vszulc's Profile

(Sigh) Here we go again... Allthough It was an interesting read, I am afraid I have to correct a few misconceptions, and probably burst some bubbles. Apple's or Linux's marketshare will NOT increase substantially, and the majority of computers will be running Windows for a good time to come. Why? Whether you like it or not, Windows is a pretty decent operating system, but what's more important, most people are satisfied with it, know it well, and will stick to it. What about the poor hordes of Windows users that are stuck in virus-hell? You might ask? Those are the people that you refer to as "switchers". Do you hear the giant sucking-sound of people anxiously waiting to switch to Macs at the Apple store? No? That's what I thought. Just a reality check. Mind you, I like Macs, and don't have anything against Apple, but last year Apple sold around 1 million or 1.5 million computers (The correct number escapes me, but I am sure someone here will help me out) That's around the same number of Windows Media Center computers sold. And the numbers for WMC computers sold were regarded as very disappointing. That's how small Apple is in the market. Why aren't people switching? First of all: It's a matter of habit. People know Windows, that's what they're used to using, and the benefits of switching are, for most users, smaller than the drawbacks. (OSX takes some getting used to, and of course Mac's are pretty expensive) I don't know how much exposure you had to Windows, I assume it's not much. Expecially not on WIndows XP. I've used both Windows XP and OSX, and must admit that even though I like the razzle-dazzle of OSX, it also has some drawbacks of its own, especially the tedium of getting into some completely new routines. I experienced plenty of crashes on my schools G4 Macs. But unlike Windows, where you can get away with just closing the application, because the rest of Windows is working fine, Macs crashed HARD. I'm talking about yank the power-cable hard. And speaking of crashes, OSX takes forever to boot, compared to Windows. Most Apple users always bring up Spyware and Viruses as a huge disadvantage. Would the world be a better place if there wasn't any viruses or spyware? Sure, but is it a big hassle in everyday computing? No. Set a firewall and an Anti-virus program, get automatic updates, and you'll likely never have to deal with them. Especially if you stay away from icky sites with lot's of cracks and pornography. Longhorn is going to arrive soon, and even though it won't have all the features we were promised, it'll be a huge success. I'm sure Apple zealots will sit and whine about how superior OS-X is, but they don't get it. The vast majority of PC users DON'T GIVE A RATS ASS. 90% percent of PCusers will give you a blank stare if you ask them what Win-FS is, they don't care, they're happy about their Windows as it is. And don't get me started on Linux. It has it's place on servers etc. but as far as the desktop and office goes, it's dead in the water. The reasons are too many to mention here. Somebody mentioned licensing OSX, forget about it. As long as Jobs is in charge of Apple, it'll never happen. And you should probably all be happy that Apple won't grow significantly higher that it's current marketshare. Why? To avoid that virus-spyware hell that you are all convinced is the second horseman of the apocalypse. With a higher marketshare, OSX would be just as vulnerable as Windows. It's not an issue of engineering, but economics.