“Unless you’ve recently emerged from a coma, you know the consumer versions of Microsoft’s new Vista operating system ship Tuesday. Over the next few weeks, many people will try to convince you to move to Windows Vista, from design friends to product and software makers,” Mike Elgan blogs for Digit Magazine.
“This column is not a review of Windows Vista. I’m not here to tell you about Vista or what’s wrong with it,” Elgan writes. “This article is for those of you who are about to download or purchase Windows Vista and install it on a PC. I’m here to talk you out of it. Just say no to Windows Vista — for now. Here’s why.”
1. Vista is incomplete
2. Vista is expensive
3. Vista wants a new PC
4. Vista is time-consuming
5. Windows XP isn’t obsolete
6. Vista may be the best reason yet to buy a Mac
Elgan writes, “Under what circumstances should you “switch” to a Mac? Apple fans will tell you that the answer is obvious: If you want your system to crash less, run with fewer hassles and fewer security breaches, then buy a Mac. But that’s the Mac user’s world view.”
Elgan writes, “If you’re looking to make that decision from the PC users world view, here’s a more practical checklist.”
MacDailyNews Take: Elgan’s following checklist is obliterated by Apple Mac’s ability to run Windows via Apple’s Boot Camp and/or virtualization such as those offered by Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMWare Fusion.
Elgan writes: Consider switching to a Mac if:
• You’re not into PC gaming.
• You don’t have any Windows-only applications you’d still like to run without emulation.
• You don’t have major PC hardware investment — such as expensive flat-screen LCD displays — to take advantage of.
• You don’t have non-Mac applications that are required by your employer for working at home.
MacDailyNews Take: Again, all of Elgan’s four points above are meaningless in the face of Apple Mac’s ability to run Windows natively and/or via virtualization. All Apple Mac models allow for you to run “expensive flat-screen LCD displays” you might already own. So, get a Mac.
Elgan’s full article is here.
Related articles:
Apple Macs can run more software than Windows PCs – October 30, 2006
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Pioneer Press: Windows Vista shows ‘Apple is an innovation engine; Microsoft, not so much’ – January 29, 2007
Windows Vista disappoints, so get a Mac – January 29, 2007
Analyst: Microsoft’s Windows Vista could be an opportunity for Apple – January 26, 2007
CNET Reviews Windows Vista: Is that all? Clunky and not very intuitive vs. Mac OS X; warmed-over XP – January 24, 2007
Security firm: 38-percent of malware already Windows Vista-compatible – January 22, 2007
Mossberg: Microsoft’s Windows Vista offers lesser imitations of Apple’s Mac OS X features – January 18, 2007
Windows Vista disappointment drives longtime ‘Microsoft apologist’ to Apple’s Mac OS X – January 17, 2007
InformationWeek Review: Apple’s Mac OS X shines in comparison with Microsoft’s Windows Vista – January 06, 2007
NY Times’ Pogue reviews Microsoft’s Windows Vista: ‘Looks, Locks, Lacks’ – December 14, 2006
Forbes: Microsoft Windows Vista boss suffers from Mac envy – December 12, 2006
Windows chief Allchin 2004 email: I’d buy a Mac if I didn’t work for Microsoft – December 11, 2006
Unlike Microsoft’s Windows Vista, Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard will create no new jobs – December 12, 2006
15-year Windows vet tries Apple Mac: ‘My God! This is amazing!’ – December 04, 2006
Microsoft’s Windows Vista: obsolete on arrival? – December 04, 2006
InformationWeek: Now that Vista is the past, let’s look at the future: Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard – December 02, 2006
Microsoft’s Windows Vista and Office 2007 releases generate yawns – December 02, 2006
Dave Winer: ‘Microsoft isn’t an innovator, and never was – they are always playing catch-up’ – December 01, 2006
Harvard Medical School CIO picks Mac OS X over Linux and Windows – November 30, 2006
Microsoft’s Windows Vista vulnerable to malware from 2004 – November 30, 2006
Microsoft Windows Vista developers used Apple Macs for inspiration – November 27, 2006
A Windows expert opts for a Mac life – November 06, 2006
Microsoft’s Windows Vista is basically Microsoft’s version of Mac OS 9.3 – October 11, 2006
Embrace and Extinguish in action: TechIQ’s ‘The VAR Guy’ dumps Windows, switches to Mac OS X – September 25, 2006
Top Windows developer dumps Microsoft’s ‘pile of crap’ for Apple’s Mac OS X – September 12, 2006
$399 for Windows Vista Ultimate?! (Hint: Get a Mac) – August 29, 2006
Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard is 64-bit done right, unlike Microsoft’s Windows Vista kludge – August 14, 2006
Microsoft Windows Vista: If you can’t innovate… try to impersonate Apple’s Mac OS X – August 10, 2006
Analyst: Apple’s new Mac OS X Leopard sets new bar, leaves Microsoft’s Vista in the dust – August 08, 2006
Microsoft botches another copy job: Windows Vista Flip3D vs. Apple Mac OS X Exposé – June 26, 2006
Sydney Morning Herald Tech columnist dumps Microsoft Windows, switches to Apple Mac – June 13, 2006
Windows Vista rips-off Mac OS X at great hardware cost (and Apple gains in the end) – June 13, 2006
Computerworld: Microsoft Windows Vista a distant second-best to Apple Mac OS X – June 02, 2006
Thurrott: Microsoft going to get eaten alive over Windows Vista’s resemblance to Apple’s Mac OS X – March 09, 2006
NY Times’ Pogue on Gates’ CES demo: Most of Vista features unadulterated ripoffs from Apple Mac OS X – January 05, 2006
Analyst: Windows Vista may still impress many consumers because they have not seen Apple’s Mac OS X – January 05, 2006
Apple’s talent and innovation vs. Microsoft’s hype – October 25, 2005
Microsoft’s Windows Vista strives to deliver what Apple’s Mac OS X already offers – October 10, 2005
Thurrott: many of Windows Vista’s upcoming features appeared first in Apple’s Mac OS X – September 26, 2005
Microsoft’s Ballmer: It’s true, some of Windows Vista’s features are ‘kissing cousins’ to Mac OS X – September 18, 2005
PC World: Microsoft innovation – an oxymoron – September 14, 2005
As usual, Apple leads, Microsoft tries to follow – June 02, 2005
Bye-Bye Bill: another columnist dumps Windows for Apple Macintosh – January 20, 2005
Orlando Sentinel writer dumps Windows for Mac and writes ‘God bless Apple’ – January 16, 2005
IBM Fellow dumps Microsoft Windows XP, switches to Apple’s Mac OS X – September 02, 2004
Uh, as to point #3 above, I just bought a new HD flat panel TV with HDMI inputs (for my living room, not as a monitor). Just for kicks, I hooked my PowerBook up to it’s VGA input, and it worked just fine; then I hooked the DVI out to the HDMI input of the TV and that worked great too (and looked simply amazing).
Yeah, _real_ big problems getting my Macs to work with LCD screens….
Idiot.
If you have to fix your family members’ PC’s, would you recommend they upgrade to Vista?
Clearly everyone who has reviewed it would NOT!
Laughable really.
I have a Mac mini hooked up to my 50″ pioneer plasma. Works just like any other display.
I think it’s really weird that this technology writer does not know that any display can be hooked up to a Mac. He must think that the iMac is the only Mac out there. While I don’t think this is worth of a cultist jihad against the writer, it does disappoint me that yet another article about the Mac has incorrect information in it.
Can you record TV with an Mac?
Elgato EyeTV
Hey, MDN, not everyone can figure out or knows about BootCamp. It seems easy to a lot of people because they’re used to playing with computers and seeing how they work. But, some people do just use them for word or some specific program – lighten up already!
Record TV with Mac:
http://www.elgato.com/
http://www.miglia.com/
http://www.eskapelabs.com/
Record: Can you record TV with an Mac?
Answer: Yes
> Unless you’ve recently emerged from a coma, you know the consumer versions of Microsoft’s new Vista operating system ship Tuesday.
Actually, I don’t think that many Windows or Mac users know this. Mac users that do know this, probably don’t care. Windows users that do know this, probably don’t care either, because most of them don’t upgrade their OS (they use whatever comes with the PC until they get a new PC).
“• You don’t have major PC hardware investment — such as expensive flat-screen LCD displays — to take advantage of.”
This is 100% VALID. For those windows users that have a machine with power greater then or equal to an iMac and have their own LCD monitor have no good Apple Mac option. Mac mini is too weak, and a Mac Pro is almost definetly OVERKILL. And you are paying for a display with an iMac that they certainly do not need.
This is a Large market for Apple, and they are leaving it out. Apple needs a powerful stand alone machine. Basicly an iMac without the display. or a Mac Mini Pro.
Many of my friends that are Windows users and have a machine more powerful then a mac mini have a nice LCD monitor already and they definetly wont be spending 2k on a Mac pro.
to close, this point is !00% valid.
“You don’t have major PC hardware investment — such as expensive flat-screen LCD displays — to take advantage of.”
WTF?!?!?!
In trying to dispel FUD, this guy actually propagates some of the worst of it!
Sorry, but MDNs take ignores the obvious again.
Macs are no good for gaming period. iMacs have a low end graphics card and it can’t be replaced; Mac Pros have two choices and neither is the best for gaming considering the cost of the computer. So, if you want gaming buy a PC.
Some programs don’t run well using Parallels. Boot Camp is your only option. And running Boot Camp is expensive. Add at least $400 or more to the cost of your Mac for a Windows license, Parallels license, and extra RAM for it work properly.
A number of PC owners probably already own expensive LCD monitors. They would have to sell those at a loss to get an all-in-one iMac or use them with a low end mini. A mini might not be robust enough for some users.
Apple doesn’t have a diverse enough product line to meet everyone’s needs. A mid range tower would help.
eMax,
Legitimate point on your part, but if the author really meant what you said, he certainly didn’t make that clear in his article and should be taken to task.
WTF?
Go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/cle_player.swf
And click on any icon. Animation is frighteningly much like Front Row. MS is a bunch of copying losers.
MacMental,
I agree that the Macintosh platform is lacking in the high-end gaming arena (both in titles and in graphics power – but certainly more of the former), but if someone really wants to play games, they should buy a PS or XBox. Buying an expensive PC is overkill.
dddd,
That is hilarious! How much copying can one company do?!
“…not everyone can figure out or knows about BootCamp.”
But this is written by a REPORTER being paid to (mis)inform readers!! It’s his responsibility to either know or find out about such basic things.
Sure, setting up Bootcamp is not the easiest thing in the world, but it’s also not that hard. (I’m certainly no geek and I run a Windows-only game using Bootcamp on my new MacBook Pro; the game runs fine BTW, or it does now that I figured out that I have to disable my Windows anti-virus software.) But this reporter didn’t even acknowledge that running Windows programs natively is possible. I’m sure Leopard will make Bootcamp easier, when it’s no longer a “beta.”
Jake
1. This is the best story on Vista I’ve seen yet.
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eMax,
right on.
I’ve been waiting years for a ‘standard’ computer from Mac. What the hell are they thinking about?
The mini I’ve got is fine, but I want something more powerful and, above all, more flexible.
I can’t afford, and don’t need, a Mac Pro. and I am not, like many others, interested in all-in-one computers.
Steve Jobs has got a thing against this sort of computer- just as he did against the multi-button mouse for so long, and of course he’ll justify his predjudice with the the recent success of the models on the market.
But the truth is, they’d be many more switchers if the MS could buy the sort of standard, flexible computer they’re use to, but of course with all the design and software advantages of a Mac.
MacMental said:
Macs are no good for gaming period.
Yeah … there are a thousand pathetic PC games that will never make it to the Mac. Awww! My PowerMac with its standard card plays World of Warcrack (and Diablo ][, and Age of Empires ][) prettily enough that any one could be a detriment to my life. Especially WoW. I’ve never wanted to play a game on my system only to find it wasn’t available or didn’t play well. Maybe it’s more about the sorts of games we like to play?
Then he says:
So, if you want gaming buy a PC.
BEEP! – wrong answer. If you want to play games, get a Wii, or PSP, or X-Box. You don’t saddle yourself with a second-rate computer so you can have a second-rate game machine. Get the Mac for when you need a computer and get a game console for when you want to play games. Maybe the PS3 so you can use the Blu-Ray drive with your Mac and your TV when not frittering your life away – like I do with WoW.
DLMeyer – the Voice of G.L.Horton’s Stage Page
Yo Jake,
That’s a good point, I was really just referring to everyday computer users, not the reporter. Yeah, he should’ve mentioned that because that’s a huge selling point – actually the one that put me over the edge with buying a mac (my work system only works on IE).
And, yeah I have Bootcamp running too on my MacBook and I can run Madden with no issues either. It’s pretty cool that Apple hardware runs the XP OS better than Dell, HP, etc. My game runs exponentially smoother on this than the old Dell I had.
Really, it bothers me that sometimes the MDN people are so vicious and such, but they’re really just doing the same thing the negative writers do to us Apple users. They just talk shit and act like nothings wrong or that they’re correcting some terrible travesty in the world. I think MDN would be much more credible if they weren’t always so negative and attacking – except on a couple anti-Mac writers, they deserve it all!
I meant of course to write: ‘MS-users’
Can anyone tell me what Microsoft’s definition of a Wi-Wi is? It must be part of Vista as it is on their Vista promo page (below) under “Features Explained” but, in typical Microsoft fashion, you can’t tell from that page what Vista’s Wi-Wi does. (or do I even want to know?)
Can anyone help explain Vista’s Wi-Wi?
Oops.. Here is the link to Vista’s Wi-Wi.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/defender.mspx