Microsoft's CES booth tour

How does the world's biggest software manufacturer bring the pain at CES? Read on for a guided tour...

"Vista, get your Vista here! Best. OS. Ever!"

3D window cascade in Vista. Sweet.

Media Center, Vista style.

The rarest and most beautiful of creatures, Femalus Gamerus.

New game for Windows: Incinerate the Penguin.

Probably the only time these peeps will ever get to play 360.

World's most expensive bicycle wheel.

Windows Local is the best. True dat...double true.

"I wonder if this rocks some sort of DRM..."

This ain't your grandma's jukebox.

"Don't listen to Pogue and Mossberg, listen to me."

Family reunion.

Music Gremlin in the wild (thankfully prior to midnight).

"Damn, I thought this was the Apple booth."

[Jesse @ Jan 6th 2006 6:00PM]

Why are they showing OSX at the Microsoft booth? oh wait that is Vista.

[Bruce @ Jan 6th 2006 6:04PM]

I'm loving these booth tours! Keep em coming!!



Great captions too!!!

[brian @ Jan 6th 2006 6:05PM]

Does the Windows Vista 3D cascade screenshot above look familiar?



http://www.dh.umu.se/fprw/images/projects/2005/800x600/Kowee-L.jpg



Nice of MS to rip it off from Sun's Project Looking Glass http://www.sun.com/software/looking_glass/

[Ryan H @ Jan 6th 2006 6:06PM]

Hahaha. No doubt.



Windows cascading windows switcher is ridiculous. All the looks of OSX's Expose with NONE of the functionality. It's still just application switcher but with the actual programs being suffled. Woo.

[brian @ Jan 6th 2006 6:09PM]

Correct link for Looking Glass screenshot above:



http://www.dh.umu.se/fprw/images/projects/2005/800x600/Kowee-L.jpg

[Dave @ Jan 6th 2006 6:24PM]

Hey, here's an idea. Let's completely bash a product/functionality that none of us have ever used!



I really don't want to open up a MS/Macintosh hellstorm here, given I own a Powermac myself, but I guess you could make the same argument about OSX 10.4's Dashboard and Konfabulator.

[matty @ Jan 6th 2006 6:29PM]

I am a huge apple guy...however I gotta say the 3d switcher; while emulating expose and looking glass is an element that MS had to include. They won't site idley by while other innovate around them, so they have to incorporate these things into their newer os's...it's all about the consumer so you have to realize they're not doing it to rip other companies, moreso to bring functionality to their customers. However on the other side of the coin, their new Windows Explorer really tears a page out of apple's finder (search bar what?).

[Rascal_King @ Jan 6th 2006 6:29PM]

I don't know why everyone makes such a big deal about XBOX 360...



*cough*

http://media.putfile.com/XBOX360--Busted--THE-RASCAL-KING

*cough*

[Heathee @ Jan 6th 2006 6:31PM]

It's expose only better cause it's diagonal!!! I like how it makes the windows so small and warped that you can't quite see what the hell you're doing. MS just ain't satisfied unless you're squinting.



Also noticed there's no "start" button unless my eyes decieve me. Just a Windows icon. Hmmmm... I guess it's still not a mac os ripoff since it's at the bottom of the screen.



Gun metal grey taskbar! Worth the 3 year wait!

[jon @ Jan 6th 2006 6:38PM]

seriously...Apple could fart and people would call it original (shuffle).



You haters. This looks to be an amazing OS...and yes what I saw on the CES video...dare I say it is looking better or equal to OSX.



Windows Task based approach has always trumped OSX Application based approach, reguardless of how fancy their OS has looked over the years.



Can I stream my media to my TV on OSX???

Can I use a subscription service on an Ipod???

Can I play a decent game that's not 1 yr old on OSX???

Can I buy music or videos from anyone I choose and it still work with my Ipod???





It's time for more of Steve Jobs magic come next year when Vista is released...it will be a bit harder for Apple to diferentiate themselves in any way but a higher pricetag. OSX youve been out Poshed!

[RobL @ Jan 6th 2006 7:09PM]

To 6:



While I'll agree that most people shouldn't bash it. I say so because they won't do any constructive in addition to whining.



There are however quite a few people who have seen Vista in action, including myself. It's not bad but I don't like where the overall look and feel are going.

[robert @ Jan 6th 2006 7:11PM]

#10 im just gonna taka a moment here to answer your questions you had.



yes i can stream my media to a tv with os x flawlessly.

world of warcraft is more than a decent game....

and for the ipods issues you brought up , wherent we talkin about os x?



dont get confused kidd0 thats something different.



ms has always been behind apple and this just shows it more.

they love what apple do and have implemented they have to implement it themselves. to get people to go WOW , even thou apple has had it for a long time.



so its time for me to point out some stuff for a ms fan like yourself.



OMG I GOT I VIRUS ON MY PC NOOOOOOO!



OMG LOLZ i got hacked wtf!!



omg noo Whats ThiZ bluEscr33N nooo.



ye u recognise yourself with that i hope since thats a part of everyday use of a pc with an ms product on it.



just hope and pray to god they fixed it for vista.

[iAndy @ Jan 6th 2006 7:17PM]

Now now. For those of you who are squobling over Apple Vs MS. Don't! You're fighting a eon long war! Im an Apple user myself, but to be honest Vista looks good, no question. If Microsoft do what they are saying then it should turn out to be a dam good operating system. Am I bothered by that for Apples sake? Ofcourse not. I encourage it. Competition is dam healthy in this business. Apple need to be kept on their toes to improve, the same as Microsoft and I do actually hope Vista turns out to be good. We all need it to be, otherwise what's the point? Microsoft doesn't need to beat Apple, the same way all you fellow Apple people think Mac OSX needs to beat Windows. We all need choice. Some people think Windows is powerful, some people think OSX is powerful. Ever thought what you could do if you had both at your fingertips, eh?! MS copying OSX on Expose? Leave it for the playground. It may be true, but Apple aren't innocent themselves, no one is, no one product is perfect.



The booth looks good, great captions! Looking forward to seing what Vista brings, especially the media player and media centres.

[Daniel @ Jan 6th 2006 7:20PM]

Wow! That looks cool. I think I kind of like MS' version of Expose. I don't know if I like it BETTER, but I can definitely see where it would be more convenient than Expose's tile feature (like when you have lots of windows open, esp. from the same application). Apple should put this feature in OS Leopard for when you used the Command + tab/` feature. That would be sweet!



Anyway, I'm excited to see these new features. Hopefully they work as well or better than the similar features made by Apple/Sun.

[Snowfire @ Jan 6th 2006 7:27PM]

Incinerate the Penguin? NOT TUX!

[Calvin K. @ Jan 6th 2006 7:28PM]

I'm not personally a big fan of Windows myself... seeing as I not only own, but also work my Apple, it's hard to be. I only think one thing:



If a software company can't produce an upgrade to it's OS more than once ever 3 years their is something wrong... and when you get down to it Windows just keeps looking better (more colorfull that is, not more usefull) it's been the same thing sense 3.1 came out... just in different colors)



I can't wait to see Vista though, at least for the first 5 minuets before it gets a virus...

[helio9000 @ Jan 6th 2006 7:34PM]

Funny how no comments that the Sun screenies looks a lot like OS X because - only Windows copies!! Jesus what a joke that is. I have Win/Mac/Linux (and occasionally use Sun) boxes and on each one of them I find things that I've seen somewhere else before. The most disappointing thing about Linux is in fact how conventional the most popular X-Window UIs are. (Man someone really needs to blow up the metaphor but no one has.)



If you know anything about OS development you should know that just because YOU are seeing something for the first time that doesn't mean it is brand new to other people. MS Research has had versions of this kicking around since at least 1999. They are pretty fugly and not this elegant* and not in a product but they were thinking about it back then and it is far too simpleminded to yammer about stealing. I've seen people arguing that Sun took it from MS but these folks are just as ill-informed as some of the people here. Some of the conclusions that these companies have come to in terms of UI are really pretty logical given the path we are on.



There were guys pitching a less, folder drill-down and more tagged document doesn't-matter-where-things-are-stored-just-search metaphor way back when clicking on the Apple icon could bring the world to a standstill OS 8 ish era. None of this stuff is new. In fact, I haven't seen anything completely mind blowing and totally "new" in an OS since perhaps the first Macintosh.



I wonder though, why, really now, does it have to provoke such vitriol?



*Sorry but it actually works pretty well, esp. with the scroll wheel - if anything with lots of windows open (just when you need it most) I squint more at jaggedy mess Expose becomes. (It is kind of shame to see an otherwise beautiful OS that way.)

[Viruscool @ Jan 6th 2006 7:47PM]

Sure it may look almost as nice as OS X, and may be getting some sort of functionality, but will it be as stable as OS X? Will it have next to no viruses as OS X does? Will it have no spyware like OS X?

I highly doubt it.

[Dan Citi @ Jan 6th 2006 7:50PM]

Apple has high price tag? mac minis($499 to $699),iMacs($1,299 to $1,699),iBooks($999-$1,299);thats overpriced for a pretty good comp with software, bluetooth 2.0+EDR, and Wifi?

the only thing i think is alittle overpriced are the Powermacs/books but they are called power for a reason.

But is cost going to go don when they switch to intel?im not sure. But if anyones says this iPods are overpriced Creative Zens are better.

[helio9000 @ Jan 6th 2006 8:11PM]

There are others but this one of the implementations I was talking about:



http://tinyurl.com/9ejqf



Again, it isn't it exactly but this is 1999 and it is pretty close given what they had to work with. If you still think that they just stole it from Sun "no doubt" then I would suggest that you perhaps are a little lost to your MS rage.

[helio9000 @ Jan 6th 2006 8:15PM]

Oops sorry - don't know why that didn't work:



http://research.microsoft.com/ui/TaskGallery/pages/window_operations.htm

[Matt Rix @ Jan 6th 2006 8:36PM]

"Sure it may look almost as nice as OS X, and may be getting some sort of functionality, but will it be as stable as OS X? Will it have next to no viruses as OS X does? Will it have no spyware like OS X?"



Fool. My XP has no spyware, no viruses, and it's incredibly stable, as long as you have the slightest clue of what you're doing, it's very very easy to make XP more-or-less immune to all of that stuff.



"If a software company can't produce an upgrade to it's OS more than once ever 3 years their is something wrong... and when you get down to it Windows just keeps looking better (more colorfull that is, not more usefull) it's been the same thing sense 3.1 came out... just in different colors)"



Oh, so all of a sudden YOU make up the rules that Microsoft has to follow? Who made up the 3 year rule? You? Obviously their plan works because they're still the #1 OS maker, on the other hand, you think they should use a plan like OSX and screw over all the users who don't upgrade once a year? Stupid.



And you're obviously just being an ass when you say that Windows hasn't changed since 3.1, take a look at OS9, then you'll see a REALLY terrible OS.



-Matt

[jnine0003 @ Jan 6th 2006 9:01PM]

Vista's looking good, I'm really interested in the Media Center functionality. I like the idea of having a type of media server that keeps my pics, music and video in a place where I can stream or transfer it almost anywhere I want. I already have years of pics and music ready to go on my current PC, now I can add HD video!!! Keep up the good work.

[Q Manning @ Jan 6th 2006 9:17PM]

Task based functionality will always trump Apple's Program based functionality. What I want to do is far more important than where I want to do it.



I love MS :) I can't wait for Vista!

[William Rezende @ Jan 6th 2006 9:45PM]

OK, Ok, Ok... There are no way you can compare Media Center PC with a Mac Front Row, even 3 years after MCE, Mac can't do something even close.



Ok, I agree that Mac are better than PC in some areas.



I just wanna know if DirectTV will work as a extender or will have any kind of PC card to make it work on the PC.



It is not easy to upgrade hardwere on a Mac, Apple mucic files can only play on Ipod and Itunes.



I lod the Idea that I can rip HD DVD to the PC.

[Heathee @ Jan 6th 2006 10:54PM]

Obviously when in a Mac/Windows battle you have to go hardcore one side or the other or nobody will read yer post so if you're gonna post on somebody to be more objective then you're boring.



I side with Mac. And I will now type way more than I'm entitled to on why.



Price: Mac doesn't offer a lower tier product. There's no "celeron" mac. there's no slapped together from generic parts mac. So when comparing prices you can't look at the lowest. A Cavalier is way cheaper then a Porsche but that doesn't make it better.



Virus: To the comment that you can be immune with XP. Nope. I work at a store the sells and services mac and pc and we get systems back that we set up ourselves that have been infected while sporting Norton, AVG, Spybot, you name it, Not to mention it's shocking how often XP's registry will just randomly corrupt, requiring a wipe.



Originality. Of course Apple didn't invent everything awesome. But they came up with most of it. Of course Windows needs some sort of expose-ish thing but that's not gonna stop me from mocking them for not having it sooner.



Versatility: If you're whinning that Mac can't rip DVD or share it's music files or something, it's cause you don't know what you're doing. I can do any of that stuff with a little bit of know-how. Funny thing is that you're the same people that have to hack and mod yer windows to make it remotely stable. And Apple fully supports mp3 or any other file aside from wmv but offers a higher quality option.



iPod: Don't compare it to an iRiver cause it's not an mp3 player. It's an iPod. It does what it does and doesn't bother to compete with other products on the market. It's target is not to support every video file and have an fm tuner. It's target is to make a beautiful product that is extremely easy to use. If you like haxoring stuff, buy something that's poorly made enough to need your haxoring abilities.



Games: There are lotsa great titles for mac and when certain games have a delayed release for mac, it's not cause mac sucks. It's cause of the market. Obviously if Mac had 90% of the market, they would get all the games first. As Mac's share continues to grow, this problem will most likely shrink. The intel switch should help too.



And finally, it's true that MS is in front with the media center vs front row issue. It's rare but it happens. But seriously, I think there's a pretty good chance that any conversation on the topic is gonna be irrelevant after macworld so go ahead and enjoy your week of bashing.



And yes, Apple wants you to upgrade every year. Add up three copies of OSX and you get the same price as Windows XP Pro. Of course you can pay less for home. Because why should we offer one good product when poor people will stupidly buy the cheaper one?

[Reid Bode @ Jan 6th 2006 11:24PM]

Yes! I loved that SNL skit!

Here's to free movies on iTunes.



And I managed to resist engaging in the Mac/Windows debate.

[p-diddy @ Jan 7th 2006 12:19AM]

a) subscription-based services are BS. If I stop paying their monthly extortion, all my music stops working? Yeah, sign me up.



b) Apple's stock has doubled in the last 6 months. Has Microsoft's? As an Apple shareholder it seems they're doing plenty of things right. Sorry if they are not as teh ub3r |337 as some of the people here, but they're a pretty good software company.



c) Windows Vista looks pretty sweet. XP itself is what 98 should have been and I have never regretted paying full price for XP Pro (well except after installing SP2 which hosed my machine). The point? Just because you like MS doesn't mean you have to hate Apple. The reverse applies as well.



d) "Burn the penguin" is childish. I hope that is engadget being funny.



-p-

[Napos @ Jan 7th 2006 12:40AM]

I'm at CES. Vista is truly something.. I use Macs as my main machine but I was honestly impressed playing with Vista. Very innovative features but still slow to boot and all the 3D effects require some serious hardware. A reboot during the demo took a good 5 minutes on a HP laptop they were using.



The windows "icon" is the new start buttom or "windows jewel" as the M$ folks were calling it. The unique thing is that the start menu items actually change with your selection (ie: Documents) or quick search.. very innovative. Think Spotlight window built into the start menu...



The sidebar with "gadgets" is totally a dashboard rip. It's cool though because if you drag stuff into the main area (to the left for example), the "gadgets" grow and expand to show lot more features.. ie, if you bring the Fox Sports gadget into the main desktop, it expands to show play by play information on the game. Once you get bored of that, you just drag it back and it shrinks just to the score. Awesome little picture gadget that flips through all your friends online albums, etc..



All in all, fantastic features so far. They need to get rid of the horrible boot screen (just like XP) and do something like a Mac boot up that's clean and quick.



BTW, Alt-Tab shows you live mini-screens of your apps.. so if you have IE open and Media Player open playing a video, your Alt-Tab window shows the video playing in Media player... silly cool.

[Uhhh @ Jan 7th 2006 12:47AM]

#27...



Apple's stock has doubled because of what? The iPod. Not their OS, or anything else for that matter.

[Michael @ Jan 7th 2006 12:48AM]

You know, i do belive that apple had this first. And Every one is making a big deal of ONE new thing Winodws Vista has. How meny thing does Mac OS X has over Winodws Vista. Alot. I am not big Apple fan, but when it comes to a good OS, Mac OS X has it all over Winodws XP and Vista. I used Vista. Its alot better then XP, but still not close to Mac OS X. I'm a Video Editor For a small movie company. I use Mac OS and XP alot. If i had my choice, all the workstation would be Mac OS X due to the ease of use and the fact that a program might crash, but the OS never does. So i give Bill a thumbs up for Vista, but Steve gets two thumbs way up for producing an OS way ahead of its time.

[Smoke_Dawg_187 @ Jan 7th 2006 1:25AM]

I agree with #21, Matt.



It's stupid to blame Microsoft for viruses and spyware. Shouldn't the blame be on the people that write these programs? Shouldn't the blame be on the people that try to fool you into clicking this ad or downloading this "freeware"? Why would hackers waste the time with OSX when they can reach millions with windows.



Mac's are for loser coffee shop intellectuals. I always see those emo nerds with them.



Tyipcal Mac users http://www.dumpalink.com/media/1133782746/The_Emo_Song

[actuel @ Jan 7th 2006 1:58AM]

"Mac's are for loser coffee shop intellectuals. I always see those emo nerds with them."



this is hilarious to me. being that i'm not an 'emo/coffee/loser' but just prefer a good stable OS that allows me to do work intensive tasks as well as day-to-day tasks i struggle with the generality.



if we're gonna marginalize Apple uses to the above statement, does this in turn make Windows users 'robots'?



i'm sure someone will find fault in my query...(drone)

[Matt G @ Jan 7th 2006 2:41AM]

#10:



I don't know anything about streaming media first off, cause I never looked into it cause it's not somethin I wanted to do.



However, why would I want to use a subscription service? I prefer to actually own my music, not lease it.



2nd, Games come out for the Mac after the PC version obviously cause they reach the 80% of computer users before the 20%, it's called making money, I'd rather be a bit behind on the gaming industry and have a computer that is stable, faster, safter, more fun, more enjoyable, virus free, spyware free, adware free.. bala blablal... etc



And, why would i want to buy music videos from anything other than iTunes when iTunes music store is the biggest store on the market? Why use anything but apple software/products when it continues to be the best in the industry? Who cares about everybody else..



And what about a higher price tag? What? I got an iMac G5 with built in iSight for only 1300 bucks... and no extra Anti-Virus software i gotta buy either, or spyware software for that matter... I work for CompUSA and in comparison i took an HP desktop WITH the 17" screen, camera, and remote to go with it, and came out about 300$ more... you have to consider that apple's currently use IBM PowerPC RISC (reduced instruction set chip) processors which rougly are twice as fast as their intel comparison in clock rate, therefore my 1.9GHz G5 = APPX 4GHz Pentium 4... which doesnt exist... Plus an integraded PCI Express Radeon X600 Pro, which NO desktop even has in the box when you buy it... In my opinion it's huge bang for the buck.



SORRY just my two cents..

[Matt G @ Jan 7th 2006 2:47AM]

About the whole Mac vs Windows crap everybody likes to talk about, just a little side note (I work retail at CompUSA and sell computers all day) ... There's about 2 maybe 3 people daily that switch from Windows and buy a Mac... this NEVER happens the other way around. EVER! And everybody that bashes on Apple and their operating system should actually use it for a few weeks, no wait use both the Mac and the PC for one year straight and see how useable each are. Because Mac OS X is so smart and does a lot of things for you such as defrag on the fly, system performans stays pretty constant for a very long time. Unix was built for SERVERS, so yeah it's obvious...



I'll get people saying I KNOW HOW TO MAINTAIN MY WINDOWS and blah blah blah, yeah if you know what you're doing (as i would but why should i bother when i have a computer that i dont have to even worry about).. I'd say at least 80% of Windows users are just exactly that, USERS! They don't know how to maintain their system and run special software at the right times and be all technical... then they waste 100$ bringing it into a tech shop to get it looked at... so there's even less bang for your buck..



You have to consider the masses when you talk about how computers work etc.

[Matt G @ Jan 7th 2006 3:01AM]

#21...

I'd like to ask you, how do you feel Windows has changed since Windows 95? Other than adding bits and peices of neat features into the interface (buttons, easier shortcuts etc) How has it REALLY changed?



OS 9 didn't suck, it was just kinda ugly.. kinda like how XP has that ugly PlaySkool interface... eehhhh..

[Leo @ Jan 7th 2006 3:56AM]

#21:



You wrote: "Fool. My XP has no spyware, no viruses, and it's incredibly stable, as long as you have the slightest clue of what you're doing, it's very very easy to make XP more-or-less immune to all of that stuff. "



I feel sorry for you... really, i would be ashamed to recognize i have to MAKE my OS stable, since i would believe that's the job of the multibillion company that's developing it, besides, if that multibillion company couldn't do it, do you really want me to believe you are able to? go work for MS and keep using a 12 year old beta-of-the-year version of an OS.

[David T @ Jan 7th 2006 4:21AM]

Sidebar is a Dashboard rip? obviously, Active Desktop has long been forgotten by most people...



in any case, i hardly see the resemblance, beyond the fact that all rely on small programs - which, btw, have always been around. and the sidebar has been announced years ago since the earliest days of Windows Longhorn.



and ahm, the fanboy suggesting that changing the Start button to a Windows logo means M$ is ripping of Apple doesn't know what he/she is talking about. the entire interface metaphor for the two OS are different. Start is the logical place to, well, start... all programs, control panel, docs, etc, are grouped there - just because they changed it to a logo changes nothing of that functionality. whereas on OS X clicking the Apple logo does nothing more than bring up some system settings. the whole metaphor of the "Start Menu" is missing in OS X.



and no, my Windows has never crashed. and no, i've never needed to install additional programs for that. it works fine right out of the box. and updates are completely automatic. the only thing i've done is not be stupid and open every attachment from tom, dick, and harry; and never click Yes on suspicious websites. simple as that.



#35: i'm one of those who have switched back after 2 months on Apple. nothing really wrong with it, but i prefer my free choice back.



not that Win XP SP2 is perfect either - but i know M$ can do a good job when they're focused.

[Kenny @ Jan 7th 2006 4:38AM]

Lets step back for a moment and think.



Who brought computer games to the next level by developing a library that can interface with virtually every video card on the market produced by a different company than the supplier of the library.



Who began a company that was focused on making all their hardware proprietary so users had to go one company for all of their solutions.





Microsoft does PLENTY of things behind the scenes that no one knows about and shrugs off. Sure Apple has done some extrodiary things, but mostly for their own benefit (Hey guys lets buy iTunes that can only legally be put onto an iPod!!!).



Microsoft has allowed hardware vendors around the world to thrive from early on and Apple has made a computer that looks like a lampshade and expanded computer marketing.... which one has more to do with computers.

[Nami @ Jan 7th 2006 5:34AM]

Okay, this is the stupidest forum yet! There are a few well informed individuals but u guys are all arguing a point that aint gonna go nowhere! First of all, both MS and Mac are closely related seeing as how Bill Gates was sued during the 90's for monopolizing the market. He infact owns a large sum of shares in Mac...ever notice why MS Office is available on Mac? Secondly, I have used Win/Mac/Linux and Unix. You cannot sum it up in a few words and say one is superior to the other because they are all aimed at performing seperate tasks. Moreover, alot of research goes into such development. Don't be surprised to know that they had been developing Vista from the days os Win2K. They do so not only to shorten production time, but to also get a head start on patent and 'righteous use' agreements! If it was so simple to just copy it, it would have been done, thats y there are laws to prevent this kind of sh!t. Because believe me, Mac wouldnt love enything more but to sue MS over copyright infringements. And as i read earlier and agreed with 100% in this forum, Competition is what motivates market growth! If no one tries to top anyone then the companies will see no point in R&D because they will still make the money. The very same thing is occuring right now in the graphics card development for consumers where Nvidia is seeing very little competition from ATI and has not made any significant developments in their line because they are still on top!!! FOR GOD SAKES THE GEFORCE 7800GTX HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE EARLY LAST SUMMER!!!

[z @ Jan 7th 2006 6:53AM]

Doesn't anyone get tired of that Mac/Win crap. Choose the OS that fits you, if your dumb take the dumb and crappy one, if not take the other. As long as the tool does what it's intended for and pleases its user. Wouldn't it be more interesting to debate on what's been out and available for the masses, there could (and surely) be a version of Mac OS coming up which would better compare with the Vista? And let's not forget the Penguin!

[TZK @ Jan 7th 2006 9:05AM]

The people who post bashing this are just envious there hasnt been an apple gathering since last year to talk about yet another product they are upgrading so you can spend a ridiculously high amount of money for listening to the same songs over and over.

[Matt G @ Jan 7th 2006 12:31PM]

#38



Who started a company where they build the hardware AND software so it integrates seamlessly? Who built a company where you don't worry about "drivers" nearly as often unless you buy a brand new printer that OS X doesn't have the driver for yet... or some of the few third party products that arent already integraded (such as a Canon camcorder, plug it in and youre editing video in minutes, without having to touch a driver cd or software install disk)



Apple hasn't been proprietary since 1999, after Jobs came back he switched things around the way they should be. Universial ports (USB, FireWire, Ethernet etc) Before then it was stupid with their own little connectors, although they worked well but didn't interface with very much third party stuff. OS X is also based on an open source which i believe is made of a type of FreeBSD/Unix.. totally open for anybody who wishes to create software, also easy to port over software used on any other Unix based environment. You're also able to go out and buy an ATI or nVidia card of your choice as long as it's a mac compatible (If you had a PC it would have to PC compatible) So it makes sense. Apple is totally open source, and more and more vendors are making products, and writing software for the systems year after year.



Apple is the only company who actually designs and creates a real computer, it's called innovation, something the rest of the PC industry has forgotten. Why throw everything into a noisy box with poor air ventilation year after year??



Microsoft has a hard task with everything being third party, they simply make the OS, but they have to make it so it works with about a billion peices of hardware. I understand it's hard, but thats their problem. They should build their own equipment, and hire some damn good designers if they want to keep up with Apple.



It's either kill or be killed, and the way it's looking microsoft will be over with in a period of time, say 10-20 years-ish.. just my look on things



People are starting to realize the simplicity, ease of use, stability, and hardware/software integration that Apple has had for years. Everybody is a mac person, some just don't yet realize it...

[Matt G @ Jan 7th 2006 12:46PM]

#40



Just my opinion but I don't think Windows should even be compared to Mac OS X... I mean they're both operating systems, so they're going to be compared but really, two totally different platforms, it's proprietary Microsoft programming compared to state of the art server programming... Microsoft OS was originally simply a desktop workstation single user environment where as Unix is, well.. Unix, enough said.



Once you add enough patches to a life raft, the raft looks like one big patch. If Microsoft was smart they'd jump on the Unix based bandwagon, it's funny that they have the most money and probably the most programmers yet cannot keep up with smaller companies, and even companies that make FREE operating systems (Linux) Come on guys, it's getting old.

[James @ Jan 7th 2006 9:07PM]

#35 Matt G

so are you saying OSX is for idiots who don't know how to take care of their systems so they let the OS do it for them? sounds like it to me. i guess that's what everybody wants from windows then right. let it take care of itself.

[Leo @ Jan 8th 2006 3:12AM]

#38: "and no, my Windows has never crashed. and no, i've never needed to install additional programs for that. it works fine right out of the box. and updates are completely automatic. the only thing i've done is not be stupid and open every attachment from tom, dick, and harry; and never click Yes on suspicious websites. simple as that."



So... either you are posting from other computer or you format and reinstall everything in your PC every 4 minutes, that's the average time a vanilla PC takes to catch an infection or be owned... you wouldn't be so kind as to provide us with your IP, would you? ;-) Please be a nice person and accept you are lying.

[d_8 @ Jan 8th 2006 11:09AM]

#45. Naah.. OS X is not only design for idiots, but it's design for people that switched from Windows XP, because most of them dont know how to run OS X and apparently, after first 2 weeks, they'll enjoy it. I was a PC geek that usually overclock PC, install this and that to make WinXP run smoother & prevent those virus & spyware. but, i never feel as good as now after i use OS X because:

1. My iMac G5 is well built. Very good quality of product (outside & inside), and cant compared with PC at all that sooner or later, it will get noisy and soon need an extra fan to prevent overheating. It comes with Apple's high quality usb mouse & keyboard, not a cheap 'made in china' black & silver kinda keyboard & mouse. plus, LCD covered by high quality of Aclyric. Do you know that Apple's most affordable notebook, which is called iBook, covered by a polycarbonate plastic � the same material used in bulletproof glass � with an internal magnesium frame for added strength?? That's why apple sell a HIGH quality product (built in Wifi, bluetooth, firewire) with a reasonable price.

2. OS X is more stable and more clever. Now it's 2006. its the time where u use a high tech device where u dont have to worry anything. if u spend $2000 for electronic device, it should run smooth and no problems, right? well, when i use windows xp, if i browse internet, especially have a broadband, you'll get a spyware from some pages cookies in 1 hour (apparently at this time, you wont realise it), and the next minutes, hacker will try to attack your computer. :(. apparently, after i've download free stuff from internet, browsing around astalavista.box.sk, which contain so many spywares there, and been received Trojan for testing the OS durability, OS X still works alright without antivirus, because those spywares, viruses & trojan cant do anything in OS X system. Can you, WinXP user, handle Spywares, Viruses & Trojans without antivirus & antispywares? i'm working at PC stores. 80% of our service dept customers had viruses & spywares and need to wipe off everything. And 1 more thing... heard that to make all of the good features of Win Vista works fine, the system requirement said that it needs at least 2Gb of RAM, while my iMac only have 512mb and all Dashboard, Spotlight & Front Row plus all other softwares working perfectly.

Well, WinXP is good if u know what you're doing. If you're not, it will be pain in the ass. OS X will run stable & fast, no matter you know what u're doing or not. :P . If you still think OS X worst than XP, i'll challange you to use OS X for 2 weeks, and see what happen. And now, i'll let you enjoy your Win Vista that maybe & hopefully works better than OS X and i'll see you after MacTel. :P

[d_8 @ Jan 8th 2006 11:26AM]

#38. Sorry. its called Start Menu to start what u want. It doesnt mean that in OS X, u have to start from Apple button logo on the top left, because Apple doesnt meant start here. For apple user, u have to go to Finder, click menu Go and you can choose where you want to go to. but, thats actually old school way to run applications. OS X has dock at the bottom that works as a quick short cut.. (similar with Quick Shortcut on start bar). or, you can create shortcut for Application folder on the dock that can make that shortcut works as like Start menu. easier & more freedom. Different OS has different way to run it. but OS X still more stable. :P

[Red GTI @ Jan 8th 2006 8:35PM]

All this yammering about viruses, spyware, etc. on Windows...



Simple solution:

1) Keep Windows Update on auto-download/install.

2) Keep your virus defs up to date.

3) Use a Standard User account for everyday work. Log in to the Local Administrator account only when installing software.



Point (3) is key, and it's what all Unix/Linux/Mac default setups use (e.g., "sudo"). It's also what all corporate IT departments do now - they lock down their users' Windows desktops so they can't inadvertently infect their own systems and use remote-management software for maintaining them. I know - this is what I do for a living.



Our Mac guy, on the other hand, is freaking out because he has to manually update our Macs whenever Apple releases a point-upgrade. Granted, he uses remote-control SW - but it's still a manual process. For our PCs we automatically push out updates to thousands overnight.

[Matt G @ Jan 10th 2006 1:58AM]

# 48



Dock will become old school as well with Tiger's new spotlight feature, a feature that MS won't even be able to include in Vista.. it'll be a "patch" later on, which won't be part of the OS's core = no software integration... all those programmers and they've had since 2002 and still not able to keep up w/ Apple, jeez.. Seriously, must be cause their OS is a big patch w/ a ton of spagetti code.



Interesting website on Macs vs PC's (Windows), lots of useful factual information.

http://www.jmusheneaux.com/



Quote: "50 million lines of code mean it'll never be secure enough.



Windows XP: 45 Million lines of code

Mac OS X: 2.5 Million lines of code



Starting from scratch has some advantages :)



Also, http://www.hilditch-architect.com/HTML/WhyMac.HTML



"Mac users often swear by their Macs, whereas PC users often swear at their PCs.".... thought that was funny