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Now that is main stream recognition.

The greatest strength Apple have right now is that they don't lose customers. If someone buys a Dell they won't have any loyalty to them when they come to upgrade. They may even like the Dell but if they see a nice HP, or Sony, or whatever then they'll have no qualms in moving - and why should they? With Apple, to an extent once you love the OS you have no choice of hardware but thankfully since Apple's hardware and software are so integrated, by and large if you like one, you like both.

Apple got me as a new customer 4 years ago and now I am staying. Dell et al. get a new customer and then when the upgrades come around they have effectively get that customer again, plus work to get an extra one. For every new customer Apple gets other customers currently have to pretty much get 2 just to stay level. Apple put the work into their products so that they don't have to constantly be chasing customers, having to cut margins, having to reduce staff, cut corners etc.

There's no doubt and it's a fact that Macintosh is just doomed to be more and more appreciated all around.
It is just a question of giving it a serious try and you'll see any pc conditionned consumer to get a brighter smile (of joyfull surprise) when using a Mac...
Now business people must slowly catch it and leave MS for what it is...

You hear that all you whiners complaining that Apple has forgotten about the Mac.

Plus Ive always said, Mac users are such by choice, not because someone decided for them.

If you are thinking of buying a Mac, the back-to-school special is a great deal. Buy a Mac, get a free (rebated) iPod, printer, and $30 off .Mac. But remember, every year, in the last week of the sale they introduce new iPods.

So don't buy too early.

Great to hear this. My question is, besides Dell & HP what "major" PC makers are there. Gateway is almost bankrupt, IBM/Lenovo has never been consumer based...

This isn't the early 90s when packard bell, zenith, and everyone else was buildling these machines.

I'm thrilled Apple is taking so many more sales away from these guys. Like I say, I'm not anti-Microsoft, just pro-Apple. The products are better and more reliable than their PC counterparts.

We're doomed!

"The bulk of Macs are purchased by consumers and students who make their own buying decisions…"

Bad idea. When it comes to computer and software I go to the IT guys here at work. They said MACs can't get on the internet, they're proprietary and they cost too much. Oh, and they can't play games. This was, like, 6 years ago and nothing's changed. The IT guys have Microsoft Certification so it's like getting professional consultation for free. These guys are whizzes at patching Windows which really impressed me too.

Your potential. Our passion.™

the only problem is that many unwashed people are going to buy Macs now.. and then they are going to want stupid crap, like NASCAR 2007.

seriously - i can't beging to tell you how much i don't care about marketshare. No one ever criticizes Aston Martin about their marketshare. Why does that number even matter a little bit?

Zune Tang is so dead on. His commentary really shines a light on the truth hiding behind the obvious.

Thanks, Zune Tang.

MDN MW: easy - as in the pickin's found here for ZT.

thats a funny one ZT

@the other steve jobs
You really don't have a clue, do you?
If Aston Martin used a type of gasoline that no one else used, I bet you would care a whole lot about market share, no?
That's the way it's been with the Mac OS with software. Recently, the internet has reduced that disadvantage, but even on the internet there are sites that Macs can't use. Mac doesn't need 80% market share, but it would help many Mac users A LOT if the Mac had 30% market share, or even 20%. Of course, you may be one of those few that don't care about compatibility with the rest of the world. If so, broaden your perspective a bit to consider the rest of us.

tosj, the fact that more of the Great Unwashed are buying Macs and wondering where their games are is good for folks who want to game on their Macs. Blizzard games are great, but you can't drive or fly them.
You may not care any more about marketshare than I do, but it's important. The difference between 5% and 5.1% isn't much, but take that up to 10% and you're looking at a whole new story. At some point, Google and Yahoo! and Bank of America decide they can't afford to code for Windows first and foremost, that their code needs to be compliant and cross-platform. What's the barrier ... one in 5? one in 4? one in 3? Or does it just need to reach the #1 in sales? Right now Apple is at one in 7 and moving up, #5 in sales and moving up. My concern with marketshare is all about "recognition", if we have that then the numbers don't matter much.

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

Yes ... failed to note: ZT, well said. You covered most of the worn-out myths that keep many Windows types loyal to their platform. That, and "Linux is too hard and doesn't have any great software - like the latest/greatest game I just heard about on-line.".

seriously - i can't beging to tell you how much i don't care about marketshare. No one ever criticizes Aston Martin about their marketshare. Why does that number even matter a little bit? —the other steve jobs

Because people are stupid!

slightly OT, but I've noticed that since I've switched to Apple my software purchases have gone up, mostly because I see value in the software.

With Windows I'd try my best to get free/pirated software, including only purchasing XP as a student ($20 is about what it's actually worth).

But with Mac, I've purchased a bunch of software that I would have tried to pirate on Windows. I'm also planning on buying the family pack for iWork, iLife, and Leopard (when it arrives). All of this is because the software has value greater then what I would be paying! It's so refreshing!

So far, I haven't found any major compatibility issues. I do my banking and most of my bill-paying online and have had no problems. With "The Missing Sync", my wife's Dell PDA works fine (better than with Activesync, actually). All my peripherals work and required NO software/driver installations to work.

I couldn't care less about gaming; buy a Wii/Playstation/X-Box for that.

If I do begin to have issues with something important, I can run Windows.

Whats with all this Mac news??
can't we get some iPhone news??

(tongue in cheek)

@ DLMeyer

Sorry buddy but I have to disagree on Linux. It's a fantastic product for being a hobbyists OS but it's not ready for prime time yet. They're getting better, no doubt, but until you can easily play all media file types (which is really the last barrier as far as I can tell) it'll always be relegated to hobbyists. And I know that MPlayer will actually play the majority of these formats but you shouldn't have to compile your software from source. If the Linux community was serious about attracting "average users" they'd bundle these apps up in tidy installable packages.

Zune Tang still isn't sure that the piston engine, printing presses, motion pictures, jet planes and the Internet will catch on either. What ZT doesn't see is that gradually, all those Microsoft-certified IT guys gradually will die off or retire, to be replaced by a generation of hip, young, Mac-centric (or platform agnostic) IT guys who will NOT be chained to the past...The same thing happened to stagecoach drivers and steam train engineers, typesetters and typewriter repairmen, silent movie actors and barnstorming biplane pilots, and more recently, print newspaper editors.

Soon, it may even happen to paid corporate shills lurking in the shadows, as an intelligent public begins to recognize their disinformation for what it is.

... and I'll bet you thought the Halo effect was caused by playing too much XBox 360 games until your eyes burned....

MW= yet... as in we're not quite there yet (marketshare)....

@E of E,
I've noticed a complementary situation with software for the Mac platform (yes, it is a true platform now) and is excellent freeware. I am usually able to find an awesome piece of freeware to do whatever it is I need done. On Winblows, the freeware is worth exactly what you paid for it.

@OBill-Wan Kenobi

But it makes a hell of a server, though.

Agreed. I've been a Linux desktop user for over 7 years. There are usability issues with Linux, which are the price of not being a centralized product (like the eternal war between KDE and GNOME), lack of drivers and proprietary formats (but here, it's Microsoft and -unfortunately- Apple to blame, for not releasing versions of WM or QuickTime for Linux)

On the "plus" side, though, the GUI is by far better than Windows (in my oppinion) and I remember being much more productive having my Linux box than a Windows box.

But I have to agree. For the average users, despite of the great improvements, Linux is still not there.

"Macintosh is Apple’s hottest product"

Caution: filling is hot.

Yeah Fortune hit it right on the nose. Mac is the product, iPhone is the byproduct. I hope the Kool Aid drinkers can finally get that straight.

This article was also one of the few to hit on something I saw... well... decades ago. I was checking into a hotel and saw that they were using PCs as terminals. And then it dawned on me... those boxes are adding to PC marketshare.

But when we hear marketshare it matters because it affects the size of the market for 3rd party products, and thus the availability of 3rd party products (otherwise who would care if ANYONE else used their favorite computer).

"Personal computer" market sounds like the market for machines being used by individuals (including at work and in the college lab) for knowledge based work and fun. But a lot of PCs are used as servers and terminals. A meaningful definition of the market for "personal computers" would not include them.

If I'm a manufacturer, all sales are good. But as a user, marketshare only matters to the extent it affects 3rd party support. (Which also means marketshare in one's field is more important than overall.)

If XServer suddenly took over the world, it would be great for Apple. But the increased "marketshare" would be of little value to us laptop/desktop users.

@Cubert:

I couldn't agree with you more. When I'm searching for a quick solution some problem I'm having on a Windows machine, I am usually very, very afraid to install 80% of the software I come across. I generally have no idea what's gonna come onto the computer with it. Plus, It's often kind of poorly designed.

On OS X, however, there is certainly software out there that didn't get the job done, but I come across so much really useful freeware and shareware that I can almost always get the computer to do what I need it to do. Plus, I don't have to be afraid about malware (which is the reason I'm afraid to download Windows apps). Sure, OS X is not impervious, but an educated user, who knows not to click everything they see until they actually no what it is, generally has a lot less to worry about.

Mac OS X opens up a world of quality software with a lot less risk.

MW: Ready....to go shopping?

Zune Tang is definitely a bought-and-paid-for-M$-shill whose sole purpose in life is to hang out here and spew the Windoze party line at every opportunity. I guarantee you he's not hanging out at the other PC makers' forums reporting back to them on what's being said at the Mac forums.

And let's be thankful it's only him and not 20 just like him.

That being said, Apple is certainly enjoying a renaissance (who ever thought we'd see the day?), led by the Mac being purchased by people using their own free will, not by a bunch of corporations having one waiting for you on your cubicle desk on your first day of work.

Consumers and students; what a concept.

@Zune Tang.

Zune Tang gets it. Having other people do the thinking for you is a great way to leave democracy and freedom, something that the Zune sphincters love to do.

Your leader for Iraq. Your blood on the sand.™

Its really funny to read Zune Tang's diatribe.

Coincidentally, I was able to spend some time last weekend with my nephew, who's an IT installer for Comcast.

He was saying how he didn't like Mac's because they were a hassle to configure ... the only thing that you could do from the command line was to "ping", etc.

I expressed surprise.

Then I pulled out my Powerbook, opened the System Preferences & Network pane and started showing him all of the DHCP, BOOTP, etc. Options.

I then opened Network Utility and showed him a few more things than just Ping.

More of the story comes out...seems that the real complaint is because the Mac is firewalled by default, they can't just grab control go through all the settings. Of course, this is a Catch-22 arguement, because if the PC can be controlled over the wire, isn't that essentially only possible if the IP settings *are* correct?

The bottom line is that there's a lot of Windows people who are afraid to change from the Evil that they know, because they somehow believe that it could get even worse. With Vista, I can easily see how that is possible, but the irony is that these same consumers don't bat an eyelash at "taking the risk" of switching automobile brands after getting a lemon.

-hh