I retired from personal blogging in July 2008.
But you can find me over at http://blog.xero.com.
I’m going to wade on into it! The subject line is not really the right one. Really we’re talking operating systems. The Windows family, with Vista as the next iteration – and Apple: OSX.
Credentials
I grew up on an Apple II, Brought my own Mac Laptop in around 91. Had Windows version 2, went through Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFW, NT4, Windows 95, etc. etc.
I was a Microsoft MVP in ASP. A MSDN Regional Director and currently I believe my current status is an influencer. I own MS stock. Don’t currently own Apple.
Right now I have a Windows XP Machine and a Black MacBook. Microsoft shipped me an Acer Ferrari (1GB RAM) with the latest Vista build which I’ve been looking at over the past few days.
Discussion
Vista adds features in every direction. As a feat of software engineering Vista is impressive. Things like Parental controls will be useful in the home.
Windows Vista is inevitable. It is the next logical and evolutionary step in the ‘Big OS’ model.
Vista’s biggest problems are timing, XP and Google.
XP is ‘good enough’ for most business users. It hosts ‘good enough’ suite of Office Tools. XP for all its faults delivered enough for the current generation of businesses.
This is compounded by XP being generally a licence sale, rather than an annual charge. MS needs you to upgrade to make its numbers.
Vista does not provide enough significant incremental value to get people excited. But this resulting size problem is real. Hardware, the best you can get today, doesn’t quite provide enough grunt. It’s sluggish. Just rendering the Control Panel took over 40 seconds.
But the necessary step up in size creates a number of negatives.
- It requires new hardware
- It is more complex that what it replaces and may require an end user training cost.
Moores Law may mean that in a year or so, the hardware will make it snappy. But boot up time today seems no faster than it was 10 years ago. Sure a clean build might get up and running relative quickly, but my XP machine connected to a domain normally requires a water cooler visit after power on.
At the same time Google has spearheaded services and applications that live in the cloud. Making users rethink why they need a big OS.
Apple has taken a different approach with OSX. OSX is far from perfect and I’m surprised by how many people I respect just do not like it.
After using OSX for a few weeks, and not initially liking it, I’ve finally thought of how to express the difference.
Apple OSX compared to Windows Vista
In OSX, it’s more about the apps. OSX feels like a thin OS that does just enough to provide a host for great applications.
In Windows, and more so Vista, you live in the OS and the apps are in there somewhere. You are in Windows. No mistake.
Is Vista crap? No. Is Vista compelling? No. Is Vista ready? No. Is OSX an Enterprise Operating System? No. Is OSX the perfect OS? No.
If Vista came on a new machine, would you replace it with XP? Probably not.
So what do you use?
If you’re a Windows Developer, go Vista. A change is as good as a holiday and you can explore all the new stuff and see new ways of doing thing.
If you’re an IT Manager, what do you gain with Vista? Status Quo will be fine for now until you have to do that big hardware update anyway. Big corporates are unlikely to go Mac.
A SME. You could be trendy and go corporate Mac. Host everything with your ASP and your sales people will be the coolest cats on the road.
If your operate on your own and just web surf and do email. Go Mac.
For me. I’m voting Mac for the following reasons.
- I don’t develop much anymore
- I feel like a change
- Philosophically I’m moving away from big OS and into hosted applications that are OS and machine independent
- I’m excited about some of the new applications I’m seeing in the MacWorld
Vendor strategy
If I was in charge of strategy at Apple I’d advocate going hard as a Windows alternative. To do that though they must make the Mac a great client for Windows Networks. Make Apple Mail the best Exchange Client (which they didn’t as far as I can tell in the WWDC preview). Flipping 5% of PC users doubles your installed base.
Oh, and buy RIM and get the iPhone AppleBerry out.
At Microsoft I’d do the following:
- Blur the PC, Xbox, Zune Media Player and Mobile platform into a tightly integrated suite coordinated with Windows Live
- Make Windows Live easily down-level to a thin Google like speed machine. Fat web apps are not cool
- Take more of a lead in hardware design
- Split off a 100m and start again or acquire a lightweight OS and Office Suite. It could be code named ‘Plan B’.
- Get your planning exec’s out in the field and talk to real businesses. Listen to your partners and channel. They are nervous.
- Balance the big 3-5 year projects with many more smaller iteration projects
If you’re an ISV, consider applications that maintain enterprise investments in their XP deployed environment. The next killer app may not require the latest Operating System.
Shares to buy. APPL, GOOG and MSFT. Computing is going to keep getting bigger.
There it is. Comment away …
blog
Sounds to me like it is almost critical that the next killer app doesn’t require the latest OS. Personally I use OSX and Windows. And when I initially switched I was pretty sure I was going to drop Windows altogther from that point on. But now I think XP is just fine. I don’t feel like I need to upgrade or dump my windows machines. On the other hand I don’t feel compelled to upgrade my OSX either. In fact I am surprised at the number (and size!) of updates that OSX is continually asking to download and install. Although at least it doesn’t pop up little boxes all the time telling me I am not secure and would I like an update?
PS, thanks Phil for the graphics
Great post. I agree with all you say and would add one point. So (too) many of the Enterprise SAS apps depend on IE - and not the Mac version. Andy Office is a terrific suite. The beta of whatever Office is now (2007) is fantastic. Apple has nothing that comes close and compatibility is a major issue. Vista aside, these are the two issues that forced me onto a Sony - which given my Powerbook’s D died tonigh turns out to have been pretty fortunate.
A lot of the Enterprise SAS rely on plugins. So you end up with a semi-fat app in a Browser Window. E.g. Siebel. Yuuuch!
Great post Rod - you’ve nailed it. For my personal and professional situation I don’t see any reason to leave XP. I’m not sold on MS’s next wave of technologies influencing me as a web developer - so I imagine I’ll be on XP for a couple of years to come.
I wonder if, come the next generation, the operating system will matter. If it’s just a commodity, why not run Linux, and have your applications all served on whatever platform they work best on…
As a hard-core Mac “fan boy”, I like your article. In a way, the differences between Mac and Windows say a lot about your work style. I’ve been flunt with Windows since ‘95, but still work better on my Mac at home. I’d encourage people to give OSX a good solid try, over several weeks, if at all possible. With regards to Enterprise, I think OS X could easily grow in that direction. Coming up with an Exchange killer would probably help a lot.
Rod: you can pack LOTS of functionality gracefully in a browser– look at Flickr– more functionality than any in-house enterprise app I’ve used, but beautifully done.
Funny: Not a word about security and the never-ending attacks on Windows, plus the report that Vista already has been hacked.
I’d like to see Rod’s “take” on the security issues.
Why not run Linux? Ask your Grand(x) to install Flash for FireFox. Linux has improved for the end user but it still requires administrator level support.
It is no longer “Mac vs PC” - Apple has changed the rules of the game. It is now a question of “Mac and PC” vs just “PC”.
ha ha ha!
Hi George. I’m not a security expert so have left that out. From what I understand and have experienced, the Mac seems to more easily have a base security model. Not intrusive.
Windows is definately seen more of a target, so will always be subjected to higher energy security violation attempts.
xPhil. Nothing against Linux, just have zero experience with it.
Very strange, I can’t realy understand this thing about thin and think… If I can do everything easier on one OS, does that make that OS thinner? Is that because it’s more athelitic and can get around faster? Humm
[...] As veggiedude says: It is no longer “Mac vs PC†- Apple has changed the rules of the game. It is now a question of “Mac and PC†vs just “PCâ€. [...]
Google Trends is a useful tool to sense the pulse on this hot topic.
http://www.google.com/trends?q=mac%2C+pc&ctab=1&geo=all&date=2006-6
Interesting to look at how macs are gaining ground on pcs in the last 12 months.
Even more interesting is to compare the markets : GOOG, APPL & MSFT
http://www.google.com/trends?q=GOOG%2C+APPL%2C+MSFT&ctab=0&geo=all&date=2006
Macs are way better! they run much more simply but are way better looking on the outside, they are smaller and more convenient, they have a much more stylish desktop and buttons, they’re more reliable and everything you can buy for a mac is serious software, not cheap Windows freeware! Why buy a Windows PC when you can save the planet and buy something that doesn’t waist everyone’s time!
[...] lot of people knew this anyway, especially Rod*, but I’ve only really jumped on the bandwagon recently - since I got the Mac, [...]