Bill and his mignons [sic]. It’s somewhere north of 10% and south of 15% and it’s growing, unlike his shortbone. In fact, it’s growing to the extent that Bill’s response to the question in the article is a reflection of — nay, a repudiation of fact — a Freudian Slip.
“You’re a Mac user, aren’t you?” [They’re giving him piles!]
explaining that Apple accounts for only a small amount of market share [Stroking the longbone.] Bill has Apple’s market share on his mind!
Well as we now know Bill was a mac user too
Who says Bill has Longbone? Don’t you know why his company called Micro-Soft?
a few points…
this article mentions Mac OS X’s advanced searching.. and graphics…
someone tried to shoot that down..
believe it or not, even Panther has terrific search tech. and graphics…
the iTunes-like search in Panther is positively mind-numbing for WinUsers.. and watching the Dock makes them mess up their shorts…
—
another dork said that bill gates was obsessed with apple..
heavens NO. with a 90% marketshare, he is most certainly not obsessed with apple, in fact, most PC users ignore anything that has to do with apple, since they think the mac is just a toy. they’re ignorant. but some of you a freakin’ delusional to think that everyone wants a mac etc.
to get people to use macs you gotta speak PC language…
and that language does NOT involve an emotional attachment to your comp.
mike,
While most PC users ignore, or more accurately, are ignorant of Apple, Microsoft most assuredly does not take anyone else lightly, OS X, Linux, what have you. No matter your opinion of Gates’ personality or business practices, no one can accuse him of being dumb. He’s far from stupid.
mike,
While most PC users ignore, or more accurately, are ignorant of Apple, Microsoft most assuredly does not take anyone else lightly, OS X, Linux, what have you. No matter your opinion of Gates personality or business practices, no one can accuse him of being dumb. He’s far from stupid.
Most PC users will dis Apple and their products (software and hardware) until it inevitably appears on a Windows PC. Then it’s as if they invented it, or it’s the second coming.
It seems you are the dork, mike. How does a question about Microsoft image become an attack to Mac users? Did the word “Mac” or “Apple” appear anywhere in the question? The fact that Bill answered that question that way points out that he has Mac users in his mind.
Re: mike
Actually, it is fairly obvious that the author was referring to Spotlight and Dashboard. Granted, Panther has some cool graphics, but the search capability in the Finder is about the same as it has been for more than 10 years. iTunes-style searching is much better, but won’t be available in a broad form until Spotlight, since it requires extensive meta-data.Again, glad to see an auther say good things about Mac OS X, but sad that he had to get it wrong
to get people to use macs you gotta speak PC language…
Most PC users don’t even how to speak PC language.
Microsoft’s business success thrives off the computer illiterate joe users out there.
the author got it wrong re the search technology, but he was right about the graphics….
panther (or even the first osX version) looks just like what microsoft has planned for longhorn…