“Apple has been waging a quiet war against Microsoft’s new Windows Vista operating system in its television ads and on its Web site. Now, the Mac maker is bringing the fight to its chain of 170 retail stores, as well,” Think Secret reports.
“The company has distributed a six-page document to its sales representatives suggesting ways for them to tout the Mac’s advantages over Vista,” Think Secret reports.
Think Secret reports, “Framed as bringing customers ‘beyond Vista,’ Apple’s key messages for its sales reps center around Vista’s upgrade hassles, the Mac’s ability to run Windows, the need to choose from multiple versions of Vista, and the expense of Vista compared to Mac OS X and iLife.”
“Apple is also educating its retail sales force in how to draw parallels between the functionality of Vista and features present in the existing release of Mac OS X: for example, the Aero user interface in Vista as compared to OS X’s Aqua GUI,” Think Secret reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “LinuxGuy and Mac Prodigal Son” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Please don’t be shy, Apple. It’s time.
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Again, I think the gloves are coming off. Apple is getting ready for a fight – finally!
Interestingly enough, and quite scary, M$ is trying to use it’s political power on the backdating options case as their last resort.
the gloves are off!
Gloves off? You bet.
My advice on the proper attitude to take towards Microsoft comes from a really awful movie:
Mongol General: What is best in life?
Conan the Barbarian: To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.
– Dialogue from the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Conan the Barbarian (1982)
“…features present in the existing release of Mac OS X”?
Like what? Crapple scrambled to include things they heard about in Vista. Poorly. Have you Mac morons seen Vista? It rocks!
A 6-page guide isn’t what these Apple Store employees need. They’re going to need something to do. Nobody, and I mean nobody, will even think about wasting their time at an Apple Store now that they can get Vista. Who’s going to buy a Vista wannabe when they can get the real thing? Hey Apple Store staff: you got time to lean, you got time to clean.
Which is more empty: the feeling Apple has shamelessly copying Microsoft (again), or the Apple Stores now that Vista is out?
Your potential. Our passion.
It’s the eye of the tiger
its the cream of the fight
risin up to the challenge of our rivals
and the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
and he’s watching us all with the eye of the tiger
Risin up
straight to the top
had the guts got the glory
went the distance now I’m not gonna stop
just a man and his will to survive
must….stop…the…urge..to…shadow….box
Give it a break Zune Tang. Your joke has become our pain. So piss off now.
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
– Sun Tzu
Meanwhile, Microsoft tilts at the iPod click-wheel with the Zune Phone.
How now, brown wow?
It’s about time Apple started beating back Microsoft and their crap products.
Give it up Zune Tang, your jokes are no longer funny. Go find something more productive to do with your time than blatantly asking for a foot up your arse.
Never ride into battle with dingleberries. Be pure in mind and crack – let the enemy smudge his saddle.
-Peggy Tzu, Sun’s older sister
May be the best OS win. Dont by shy linux, cmon your in the fight too.
Zune Tang….from stale to downright moldy.
May be the best OS win. Dont by shy linux, cmon your in the fight too.
Apple isn’t putting up much of a fight.. The “gloves aren’t off”….
Until Apple opens up OSX to run on Standard PC hardware, it will always be a bit player…
I love my Macs and have mixed feeling about seeing the OS opened.. But in reality we will never gain a major % of the market unless the OS is readily available to the masses, which it’s not – and I suspect never will be..
Tooth Delay: Nice! (and very wise words)
This new aggressiveness is very refreshing, considering how quiet they were on the advertising front for years. They have all their ducks in a row– it is time.
Another edict from Darth Jobs… so it is written, so it shall be done.
But, won’t make any difference. Hot dogs, baseball, apple pie, and Microsoft. Learn to live with it.
Mac and OS X market share – single digits now and forever.
The Tang better watch his back, cuz The Tang (and it’s impersonators) shall soon experience a slow and painful demise.
DOWN WITH THE TANG!
The leopard prowls.
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@macFan: “…But in reality we will never gain a major % of the market unless the OS is readily available to the masses”
It already is. Pony up the dough and it’s yours.
Presumably you mean it’s not available on any p-o-s box that happened to fall off the back of a truck.
Presumably you mean it’s not available on any p-o-s box that happened to fall off the back of a truck.
Yeah Fanboy, every computer made except Macs are p-o-s!! WOOO HOOOO Fanboy… Mac are available to the Masses!!! WOOO HOOOO… I know a store that sells them only 320 miles from here!!!!!!!! I know all my neighbors will gladly drive for 6 hours to buy a Mac and ignore the 100 or so stores in this area that sells PCs…
Nice war you’re putting up… Yeah Fanboy,.WOOOO HOOOOO Macs!!!!
Reality – OSX will maintain a 5-10% market forever if Macs are the only computer it will run on…… Being a fan of Macs and a great OS is one thing… Living in a Fanboy fantasy is another…
Doesn’t matter –
Apple could stay right where it’s at in market share and I’d be happy as a bearded clam. M$ can play dirty, crank out second-rate software, muscle their way crudely into new markets, and continue to plague Wal-Mart shoppers with its cartoonish, poorly-designed OS – I’m not mad at Windows users, just perplexed that so many would make that choice.
I think you’re wrong, though. I think that Apple has laid the framework – with strong products, reputation, and retail presence – for a market share move that will be taught in future business textbooks.
Cumputers aren’t an oddity anymore. People have to spend a lot of time at their screens. The age when thinking people choose computers based on price is fading, and the age when people look for user experience is coming fast.
When the helpful Apple Store employee rings up your purchase on one of those handheld wireless devices, they are using Microsoft Windows to complete your transaction.
Why?
Not because Apple couldn’t make one, but because Apple has surrendered this market first to Palm and now to Microsoft. There is a market for handheld and small form factor computers & Apple needs to retake the handheld market.
i wonder when ferrari is going to release a car that will compete with the chevy cobalt? only THEN will ferrari gain the marketshare it needs to win!
the thing is, macs are in a different market SEGMENT. mac os x is what makes a mac a mac. think of it this way, too – and it has been said endless times before on these forums – if apple had to support every mickey mouse configuration that dell, hp, lenovo, not to mention the endless custom-built possibilities, they would have themselves quite a tech-support nightmare. apple’s tech support is constantly rated among the best because they only have to support five computer products – mac mini, imac, macbook, macbook pro and mac pro. it allows them to focus more effectively. those machines have subconfigurations, of course, but that’s nothing compared to supporting all the “beige-box” manufacturer’s many configs, PLUS all the custom boxes. the fact that apple controls the “whole widget” means that drivers that nvidia and ati submit for os x have to pass apple’s QC – which, i think most would agree, is quite a bit better than microsoft’s.
ah, rant over. it’s all been said before.
Mac Fan,
Your lack of intelligence is showing…
“Yeah Fanboy, every computer made except Macs are p-o-s!! WOOO HOOOO Fanboy…”
I paid $5 for an eMachines computer (and monitor) at a garage sale once. I paid too much. After disassembling it at home I discovered it housed the cheapest, no-name components on the planet. There were no drivers available for most of them for the current version of Windows. The person who sold it said it was massively infected with viruses and wouldn’t run fast enough to do email. They’d tried to clean it up, but it just got re-infected. P-O-S? Certainly!
“ Mac are available to the Masses!!! WOOO HOOOO… I know a store that sells them only 320 miles from here!!!!!!!! I know all my neighbors will gladly drive for 6 hours to buy a Mac and ignore the 100 or so stores in this area that sells PCs…”
And I guess Fed Ex doesn’t deliver and the Apple online store (and the internet)doesn’t reach your area?…ignorant!
“Nice war you’re putting up… Yeah Fanboy,.WOOOO HOOOOO Macs!!!!”
No, the war was over about a week ago when Vista was released…game, set, match!
“Reality – OSX will maintain a 5-10% market forever if Macs are the only computer it will run on…… Being a fan of Macs and a great OS is one thing… Living in a Fanboy fantasy is another…”
Hmmmm, iPods are the only devices that run iTunes…70% market share? Heard about that, have you? OS X market share has already grown from 3% to 6% in the last year. Mac sales are up about 40%. The industry average is about 15%. What does that tell you, Sparky?
Your lack of intelligence is showing…
YEAH Im stupid, on you fanboys have any intellegence.. The whole world is going to buy Macs mailorder and their going to take over the world…
You’re right, everyone is wrong.
Is it a beginning of a perfect storm ?
I have been thinking about all that has been happening lately with Vista, iPhone and Leopard and seem to come to the conclusion that this might just be the year for the Mac.
1. Does not seem like there is any sort of demand for Vista, but lets just take Microsoft’s rosy estimates and presume the best. If I want to upgrade and want the best of Vista I have to navigate between at least 4 consumer versions to know which one I want. Next comes installation, and seems like even Tech savvy people are having trouble installing it. Activation seems to be a bitch. If I make it through all that then there is the problem of incompatible hardware or inadequate hardware to get all the “WOW” features. So there now I have to go buy new hardware and get it installed. I am tech savvy but I will not install anything, so back to the store and some $$$ later now I have Vista (maybe). Oh I also have a lot of incompatible software. So I start using it and get the annoying list of popups while doing anything. By now I am probably going to just throw the computer and Vista out. So a question, can I just return Vista for a refund ? I sure hope so. Word of mouth is going to spread. No buzz just a buzz kill.
2. So lets just say that I just want to avoid all the hassles of upgrading and just want to buy a new computer preloaded with Vista. For all the high end features I am now looking at computers with prices approaching 1K. This is in the apple territory. Most people who have read reviews online about Vista (most haven’t been very glowing) now can justify making a choice based on price.
3. With leopard coming out in June (Would be nice if it came out in Apr) I am sure the reviews are going to be glowing. Probably a refresh of the entire Mac line. Hopefully by then Apple has also opened Apple Kiosks in almost all Best Buys and Circuit city. Suddenly bahm you can compare the sweet hardware and software of Apple with all the Me too Vista boxes.
4. Everything else that Apple sells is probably going to be refreshed by then and the iPhone released.
If the security Ad that Apple just released is a start of a Trend (in a good way) then we might just be on the beginning of The Perfect Storm.
I hope Apple knocks the stuffing out of those Microsoft pussies. Boy do they ever have it coming!
Swing away, Apple. Swing away.
there are billions more cockroaches than humans in the world. greater numbers does not denote intelligence or superiority.
alansky: That would make an excellent marketing tagline for Apple!
Apple Inc. Knocks the stuffing out of those Microsoft pussies. (with a group photo of Apple management with stern expressions and arms folded)
Swap that for those aging subway iPod ads!
I like it!
Progeny,
I relate, but fear you are wrong, my friend. Price is the #1 consideration for most PC buyers. Most have a general impression that Apples / Macs are expensive and don’t even bother to look. They don’t want to hear about it. They buy the cheapest deal they can get at Costco or wherever. It’s like buying a toaster.
These are not sophisticated users. All they want to do is a little web surf, email, and the odd digi camera download and disc burning. They don’t want to know anything about their computers.
They don’t want “a user experience.”
They want to push a few buttons and get there. For them, Macs as currently made and marketed will NEVER appeal.
Then there are more sophisticated users who think of their PCs as more than a toaster or microwave. This is the Mac market. This is why creatives use Macs. Why those who value their experience and efficiency and want more than basic value are Mac users. But it is not the majority of the market.
Finally, the last third of the market (I’m speaking mataphorically as much as literally) there are mom and pop type users who could afford to “buy up” from a crap PC to a Mac if they find it’s worth it. These are students, parents, home businesses and average users. This is the part of the market Macs are currently expanding in to.
My point is, there are always going to be a low end consumer segment who will refuse to buy a Mac unless it’s actually the same price or cheaper than any other alternative to buy the box and take it home.
M$ has numbed the user experience of most average users to such an extent that they can’t get excited about any computer anymore.
Asking these numbed-out users to move to something new and foreign is an uphill battle, because it adds the fear of the unknown and having to learn a new system, or that’s how they see it. It’s a tough sell.
Average M$ users live in fear and numbness and just navigate by visual memory, not with any understanding of how a UI should work. They don’t know how to react to error messages, or what to do when the familiar boxes and screens are not where they used to be.
These people are not dumb, they are just numb and fearful after living under the M$ user experience.
Fear, and paying as little as possible will continue to drive consumers to the lowest, cheapest box on the shelf.
vista = OSX lite
As we speak, millions of new computers are being loaded with Windows Vista, … millions from Dell, Gateway, HP, Micron, and Alienware…
The problem with the posters on this forum is that they think most regular Joe consumers really care about the OS.. They just want a “New Computer” to surf the web, read their mail, play music, etc…
Yeah, I tried to convert many a PC user to Mac, told them it was better, and they could order one off of the net.. The response is always the same, “I’ll just run out to Staples and get a new one”….
This is Billions of $$$ that Apple is throwing away. If it wants to compete, it must open the OS to non Apple hardware.
As a Mac user for the past year (I now have 4 Macs and only 1 PC left) I even have some problems with their hardware (Inablility to change video card, WAY overpriced RAM – not to mention the “ease” of adding RAM to a mini, and inablility to add standard 3rd party cards)….
Licensing the OS and allow it to be installed on new PC’s would, IMO, jumo OSX’s market share to 20-25% almost imstantly, and I believe they would take over the “home” market….
As it stands now, any challenge between the OS’s is silly. It is indeed a matter of comparing apples & oranges…
“As we speak, millions of new computers are being loaded with Windows Vista, … millions from Dell, Gateway, HP, Micron, and Alienware…”
As we speak, millions of new computers are being loaded with Mac OS X Panther…
“The problem with the posters on this forum is that they think most regular Joe consumers really care about the OS.. They just want a “New Computer” to surf the web, read their mail, play music, etc…”
Uhm, the regular Joes all have to have friend geeks to maintain their POS. I know. I used to be the guy that everyone called to fix their junk PCs. People are getting tired of the problems that cheap PCs cause.
“Yeah, I tried to convert many a PC user to Mac, told them it was better, and they could order one off of the net.. The response is always the same, “I’ll just run out to Staples and get a new one”….”
What you’re really saying is that you’re not a very persuasive person. Ok. That’s good. Now you know what you can work on.
“This is Billions of $$$ that Apple is throwing away. If it wants to compete, it must open the OS to non Apple hardware.”
Apple’s already competing. You do know about their market cap exceeding Dell’s, right? You do know that they’re making $$$ like mad. You do know that their ads attack Vista, right? You did see Bill Gates fumble over himself when asked about Panther, right?
If that’s not competition, I don’t know what is.
“As a Mac user for the past year (I now have 4 Macs and only 1 PC left) I even have some problems with their hardware (Inablility to change video card, WAY overpriced RAM – not to mention the “ease” of adding RAM to a mini, and inablility to add standard 3rd party cards)….”
And your point here is, what exactly?
“Licensing the OS and allow it to be installed on new PC’s would, IMO, jumo OSX’s market share to 20-25% almost imstantly, and I believe they would take over the “home” market….”
And surely, sacrifice quality of product, and send their customer support straight down the drain. You don’t get it — you want Apple to do something non-Apple, and then claim that they’d “win”. They’d become just another Microsoft. That’s not winning. That’s not even tying. That’s becoming less of what they are today (quality, for one), to gain something of questionable value. Heck, how many millions does Apple have in the bank? They must be doing *something* right.
That’s becoming less of what they are today (quality, for one), to gain something of questionable value. Heck, how many millions does Apple have in the bank? They must be doing *something* right.
And there’s nothing wrong with that. If Apple is happy to be a 5% of the market company, that’s great. They can make their money off of the geeks who understand what an OS system is….
You still rant on with the old “All PC’s are junk” nonsense…. Look, Macs are just PCs nows. There is nothing “Special” about them other than Apple writes the OS for them…
A $600 Dell is a MUCH better deal than a mini.. I can change (or add a )video card. I can even take out 2 screws and add Ram in about 5 mins (Try that on a Mini)…
As mentioned, perhaps there is nothing wrong with Apple staying a 5% market company, … they can be profitable and keep expanding into other CE lines.. I myself would like to see them with a fairly large OS market share, and that will NEVER happen as long as they are the sole supplier of hardware for OSX…
Apple will take the gloves off when…..
They implement the Windows API directly into the OS. Allowing one to install “Windows Apps” without the need for Windows itself to be installed at all.
Eliminate the need to install Windows at all and people will beat down their doors. But you HAVE to be able to run AutoCad, and other similar software packages. Apple doesn’t need to license. If sales take off they just build another plant and build more computers. Licensing the OS will ruin Apple. Anyone remember Power Computing and how crappy their boxes were next to Apples?
i want to see Apple do more than just take the gloves off…i want to see some major blows landed square in the face of M$
This doesn’t represent an “attack” against Vista. Apple is doing what they should do – training their sales force about the newest competitive product and giving them the tools to sell against it.
I don’t think apple is out to take over the world. I think they want to make really good stuff for the people that will buy it. 5% or so of market share is OK – it’s still a lot of good stuff and keeps them going and makes a decent return for their investors.
I think that’s the problem most “anal-ysts” have, too. They don’t understand the Apple business model. They (and most of the world) think it’s “grow or die,” but that’s not it. Most of the “anal-ysts” don’t understand that there is a difference between “best” and “biggest”.
Now boys, get a grip…
Microsoft is in self-destruct. All Apple needs to do is to continue executing their business strategies.
iPod: Still going from strength to strength. Zune is dead in the water
Apple tv: To see one demonstrated is to want one. Is this the end of cable tv? I think it might be.
Mac: Going from strength to strength every day. Notebook sales up a staggering 37% last quarter. Apple market share among home users has already passed critical mass – MS have lost the hearts and minds of this market.
iPhone: Lets wait and see – but it looks good, and the reaction has been very favourable. So many of us hate our phones…
Apple Store: Second only to Luis Vuitton in dollars per square foot. Who was it who rubbished Apple’s retail strategy? Was it Dell or Microsoft? Whoever it was they are very quiet now…
Apple are just in cruise mode – good strategy and excellent execution means that the cash registers are ringing like crazy.
If I were Bill I would close the company and give the money back to the shareholders. Except that they would stuff that up too…