Appletell

I am not going to bad mouth Microsoft or Bill Gates; there are enough people out there who choose to do that. Bill Gates donates millions of dollars every year to charity, and even has his own charitable foundation. That being said, let me describe a situation for you and explain why switching is better than dealing with the huge downsides of remaining a Windows user.

My father lives in a small town in Illinois, population of about 3,000. He was a lifetime Windows user. He has had PCs with everything from Windows 3.1 all the way to Windows XP. Being that he is in his 60s, both change and technology are things he does not take kindly to. Recently, he was in the market for a new computer…

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Belkin’s long been a quality name for cables and peripherals (esp. on the Mac side), and now they’re introducing a USB 2.0 cable that makes it easier for Windows users to migrate to Mac. The whole kit includes special migration software, with an eye towards transferring Windows files and applications to a Boot Camp (or Windows emulated) computer.

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Today, Parallels announced the availability of their virtualization software Desktop version 4.0. It has a slew of new features, such as Modality, Smart Mount, 64 bit support and Speech Recognition. It’s also said to be 50% faster than version 3.0. You can buy the package for $79.99, or upgrade from version 3.0 for $39.99.

I’ve been using VMware Fusion now for almost a year, but the new features included in Parallels Desktop 4.0 are tempting me a bit to switch. Here’s the breakdown of why I’m tempted…

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Neither Mac OS X Snow Leopard or Microsoft Windows 7 have been released to the public yet. They both promise to be a nice improvement from that last release of each OS and offer some interesting new capabilities. Despite not being on the market yet, The Onion decided that now would be a good time to compare them and see how they do against each other in some very important aspects. They have even created a nice, easy to read chart with their analysis.

Check that chart out after the break.

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Windows 7 is only two years away (if you believe the—heh heh—totally trustworthy product timeline), and Microsoft is treating Vista as the OS that dare not speak its name, but let’s take a few minutes, shall we, to laugh at Windows XP, the Microsoft OS that looks competent next to Vista.

The clever chaps at College Humor have released a video entitled “The Matrix Runs on Windows,“ and in addition to a pretty spot-on parody of the Matrix (with some rather nifty special effects), it’s mixed up with a greatest hits collection of the most annoying problems with XP: status bars, Clippy, and of course, the BSOD.

Video after the break.

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Could Steve Ballmer get any more confusing? He laments the lack of openness in the iPhone OS and Google’s Android, will swear up one side and down the other that proprietary walled gardens are better, but then publicly contemplates an open future for Microsoft’s flagship browser! At the Power to Developer’s conference in Sydney, Australia, Ballmer was conducting a Q & A session with the audience, when a student in the audience posed this rather interesting question:

“Why is IE still relevant and why is it worth spending money on rendering engines when there are open source ones available that can respond to changes in Web standards faster?“

Ballmer’s response, though rambling, began with typical corporate stall tactics: “That’s cheeky, but a good question, but cheeky.“ Ballmer continued…

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Apple has fired back in the ad wars. See the ads here, read thoughtful analysis of the point Apple seeks to make here or here. More important than this second round of cinematic squabbling, however, are reactions to the campaigns: blogs the world over are sounding off with reactions, analysis, ranting…even remixes! In all the confusion (as though presidential campaign ads weren’t enough, right?), it can be helpful to pause and consider the messages Apple and Microsoft are sending.

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There’s a fun piece over at TUAW about a dyed-in-the-wool Windows user switching to Mac. Robert Palmer’s dad has been “... using Windows since Windows/286,“ but one day recently, the man—who’s been programming since the 60s—decided he wanted to try something different for a new project on which they’re collaborating:

My first reaction was to talk him out of it, actually. He’s been using Windows since Windows/286. I knew the transition would be difficult and frustrating, lighting a fuse I’m all too familiar with. Knowing I would be the one to handhold him through switching, I tried to convince him that installing Linux on an old PC would be less expensive than buying a new Mac. He knew it would be less expensive, yes, but more complicated.

After picking up a Mac mini, Palmer headed over, filled with hope and dread of what could happen if something went wrong. Read on for his “day zero” adventures of hooking up the Mac to the network, installing Firefox, and his father’s first impressions of the system that “just works.“

Read TAUW.

Apple has put out new Get a Mac ads, one directly countering Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” ads.

“Bean Counter” opens on PC sitting at a table with a green visor on, dealing out a pile of money into two stacks, one for advertising, one for fixing Vista. The advertising stack is much larger than the Vista stack, which only has three bill-bundles in it. Mac asks PC if that is really enough money for fixing Vista’s issues, and hilarity ensues when PC decides that Mac is right and moves all the money over to the advertising pile.

BONUS FUN TIMES: Watch PC’s stack of bills. While he is dealing them out, the stacks remain the same, with five on the left and three on the right, despite the fact that PC moves at least two bundles during this time. Then, after the camera cuts away to the Mac, and back to PC again, the stacks are mysteriously equal, though during this time, PC has not moved a single bill. Consistency, folks.

“V Word” opens on PC standing with a buzzer in his hand, buzzing out every time Mac says Vista. PC says instead of “the V word,“ they will use a name with much less baggage, “Windows.“ Mac says that Windows is Vista, and when PC buzzes him, he proceeds to say Vista over and over and PC cannot keep up.

Videos after the break.

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Is Microsoft setting its sights on Research in Motion? By Steve Ballmer’s own admission, the iPhone is as much a threat to Windows Mobile as Google is to Microsoft’s search efforts. Windows Mobile has seen its market share eroded by fresher, more nimble competitors like RIM and Symbian-based smartphones. Given the lack of excitement around any new Windows Mobile devices or versions, is buying RIM a cheaper alternative?

A few years ago, Microsoft had managed to capture almost a quarter of the smartphone market with Windows Mobile. But uninspiring versions of the operating system, and several lackluster devices from various partners, have cheapened the experience, causing Windows Mobile to lose almost half of its market share to competing devices. Microsoft, in the face of actual competition, never succeeds in dominating markets—Windows took control in the post-Apple era because there was a lack of any serious competing operating systems. It is not difficult to imagine Steve Ballmer sweating over the erosion of the Windows brand in all its forms—since the Microsoft/Yahoo merger never happened, RIM could plug a hole in the (somewhat) leaky SS Windows.

Would this buyout make sense?

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