Apple: People Will Upgrade to Macs, Not Win 7
Apple seems confident.
Windows 7 will be launching a week from today, and many are looking to it as a revitalization of the PC industry. While every new release of Windows does bring with it a sense of newness, Vista failed to convince those happily running XP that newer was better.
The upcoming version of Windows hitting next week is better than Vista, which has PC business excited. Most will agree that Windows 7 gets things right and will finally get those still working off XP machines to finally upgrade.
With such a compelling, reinvigorated PC operating system coming out, one would think that Apple would be worried that PC would become the popular kid in school again. But Apple isn't worried at all. In fact, Apple sees the release of Windows 7 as an opportunity to snatch even more users over to the Mac camp.
"It presents a very good opportunity for us," says Philip W. Schiller, Apple's senior vice-president for marketing, in a BusinessWeek report.
Schiller reasons that those running Windows XP machines may view the upgrade to Windows 7 as too complicated and daunting, giving customers a reason to ditch PC for Mac instead.
"Any user that reads all those steps is probably going to freak out. If you have to go through all that, why not just buy a Mac?" says Schiller.
Granted, users going from XP to 7 will have to perform clean installs, as in-place upgrades are only supported from Windows Vista. Schiller doesn't believe that many users will upgrade to Windows 7, at least not as many as Mac users who have upgraded to the $29 Snow Leopard.
"I expect Snow Leopard will have an amazing upgrade rate, and Windows 7 won't," he said.
Earlier this week, we reported historical evidence that showed Mac sales increasing with each release of a new Windows version.
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Seriously, Apple never ceases to amaze me.
"Any user that reads all those steps is probably going to freak out. If you have to go through all that, why not just buy a Mac?"
What kind of half arsed reasoning is that?
It's like stating 'people will no longer get their cars fixed, they'll buy new ones as it's simple!'.
Why not just buy a new Mac?
Er, cos it's overpriced, overhyped and only does half the amount of shit I need it to do. That's why. And last time I checked, 7 Home Premium was £65. Not gonna get a Mac for that am I.
What a dumb thing to say.
how is it simpler to just go mac, it would meen an upgrade of the system as well.
i think if i was an xp user and wanted to upgrade, i would just upgrade the software than the whole system just to change an opperating system, especially at the bloated Mac prices.
apple are just trying too get there face in the news for publicity.
absolute crap.
Hey Apple produces OS that deletes data !!! read that potential mac buyers...
A apple is for a person who cant think
Hahahahahahaha! hahahahahahaha! hahahahahahhaha! hahahahahahahahahhahahahahahhahhahhaa!
Seriously though... No, not too many people will upgrade. Not from XP at least. They'll just buy a new £249 PC with Win7 pre-installed.
I've been running Win 7 RC for almost 6 months, works great, love it. I have owned a mac for about 2 years, I almost never use it. I am just glad I didnt upgrade it to Snow Leopard. The Mac is for sale now on Clist. I dont see the point in having something that is overpriced, under powered and doesnt work half as well as my PC. I bought it because the Vista System I had made my head hurt. Not the problem anymore, TY Msoft for getting it right for a change. And Apple, well you just lost another Isheep.
title should say "downgrade" to macs... their hardware is simply outdated.
Dump my loving put-together PC for an overpriced, below-par piece of hardware that can't even run my games??!! Epic fail, Apple.
i love reading comments by windows fan boys!!!! have you even used a mac to make slating it? im in IT support and ill much prefer the mac for home use...bootcamp windows for games.....tut tut
Who cares? This is the fourth article of this nature posted by Tom's. It seems like an agenda.
I won't be changing to mac's. Not even if they paid me. infact, I would change to a mac if they paid me, then use the money to get myself some of the latest hardware (stuff that the mac refuse to support!)
[quote]So I have used macs, and that is WHY I'm slating them./quote]
im sorry. being 'forced' to use a system is completely different than actually opening your mind and learning how to use an operating system. its like saying...my teacher forced me to learn maths....but I didn't like it so i didn't carry it forward. You are taught how to use windows from an early age...and now its second nature to most. You have to do the same with a mac.
Its true, you are either a PC or a MAC, and now days besides the design and the application differences...its just free choice. If you need or know the benefits of both then you would feel stupid restricting yourself to just a PC.
I have both snow leopard and Windows 7 running on my mackbook pro. Why? i need the windows for my work and some select games, the mac....well that's for everything else.
Its all down to personal preference at the end of the day. Historically, Mac OSX has a substantial edge on windows offerings in terms of ergonomics within the operating system, however, windows 7 had made leaps in shortening this gap.
you buy a macbook for the build quality, design and the in build hardware which brings the OSX functionality to life (such as multi touch etc.). Apple has influenced the new generation of pc's with its multi touch concepts. AND as far as I can see...As someone in the IT support industry, windows 7 had taken many lessons from the MAC OSX. windows 7 will now do what mac osx has been doing for years.
so YEY Microsoft!, they have finally gotten out of your seats and made something that works....but people those who appreciate Apple will never be impressed by ''copycats''.
shani
Lets not forget your can pickup an ALIENWARE laptop with a gt260/hd4870 with the same screen resolution and cpu as a macbook pro 17" (9600gm) for a good £150 cheaper, upto £300 cheaper if you take the q9000 instead of the 3ghz dual core...
Oh and bootcamp doesnt count as a reason to use a mac.. if you're logged into windows using bootcamp then you are using a PC.. end of..
Lets not forget your can pickup an ALIENWARE laptop with a gt260/hd4870 with the same screen resolution and cpu as a macbook pro 17" (9600gm) for a good £150 cheaper, upto £300 cheaper if you take the q9000 instead of the 3ghz dual core...
Oh and bootcamp doesnt count as a reason to use a mac.. if you're logged into windows using bootcamp then you are using a PC.. end of..
i love reading comments by windows fan boys!!!! have you even used a mac to make slating it? im in IT support and ill much prefer the mac for home use...bootcamp windows for games.....tut tut
Says the Mac fanboy? Hurr hurr hurr.
you buy a macbook for the build quality, design and the in build hardware which brings the OSX functionality to life
A simpler way of saying the same thing would be "because I'm a fashion whore", but hey, that works too.
@ shaniman
I have an OSX install and I like it. It's awesome at a lot of stuff. Very quick. Looks good too. I have this cos I have a very good and smart friend who swears by Apple machines and I thought it was a bit ignorant of me to give Mac fanboys grief without using a Mac for an extended period of time. I used it for about 6 months almost constantly before I stopped. You can check old posts of mine for a thorough reason why, it's just that so much pro Mac stuff has been on Tom's recently I'm sick of typing the same stuff.
Long and short is that I now use Linux predominantly, with Windows only when I need it. I like the same stuff about Linux that I like about OSX except it's more configurable. And free. And installs on my PC.
If you have to have Windows anyway, as most Mac owners do, it just proves my original post. Macs are great at what they do, the best in many cases. But they don't do enough. It's like having a girlfriend that doesn't give blowies. So you play away with one that does, but she's a bit slow and doesn't look quite as good.
That last line was just me pissing about so don't give me any grief for it please
A simpler way of saying the same thing would be "because I'm a fashion whore", but hey, that works too.
Well said!
sheesh with the personal attacks....moving swiftly on..
Is windows 7 better than snow leopard in terms of increasing efficiency when you are working?; well...depends on how you work. but from my experience...no. the majority of the entertainment industry works on the mac. why? cos they are built for purpose. I stand buy everything I said in this post because its an opinion.
but for those reading this post and are deciding what to buy...I will add:
If I didn't need Logic Pro for my music....I would buy a netbook and a custom built pc.
shani
Lets think... I bet my intel i7 could do anything a mac could do but better.
[quote]Lets think... I bet my intel i7 could do anything a mac could do but better/quote]
lol
bet it cant connect my studio setup to it and run logic pro?
Lets think... I bet my intel i7 could do anything a mac could do but better.
Have you used a Mac? Don't get me wrong I fucking hate them but their use of resources is awesome, and it doesn't make much difference what CPU you have if your OS is crap. And shaniman is right. The media industry use Macs for a good reason and it's because the software is better for media as far as I can gather. So regardless, unless you fancy running Mac software on Windows you will need a Mac if that's what you use it for.
And can your i7 make you look like a guy who just wants to show off what hardware they have? I guess it can. Just buy a Mac mate. It's got a little picture of an Apple on it an' everyfink so people will know what you have without you having to tell them.
"Any user that reads all those steps is probably going to freak out...."
It's quite simple to back up files and install Windows. I agree with Apple that anyone who's scared of, or cannot manage this simple task will think about buying a Mac. Apple's target audience and largest market are the computer-illiterate with more money than sense, after all
Mac's pc loader should be called camp boot, as clearly as gay as the machines they run on.
honestly, i recommend people buy new machines all the time. even for Windows upgrades which i would have no problem doing myself. hardware has gotten so cheap that, unless youve put some time and effort into building a good robust machine that you really like, just buy a new one, even if youre not upgrading your OS.
if youre one of those who buy computers "off the rack" every two years, its just a better deal to get fresh everything for, a low-end example, as little as a few hundred bucks. my local Office Depot store has a Compaq branded desktop for less than three hundred bucks (including rebates) with Win7 preinstalled of course. not a machine to brag about, but still, brand spanking new everything, with warranty.
so its possible that people get themselves in a shopping mood ... and further possible ... they decide to "step up" to Apple, but there is still a significant price difference and i wouldnt expect the landscape of Apple to PC users to change that significantly among those who've had no major drama issues with Windows.
for those who have, though, that's another story and they may be willing to spend more to avoid data loss or downtime and i'm sure Apple is playing to those users.