[Forbes] Snow Leopard Endangers Vista - Overclock.net

SZayat · 11-24-08

http://www.forbes.com/2008/11/19/app...?feed=rss_news

Quote:

It's the end of the world as we know it, and Steve Jobs feels fine. With the U.S. Federal Reserve now predicting a recession that will last well into next year--and others predicting much worse--sales of ammunition, spam and gold coins are surging.

Oh yeah, so are sales of the Apple chief's Macintosh computers.

Apple owned 9.5% of the U.S. PC market during the third quarter, according to tech tracker Gartner. Look at where beleaguered consumers are putting their dollars, however, and Apple's performance is even more impressive: The company grabbed 20.1% of the U.S. retail market in October, according to NPD Group. And Apple is on track to sell between 2.4 million and 2.7 million Macs for the quarter ending in December, up 13% from the year-ago period, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

Microsoft's Vista, meanwhile, is tottering. Operating income for Microsoft's mighty client division actually declined to $3.3 billion for the quarter ending in September from $3.4 billion during the year-ago period. Part of the problem is that businesses tend to switch to a new operating system all at once, and many are choosing to wait. General Motors chief techie Fred Killeen has even said the auto giant may choose to skip Windows Vista and wait for Windows 7, due in 2010 or 2011.

Apple, meanwhile, is preparing to release an operating system focused on Vista user's biggest gripes: speed and stability. A slide show presented by an Apple executive at the Large Installation System Administration Conference last week seems to show that Apple's next operating system will appear in the first quarter. With Apple now selling one of every five computers at retail--and an even bigger chunk of the notebook market--could the move push Microsoft into making Windows XP more widely available?

That could be the death knell for Vista. The consumer edition got off to a rocky start when it launched in January 2007, years behind schedule. And while the PC makers who wrap their products around Microsoft's software are loathe to admit it on the record, insiders at big PC companies say corporate users are clamoring for machines running Windows XP.

Apple, meanwhile, kept chipping away, releasing the latest version of its Unix-based operating system, Leopard, that fall. Now Apple is on track to release yet another version of its operating system, Snow Leopard, even as it spends millions on ads designed to pluck consumers away from Vista.

If Snow Leopard clicks, don't expect the big PC manufacturers to take a bullet for Vista. Nor will corporate information technology departments switch in large numbers to OS X, an operating system many of them are unfamiliar with. Instead, look for PC makers to push XP harder. If they do, that would truly be the end for Vista.

On the other hand, you have to buy Apple hardware to run OS X (legally and to get proper support) which might be a No No for companies with limited IT support.

carl25 · 11-24-08

imo

snow = windows 7

**Marin** · 11-24-08

I doubt they will push XP, I could see Windows 7 being hyped up more (obviously before launch) but who knows. I will be getting Snow Leopard though.

LegendaryC · 11-24-08

Really? Could have fooled me. My computer has been doing great. Playing some Left 4 Dead, starting to get into CSS and GMod. My computer hasn't had any problems other then the typical freezing in COD5/4/Quake 3 Engine.

Yep, my Vista installation is doing great. All is good.

Hehe. Typical journalist. I see right through him....

Clinic · 11-24-08

I see Vista being on my system for years to come...

JoeUbi · 11-24-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by LegendaryC

Really? Could have fooled me. My computer has been doing great. Playing some Left 4 Dead, starting to get into CSS and GMod. My computer hasn't had any problems other then the typical freezing in COD5/4/Quake 3 Engine.

Yep, my Vista installation is doing great. All is good.

Hehe. Typical journalist. I see right through him....

Vista is great once you get through the initial trouble of getting it working. Re-formatted my desktop and my HP laptop for my parents while I was in town. So frustrating, ended up spending almost the whole day getting all the software in order and working out the network drivers for the printers and NAS. Pretty frustrating when I'm coming from a Mac which does all the work for me. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Windows platform. At the same time I despise it because coming from the OS X platform it seems a whole lot less user friendly. If Jobs can take advantage of the frustration of many Windows users (which he already has) and somehow bring it into the mainstream (In my opinion impossibled due to the price-point), he'll have himself a huge hit.

bucdan · 11-24-08

is this guy just a everyday journalist that gets what he can, or is a guy that has experienced everything??? not sure on how to see this guy out.

The Hundred Gunner · 11-24-08

Quote:

Apple, meanwhile, is preparing to release an operating system focused on Vista user's biggest gripes: speed and stability.

What? Vista, as far as my experience goes, does not suffer from stability problems. I can understand speed if we're talking computers from 2 years ago (which is what most people have) and pre-builds loaded with adware.

But for the most part, that's just false.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carl25

imo

snow = windows 7

As in an intermediate OS? You're probably right.

noahmateen1234 · 11-24-08

hmm vista isnt going anywhere. i like vista, not had any problems with the OS itself. i love leopard though and i will be getting snow leopard when that comes out, i am really looking forward to it as well as windows 7.

McStuff · 11-24-08

A lot of vista's sales issues are from rumors. One person said vista was buggy, slow, and unstable. And now everybody thinks that's what vista is.

		Overclock.net - Overclocking.net > Industry News > Software News
[Forbes] Snow Leopard Endangers Vista

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)