Microsoft shouldn’t be forced to unbundle Windows. If people don’t want to pay for the included Microsoft OS, then they can look at different options — building one’s own PC or buying a Mac for example.

That’s going a bit overboard, don’t you think? Not everyone is comfortable or qualified to build their own PC. If you’re going to buy a Mac, you generally do it for the Mac OS, although some percentage of users run Windows as well.

Peace,
Gene

Microsoft shouldn’t be forced to unbundle Windows. If people don’t want to pay for the included Microsoft OS, then they can look at different options — building one’s own PC or buying a Mac for example.

[I have written a lot of stuff over the years sharply criticizing Apple and its products and policies.]

I invite Daniel to return to this site and actually read some of your other stuff. He’ll learn that being a Mac user is NOT the big Apple LoveFest that he seems to believe that it is.

[It’s one thing to use facts, of which there are plenty. It’s another to just throw bombs because someone doesn’t like the fact that I also put Microsoft’s feet to the fire.]

So, what your saying, in essence, is that we don’t let Apple off with a pass — nor Microsoft?

Well, ’some people’ think that MS seems to EARN more criticism.

Daniel,

Do we really need to list all of Apple’s and Microsoft’s ‘crimes’? Might we discover that the grievances against MS vastly outnumber the grievances against Apple? And that most of the grievances against MS are more pernicious than those grievances against Apple?

Daniel,

As has been suggested — I was a little over the top. You come into a Mac ‘playground’ and start calling us names — stupid, fan-boy, half-wit. This is a big button, and you pushed it. Really, what did you expect?

You are welcome to make critical judgments of Apple all you want. May I suggest that they are actually realistic complaints. Such as: Hockey Puck Mouse; Dalmatian iMacs; languishing Firewire; $2 ringtones (tho’ you do get both the tone AND the FULL music files for less than MOST 15 second ringtones); glossy screen only iMacs; selling iWork while iLife is free; and a few others.

Most Mac users don’t need to be educated to Apple’s real faults. There isn’t anyone here that wouldn’t give me atleast half a point on each of those complaints. Yours are silly non-existing.

FWIW, how is BtD inflammatory? Provocative certainly, but inflammatory?

Just to add to this, I have written a lot of stuff over the years sharply criticizing Apple and its products and policies. It’s one thing to use facts, of which there are plenty. It’s another to just throw bombs because someone doesn’t like the fact that I also put Microsoft’s feet to the fire.

Peace,
Gene

Daniel,

As has been suggested — I was a little over the top. You come into a Mac ‘playground’ and start calling us names — stupid, fan-boy, half-wit. This is a big button, and you pushed it. Really, what did you expect?

You are welcome to make critical judgments of Apple all you want. May I suggest that they are actually realistic complaints. Such as: Hockey Puck Mouse; Dalmatian iMacs; languishing Firewire; $2 ringtones (tho’ you do get both the tone AND the FULL music files for less than MOST 15 second ringtones); glossy screen only iMacs; selling iWork while iLife is free; and a few others.

Most Mac users don’t need to be educated to Apple’s real faults. There isn’t anyone here that wouldn’t give me atleast half a point on each of those complaints. Yours are silly non-existing.

FWIW, how is BtD inflammatory? Provocative certainly, but inflammatory?

So it’s OK for him/her to sign up with an inflamatory name as long as he/she backs up the status quo of the site?

It doesn’t matter. Ban the Dan may be a little over-the-top, but I’ll accept it. If someone wanted to call themselves Ban Gene, that’s OK, but obviously I’m not being banned, since this is my playground. But that also means I can do what I want, although I am happy to let people have their say if they can hold their tongues when they get angry.

But calling someone a halfwit is rude, period.

Peace,
Gene

Point of order: DRM-free songs from iTunes, the ones now available from EMI, can indeed run on other digital music players.

Also, Daniel: If I see any more inflammatory language here from you, I’ll block you from this site. Please settle down!

Apple is a completely different scenario.

Apple sells hardware.

Microsoft sell software.

Microsoft have exclusive contracts with 2nd-party hardware vendors.

You can’t buy from those hardware vendors because of MICROSOFT’s contract with them.

There is no scenario where a legislator could demand that Apple sell half of its product – that’d be like insisting that Ford *must* sell cars without engines.

[Oh do shut up you halfwit.]

Name-caller.

[How are word files locked in?]

Who ‘owns’ this file format? Is that open, like ODF?

[They’re a de facto standard and most people out there (even Mac users) can access them and read them.]

Just because 95% of people can use them doesn’t make them a standard or open.

[For the record I have a G4 iPod, does it crash all the time? Yes, can I change the battery? No. Can I play the music I’ve bought on iTunes for it on another MP3 player? No to that too. If not for the fact that the dock connector means I can connect it easily to my car stereo it would be sitting in a corner gathering dust rather than being used.]

YOY can I not make my PS3 games work on my friends Xbrix666?

[You make Microsoft sound like some sort of DRM haven and try to make it sound like Apple is the most open of companies which is completely incorrect.]

Like I suggested earlier, go play your DRMed WMA files that were ripped from your legally purchased CDs.

[Making it personal also doesn’t help your cause either.]

Uh, was it your post that has these words: “So it depends whether you’re a Mac fanboi or not?” And isn’t your post BEFORE mine?

[Ban The Dan is a certified moronic halfwit which is worse than anyone who blindly hates Microsoft OR Apple and doesn’t justify it.]

Sorry to burst your delusion, but NO ONE — and I can’t be more emphatic — no one, dislikes Microsoft — blindly. They all have VALID reasons.

Point of order: DRM-free songs from iTunes, the ones now available from EMI, can indeed run on other digital music players.

Also, Daniel: If I see any more inflammatory language here from you, I’ll block you from this site. Please settle down!

So it’s OK for him/her to sign up with an inflamatory name as long as he/she backs up the status quo of the site?

Point of order: DRM-free songs from iTunes, the ones now available from EMI, can indeed run on other digital music players.

Also, Daniel: If I see any more inflammatory language here from you, I’ll block you from this site. Please settle down!

Peace,
Gene

Daniel is an certified AppleHater. Which isn’t as cool as it would be if he just admitted to being an MS-Lover.

I myself, PREFER Apple — with all of its warts, over MS and the many, many things that make MS ugly.

Go play your XBric666 Daniel, if it doesn’t burn down your house before sending it in for warranty service. Go play with your locked-in Word files, your IE-only websites, your DRMed WMA files that were ripped from your legally purchased CDs. Play your WMA files on your PlaysForSure device — oh, you can’t, they’ve been Zuned.

Oh, and FWIW, plenty of people do as Scott S. has done. They buy a PC, then strip Windows from it. Ever heard of hardware warranties?

Don’t bother regaling us with your stories of the hundreds of Macs you’ve owned, I know how to find apple-history.com as well.

Oh do shut up you halfwit. How are word files locked in? They’re a de facto standard and most people out there (even Mac users) can access them and read them. For the record I have a G4 iPod, does it crash all the time? Yes, can I change the battery? No. Can I play the music I’ve bought on iTunes for it on another MP3 player? No to that too. If not for the fact that the dock connector means I can connect it easily to my car stereo it would be sitting in a corner gathering dust rather than being used. You make Microsoft sound like some sort of DRM haven and try to make it sound like Apple is the most open of companies which is completely incorrect. If you can’t justify your posts then you just look like an idiot. Making it personal also doesn’t help your cause either.

Ban The Dan is a certified moronic halfwit which is worse than anyone who blindly hates Microsoft OR Apple and doesn’t justify it.

I think you should pay closer attention to my original article. Demands that Microsoft unbundle Windows are largely based on its dominance in the marketplace. If you had 10 companies, each sharing reasonable market segments, and all had vertical solutions, I don’t think there’d be a reason to complain.

You’d want some sort of interoperability in such an environment, of course, but otherwise it could function, I suppose, if you didn’t mind ten versions of Adobe Photoshop to support 10 different systems.

Apple is just a bit player in the worldwide market, so there’s no pressure. If the positions were reversed, you could probably argue against Apple in various ways, but not now.

LOL. Interoperability? Apple? Don’t make me laugh. Where can I go out and just buy a new motherboard for an Apple PC or 3rd party software for an iPhone? Oh I forgot….. you can’t!

Unbundling of Windows from the hardware would certainly cost one thing—MORE to the purchaser. M$ won’t sella Windows license unbundles for the $40 it coast bundled, so the consumer when buying a computer would then have to purchase the hardware and OS, unless a bundled version would be available through some legal quirk.

I for one and happy with Apple’s 3% worldwide share. They try hard to give us great products and yes, they aren’t perfect either. But so what! No OEM is but Apple does hit a lot of homers, more than others.

I’m also happy that Apple Makes The Whole Widget since it’s designed to work together pretty darn well and it does. For what it doesn’t is small to most users and often there are other solutions even if it’s Windows under Parallels, etc.

I’m always amazed that the Windows folks get all frothy over Apple with the 3% marketshare when you bring up ANYTHING about Windows and M$.

“It could also be argued that since Apple builds the computer OS X is installed on, they’re justified in bundling it together. After all, you wouldn’t buy a new Toyota with a Ford engine in it, would you?”

The proper car analogy might be Exxon (the world’s largest gasoline manufacturer) having an arrangement with every car maker where each new car buyer would be charged $10 for a full tank of Exxon gas and that $10 would be included in the car price, whether car buyer wanted the gas or not…even if the new car buyer brought their own gas.

That analogy would only work if everytime your tank was low on gas, you were charged another $10 for gas from Exxon, whether you filled up there or not.

Of course, it it were Microsoft, every third fill-up would require you to pay for an oil change and new sparkplugs whether you needed them or not.

Daniel is an certified AppleHater. Which isn’t as cool as it would be if he just admitted to being an MS-Lover.

I myself, PREFER Apple — with all of its warts, over MS and the many, many things that make MS ugly.

Go play your XBric666 Daniel, if it doesn’t burn down your house before sending it in for warranty service. Go play with your locked-in Word files, your IE-only websites, your DRMed WMA files that were ripped from your legally purchased CDs. Play your WMA files on your PlaysForSure device — oh, you can’t, they’ve been Zuned.

Oh, and FWIW, plenty of people do as Scott S. has done. They buy a PC, then strip Windows from it. Ever heard of hardware warranties?

Don’t bother regaling us with your stories of the hundreds of Macs you’ve owned, I know how to find apple-history.com as well.