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Hint hint, huh?

...They're bringin XP baaaack.
That Windows Vista don't know how to aaaact...

I just voted for it! Let's go everybody!

http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/61867/Add_Mac_OSX

MDN MW: "gave." I "gave" at the office.

Just added my vote

James,

I just voted for it, too!

All you do is register with any old unique name, make up a password, give any old email addy (doesn't have to be real), and you can vote for it.

Class Windows versus New Windows. Damn, isn't this the same the Class Coke versus New Coke story all over again but with software? When history is your best product, there is no innovation, right? Maybe it is reasonable to talk about Microsoft in the past tense when XP trumps Vista.

Just voted. Up to 510 now...

"Beleaguered" must be MDN's favorite word or something

voted - 521 now

the comments with adding mac os x are pretty interesting in their own right. someone also pasted in the joy of tech comic about the many versions of vista!! it is also funny that a lot of people want an alternative to ms office. this is really, really bad news for microsoft.

Makes me wonder if Apple is "primarily" a Hardware company and Microsoft being "primarily" a Software company, how come Microsoft's flagship product, Windows, suck big time and isn't anywhere near the quality and excellence of OS X?

That's ironic. hehehe.

Don't start with the hardware, i've heard enough of zune's failure. hehehe.

Jim - TIV,

Actually, the points increase by 10 with each vote, so you didn't vote.

I did. It's up to 620 now.

"If anything happens to Vista, anything at all, I swear to you I will get very choked up. Honestly. There could be tears."

Is this when the Wow starts?

Why would any Mac user want stupid cheapo Dell to offer OS X? That would defeat the whole purpose and stability of Mac OS X because it would be opened up to millions of other configurations that Apple has no way of keeping track of like they do now. It would ruin what we all love about OS X.

If anyone truly wants to use OS X, get a Mac! There's no reason not to now with competitive pricing and Windows compatibility.

Makes me wonder if Apple is "primarily" a Hardware company and Microsoft being "primarily" a Software company, how come Microsoft's flagship product, Windows, suck big time and isn't anywhere near the quality and excellence of OS X?

That's ironic. hehehe.

--

Cuz it's open architecture, and arguably, build on a circa 1983 foundation (pre-mass market Internet)

Are you new?

Let the death march begin.

What what what?

Should we move back to Os 9 too?

EXACTLY why Apple could afford to take extra time before releasing Leopard. If Vista had made even a competent showing during it's first three months, Apple may have compromised a little on features (and related testing) to get Leopard out as soon as possible. But since customers are asking for XP instead of Leopard, why not take use a few extra months to make Leopard perfect.

> Makes me wonder if Apple is "primarily" a Hardware company and Microsoft being "primarily" a Software company...

Microsoft is "primarily" a software company that relies on its Windows monopoly to avoid competition. Apple is a hardware company that distinguishes its hardware (in a competitive market) through exceptional software. Both are unique in their own way, but I'd rather be Apple right now.

It has been widely reported that Dell is using LINUX on his home PC. That says a lot about his feelings about Windoze.

Why the hell hasn't anyone suggested that they shut the company down and give the money back to the shareholders?! It'd be such an obvious thing to do, ya know...?

mike, I think you'll find that was a rhetorical question from denuj

Unpossible!

This vote is a wee bit pontless, since Apple is not yet going to offer OSX for PCs. Or are they? I think it will eventually happen once the Mac reaches about 10% of the market. Given that Apple has become a much broader electronics device manufacturer, they're now making a lot more money on non-Mac hardware products. That means they will soon be able to licence OSX to other vendors without wrecking their hardware profit margins. However… maybe it will be sooner than we think. I do wonder if the "secret feature" they're hiding from Microsoft is that Leopard will be offered for general release to PC users. It would take more time to develop a basic set of drivers for common hardware, so could this be why we're seeing a delay until October? The general "meh" reaction to Vista, could be a big opportunity for Apple to take really big chunks out of the OS market.

I would vote for them offering DOS and higher prices

"7,751 votes for Dell to offer Mac OS X "

That'd boost Apple's sales from about 5% of US market to 5.02% this quarter if they all actually brought and weren't just Apple Fanboys posting on the Dell site.

Clamoring indeed.

Looking at the "Dell to offer Mac OS X" headline or punchline, whichever you prefer, to me it seems more likely that Dell could just be another reseller for Apple hardware & then OS X software to go with that hardware.

Would that undermine Dell's own product line? The line that the public already know to suck big time or would it be of yet another case of OS X to the rescue and save Dell from financial collapse?

I don't want Apple saving Dell's sorry butt. Let them sell an outdated, crappy OS on their cheap, low quality plastic boxes.

Mac OS X is for Macs. You want it? Get a real computer.

Ideastorm? Are you friggin kidding me? Funny how Apple has been doing such a thing for years without some goofy contrived name and Dell has to make it some sort of novelty.

Ideastorm? Here's an idea. Shut down the company and give the money back to the shareholders.

""Beleaguered" must be MDN's favorite word or something"

They use it sort of as a slap in the face to everyone who called Apple 'beleagured' back in the late 90's. You couldn't read an article about Apple without it leading off with the words "beleagured Apple'. MDN is just very casually saying 'how's that crow?'

"I think it will eventually happen once the Mac reaches about 10% of the market."

Then you would be wrong. Apple isn't going to give up the lions share of their business in order to sell more boxes of OSX.

Besides the bigger factor is keeping control of the user experience, which they would be relinquishing if they allow third party hardware makers to install it on their crapware.

Leave this one alone. Who the hell wants OS X on a Dell? That's like a rusty 30 year old F-150 carrying the statue of David in the back with bungie cords while shooting black smoke out of the tail pipe.

Even for the sake of manipulating the media into talking about OS X, I can't do it. They'll have enough to talk about when Leopard makes it's way.

As a windows user it must be tough to choose between different levels of suck when shelling out a couple of grand for a new machine.

This week I got to see Vista and Office 2007 at a meeting I went to. One of the attendees had his machine setup with the new M$ wares.

Aero is a visual blitzkrieg. There is so much going on in the interface especially in Office 2007, I can see how someone could get lost. Since he was using a laptop it looked like 35" screen worth of eye candy crammed into a laptop screen. You know your OS interface and window decorations are the cause of problems when they take sizeable percentages of workspace away from the user. I hope Apple keeps the interface clean and simple in Leopard.

Just my $0.02

Look, I enjoy vote rigging as much as the next Bush supporter in battle ground states (he, he). But why bother?

Rock on Steve!

Man, this is so funny...
M$ takes 5 friggin years to deliver a new OS and people want the old one back. Talk about being funny. M$ is a comedy show.

XP works fine...why hassle with an upgrade to Vista???

Yup, just like Bush rigged the 2000 elections in Florida, right? (Funny, all of the counties that reported voting irregularities were Democrat strongholds, with Democrat electoral boards. You know how contested elections usually work? The aggrieved party demands a recount and then recounts until they get the result that they want. And Al's still mad that his shenanigans were discovered before they produced the expected result.)

idiot, haven't you busted your own skull yet? take your poly-tics (from the greek for many bloodsucking insects) somewhere else.

Personally, I get a warm feeling inside when I see "beleaguered Dell".

@just wondering.

"Yes, I know what it refers to. However, I don't believe it should give license to poor writing. I'm sure you are probably the author of this article because you respond so quicky to defend it."

sorry i stopped reading there, as i don't think i should give license to poor thinking. if you can't deal with a running gag, shut up and skip the article.

I didn't see this suggestion, so I posted it:

http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/66083/Shut_down_Dell_and_give_the_money_back_to_the_share_holders


MDN Magic Word: post!

Wow. I never expected this website to practice censorship. Especially since my post was a non-inflamatory opinion with absolutely no bad language. I guess I should view what I read here as it being half or less-than-half the full story. And I'm one of your more avid readers and Mac lovers.

Just amazing. When one of your largest purchasers doesn't even want your new product...

Vista. Because it's better than Bob.

The MS Battle Plan Revealed:

Secretly, silently and overnight, Vista will be renamed XP Plus.

That Vista is getting a "zunelike" reception, does not surprise me...

What surprises me is that people want to buy Dells with OS X....

OS X in a Dell is like a Ford with a Mercedes Engine inside... Sure, the engine will run fine, but it's still a piece of crap Ford, with lousy build quality, typical electrical problems which will make the end package unstable and unreliable, thus degrading the reputation of the Merc engine.

One of OS X's biggest strengths is that it coupled with a fine piece of hardware that matches it for quality.

Those who complain that Apple is often a few months behind the rest of the PC industry with the fastest CPUs, graphics cards, etc., don't understand that Apple is being smart to release a limited selection of products and accessories, thus improving the reliability of the whole package, OS and hardware. This is especially true when it comes to graphics cards, as anyone who has spent months installing nearly daily driver updates from ATI or NVidia in search of stability and performance can attest.

What the folks who want to buy Dells with OS X don't realize is that they will NOT be $300 machines. If Apple were to, in the unlikely event, license OS X to Dell or any other PC maker, they would certainly prescribe a lot of the technical specs of the machines... If I were Steve Jobs, I would insist on Apple having final sign-off, if not total control over the OS X machines design, and merely use Dell, HP, etc. to get cumulative discount component pricing. At best, Dell, HP, etc. would get a unique product line, such as a machine half-way between a Mac mini and a Mac pro... Smaller case than a Mac Pro but with greater expendability than a Mac mini. And of course, reserve the "Mac" and Macintosh" trademarks exclusively for Apple.

But, then again, with 30% year over year growth, why bother... Let Dell die it's slow death.

Guys:

I'm a Mac addict. I've used them since the late '80s.

Let's cut M$ some slack here. Unlike OS X where Apple controls all of the hardware, M$ needs to write an operating system that can work with just about any hardware. That's why M$ became the large company it did - it didn't matter what hardware you ran, you could always run windows.

Now that there are so many hardware choices - and consumer desires - Vista is a product of its consumer base - be all things to all people. If OS X was licensed on to Dell or other manufacturers' boxes, where Apple didn't control the hardware, I'd argue that OS X would have may of the same problems Vista is having right now.

{makes popcorn}

"Let's cut M$ some slack here."


I'd rather not.

Microsoft stands convicted as a predatory monopoly in clear violation of the law. Its abusive practices continue unabated. It routinely eliminates competition through vaporware and intimidation. Its buggy, virus-prone, mediocre product is a blight on all aspects of computing.

"Now that there are so many hardware choices - and consumer desires - Vista is a product of its consumer base - be all things to all people. If OS X was licensed on to Dell or other manufacturers' boxes, where Apple didn't control the hardware, I'd argue that OS X would have may of the same problems Vista is having right now."

If OS X was licensed on to Dell, the OS would only have to work on Dell Mac Clones, not every other PC clone in the world. Therefore it would run as well as it would on the "BMW" of computers - expect the hardware would be cheaper and expandable.

I can see why Apple would never do it... Why would you pay $600 for a Mini when you could get a Dell that runs OSX BETTER for less money, with a keyboard, mouse, and monitor (and you also would have the ability to upgrade video and audio)..

The fanboys who rant on here about Apple's superior hardware have no idea what they are talking about... After the switch to Intel, it's all the same junk.. Apple's just costs a lot more.