Since my machine died a couple months ago I am getting it replaced with a mac laptop running bootcamp. I will probably download and burn the windows 8 rc and take it for a test drive before I make my decision to go to 8 or to stay at 7.
Microsoft had to step in and save appleIf it weren't for Steve Jobs, Apple may have eventually died out at the turn of the century. However, if it weren't for Microsoft (and Bill Gates, mostly), Apple may still have died out with Steve Jobs at the helm - $150 million in cash for non-voting stock and an agreement to continue selling Office for the Mac for 5 years (in exchange for dropping the lawsuit Apple had against Microsoft - it wasn't all altruism, or perhaps none at all) was ultimately what put Apple on their trajectory. Office for the Mac was important then (and Steve Jobs knew it, hence why he wanted the 5 year agreement to continue making it available on Apple's platform), probably more so than it is now. Also, there is rumored to have been much more cash exchanged (the schedule B portion of the deal that was secret) than the $150 million reported, as Apple lost over a billion or so dollars over the previous two years, and had another billion lost on revenues (and reported only $1.2 billion in cash holdings at the time) and yet ended in the black and maintained their investments (and even started accumulating cash) very quickly after that point, without a huge uptick in sales to account for it - interesting indeed, and it would still have been nothing for Microsoft (or even Bill Gates himself) at the time to do without affecting anything in either's lives. Also, Microsoft got access to Apple's labs and R&D over that same 5 year span, so it seems like both companies' cultures were affected positively by the deal, regardless of what it ultimately was behind closed doors.
Viewed in the lens of Apple as a hardware company, and Microsoft a software one (mostly, anyway), it makes sense Microsoft would write Office for the Mac, as that's what Microsoft does. It's a little odd because you'd think they'd want to push Office licenses for Windows instead of the Mac, but I doubt it makes a huge difference or impact on Windows' dominance in the market. It makes money, and probably isn't a threat to Microsoft's market position(s) at all; thus, as long as that stays true, Microsoft will gladly take money from whomever is willing to give it to them - be it a Mac user or a Windows user.
According to wikipedia, part of a settlement so Apple would drop a lawsuit alleging ip theft of quicktime code. How accurate that is, I don't know...... these companies must sue each other every day. haha
It was probably part of it - it didn't hurt that Microsoft kept a rival afloat during the antitrust investigation (no matter how small), nor did getting access to Apple's R&D and a few other things (supposedly - again, the part B of the settlement is not documented, so this is all informed speculation).
People runs applications like browser or office in their daily use, not the os. That's why windows xp refuses to die after 10 years.
Happy birthday, xp!
Now that those of us who ask questions have been told how stupid we are to want to arrange our files to suit our own needs and insulted because we have different opinions, or lack the technological genius of those who were clearly born knowing older technologies, we can move on. Computers are widely used precisely because they have become easier to navigate and you don't have to earn a doctorate in computer technology to use one. No doubt some people would be happier if we all still used punch cards so they could really show off their skills but a majority of people I know appreciate having a computer which is easy to use and which will do what they want without a huge amount of hassle. I would prefer not to spend all my waking hours trying to figure out my computer. Shockingly, Microsoft sells computers to billions of people who feel the same way.
I was actually talking about not being able to easily arrange filed in my documents to suit my needs rather than on the desktop where you can still arrange icons however you want.
I work at a major university with a very large tech department. They informed me that a lot of people are complaining about this issue; fortunately we won't be executed for the crime of disagreeing with Microsoft on this issue though I'm sure that will disappoint some. Someone was kind enough to post a fix for the autoarrange problem on another thread.
After having a look at the developer preview of Windows 8, it looks like I'll be staying with 7 for a while yet.
Keep an eye on netbooks and laptops running 7, and also keep an eye on their prices. There might be a sharp price drop around the time 8 comes out.
Don't hold your breath for that. While the retailers have already been running sales on Windows 7, don't count on much of a drop for hardware and systems. I think the price increases due to market conditions (disk drives, etc.) will most likely hold through the spring and possibly summer. It's going to put a stumbling block in front of new technology machines. Fewer machines means higher prices that will keep the price for "old inventory" higher too. You'll most likely see this years models being "enhanced" with Eight and sold as new machines next year.
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