On 15 Sep 2008, at 22:35, Ashley Sheridan wrote:
On Mon, 2008-09-15 at 16:27 -0500, Philip Thompson wrote:
Speaking of misconceptions...
Has anyone seen the new M$ commercial where they are asking these
people to review the next version of their OS. Some of the responses
of the people were that they really thought this new OS was cool/
neat/
whatever. Then afterwards, M$ told them it was Vista.
Society, in general, has a pre-conceived notion about how much Vista
sucks. I'm not here to argue its accuracy, but it does give you a
good
idea about misconceptions.
Kids, the lesson of the day is: Don't knock it before you try it.
=D
~Philip
Ah I'd heard of this story. What you've forgotten to mention was that
the computers were all set up on hardware chosen by Microsoft, and all
running software especially picked by Microsoft. Now, I'd hazard a
guess
that even Microsoft is smart enough to pick a combination that is
extremely unlikely to crash on the end user. I'd love to see the same
test on the same people set up by Mac people and Linux gurus. I think
that as this is not really a fair test, you can pretty much get any
answer you want.
Wow, talk about hitting the nail on the head. When Microsoft pick the
hardware their OS runs on and the software it runs with it works
perfectly. Apple have chosen to do this strictly so they can deliver
what people really want... stability. Rob says this is anti-
competitive, I say this is smart.
Is it anti-competitive that Sony does not legally allow you to install
different firmware on most of their consumer kit? And if you do can
you really expect them to support it after you've done so?
Anti-competitive behaviour in my book is bribing companies to ship a
certain configuration, or deliberately preventing certain software
from running on your OS, both things I'm pretty sure Microsoft have
been guilty of in the past. However, I do not consider it anti-
competitive to retain enough control over your product so you can
deliver the user experience your customers need.
I would argue that Microsoft did not choose their goal of supporting
every bit of hardware out there, rather it was thrust upon them while
the industry developed. Apple specifically chose to limit the hardware
they support, for what original reason I don't know but the end result
is a much more stable system.
Given the choice (and I was) I would pick stability over choice any
day of the week and twice on Sunday. I need my computer to do stuff,
not to play with. I hope (and I guess expect) Linux to get to a point
where it's as stable and user friendly as OSX, but they'll likely
always be playing catchup. Microsoft has a lot of work to do to
recover their position in the next release, but I don't hold out much
hope - it's a steep hill they have to climb.
As for this being a fair test, you're deluded. Firstly did these
people use it for months or get to play with it for just a few minutes
or hours at the most? How many people asked said they hated it (I
don't believe that number was made public)? The only people who ever
think the UI of an OS is "neat" or "cool" are those who don't use it
day-to-day or those who are seeing it for the first time. It's a
marketing campaign... d'uh!
As I mentioned before, you've got to ignore the hype, both the good
and the bad, and try it for yourself. Windows wouldn't sell in the
quantities it does if it didn't work well for the majority of people,
by which I mean the ones who get a Dell with Vista and Office pre-
installed and don't install much else. But if you really want to see
which is best (subjectively of course) you've gotta do the legwork
yourself.
Oh, and once you have, don't bother trying to convince others unless
they're also willing to do the legwork too. There is no one size fits
all computer. I've tried them all over the past 20 years and am now
very settled with OSX. I try every new release of Windows, and
whenever the Linux community goes nuts over something new I'll have a
go, but nothing's come close to the ease of use and minimal stress I
experience with Apple kit and OSX.
I should add that Apple are not without their own problems. Dare I
mention the headphone/headset socket on the 1st generation iPhone?
That one was a little odd, but everyone makes mistakes. They've
corrected it in the second generation but it certainly dented their
reputation in all the wrong circles.
-Stut
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http://stut.net/
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