Comments on: Microsoft in an Apple store? Oh, the irony…

By: John

John — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:56:59 +0000

And yeah, I realize that Macs don’t blue-screen… they black-screen! That makes it waaaaaay better. They also don’t include the requisite information to investigate and resolve the issue. At least Windows BSODs give you the info you need to fix the problem.

By: John

John — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:54:50 +0000

Brett, I support over 200 Mac users in SF and I have to laugh when you call out the Windows BSOD. I see Macs BSOD on a weekly basis, usually because of a failed EFI or graphics firmware update… It happens all too often, and there really isn’t any excuse for it. Remember the first combo update for Leopard? 10.5.1 borked about 30% of the machines it touched… to the point where a complete reinstall of the OS and all apps was necessary. Keep that in mind before you get too preachy about Windows BSODs.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Macs… but let’s tell the whole truth here…

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:44:23 +0000

Brett, blue screens are generally caused by driver issues and/or bad hardware, not by the OS itself.

What’s more, such occurrences are relatively rare. The reason you don’t see them with other OS’s, is because they’re generally not used for those tasks.

I’ve seen exactly one BSD in the last 3 or 4 years….it was right after I installed a new video card. Turns out it wasn’t seated correctly. Once that was corrected, there was no issue.

If you’re seeing more than that, then I’d start looking at the software you’re running, or the person in your company that created the install image for your PC.

Where I work, I’ve seen PCs (like mine) that run without issues, while someone who started 9 months ago, who got a brand new Core2 laptop, can’t open an attachment without waiting almost a minute for the file to open. What’s wrong? Don’t know, since he’s never given me the system to look at, but I know that the PC IT dept has done many mods to the default install.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:21:09 +0000

I don’t understand why Windows gets blamed every time an OEM or a customizer installs a bad driver that causes a bluescreen. Do you think these companies are really going to be more conscientious if they were to switch to, say, Linux?

By: Brett

Brett — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:46:49 +0000

Apple makes products primarily for consumers– not niche markets such as portable POS terminals. I’m sure Apple could design a terrific POS terminal, but that is not where they choose to allocate resources, especially when an off-the-shelf solution already exists. That it happens to use Microsoft technology is incidental.

Windows is everywhere (as anyone who has seen a “blue-screened” ATM or electronic billboard will attest). Buy we all (should) know that ubiquity does not necessarily correlate with excellence.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:15:35 +0000

Since Microsoft has demonstrated pragmatic business sense by using Apple-G5 based dev kits to support the PowerPC-based Xbox360, it only seems fair that Apple can return the favor.

http://www.ehmac.ca/anything-mac/27030-iiiiiiinteresting-appears-new-xbox-360-runs-apple-dev-units.html

http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?I=2420&p=5&cp=3

By: Vincent Clement

Vincent Clement — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 05:32:31 +0000

Yawn.

By: Wes

Wes — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:13:22 +0000

Does MS own a big part of Apple, asked Joe.
Not anymore. MS bought those non-voting shares in 1997, with the agreement not to sell it for three years. MS sold the stock about six years later (at a profit).

http://justinhartman.com/2007/11/23/microsofts-equity-in-apple/

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:55:16 +0000

Yeah, I always thought that Apple using Windows CE based machines to do the checkout was funny.

What I’m surprised at is that they haven’t developed a scanner plug-in for the iPod touch to use it as a Point-Of-Sale device.

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:42:54 +0000

Doesn’t MS own a big chunk or Apple?
MS invested $150M in 1997 in Apple, to keep it alive. I can’t find how much Apple MS owns today, but if they didn’t sell what they bought in 2007, they would have $6.5 billion worth of Apple stock today folks…

Remember Macworld 1997 where Jobs tries to talk some common sense to his fanboy crowd: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxOp5mBY9IY

The fanboys seem to like making war with each other (wasn’t that always true… cf console fanboys wars, all old microcomputers had their fanboys: the Commodores, Ataris, Amigas…), but Jobs/Gates seem to see things differently: http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2007/05/gates_jobs_vide.html

By: Yert

Yert — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:38:25 +0000

I somehow sense that this will go unrecognized by the rest of the tech media until something wrong happens with the Point-Of-Sale system, at which point, Microsoft will be blamed for the actions of an Apple employee.

By: Gerry Hebert

Gerry Hebert — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:22:39 +0000

Looks like Robert Scoble needs to check his facts. According to the Associated Press the problem at the stores was with the iTunes servers.
http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/A/APPLE_IPHONE?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-07-12-01-30-57

By: Mark Schneider

Mark Schneider — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:15:31 +0000

Mike ought to find out a little more about Jame Kendrick before he speaks.
James uses and enjoys Mac products, and frequently writes and talks about them, including his MacBook Pro and iphone. He’s no Apple basher, I’d call him OS agnostic if anything, he goes out of his way to use anything out there consumers of mobile tech might encounter, and report his views in an unbiased manner. Reporting on a bit on irony is just that, reminds me of the time a caution sign fell off a shelf at work and almost brained me. Not a big deal.

By: Robert Scoble

Robert Scoble — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:29:17 +0000

What’s funny is yesterday that Windows-based system was down and down hard. They couldn’t process any iPhone sales for at least 30 minutes after the store opened.

By: Ed Bott

Ed Bott — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:28:45 +0000

Jeremy, that’s hilarious. Thanks.

PS, Mike: “the Windows folks seem to take Apple’s recent popularity surge as a personal attack on their favorite platform.”

Uh, no, not really. But Apple’s Vista-bashing ad campaigns might have something to do with it. It’s OK for Apple to attack Microsoft and Windows at every turn, but let the tables be turned and it’s somehow beneath my dignity? Give me a freakin’ break.