“The desktop operating system is dead as a major profit center, and Apple just delivered the obituary,” Ryan Tate reports for Wired. “Amid a slew of incremental improvements to its iPad tablets and MacBook laptops, Apple [yesterday] announced some landmark news about its oldest surviving operating system: It will not charge for the latest big upgrade, Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks, breaking from a tradition that goes back 16 years and shining a light on a long-unfolding reversal in how tech profits are made. Eighteen years ago, the tech industry’s dominant company made nearly half its revenue selling OS licenses. Now, as Apple just confirmed, the prices of OS licenses are headed towards zilch.”
“Microsoft — the king of the operating system in the ’80s and ’90s and on into the aughts — still charges PC makers who sell the Windows OS preloaded on their desktop and laptop machines, but that business is shrinking, thanks in large part to the continued success of Apple,” Tate reports. “Microsoft’s OS sales once generated 47 percent of its revenue, but they contributed just 25 percent last year on decelerating Windows licensing (and even that figure is inflated by ad revenue from Windows Live). In response, Microsoft is restructuring as a ‘devices and services’ business — meaning a company that sells hardware like the Xbox and web services like Azure. In other words, it’s becoming more like Apple. Apple isn’t really a software company. It makes software and services that run on its own hardware devices.”
“But this game of cross-subsidizing the operating system will be tougher for Microsoft, since the company is no Apple when it comes to hardware — and no Google when it comes to online services,” Tate reports. “The company rose to prominence in the horizontal PC era, when Microsoft could play one hardware vendor against another, dictate prices, and keep a computer’s hefty OS markup hidden from consumers. Those were the days.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Die, Manuresoft, die!
Related articles:
Apple makes the world’s most advanced operating system freeware – October 23, 2013
Apple’s new free OS X for Mac hurts Microsoft and the Windows PC industry in myriad ways – October 22, 2013
Apple exploits Microsoft’s confused hesitation on Office for iPad – October 22, 2013
Apple’s OS X Mavericks available today free from the Mac App Store – October 22, 2013
Apple releases next-gen 64-bit iWork and iLife apps for OS X and iOS; free with new Macs and iOS devices – October 22, 2013
That’s what sitting on a pile of cash as big as a mountain enables…
😄😄😄
Any moment now the incompetent DOJ will scream price fixing and conspiracy…10…9….8…
Re MDN’s take: Amen!
Apple is an “all ware” company!
If Apple were to make iWork for windows, the transition would be complete. Get people away from the bloatware that Word has become and microsofts dominance in the office will fall…
They already have a web version of iWork….even better than a Windows version!!
No, it’s not. At least the keynote version is horrible and lacks the majority of transitions of the desktop version. It’s rudimentary at best. Perhaps that will change when it loses it’s beta tag. Fingers crossed.
They promised feature parity across the board, but maybe they just meant between iPad and OS X. Overall, I’ve been loving the online versions, but the image size limit in Keynote is pretty annoying.
I haven’t tried the collaboration features yet, but if it works as advertised it will make project tracking and changes a dream.
Have you used it since yesterday’s presentation?
My wife is giving a presentation on Saturday for a grant she received. She’d been working on it in keynote on our MacMini for the past 2 nights. This morning I sent it to my iPad via the built in share feature using imessage. Opened on my iPad and made several cosmetic / formatting tweaks & sent it to hear at work via the share on iCloud feature.
10 minutes later I went to iCloud to see how it looked there (as I’d been somewhat frustrated with some of the limitations in the past that you alluded to and wanted to see if there were any improvements).
Lo and behold she was on it changing the color of the font on the first slide. I added a text box to say hi & then deleted it. I guess it freaked her out cause she immediately called me and asked what the hell just happened to her document. So I had to explain the new collaboration feature to her.
Looked and performed exactly the same on all three platforms. It just worked. & I am SUPER impressed.
Microsoft is toast – and now even more “burntly” than before yesterday
Wow… blown away with this… this is awesome!
And Linux. Been saying the same thing for a long time.
iWork would then take the standard of business crown.
Since when is Linux the standard of business?
Making iWork available on all platforms could allow it to unseat Office as the de facto standard for word processing and spreadsheet. Adding a Linux version would only add to its presence.
In the 1990s, AppleWorks was cross platform, but never gained traction. Times are different now – putting iWork everywhere could make it the new standard.
You want the Apple software buy Apple, its free.
The reworked iWork isn’t anything all that special or groundbreaking. It’s just a lame attempt to insert flat icons and symbology on to the iWork suite which is a step backwards in usability quite frankly. Looks as awful as the other iOS 7 stuff.
They had to make it free because no one will buy turd that looks like iOS 7. Sad but true.
Your love for Victorian decor instead of pure design is amazing.
True according to whom?
Uh, you’re sad, and wrong.
Not sure why every modern “authority” on Apple only knows of iOS and completely forgets about the fact that Apple makes computers as well.
The Mac and the iCloud (and iOS) versions are much easier to use. You need to stop just looking and start using them before opening your mouth and demonstrating to the world what an idiot sounds like.
So Apple’s infinite generosity saves me less than $100 (or whatever they might have charged) on an operating system that requires me to spend thousands of dollars to replace all the software broken by this “upgrade.” And, if I’m crazy/stupid enough to take this deal, what new functionality do I get for all this trouble?
The simple fact is that operating system licenses are not worth anything any more because, for an ever increasing number of users, there’s no reason to upgrade.
What software has been broken by Mavericks that you use? Is it a couple of high priced apps, or hundreds of small ones. Especially if the latter you must be incredibly unlucky because all of mine seems to work. Also if you’re susceptible to so much breaking, just check before upgrading that stuff works. Waiting is no bad thing on new software, OS or otherwise.
As apose to windows 8?? Yeah.. Right up there for thinking. .
Note to @mxnt41
Since Maverick can potentially be installed by those like me running Snow Leopard, it will break all apps that require Rosetta.
Note to @shrimp
It’s not “as apose to,” [sic] it’s as opposed to. Yeah, right up there for spelling.
Note to Apple
How about making Rosetta free? Opps! That would defeat the purpose of all your planned obsolesence.
Here’s an example of your typical Microsoftian clueless drone PC IT guy. The PC guy I work with here (at our PC obsessed Cornell U.) is so clueless about Macs I went in his office yesterday and said:
Me: “So are you going to upgrade the Macs to Mavricks, it’s out today?”
Weenie: “What’s Mavricks?”
Me: “The new Apple OS that was released today.”
Weenie: “We can’t afford that!”
Me: “It’s free.”
Weenie: [shocked look and a pause] “WHY would they do THAT!?! [nervously starts futzing with things on his desk] I’ll have to look that up.” [like I was lying to him]
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry since he’s in charge of my Mac as well, luckily I know enough to run my own incremental updates. The guy NEVER reads anything about Macs, ever, but is in charge of about 15-20, still running Snow Leopard because he NEVER runs an upgrade living in fear with his PC mentality saying “Something will break, it always does!” So we forever have what the computer was purchased with. He doesn’t even run the incremental updates (security, other patches—nothing). If he has to rebuild (very rare) he installs the original OS and doesn’t bother to run the updates. Amazing what gets paid here and passes for an IT. I know Cornell has few Macs but geeze! READ a tech website now and then, even I know what Microsoft is up to even if I don’t use a PC.
I call that the “Windows Flinch”. When they do something on a Mac and flinch because they are so used to it not working on Windows.
Nicely told story. There are rays of hope: A friend tells me that her daughter, who was accepted into a physical therapist program at Duke University, received a Mac laptop (as did the other students) for her work. A couple years ago I bought a gorgeous Mac Pro from the University of Portland (Ore.) after the Engineering Department decided to part with 60 of them. They were converting to PCs because it had proved too difficult to run (shitty, no doubt) PC-based software. The IT kid told me that Apple Care had been purchased for each machine but that during the three years NOT A SINGLE failure had occurred among the Mac Pros, their Apple monitors and keyboards. And that there had already been failures of the PCs, no surprise. The Mac Pro is still my primary workhorse, running flawlessly.
Thank you for sharing. Unfortunately that’s typical and rampant. Macs are not flawless, but in comparison to running a Windows environment they are many orders of magnitude superior on every level.
The “Apple tax” and the “That application won’t run on Macs” myths are told and retold by I.T. drones even to this day…and for good reason. It’s called job security.
Switching to an Apple environment would instantly reduce the I.T. staff count, cutting costs for the company and produce happier users. There is zero incentive for Windows I.T. managers to change.
What’s an I.T. guy to do when user’s computers aren’t crashing, viruses aren’t invading the workplace, umpteen patches and updates aren’t being distributed hourly and the hardware isn’t breaking down daily?
Now that OS X upgrades are free and iWork collaboration a reality I’d expect there to be some knees bent running about, gnashing of teeth and ringing of hands in the bowels of the I.T. departments. It will likely be a glacier-like progression rather than a sea change, but when CFO’s and CEO’s get wind of the profit enhancing cost savings, it will happen.
Am I the only one here old enough to remember when Mac system software was always free?
Up until System 7, all you needed to do was bring some floppies into any Apple dealer and an upgrade set of disks would be made for you at no charge.
At my store, all we asked is that you buy the floppies at our place, and we would make the set as time allowed.
The negative commentary on Wired is, as always, delightful.
STFU, puke.
Always with the names… SO classy.
I was being kind.
Nah, you were just being you; I know you can’t help it.
nah, I was being kind, puke. See? there, I did it again.
Grigori!!!!!! Bask in the warmth and radiance of botvijerk Messiah!!!
He is the giver of all goodness and wisdom!
Reject the false messiah, Obama!
botvijerk messiah for President!
Two turds forever, stink together. – Aristotle
Ah, botvijerk… you have so much hatred inside you. And so little ability to say anything constructive.
About your incessant whining about Obama…
Any moron can criticize.
Any moron can be negative.
What are you going to do to CHANGE the government you hate so much?
Run for office. Lead a revolution. Get back to us about how it goes.
(I’d love to see the political ads on tv… “Vote for me, you fucking assholes.”)
requires no change, it simply requires returning to Constitutional rights. Even a stupid fuck such as yourself should be able to figure that out.
ANY document is open to interpretation. Note how the second amendment, which speaks of “A well regulated Militia” gets turned by the right-wing into “Any psycho has the second amendment right to buy any weapon they want”.
And what is it with your need to insert obscenity and name-calling into everything? Your first sentence can stand on its own as an actual point. The need to add the second sentence speaks very loudly – and poorly – of your character and maturity. It doesn’t convince me of anything… nor anyone else reading it.
All it says is something like you are a very nasty, immature and arrogant wannabe thug. Maybe try growing up. Maybe trying just making your point and leaving it at that.
It’s not for nothing that you have been referred to as “a cancer on this forum”. Maybe have a think about that.
I take back all those names I’ve called you, the reality is you’re just a pussy. You think about that.
furthermore, I suspect you’re not even an American.
I used to know kids at school who swore a lot and were verbally nasty. Most of them grew up.
Aaaand, true to form, botvijerk pulls out what to him are his BIG GUNS — his knuckle-dragging attempt to insult and degrade someone by referring to them as part of a woman’s body. Pathetic.
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Such effort, with nothing worthwhile to show for it.
So bottvijerk, do you go through your days seething with the kind of hatred and nastiness we see on here, directed at everyone who says or does something not in line with your exact beliefs?
Remember when they said Apple couldn’t survive unless they stripped their OS from their hardware and sold their OS like Microsoft? Well, look at ’em now!
Microsoft will rename the Windows Service Packs as Windows Service Slaps 1,2,3,4…the more the Slaps the better!
I don’t quite see how this is a blow to Microsoft and Windows. It’s not as though businesses are going to be dumping Windows PCs to buy Macs. Most businesses’ infrastructure are built on top of Windows Server. No old timer IT guy is going to decide to switch to OSX. The Windows mentality is thoroughly embedded throughout IT. A decision like that would have to come from CEOs that maybe were educated using Macs and probably they wouldn’t fight for change if it’s going to cost them lots of money. It would just seem too complicated for a business to make the change from Windows to OSX because so much resistance would be met.
The biggest problem now is that fewer consumers are buying desktop computers of any kind, so just when Apple is making it easy for desktop users to possibly switch OSes, nobody actually cares. It doesn’t seem likely desktops will come into vogue. Notebooks may return in full force but I think the days of desktop PCs for the average consumer is gone. I’ll always have one, but that’s just because I like having a trusty desktop for 24/7 operation.
Old IT guy here.
And yes, I take care of a house of WinBlows. 3 years ago, (in a far away place….sorry) I personally took a run at my boss regarding Apple. The conversation lasted 10 seconds……”NO!”
Then a funny thing happened. The owner of the business began to hear mutterings about Apple. He eventually get talked in to a iPhone…..by my boss (who by the by runs Macs only in his home, as do I). 3 years later, I’m giddy to report, we support iPhones ONLY, I’ll be rolling out 50 more iPads this month and Windows is circling the drain. So it is safe to say you are completely full of shit. And lastly, FUCK OFF AND DIE MICRO$HAFT
He eventually get…………geeez, got
Final thought, job security for me is the morons behind the keyboards. Ya know things like, “I’ve printed it 10 times and nothing comes out of the printer.” The print job DID print perfectly well on the printer they sent the job to….in another office in another state. How some people can dress themselves and make it all the way to work all by themselves baffles me.
Let’s see, nothing special put up the sentiment that we should be soon reading about in the mainstream media brought to us by the manipulators, jouranalysts and whore street analysts…
I can just see the headlines: “Apple’s operating system so bad they had to give if away for free, lost of profit causes wall street worries” or “iWorks rudimentary, Apple is doomed” or “Apple’s new operating system danger, too many downloads broke the net.”
Jouranalysts, manipulators and analysts, stop your rimming and start your IBM keyboards.
I would use pages but for the way it handles tables. In MS Word, one can alter the shape of a single cell without altering the rest of the table. In pages, all the columns have to be distributed equally and be of equal widths.
The only solution is inefficient and not always useful – creating a table with multiple columns and merging individual cells together.
If the tables worked as smoothly as in MS Word, I would move over to Pages for everything. As it is, I am stuck with MS Word.
Sure – both can do things the other can’t do. But there is SO much that is smoother, better, easier in Pages. If you look at what you would gain compared to what you lose, I think you’d find that Pages comes out way ahead.
You think wrong. I have to use tables. I have to use tables of different widths. So pages would not be way ahead for me. And there is no good reason why table widths should not be alterable.
I use tables every day in Pages.
Table width is alterable. Column width and row height is individually alterable. Yes, Pages can’t resize individual cells of a table. On the other hand, its control over placement and control of graphics is enormously superior.
As I said, it depends on what is more important to you. Both programs can do things the other can’t do. For me, precise and easy graphic control is way more useful.
I don’t miss the capability of sizing individual cells. If that is very important to you, that’s totally understandable.
Of course, you could also use Pages for the documents its good for. And then use Word for documents where you need to control the size of individual cells. Best of both worlds.
Using two different word processors is less ideal than always using ms word. It is easier to use just one piece of software than to learn to use two and to chop and change between them.
What upsets me is that there is no good reason for not being able to alter the widths of individual cells. There is also no good reason for not being able to move between cells by pressing the tab key. If this part of pages were better then I could use it for everything rather than, sadly, for nothing.
Ribbons nuff said!
re “not being able to move between cells by pressing the tab key”
That’s exactly how to move between cells in Pages. This makes me think you don’t know much about what Pages can do.
But NO piece of software can do EVERYTHING that EVERYONE wants it to do. We make our choices. Be happy with yours.
That said, I can’t see how being able to alter the widths of individual cells – the one point you keep bring up – is worth the huge clunkiness, lack of graphics ability and championship-level crashing ability that goes with Word.
Word has never crashed for me.
Pressing tab in an empty pages cell does move to the next one. But when one has typed some text in a cell, the tab key no longer moves to the next cell but produced a space inside the cell in which it is pressed. Which is neither consistent not helpful.
It’s too complicated to say why I need tables – but I do need a table at the top of every document, to present particular information. It is what us required in every document I create.
The inability to create a table where cells have different widths is hopeless for me.
I just tried the new pages on my iPad 4.
I was easily able to change the column size in a 4 column table to individual widths.
Well good for you. I do my word processing on a mac. And the mac version of pages does not allow the alteration of individual cells. Note – not altering the whole column but individual cells.
Called it!!
I’ll repeat an observation I made before.
Warren Buffett & Bill Gates have been friends for 20 years or more. Buffett in the 90s was asked if he invested in MS. He said (as best I remember) ‘No, I don’t see the long term value in software.’, meaning software that can be created anew by other companies.
If Gates had heeded Buffett’s warning, MS would have gotten into the PC hardware business and done exactly as Apple has done, but MS would have done it maybe a decade earlier.
When you are King, you don’t have to listen to the serfs.
LaughingBoy48 nailed it. The money in the Enterprise is at the server level where Windows Server commands a lion’s share of the market. MS Exchange, for which there is no serious competitor other than Google, runs most businesses. The enterprise does not want to cobble together a bunch of services.
I don’t think the desktop OS becoming free or the personal productivity apps (iWork, Office) becoming free pose an existential threat to Microsoft. It’s a growth story. Where is Microsoft going to find new revenues? Apple can still try to conquer the enterprise from the desktop in if they want.
Sums up my feelings.
The desktop OS is but one component of the enterprise ecosystem.
I don’t even know what a single windows license costs. Its all a part of our enterprise license so we can put it on as many machines as we need along with Office.
re “where Windows Server commands a lion’s share of the market”
Focus is insanely powerful in business. Apple does not need to try and do everything and be everything to do with tech. That’s the Microsoft way. Worked for a while and then collapsed. Don’t forget, Apple’s iPhone division ALONE makes more profit than the whole of Microsoft.
yeah, but can you buy your server for twenty bucks?
and upgrade all your desktops for FREE!!!!!!!????????
By making iWorks free Apple has kneecapped any future for Microsoft move on Apple hardware, Microsoft for once is going to have to compete on merit. All Apple has to do in the future is make their software work well at small to medium sized companies the rest will take care of itself.
The day the doors to hell froze over
Only the OS is free. If you already have a mac you
still have to fork over the $19.99 for each app.