Misconceptions about Microsoft and Apple
February 4th 2007 13:32
There are many myths surrounding the Apple vs. Microsoft war, trying to put Microsoft down, myths such as Macintosh running OSX being more stable than PCs running Windows or Microsoft copying Apple. Surprising how misguided these attacks are, but I guess we all need someone to hate.
Here are some popular myths about Apple, Microsoft and the General PC VS Macintosh debates that I will go through logically and let you make up your own mind on where you stand.
Microsoft Copied Apple by Adding a GUI to Their Operating System (Incomplete story)
I know many people like to yell out ‘Microsoft started copying Apple from the beginning with a GUI’, well there are two things wrong with this claim. First and foremost is that including a GUI with an operating system was the next required update for all commercial level operating systems and software as a whole. If someone created a program that used a GUI to work on a Macintosh would that person be copying Apple?
Secondly, more importantly, it is not telling the whole truth, which is that Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, went on a tour to Xerox PARC which had already created a prototype machine with a GUI and was ‘inspired’ to do the same.
That’s the founding myth all ‘Microsoft copies Apple’ claims find their origin in.
Microsoft Copied Features From Apple’s OSX and Included Them in Vista (blatantly false)
Well this is nothing short of a joke, I’d say Apple copied Microsoft with OSX. From an extremely early Alpha preview of Vista (then codenamed Longhorn) shows features that had not even been announced for OSX.
Microsoft did go public with many features they were planning on putting into Vista way before Apple said anything of ‘similar’ features in OSX, there’s more evidence to suggest Apple copied Microsoft than vice versa. The only way Microsoft could have copied OSX with Vista would be if Microsoft had spy’s working inside Apple computers who found out about the features OSX was getting and subsequently reported back to HQ.
What is more likely is that Apple saw Microsoft showing off prototypes of features in Vista and quickly created similar software and rushed it to market before Microsoft released Vista, the trade off here is that some features Apple likes to claim Microsoft stole from them is underdeveloped. Example? Apples much hyped dashboard that came out first in Mac OSX 10.4 was already in early builds of Windows Vista in the form of the side bar. Whichever way you choose to look at it Microsoft, not Apple, showed off the concept of a side bar/dashboard first.
Intel Based Mac’s are ‘Optimised’ to squeeze more out of Dual Core Intel CPUs (blatantly false)
Lets take a fair look at both, some folks managed to crack the x86 OSX build intended for Intel based Macintosh computers so that it would run on a regular PC. As such we can (unfortunately for Apple) be able to have a direct comparison between Macs with OSX and Windows with OSX, fair game, the only thing we can say is perhaps the OSX running on Windows will have a few disadvantages running on hardware it is not ‘optimised’ for.
Well guess what? OSX, the Apple created operating system, runs faster on a $300 PC than ‘most mac minis’ (you’ll need to scroll down to the benchmarks), you can compare the score Mac Mini’s get to the 44.44 the PC got. So much for optimised.
OSX is More Stable Than Windows (partially true)
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised the so-called ‘stability’ of Macintosh computers thus far have not come from any advanced engineering on Apples behalf but a purposeful throttling of hardware on Apple computers simply so they run more stable. The question here is, do you want to pay premium on a computer that will run at 90% capacity so that it won’t theoretically crash once a week? How often have PC’s crashed on you and what were you doing when they did? Where you doig something you could do on a Macintosh?
From my own experience my PC crashes on me sporadically when I am pushing it hard.
For instance while playing some kinds of games I sometimes alt-tab between that and other programs. This doesn’t happen with all games, so far only a very few number of games do this to me very rarely, Elders Scrolls Oblivion is the most likely to crash while I play it in a window, other games such as Prey, Quake 4 or Half-Life 2 run smooth as butter whatever *else* I might be doing.
Please keep in mind as of writing the most technologically advanced game on Macs is ‘Prey’, which is, even if I do say so myself, nothing compared to Elders Scrolls Oblivion.
Other things I do is run DreamWeaver, Photoshop and fireworks simultaneously while Nero Vision is busily converting video files to burn onto a DVD. Not saying this to brag, some people do more, but I’m simply saying I can do all that without fear my operating system will crash on me.
Sure it crashes, but so what? I’m sure if you subject a Macintosh to do several things simultaneously it would crash too.
The debate about which is more stable is actually one that is subject to opinion, I don’t know who came up with the idea and I’m sure there is some credibility to the claims of the millions. We cannot prove one way or the other through an error free trial, software wise you cannot put a Macintosh through the same rigors as a PC.
If the claim is true I’d hazard to guess it is because Apple has put some form of throttling upon the hardware to ease up hardware strain, it seems to be the only plausible theory for the inconsistent benchmarks in osx86 Mac vs. PC.
Mac OSX is ‘more secure’ than Windows Vista (partially true)
The only reason for this is the low user base of OSX users compared to Windows users, not many are interested in breaking through Mac OSX’ security. Virus writers and hackers can and will break down any and all security measures you create, the trick is to keep up which Microsoft strives to do, not that it succeeds all the time. However in saying that I can safely say that using a free third party firewalls I have yet to be hacked or a virus is yet to be downloaded onto my PC.
If I wanted a virus to run on my PC I’d go to stupid sites advertising free porn and illegal software downloads. Mac users don’t because OSX hardly supports the illegal software and they are too busy masturbating over their hawt Macs. Windows users on the other hand need porn because PCs look butt ugly and they all are dirty pirates (just joking ^_^).
*Further Reading: 'Is Apple copying Microsoft?'
In Conclusion (Please don't flame me, hear me out… first)
Throughout this article the reader may assume I am going on an anti-Apple rampage, I’d just like to say that I’m not, I am not a Microsoft fanboy nor am I payed by Microsoft or compensated in anyway (no really, I mean it). I have plenty of criticism for Vista and by many I mean heaps and heaps, heck, I’m actually very convinced at this point in time I’ll be purchasing a Mac book next, not a PC and will not be buying Vista at all.
What I have been trying to do through this article is dispel some common myths that have been getting on my nerves.
Here are some popular myths about Apple, Microsoft and the General PC VS Macintosh debates that I will go through logically and let you make up your own mind on where you stand.
Microsoft Copied Apple by Adding a GUI to Their Operating System (Incomplete story)
I know many people like to yell out ‘Microsoft started copying Apple from the beginning with a GUI’, well there are two things wrong with this claim. First and foremost is that including a GUI with an operating system was the next required update for all commercial level operating systems and software as a whole. If someone created a program that used a GUI to work on a Macintosh would that person be copying Apple?
Secondly, more importantly, it is not telling the whole truth, which is that Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, went on a tour to Xerox PARC which had already created a prototype machine with a GUI and was ‘inspired’ to do the same.
That’s the founding myth all ‘Microsoft copies Apple’ claims find their origin in.
Microsoft Copied Features From Apple’s OSX and Included Them in Vista (blatantly false)
Well this is nothing short of a joke, I’d say Apple copied Microsoft with OSX. From an extremely early Alpha preview of Vista (then codenamed Longhorn) shows features that had not even been announced for OSX.
Microsoft did go public with many features they were planning on putting into Vista way before Apple said anything of ‘similar’ features in OSX, there’s more evidence to suggest Apple copied Microsoft than vice versa. The only way Microsoft could have copied OSX with Vista would be if Microsoft had spy’s working inside Apple computers who found out about the features OSX was getting and subsequently reported back to HQ.
What is more likely is that Apple saw Microsoft showing off prototypes of features in Vista and quickly created similar software and rushed it to market before Microsoft released Vista, the trade off here is that some features Apple likes to claim Microsoft stole from them is underdeveloped. Example? Apples much hyped dashboard that came out first in Mac OSX 10.4 was already in early builds of Windows Vista in the form of the side bar. Whichever way you choose to look at it Microsoft, not Apple, showed off the concept of a side bar/dashboard first.
Intel Based Mac’s are ‘Optimised’ to squeeze more out of Dual Core Intel CPUs (blatantly false)
Lets take a fair look at both, some folks managed to crack the x86 OSX build intended for Intel based Macintosh computers so that it would run on a regular PC. As such we can (unfortunately for Apple) be able to have a direct comparison between Macs with OSX and Windows with OSX, fair game, the only thing we can say is perhaps the OSX running on Windows will have a few disadvantages running on hardware it is not ‘optimised’ for.
Well guess what? OSX, the Apple created operating system, runs faster on a $300 PC than ‘most mac minis’ (you’ll need to scroll down to the benchmarks), you can compare the score Mac Mini’s get to the 44.44 the PC got. So much for optimised.
OSX is More Stable Than Windows (partially true)
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised the so-called ‘stability’ of Macintosh computers thus far have not come from any advanced engineering on Apples behalf but a purposeful throttling of hardware on Apple computers simply so they run more stable. The question here is, do you want to pay premium on a computer that will run at 90% capacity so that it won’t theoretically crash once a week? How often have PC’s crashed on you and what were you doing when they did? Where you doig something you could do on a Macintosh?
From my own experience my PC crashes on me sporadically when I am pushing it hard.
For instance while playing some kinds of games I sometimes alt-tab between that and other programs. This doesn’t happen with all games, so far only a very few number of games do this to me very rarely, Elders Scrolls Oblivion is the most likely to crash while I play it in a window, other games such as Prey, Quake 4 or Half-Life 2 run smooth as butter whatever *else* I might be doing.
Please keep in mind as of writing the most technologically advanced game on Macs is ‘Prey’, which is, even if I do say so myself, nothing compared to Elders Scrolls Oblivion.
Other things I do is run DreamWeaver, Photoshop and fireworks simultaneously while Nero Vision is busily converting video files to burn onto a DVD. Not saying this to brag, some people do more, but I’m simply saying I can do all that without fear my operating system will crash on me.
Sure it crashes, but so what? I’m sure if you subject a Macintosh to do several things simultaneously it would crash too.
The debate about which is more stable is actually one that is subject to opinion, I don’t know who came up with the idea and I’m sure there is some credibility to the claims of the millions. We cannot prove one way or the other through an error free trial, software wise you cannot put a Macintosh through the same rigors as a PC.
If the claim is true I’d hazard to guess it is because Apple has put some form of throttling upon the hardware to ease up hardware strain, it seems to be the only plausible theory for the inconsistent benchmarks in osx86 Mac vs. PC.
Mac OSX is ‘more secure’ than Windows Vista (partially true)
The only reason for this is the low user base of OSX users compared to Windows users, not many are interested in breaking through Mac OSX’ security. Virus writers and hackers can and will break down any and all security measures you create, the trick is to keep up which Microsoft strives to do, not that it succeeds all the time. However in saying that I can safely say that using a free third party firewalls I have yet to be hacked or a virus is yet to be downloaded onto my PC.
If I wanted a virus to run on my PC I’d go to stupid sites advertising free porn and illegal software downloads. Mac users don’t because OSX hardly supports the illegal software and they are too busy masturbating over their hawt Macs. Windows users on the other hand need porn because PCs look butt ugly and they all are dirty pirates (just joking ^_^).
*Further Reading: 'Is Apple copying Microsoft?'
In Conclusion (Please don't flame me, hear me out… first)
Throughout this article the reader may assume I am going on an anti-Apple rampage, I’d just like to say that I’m not, I am not a Microsoft fanboy nor am I payed by Microsoft or compensated in anyway (no really, I mean it). I have plenty of criticism for Vista and by many I mean heaps and heaps, heck, I’m actually very convinced at this point in time I’ll be purchasing a Mac book next, not a PC and will not be buying Vista at all.
What I have been trying to do through this article is dispel some common myths that have been getting on my nerves.
| 44 |
| Vote |
Comments (4)
Add Comments
