How Microsoft Became the New Apple

cageymaru

cageymaru

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Microsoft has rediscovered their desire to create interesting hardware and Apple has gotten a bit light on product reveals according to Mike Murphy of QZ.com. He attended the recent Microsoft Surface event which he describes as "felt very much like an intimate version of an Apple event," and "the event's "one more thing"--a presentation technique directly lifted from Apple cofounder Steve Jobs."

But what really stuck with Mr. Murphy was that the Surface products were so much more clean and innovative than Apple's recent showings. The Surface Arc Mouse lays flat until you push on it in the middle; then it pops up to attention and turns the mouse on. It runs on AAA batteries where Apple's rechargeable Magic Mouse 2 can't even be used while it is charging. The $3,499 Surface Studio 2 desktop comes with either an NVIDIA GTX 1060 or GTX 1070, 28" PixelSense Display and can convert into a drawing easel to draw on with the Surface Pen.

Microsoft, on the other hand, is trying all sorts of new things. Many may not pan out, but the company at least seems to be interested in figuring out how customers may want to use its Windows software in the future. When it comes to computer design, Microsoft seems to have taken Apple's crown, at least for the time being.
 
Not hard to see the problem when they have a CEO that cares more for political posturing than keeping all of his product lines up to date. And it’s hard not to feel sorry for people that use headless Mac pros. Their only options for an upgradable Mac is to build a hackintosh or use very dated hardware.
 
well, one of them is a Trillion dollar company, the other isn't.
 
They finally get compelling hardware but at the cost of their software.

I just recently made the mistake of switching to windows 10 after my 7 install blew up (totally my fault) and things are broken that I didn't know could be broken (Example: setting file type associations).
 
vegeta535 said:
No they don't.
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Not everybody.

But many, many non-power users think their computer sucks or is slow. Because of the Windows "ecosystem".

Things always changing, stuff stops working, updates turn their machine into a vegetable, etc. It's slow, pdfs dont open or print because of Edge, etc etc.

Whereas most Apple users gush over their products and are loyal customers.

Not always. But often times.

I am not an Apple user at all, but I think they have had better control over their product, such as not allowing every garbage laptop sold at Walmart to have factory install bloat ware sully the "PC" or Windows name.
 
craigdt said:
Not everybody.

But many, many non-power users think their computer sucks or is slow. Because of the Windows "ecosystem".

Things always changing, stuff stops working, updates turn their machine into a vegetable, etc. It's slow, pdfs dont open or print because of Edge, etc etc.

Whereas most Apple users gush over their products and are loyal customers.

Not always. But often times.

I am not an Apple user at all, but I think they have had better control over their product, such as not allowing every garbage laptop sold at Walmart to have factory install bloat ware sully the "PC" or Windows name.
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funny I have absolutely 0 issues with windows 10. Shit has found almost every printer that I connect to my network. it just works.

No issues I mean zeeeroo!
 
bobdabilder said:
Yes, they do.
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if surface brand was not popular microsoft would be killing it. Windows phone anyone? Microsoft didn't mind pulling it because it wasn't a good product and wasn't selling well. But they are coming out with great hardware, it must be selling! They don't have to have loyal base of apple to be successful.
 
WIndows 10 is like a scab, if you don't pick at it you shouldn't have too many problems. Early testing builds had broke my video drivers but that was about the biggest issue I'd had.
 
NKD said:
huh? running windows 10 on a pentium dual core. Shit flies. Are you running ancient hardware?
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No, I just prefer alternate operating systems and my opinion of 'flying' is obviously different to yours. Any time a laptop comes into the shop with the usual mechanical HDD, it doesn't really matter what the hardware, the speed is frustrating - How long after the desktop is displayed on a fresh OEM install should I wait until the system is responsive anyway?

Then we have the updater, could it be any slower or less reliable on a 50Mb connection?

Don't get me wrong, not looking to outright bag out Windows and obviously there's people that are happy with their choices. There's just no way I personally find the responsiveness of the OS acceptable in this day and age on hardware that's not power user hardware.
 
KazeoHin said:
well, one of them is a Trillion dollar company, the other isn't.
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That's only because people give Apple 40 cents and more on every dollar they spend on Apple products which is literally free profit for them and they've been doing that for decades. No wonder they have > $260 billion in cash on hand nowadays and that will only grow as time passes.

Apple tax, no, no, it's not a tax at all, it's the price one pays to get that damned Apple logo on something. :)
 
Microsoft, make the Trackball Optical again, with all the buttons. Until you do that, I don't care about your hardware.
 
I admit how all of the surface product lines have recently been coming into their own in the last year or so. TBH though, I've noticed MS reinventing itself in Apple's image for most of the last 5+ years. Now they have these desktop solutions and the latest pro's run 64bit Full Windows on an I5 with a battery life around 7-10 hours.
 
I just want a normal menu and toolbar in Word.

Microsoft more like Apple than Apple is? Yeah, 'cause that Surface shit is just like Apple - expensive.
 
We got a few of these at the office and their pretty nice!
 
I will say that the Surface is steadily eroding Wacom's niche as "tablet of choice" for artists -- my cousin passed on replacing his old, beat-up Wacom with another Wacom, solely because of what Surface was bringing to the table. He's now a very happy Surface user -- for 90% of his needs, it's replaced both his desktop PC and his old Wacom.
 
tungt88 said:
I will say that the Surface is steadily eroding Wacom's niche as "tablet of choice" for artists -- my cousin passed on replacing his old, beat-up Wacom with another Wacom, solely because of what Surface was bringing to the table. He's now a very happy Surface user -- for 90% of his needs, it's replaced both his desktop PC and his old Wacom.
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I think the Surface has Wacom hardware for touch and stuff. But I may be wrong.
 
Apple is built on cool and bling, and is likely to fall as fast as it rose.
 
xorbe said:
Apple is built on cool and bling, and is likely to fall as fast as it rose.
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meh. I doubt that. We can all hate em, but that doesn't mean they will fail. They have people that buy their shit. Although I do admit they have been less innovative on the computer side lately.
 
heatlesssun said:
Surface devices use n-Trig tech for pen and touch input which Microsoft bought a few years ago.
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But they did use Wacom at some point, didn't they?

tungt88 said:
I will say that the Surface is steadily eroding Wacom's niche as "tablet of choice" for artists -- my cousin passed on replacing his old, beat-up Wacom with another Wacom, solely because of what Surface was bringing to the table. He's now a very happy Surface user -- for 90% of his needs, it's replaced both his desktop PC and his old Wacom.
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Man, I would love to send one to my mother, who's an architect. It is a expensive thing and all, but it is 100% quality on everything it does. If that's what you need, grab it because it's well worth the price.
 
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