Microsoft exec warned Bill Gates...

[ritalin]

Microsoft exec warned Bill Gates:
'I would buy a Mac today'

[aquamac]

Can't say I blame him really. I think his future job prospects are looking decidedly unhealthy, unless he just applied for a job at Apple! Went to the recently overhauled Regent Street Store last Friday, it is not only the biggest Apple store around, it must have been the busiest, there were big queues, like 3 to 4 deep to get to use any hardware. The retail side of Apples business must be making a huge killing, kit was flying out. I think Microsoft have a long hard road ahead, the reasons for buying home computers have changed, at one time it was just word & games, now it is music, photography & the like and Apple have the killer apps, and if you wan't to play games, you can dual boot into windows or better still get a games console. I can't believe Microsoft didn't see this coming & react sooner. With the retail stores Apple have brought the fight to the high street & when faced with an Apple store or Dixons, I know where I would shop.

[ritalin]

Here is a copy of the original email

From: Jim Allchin
Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 8:38 AMTo: Bill Gates; Steve Ballmer

Subject: losing our way...

This is a rant. I'm sorry.
I am not sure how the company lost sight of what matters to our customers (both business and home) the most, but in my view we lost our way. I think our teams lost sight of what bug-free means, what resilience means, what full scenarios mean, what security means, what performance means, how important current applications are, and really understanding what the most important problems [our] customers face are. I see lots of random features and some great vision, but that doesn't translate onto great products.

I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft. If you run the equivalent of VPC on a MAC you get access to basically all Windows application software (although not the hardware). Apple did not lose their way. You must watch this new video below. I know this doesn't show anything for businesses, but my point is about the philosophy that Apple uses. They think scenario. They think simple. They think fast. I know there is nothing hugely deep in this.
www.apple.com/ilife/video/ilife04_32C.html [Note: link no longer works]

I must tell you everything in my soul tells me that we should do what I called plan (b) yesterday We need a simple fast storage system. LH is a pig and I don't see any solution to this problem. If we are to rise to the challenge of Linux and Apple, we need to start taking the lessons of "scenario, simple, fast" to heart.
jim

[aquamac]

I was always intending to put Vista on a HDD in my Hackintosh, but I have got to the point and asked myself why? When I really think about it, there is no really good reason to do it. If I really need a windows program and these tend to be for reading info to flash graphics cards, I will borrow a PC from work. Have been using a mac for so long now I really am not bothered about windows anymore. Seeing Steve Balmers behaviour in some of those videos, they (Microsoft) need to make some serious changes at the top. Imagine having to work with Steve Balmer, scary. Would you trust that man with one of the most powerfull companies in the world?

[ritalin]

I'm not really interested in Vista at the mo. I think I bought XP almost as soon as it launched. At the time I was running Win 98/ linux on modest 380MHz PC laptop. Neither system was what I would call great and I guess I hoped XP was the answer (I'd seen WinME and it really sucked). If I remember correctly I spent sometime hacking XP to look and act like Win98. I also had to disable system restore and a bunch of other stuff just to make it run smooth. So I guess XP wasn't the answer to trouble free computing. The nub (or at least part) of the problem with Windows is every new version seems to need top notch fast hardware to run properly.

One of the things I like about OS X is that with every new version it seems to get faster. I'm relatively new to Mac. My 12' G4 PowerBook is the first Mac I used (can you believe I bought it with the intention of putting Linux on it as the main OS! That never happened). It came with 10.2 and its got faster with every release, and I bet it will run 10.5 just fine. The hardware is non too shabby either (that's why I bought it). The machine has quite literally been to hell and back with me three times, and is still going strong.

I study with the Open University, despite the name they haven't heard of open source. As such I often need Windows to run their software. I use VPC and to be honest if you hack XP back to the bone and keep it well clear of the internet it isn't too bad (it's at least as quick as my old PC). On my C2D with VMware Fusion it's very usable (you still have to keep it well clear of the internet). So I shan't be installing Vista for the foreseeable, not until some narrow minded individuals force Vista only software in my face.

Here is a joke for Steve Balmers. What did the doctor say to the man wrapped in cling film? "I can see your nuts!". ;D