Sad part is that I’m not sure exactly how successful Windows Phone 7 will actually be. The only way Microsoft will be successful is if the enterprise market really embraces it…which I honestly don’t see happening. If you watch a demo of Windows Phone 7 you’ll see that, compared to the iPhone and Android, the interface is a bit abstract. I’m not sure if enterprise customers are gonna go for something like this. It just seems so disconnected from everything else that Microsoft is doing with Windows.  Guess we’ll know after a few months once some phones hit the market.  :)

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Before I go into a blow by blow review of their site, let me just add that I’m not your run of the mill Apple fanboy. Yes, I do love Apple’s products but I was a Microsoft fanboy long before I took any of Apple’s products seriously. In fact, I learned everything I could know about every Microsoft OS since Windows 95 came out. I lived and breathed Microsoft and swore by their products…that is, until Vista came out. Since then, I quit my job as an IT Supervisor, bought my first Mac, became a web developer, and haven’t looked back since. With that in mind, let’s move onto talking about Microsoft’s ‘PC vs. Mac’ site…

Having Fun

Apparently, Macs just aren’t fun. You can’t play Blu-ray movies. You can’t watch or record TV content like a DVR. And there just aren’t really any games available for the Mac…well, none that are popular! That’s what Microsoft wants you believe…which is far from the truth.

Ok, ok, I’ll admit…they did get one thing right. Yes, it’s true, you can’t play Blu-ray movies on your Mac. Question is though: how many people really need this? If you’re someone who’s always on the go and likes to play movies on their laptop, that I can sort of understand. If that’s the case then one workaround would be to purchase an external Blu-ray drive and rip your movies to your hard drive. That way you don’t have to carry around a bunch of Blu-ray discs with you. Other than that, I just don’t see the point.

As for not being able to hook a Mac to a TV, that’s false. The new Mac mini has a built-in HDMI port, making it easy as hell to hook it up to a TV with a HDMI input.

Granted, there isn’t any built-in support for DVR capabilities in Macs but there are plenty of solutions out there for that. Besides, most people already use the DVR’s provided by their cable providers, which makes having DVR capabilities on your PC a moot point.

Gaming on the Mac has started booming just in the last year. Valve has rolled out support for Steam on the Mac with an impressive list of games available including Half-Life 2, Eve Online, Portal, and more. Also, one of the most popular MMOG’s is available for the Mac: World of Warcraft. Take a look at Apple’s Games site and you’ll see there’s plenty of other popular games to choose from. So to say there are no popular games available is ridiculous. Granted, none of the DirectX only games are available but, then again, if you really wanted to play a DirectX game then all you would need to do is install a copy of Windows via BootCamp and you’re good to go.

Simplicity

According to Microsoft, Macs take time to learn and, as they put it, “the computer that’s easiest to use is typically the one you already know how to use“. In other words, continue to use the same ole’ thing you’ve been using and don’t try anything new. Basically, Microsoft is using a typical FUD tactic of scaring customers into believing that switching to a Mac is difficult and that learning how to use Macs is as equally difficult. They’re not.

Sure, there are a few things here and there that work differently on a Mac than they do on a PC but not so crazily different that you can’t figure it out. If there’s one thing Apple is known for it’s for designing well thought-out, user friendly interfaces.

No, the mouse doesn’t work differently on a Mac. It works exactly the same as it does on a PC. However, newer Apple mouses like the Magic Mouse can do more, like gestures and multi-touch scrolling. Can your PC mouse do that?

Shortcuts don’t work the same on a Mac because, um, there’s no such thing as “shortcuts” on a Mac. No need for them really when you have the flexibility and functionality that’s provided by the Dock.

Microsoft claims that Windows 7 has features that Macs don’t have. Well, the same could be said about Windows 7. For instance, Windows 7 doesn’t have Stacks, which gives you direct access to files and folders in a variety of ways. Nor does Windows 7 have a highly user-friendly backup program that’s the equivalent to Time Machine.

As for the lack of a feature like Snap, there are plenty of solutions available for the Mac that not only provide the same features as Snap but provide even more functionality. A program called Cinch comes to mind but I prefer to use it’s bigger brother, SizeUp. Both provide features that are very, very similar to Snap but give you much, much more control over how it works.

Microsoft also claims that, unlike the Mac OS, Windows 7 supports Touch and thus allows you to browse online newspapers, flick through photo albums, and shuffle files and folders—using nothing but your fingers. Great, but where are these Touch-compatible PC’s? Last I heard, the HP Slate was one of the few being developed but HP decided to pull the plug and not release it with Windows 7. It’s great that Windows 7 supports this kind of functionality but, really, how can Microsoft tout a feature that hasn’t even been proven yet? Makes no sense.

Working Hard

Considering the sheer high number of college freshmen entering school with Macs, I find it amusing that Microsoft can make the claim that Macs don’t work as well at work or at school. Just because Windows is still the majority doesn’t mean that Mac’s can’t play nice with them. It’s a ridiculous notion.

While its true that if you use Apple’s iWork suite you may have issues opening certain Word or Excel documents, there are always workarounds. I rarely have issues opening up most Word and Excel documents with Pages and Numbers respectively. The only times I run into trouble is if the original document uses some sort of funky formatting, uses fonts I don’t have, or Excel macros that don’t exist in Numbers. But here’s the funny thing…if it’s really that important to you, you can always get Microsoft Office for the Mac. Seriously.

Yes, it’s true, with all new MacBooks you have to buy a separate hardware dongle to hook it up to a standard VGA projector. This is nothing new and isn’t a big deal at all. One of the primary reasons Apple choose not to include a VGA output is because VGA is an outdated standard. Consider the fact that most monitors support DVI and you’ll quickly realize that the omission of a VGA port is a bogus thing to complain about. Apple’s Mini DisplayPort technology allows for easy conversion to DVI, VGA, and even HDMI with just a simple dongle. Why is this such a big deal?  It’s not.

As for encrypting an entire hard drive, what’s the point in that? Exactly why would you want to encrypt not only your personal files but the whole operating system as well? That makes absolutely no sense. One of the reasons why I think Apple chose to allow encryption of just the home folder is for performance reasons. Can you imagine what kind of performance hit your system will take if it constantly has to decrypt anything and everything on your hard drive? Drive encryption is a rather dangerous thing to play with as it is. Why run the risk of really screwing something up by encrypting everything? Best to keep it focused on just the stuff that matters.

Sharing

When I read the phrase “Macs don’t like to share” I laughed almost immediately. No, it’s not hard to share your files, photos, music, movies, and printers on a Mac. In fact, I would almost bet that it’s easier on a Mac. No, there’s isn’t some sort of automated “wizard” with a funny name that does it for you but it’s incredibly easy to do regardless. With just a quick visit to my System Preferences I can share out a folder, a printer, a CD or DVD, my screen, and more. Beyond that, iTunes gives you even more capabilities of sharing your media (music, movies, photos, etc.) using its Home Sharing feature. So to say that sharing stuff between other Mac and Windows users is more difficult on a Mac than Windows is complete bullshit. Different, sure, but difficult? I think not.

Compatibility

Oh noes! Macs might not like your PC stuff!

Ok, so PCs still outnumber Macs.  So what? Still doesn’t change the fact that most file types that people use on a daily basis are ubiquitous on just about all computer operating systems. So unless you’re using programs that are only available to Windows and use a highly proprietary file type, chances are that just about every file you have can be opened on a Mac with little or no issues.

Like I mentioned above, in most cases you can open a Microsoft Office document in iWork. Yes, there are some compatibility cases but if that’s a major concern for you then you can always purchase a copy of Microsoft Office for the Mac (something that Microsoft failed to mention).

As for repurchasing and relearning Mac versions of a certain program, that’s just a sheer fact of switching to any platform. Most of the programs you already know are available for the Mac. If not, more often than not you’ll find a similar program that’s just as easy if not easier to use than the PC equivalent.

Yes, you will have to sit down and learn what’s different on a Mac and how each program works different. But, let’s be honest, the same applies to different programs on Windows up to and including Windows itself. Folks who are just now switching from Windows XP to Windows 7 will have to spend time learning what’s new and how to use it. Folks switching from Office 2003 to Office 2007 or 2010 will have to learn how to use the new Office ribbon interface. These examples aren’t all that different from the experience of switching from Windows to Mac.

Choice

I’m kind of on the fence about this. To say that Macs don’t let you choose is a bit of a loaded statement. On one hand, yes, it’s true that you don’t really have much choice in terms of what color your Mac is or whether it has a Blu-ray drive, TV tuner, Memory Stick reader, or 3G wireless built-in. But on the other hand, why would you want a bunch of stuff on your Mac that you likely won’t even use? Why would you want the added expense of features that don’t accurately reflect how you will be using your Mac?

Apple chooses to take a minimalist approach and embrace certain standards by including only features they believe that most users will use. The end result allows them to concentrate on hardware that is of the highest quality and allows for the highest degree of system stability. Why include a TV tuner and run the risk of affecting system stability if not many users will use it?

In my experience, one of the downsides of the PC market is that manufacturers have a tendency to concentrate more on features than on the integrity of the hardware. End result is that its hard to find a PC with a minimal number of features these days. Just about every PC is loaded with a glutenous amount of hardware features many of which will never be used. By comparison, virtually ever feature on a Mac is used and no real estate is wasted for the hardware.

Just about every missing feature you might want is available at an affordable price for the Mac: Blu-ray drives, TV tuners, Memory Stick readers, 3G wireless, multi-format card readers, touch interfaces, mobile broadband. They’re all available. More often than not, you’ll find that there is more than one solution thus giving you more options to choose the one that fits your needs the best. To me, that’s a whole lot better than getting something “built-in” that may or may not suit your needs.

As for being able to play your videos and music stored on your home computer, I’m not exactly sure what the hell Microsoft is talking about here. If Microsoft is referring to MobileMe then, yes, it does cost $99 a year. But what Microsoft doesn’t tell you is that MobileMe does a lot more than just giving you the ability to play videos and music stored on your computer. MobileMe allows you to keep your mail, calendar, and contacts synced online and between MobileMe compatible devices like the iPhone and iPad. It also allows you to share multiple photo galleries as well as synchronize files with iDisk. But if you don’t want to spend $99 to do all of this, there are plenty of other solutions, a lot of which don’t cost a dime.

Over the course of the past few years, it seems that Microsoft is on a crash course towards losing a good chunk of their market share to Apple. As such, it seems that Microsoft is content to spend more money on bad PR rather than spending it on the thing that matters most: creating great software. I believe that much of Microsoft’s problems started when Microsoft was developing Windows Vista. They took their eye off the ball and spent way too much time developing an operating system that caused a huge PR problem for them. As far as competition is concerned, I feel like they’re a good two or three years behind where they need to be. Apple is not only dominating the desktop but is eating Microsoft for lunch when it comes to portable audio/video players, smart phones, and tablet computing devices, all devices that require tight integration with desktop/laptop computers.

It’s one thing to claim that your products are so much more superior to your competition, it’s another to actually develop it and make them reality. Right now, Microsoft is in la-la land. Windows 7 may be their best operating system to date, but in a world where so many people want smart phones and tablet devices, it’s hard to see exactly where Microsoft and Windows 7 fits in with all that. As such, this whole PC versus Mac debate Microsoft is having with themselves is bullshit.

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I’ve worked within the IT industry for quite a few years. I worked as a computer technician at Best Buy for about a year and as an IT supervisor at an architectural firm for the better part of four years. I’ve dealt with a lot of issues with a lot of different computers. In my experience, the stories told by the writer at TheAppleBlog mirror my own, not just on a consumer level but even on an enterprise level.

One particular incident involved getting support for a Dell laptop that a co-worker owned. It was exhibiting a lot of issues: it ran extremely slow, the video was getting scrambled, and it sometimes wouldn’t boot. My diagnosis was that the video card on the motherboard was fried and had to be replaced. I told my co-worker to call Dell and tell them everything we did to diagnose the problem.

What proceeded was nothing short of typical for many PC companies: the blame game! Dell told him it was an operating system problem and that he had to call Microsoft. Microsoft told him it was an issue with the video card and that he had to call Nvidia. I then had to call Dell and explain to them in great detail that the issue is a hardware problem and that the motherboard needed to be replaced. It took over three phone calls and many wasted hours just to get Dell to acknowledge that there was a problem with their hardware.

Granted, no company is perfect nor does every PC company provide bad support. I’ve definitely had plenty of times when support from a computer company other than Apple was really good. However, I can say with most certainty that on average, Apple provides better support for their products. I have yet to have what I would call a really bad support experience that would make me think twice about buying another Apple product. Maybe that explains why Apple is ranked so high when it comes to customer satisfaction^[2].

It amazes me how little some people think about the support for a product. I have wasted a ton of time on support calls in my years as an IT supervisor. In fact, on many occasions the time and energy spent on support calls made a huge difference in the decision making of whether to buy from this company or that company. Even as a consumer, I find myself thinking about that because, when it comes right down to it, I want the knowledge of knowing that the company I buy stuff from is going to back their products. If they don’t then I’m wasting my time buying their products. If they do then I can save myself a ton of time, frustration, and even money by going with a product that is of great quality and well supported. Think about that the next time you go to buy a computer.

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As Cabel mentioned in his post, someone figured out that if you bleep out any mention of Microsoft or Windows 7 you get a…umm…very different kind of party. Laughed my ass off on this one:

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There are a couple of reason why I think Microsoft is going to fail in this venture.

First of all, how does Microsoft expect to compete with Apple’s stores? I mean, it’s not like they’re gonna be selling HP, Dell, Compaq, Sony, or any other brand of computer in their stores. I suppose its safe to assume that Microsoft will be focusing on their software as well as other items like the Xbox, Zune, and other stuff like that.

Unlike Apple, Microsoft has to rely on third-party vendors to provide a complete computing solution. So how do they plan on connecting customers to a complete solution if they’re not even selling computers? I fail to see the logic in how they think this is going to help Windows in any meaningful way.

Most people don’t buy Windows off the shelf. If it’s not pre-installed on the computer they are buying then they are not likely to fork over $100+ or more for a Windows upgrade. I guess Microsoft is hoping that the existence of exclusive Microsoft stores will attract a greater number of people who might be willing to pay for a Windows upgrade. Personally, I think Microsoft is going to have quite an uphill climb in getting a greater number of people to purchase Windows upgrades.

Lastly, opening stores in close proximity to an Apple store is futile. Opening one near an Apple store is bad enough, but opening a Microsoft store right next door to an Apple store?  That’s suicide!  The reason is that by allowing customers to draw a direct A-B comparison with your competitor you run the risk of further alienating yourself with the competition.

I’m willing to bet that you’ll have a lot of customers who will first enter the Microsoft store only to end up in the Apple store just so they can see what all the fuss is about with Apple. Some customers will leave and go back to the Microsoft store unconvinced that an Apple computer is right for them.  But a good number of them will likely consider switching after being exposed to both due to the short proximity of experience.

So, is the news of Microsoft stores opening up good for Microsoft or Apple?  Likely, it’ll be good for both. But I honestly think that it’s much better for Apple. Competition is a good thing and it’ll be interesting to see just how Microsoft plans to compete with Apple in their own territory. I say to Microsoft: “Bring it on!”

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“Never mind a computer that figures out what I meant to do. How about one that does what I asked it to do?”

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University health sciences spokesman Chris Nelson said the outbreak of the Conficker worm, which can slow computers and steal personal information, was first detected Thursday. By Friday, the virus had infiltrated computers at the hospitals, medical school, and colleges of nursing, pharmacy and health.

It infiltrated computers at a hospital? Holy shnikes, that’s scary! Can you imagine all the problems that would occur if patient data and medical records were compromised? I’m sure it wouldn’t be that big of a problem, but I bet some patients wouldn’t find it funny.

The staggering reality of the Conficker worm is that at least one in every three Windows-based PC’s are susceptible to the worm. Why? It all boils down to people not keeping their computers up to date. Either they’re not installing the updates or they’re ignoring them. How many times have you looked on someone’s Windows machine only to see that yellow shield glaring at you in the system tray? Also, how many times have you noticed that someone’s antivirus software is out of date? It’s ridiculous considering the sheer number of people who don’t keep their systems up to date.

The Conficker worm is just one more thing that shows just how much Windows is due for a serious overhaul. Those that don’t know well enough to keep their systems up to date would fare better with a Mac or Linux system. Granted, no system is 100% safe but at least with a Mac you don’t have to worry as much about this stuff.

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You might have seen the commercials that show one of the latest Dyson vacuums, the Dyson Ball. One might look at a vacumm like this and go, “Oh, that’s just a gimmick! All you’re paying for is a name!” But a closer study of what went into the creation of this vacuum reveals something else: innovation.

Readers Digest has an interesting story about James Dyson, the inventor of the Dyson vacuum. The article illustrates the sheer struggle Dyson went through just to market his invention. Chances are his invention might not ever have seen the light of day had he not persevered his quest to market the first bagless vacuum that never lost any suction.

A quick look at the vacuum market, it’s clear that Dyson vacuums are the most expensive ones on the market. Yes, you could buy a cheaper vacuum from other name brands like Dirt Devil, Hoover, Bissell, Eureka, and others. But for $100 t0 $150 you’re pretty much buying into the same vacuum technology that has been around since the first electric vacuum cleaner. Most of these use filters and/or bags that require replacement. Although there are cheaper vacuums that use cyclone vacuum technology similar to the Dyson, they simply don’t hold a candle to the Dyson on account of the patented technology and innovation that goes into a Dyson. On top of that, most vacuums from other manufacturers only come with a 1-year warranty. My wife and I have owned vacuums from Dirt Devil, Hoover, and others and none of them worked well or lasted longer than three years. 

The last vacuum my wife and I bought was the Dyson D17, a vacuum that cost $549 but we got on sale for $499. We could have easily gone with a cheaper, more affordable vacuum and spent less than a third of the cost of a Dyson, so why did a $500 vacuum attracted us so much?

First, the Dyson comes with a 5-year warranty. That told us that they clearly built these vacuums to last. If the vacuum lasts longer then it’ll easily make up for the added cost. 

Second, there are no added costs. No extra bags or filters to buy. The filter that comes with the unit is washable and should last for the life of the unit. Even if you had to replace the filter, it’s still under $20.

Lastly, the Dyson isn’t the same-ole, same-ole technology. The technology found on these vacuums cannot be found anywhere. The patented cyclone technology means that the vacuum will never lose suction. So far from my experience this is true. We’ve filled our vacuum up to the brim and it never once slowed down. And, let me tell you, when I say this thing sucks, it really sucks! Out of all the vacuums I’ve ever used, I’ve never seen one that can clean a floor the way this one can. I’m amazed every time I use it.

Now we have the Dyson Ball. Is it a gimmick? Just another thing to trick people into buying a name? No, it is not. It’s clear that Dyson is a company that is about delivering a good quality product built off of innovation. While others might be happy with spending $100 to $150 every three years or so, I’ll gladly pay $500 once every 5 to 8 years if it means getting a high quality product that does the job better than the competition. 

Yes, it’s true, you get what you pay for.

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The last time my wife and I went to Costco, I took a moment to look at the latest laptops Costco was selling. I looked a few HP’s as well as a few other laptops. I don’t know if I looked at the same laptop but it definitely was one in the same price bracket (sub-$1,000). My first impression? Even without Windows Vista on it, I probably wouldn’t buy one regardless of the low price. With all the plastic covering it, it felt flimsy and cheap.

You know the old adage, “You get what you pay for”? Believe it. While a MacBook Pro might cost you twice as much as a cheap sub-$1,000 notebook, it’ll last you twice as long if not longer. That’s a good investment in my opinion. 

More on this topic tomorrow.

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