Comments on: Apple Store Needed Microsoft to Help with Holiday Sales

By: Rick

Rick — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 20:56:22 +0000

By: Sven

Sven — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 18:40:45 +0000

I guess I need to clarify my point a bit better. Yes, Apple uses Microsoft products and yes it’s the other way around, too. It’s no biggy to buy a Microsoft InteliMouse for my Mac mini but I can’t get Windows XP to run on it (and you won’t be able to buy OS X 10.5 to run on a Dell, either.)

My point is the operating system used by the scanner is Windows. Check any where in that entire Apple Store and try to show me where I can buy a Pocket PC running Windows CE on it. I can buy a Palm, but sure can’t get any Pocket PC at any Apple Store I know of. In fact, even if I buy the Pocket PC elsewhere, guess what? I can’t sync it to my Mac. Why? Because OS X has no way to do so. It lets me sync my Palm Tungsten T3 no problem in iSync, but hey, I have to BUY a third party software solution to get the Pocket PC to sync. Apple doesn’t support Window CE.

There are Palm solutions to do what the Apple Store is doing. Why didn’t Apple get that solution? So, it can purchase a device that runs an OS it doesn’t find proper to sale to its customers? THAT’S my point, people. Stop looking at the trees and look at the entire apple orchard.

By: Sven

Sven — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 17:13:35 +0000

PWB, I guess you’ve seen Windows being used in many Apple Stores before, then. So ya, I guess this post would be lame for you. The rest of us have never seen any Windows OPERATING SYSTEM being ran inside an Apple Store, which Apple has made negative comments about the Windows OS in the past. So I guess that would be pretty lame to post this if you were void of that knowledge.

Drink a cup of coffee and welcome to 2006!

By: pwb

pwb — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 09:48:33 +0000

This is the dumbest post I’ve read in 2005. Apple sells Microsoft Office in Apple Stores. Apple produces Windows software and hardware. WTF is the point of the post???

By: Rick

Rick — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 22:17:07 +0000

While I disagree with rob’s security issue comparison between Mac OS X and Windows, security was not among the original points made by Sven in his post. Where rob and I do agree is that Sven’s original points had no merit.

I rarely use Windows because I don’t have any compelling need for it. I rarely use other Microsoft products because I’ve found alternatives which I prefer. These are dispassionate decisions based on my needs, cost of the products in question, ROI, etc.

Of course, by posting responses, we actually add weight to the original arguments made by Sven. That’s the beauty of a successful blog: one needn’t be right; one simply needs to stir the pot.

By: rob

rob — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 19:52:14 +0000

I use both Mac and Windows machines. doesn’t everybody?

About security. Let’s get something out in the open. Apple publishes almost as many “security updates” as Microsoft. The only reason that Microsoft gets the blame for security wholes is the sheer number of computers out there running Windows. When (or if) Mac ever dominates the market the security holes will be there. Hackers and other malicious types will spend their energy trying to find them.

About the clitches come on – what software (or hardware) is clitch free. The latest PowerBook my company purchased was dead-on-delivery. The thing booted into the setup routine crashed and that was the end of it. Does Apple suck? no, it was just a lemon.

Apple fanatics give it up. Windows fanatics give it up. Go with the best hardware/software that fits your needs (and personality).

Can’t we all just get along?

By: Ian Hilbert

Ian Hilbert — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 16:25:55 +0000

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1433
Beat you to the punch by a few days and even the photo they provide clearly shows the ‘Start bar’ thing. Also read: http://www.ifoapplestore.com/2005/12/27/ipod-express-concept-gets-mixed-grade/ to hear about the glitches these awesome Win machines were having.

By: J. Random Poster

J. Random Poster — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 16:11:26 +0000

So, it’s Wince running a Java app. So what?

By: anon

anon — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 12:10:08 +0000

Finally, talk to any Apple die-hard and they’ll speak of Microsoft with disgust. What kind of impression will they have of their beloved store when they know Windows CE is there?

I’m not an Apple die-hard but, like most people, I do view Microsoft with disgust.

Was the point of your story to incite disgust among Apple die-hards because their favorite computer company was using an OS from a convicted monopolist felon instead of a home-brew solution?

Or were you just trying to say that if the Apple store uses Microsoft products, the rest of us should as well?

By: Rick

Rick — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 02:38:54 +0000

I think Lao Tzu got a little defensive, but a couple good points were made. It is indeed fortunate that Apple is not bound by a “not invented here” philosophy, which is a very good thing.

Sven’s Creative Zen analogy doesn’t hold water… Apple has a pretty good line of portable music players, but not a mobile checkout device or a widely-accepted office suite.

Sven, I’d be with you all the way if Apple were selling a Dell/WinXP combination or a Creative Zen. That would be odd.

As far as die hard Apple users, I consider myself one of them… but only as long as I feel Apple offers better solutions to my problems. And I do, at times, speak of Microsoft with disgust. What I do understand is that things like this rarely present themselves in black and white. It is in the shades of grey where things get really interesting. But that sort of thinking is more difficult to present (read: more work) and won’t generate as many page views.