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The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

That's the pot talking.... the kettle will be along momentarily.

'I really don't think that someone has bought a new PC specifically for Vista,'

Except for the trolls here on MDN. What's the count up to now - about 5?

Wow.... I'll bet their bulk Vista licensing terms just got a lot more expensive

Don't bet on that. Their licensing terms are pretty heavily scrutinized now since the monopoly ruling.

'I really don't think that someone has bought a new PC specifically for Vista,'" The Economic Times reports.

No, they bought new PCs in spite of Vista. They had no other choice, since that is what is on new PCs now (at least Dell is letting people choose XP for the moment).

I'm guessing there's plenty that's bought a new PC because of Vista is the "latest and greatest". And then they tried using it to actually do something and felt differently about their purchase.

I know a couple of people who bought PC laptops and hated that they had to have Vista on it. Nothing worked right for them.

The switching revolution is still in the 1st inning. WOO HOO!

WOW
It is about time PC makers speak out about the MS mess.

I wonder if Micheal Dell also has the guts to say out loud what everybody in the industry thinks

He's right, except for one thing: there's ONE company in his industry that likes Vista!

Anecdotal evidence:

A friend just bought Acer notebook with Vista home (for a about $500). He became so annoyed and agitated by the 'Cancel or Allow' prompts every five seconds (not an exaggeration), that he tried to return it / sell it, without success. He couldn't afford a MacBook (not even a refurb), so he asked me for help. I wiped out the Vista and slapped on a copy of XP. While it's no Mac, he's much happier now and can finally use his new laptop.

There are guys hovering around Best Buy laptop stations, here in NY City, offering a service of 'back-grading' from Vista to XP for about $150. Apparently, they are doing brisk business.

One needs to step back and think about how bad this is for a new operating system. Nobody was that anxious to wipe out XP and install 2000 five years ago, when XP came out.

As long as XP is OS X's competition, it still has a chance, by sheer domination. Once Vista takes over in the Windows world, the frustration level can really go through the roof.

So many things are converging for Apple today. Vista is just another contributor.

@Jeff - Actually Michael Dell already has. Actions speak louder than words, and the fact that Dell went against MS' wishes and decided to still offer machines with XP (and Linux as well) speaks volumes. Of course, Dell PCs are still commodity level crap, but I do respect him for taking a stand.

Michael Dell only has guts when he's attacking Apple.

At work I have a PC with XP. I used to have PC's at home but I switched to OS X about 6 months ago. Here are some examples of things that don't work right on my PC. Now mind you, I have 15+ years experience building and fixing PCs.
1. If Internet Explorer is open, I have several programs that will not launch. Try and fix that problem.
2.If my logitech connect utility is running in the background, then my stamps.com program won't work. Again, just try and figure out why and what the connection is.
3. Adobe acrobat prof 8 doesn't work right on my pc. I have latest update of software and yet the program constantly freezes up. Reason: The logitech mouse. So, I have second mouse plugged in that isn't wireless when I want to use Acrobat pro 8.
4. Other weird shit: when spysweeper is updating itself, everything on my system crawls to a halt.
5. Other random BS too numerous to list here.

The boss has graciously allowed me to get a Mac for work. I think I will wait for the next model coming in August.

This story is entirely true. Just a VERY small sampling of what is wrong with the Windows environment.

Seen another way, this is just more pressure for Apple to get Leopard "right". It doesn't have to be a "bases loaded home run", or even a sliding-in home run, but it needs to be a base hit - a double or a triple being even better. Anything less and the back-lash will be fierce!

DLMeyer - the Voice of G.L.Horton's Stage Page Pod Cast

Must be tempting for Apple

Now available, Acer with a Tiger in its tank!

Or Apple with Leopard

Dell is in trouble...the odds of Michael Dell biting the hand that feeds him are slim...and gaining wisdom from his "shareholder" statement against Apple...he will be advised to keep his trap shut...as his foot is already located there.
I think he is more intested in getting his spies onto the land and into the buildings that Apple has bought near his Austin headquarters.

well, when your whole business, selling computers, is based on what someone else produces, the operating system, your business is on shaky ground. these people were more than willing to take everyone's money when microsoft was completely dominant; i don't have any sympathy for them at all now. they are getting what they deserve.

Acer has a really nice Ultra Small Form Factor (USFF) desktop machine called the AcerPower 2000. COmes in several configurations.

The best model has 1.8 Ghz Core 2 Duo, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB SATA, DVD±RW/DVD-RAM, gigabit ethernet, 8 USB 2.0 ports, in an 8x10x2.5" enclosure with Windows XP pro, all for $599. It's a great and speedy little machine.

I want a Mac mini like this!

MW high: Mac mini price is still too high. What's Apple gonna replace it with, any rumors?

Vista and Ballmer are two of the best friends Apple has ever had, and both came along at the best possible time.

Notice that the smirk has been wiped off the face of Mac bashers. A friend of mine, a PC user, builder, IT guy, once called my G4 a communist computer with a Taliban operating system. He is still holding on to the PC propaganda, but in a tenitive fashion. I know he wants a Mac, but is probally waiting for my death before he'll get one.

His attitude is like a quarterback's of a losing team when it's the forth quarter and the score is 72-0. I hope he's stuck with XP forever, I plan on living to 104.

Apple ought to offer to licence OS X to Dell, and when they come running ask for a huge, and quite unacceptable licence fee.
The Apple negotiators then walk out.

It's called getting your own back.

@Dion
"I know he wants a Mac, but is probably waiting for my death before he'll get one. "

that's funny

you made me laugh. thanks

@ Predrag

"A friend just bought Acer notebook with Vista home (for a about $500). He became so annoyed and agitated by the 'Cancel or Allow' prompts every five seconds (not an exaggeration), that he tried to return it / sell it, without success. He couldn't afford a MacBook (not even a refurb), so he asked me for help. I wiped out the Vista and slapped on a copy of XP"

Ouch!

As I understand it that quietens down over time and you can turn the alerts off, anyway. Still, if he's happier with XP ...

So then he loses the flashy new Aero - as I understand it a poorer and more resource-intensive copy of Apple's Quartz ... only *7* years late to the table.

Does the average user _know_ just how far behind their machines have been, and to some extent still are? They can't do, or they wouldn't buy this crap.

So, I was at Bestbuy looking for 2 new PCs to buy. I would have bought Macs for my client, except they had some Windows only applications they had to run on their PC. Nope, Parallels won't work, because they needed Serial ports.

Well, anyway, there were no Windows XP PCs anymore. The sales guy told me that Microsoft forbids selling PCs with XP. Bestbuy can only carry Vista PCs in stores. What Bull!!! He agrees and directly me to their Bestbuy Business web site where I could "special order" XP laden PCs.

This utterly makes no sense at all.

If this isn't monopoly, I don't know what is!

"Acer has a really nice Ultra Small Form Factor (USFF) desktop machine called the AcerPower 2000"

Which, regardless of form factor, is YAPOS box which looks like a Subaru dashboard. You do _not_ want a Mini like that, trust me.

Crappy software for crappy hardware manufacturers.

What do you expect?

Lanci said. 'I really don't think that someone has bought a new PC specifically for Vista,'"

And you know what? He's right!
And if they did boy were they disappointed.

Acer makes junk (like Gateway) so it seems that they would get along good with Microsoft!

Yeah, I also use XP at work and there is no diagnosing or fixing some problems. Take for instance that darling program called "Norton antivirus". It turns out that the stupid thing scans all applications on launch, adding a few seconds every time you launch one. You have to keep turning this functionality off, because it flips itself back on every twenty minutes or so. So all day you're left disabling the same program over and over.

Then there's the "slow-motion mouse" trick where at random times during the day, the pointer acts as though it starting running through molasses.

And don't forget the way that Windows itself hides bits of data about its previous installs on a hard drive, so you have to zero out the drive. Just erasing and reformatting will not do the trick.

I could go on and on about all the frustrating things that XP does and that Windows itself has done over the years, but you get the point. Those legion of frustrations are why I'm a Mac user now. Windows was just too annoying.

So the world is now realising that the business model of basing your entire existence on Microsoft may not have been an altogether good idea??

Wow! It really does start now...

The end of the good times and the beginning of the end.

"Microsoft's operating system commands a market share of around 90 per cent, with Apple and Linux accounting for the rest."

And this won't change.

"He's right, except for one thing: there's ONE company in his industry that likes Vista!"

no, i don't think there is even one....

better ya $50 that MS still use XP in house.

that, in the tech industry, is what is know as not eating your own dog food folks.

...expcet with vista it should be dog.... errr, something else.

you can eat it if you want, but i am keeping my 3 macs.

lol, should be "bet ya $50" not better

silly fingers writing their own stuff....

MW: maybe John Wayne went back to his MS "western"

Just wait until Windows "7"

Wow

Just the fact that so many people feel as though they don't have a choice but to use a computer with a Windows OS is disturbing. Isn't that what defines a monopoly? Aren't monopolies a threat to freedom of choice, and isn't that basically unAmerican?

MW "freedom" - no sh*t!

...reminds me of the Great Wall of China. Not the second one but the first one. Construction began on the east coast and proceeded easterly. Everyone drowned including the architect who was also charged with the construction. After some thought, the Chinese Emperor decided to find someone who had vision.

I have a co-worker I've known for many years, who asked my help when she needed to buy a new laptop. Needless to say, I promoted OS X and Apple to her as the right computer to buy. Ultimately she bought a Dull. Her reason? Because she was familiar with XP from work.

Then a couple of weeks later, she told me that she'd read about AdAware, Registry Cleaner, and something else. She wanted to know what I used. I told her I didn't use any of them because I didn't need them, but in a former life I'd used them and strongly recomended that she install at least the free versions.

I agree 90% may use some form of Doze, and most likely OS X will never exceed a 12-15% penetration rate.

The difference is that the 10% that do NOT use Doze KNOW they are using a superior system. The 90% that use Doze generally don't know any better, or want to feel comfortable. Big, big difference.

But that's not enough to stop Vista from selling. I mean, how did the world end up in the mess it's in now? Because the majority of computers sold had Windows installed on them be default - and Microsoft's monopolistic business plan.

So how is this going to be any different. The majority of Windows users did not consciously choose to use Windows. It came on the computer they bought.

Now, imagine a world where PCs gave you a choice of Windows, Linux, MacOS and whatever else might have come along had the market been more competitive?

I'll tell you what. Windows would have been in the minority. Because nobody buys it because it's better. Because everyone from Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer down know Windows is not better. It's just good enough for the cheapskates.

I never settled for good enough, and if that cost me the market share I could have had? So what? I make products I want to use. I don't make then to make money. I make them to change the world.

S.

I remember a story of a small boy who threw a ipod, and bonked a very large man on the head, killing him, I wonder if there is some truth in that story

I work for a mental health agency in Texas that is in the middle of upgrading its PCs, and IT is “scratching” Vista and installing XP before each is delivered to approximately 300 desks getting new ‘puters. One IT guy told me they had to perform 80 updates after XP is installed! Our IT department’s long-term goal is to switch to Linux and Open Office, due to the expense of MS products. While I, as a Mac user, would prefer to move to OS X, I am glad our guys are open-minded enough to ditch MS.

We certainly will be buying Leopard (for our multiple Macs at home) as soon as it ships–bought and installed OS X the day it went on the market and have never looked back.

R2:

I think you are wrong.

I could see a day, not to far from now, where MS commands like 75% and MAC and LINUX make up the rest.

Apple is happily chipping away, making small inroads with awesome products, and enjoying a nice margin at the same time.

No hurry. Step by step...inch by inch...

Vista/MicroSoft is like the Bush administration. Denial, recalcitrance, truculence, ethical intransigence, you-name-it... They tried, but they did not plan for the exit. Just 'Putin' on the Ritz...