“Apple’s resurgent operating system, OSX 10.4, codenamed ‘Tiger,’ could open a new front in the perpetual conflict against Microsoft. Much as Firefox, the open source web browser retrieved from the ruins of Netscape Navigator, threatens Microsoft’s hegemony with its Internet Explorer, so this week’s Tiger debut offers enterprise customers a viable desktop choice over Windows for the first time in a decade,” Rob O’Neill writes for The Age.
MacDailyNews Take: “First time in a decade?!” Mac OS X 10.3 Panther has been offering enterprise customers a viable desktop choice since its release on October 24, 2003. For that matter Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar, released on August 23, 2002, was also a “viable desktop choice” for enterprise customers.
“Stirred by its rival’s launch, Microsoft is drip-feeding news of its often-delayed, overhauled Windows OS, codenamed ‘Longhorn,’ expected [late] next year. Stuart Harris, software product manager for Apple Australia, says OS X has a four-year head start on Windows, with Tiger [being] the latest upgrade,” O’Neill writes. “Longhorn is expected to include something similar but there can be no doubting the Apple technology is very slick.”
“IDC analyst Michael Sager is bullish about Apple’s position, saying the company is picking up market share in desktops and mobiles. He says Apple was the fastest growing vendor here in last year’s final quarter and he expects that to carry through to the first quarter of this year,” O’Neill writes. “‘They are growing in areas they haven’t been in before,’ he says, attributing much of the success to the launch of the Mac Mini. Mr Sager says the arrival of OS X 10.4 has to be seen in that context, as part of a package of new and enhanced products that are delivering momentum to the company. But while Apple gets software out the door, Microsoft is burdened with one delay after another.”
Full article here.
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