InfoWorld’s “Save XP” Petition
May 5, 2008
“…Millions of us have grown comfortable with XP and don’t see a need to change to Vista. It’s like having a comfortable apartment that you’ve enjoyed coming home to for years, only to get an eviction notice. The thought of moving to a new place — even with the stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and maple cabinets (or is cherry in this year?) — just doesn’t sit right. Maybe it’ll be more modern, but it will also cost more and likely not be as good a fit. And you don’t have any other reason to move.
That’s exactly the conclusion people have come to with Vista. For most of us, there’s really no reason to move to it — yet we don’t have a choice. When that strong desire to stick with XP became obvious in spring 2007, major computer makers such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard quietly reintroduced new XP-based systems (but just to business customers, so as not to offend Microsoft). Come June 30, however, even that option goes away.” Read the full story and sign the petition at InfoWorld.Com
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Posted by vistasucks
Apple’s computer sales in the US have grown considerably from last year - at 60-percent unit growth and 67-percent revenue growth - granting it 14-percent of all computers sold for February. According to AppleInsider, Apple’s laptop systems saw the largest growth, representing a 64-percent increase in units sold, and 67-percent increased revenue, suggesting strong acceptance of the company’s new ultra-portable, the MacBook Air. 
Most consumers seeking a new computer this holiday season will buy a Windows PC. And yet judging by the questions I get, many would-be buyers are considering a Macintosh for the first time, possibly because they’re smitten with the iPod, or because of Apple’s clever Mac guy/PC guy TV ads.
I had an epiphany yesterday while I was in the local Best Buy on my lunch break picking up a purchase for myself. I suddenly found myself able to put into words what my gut has been telling me for months.
“Will retailers and OEMs put a little Vista coal in this year’s holiday stocking? Windows Home Basic and integrated graphics SKUs could lead to surprises—as in uh-ohs, not wows—for some holiday shoppers”
… And yet, you’re not buying an Apple computer. Most of the world isn’t. There is probably a single overwhelming reason you’re clinging to Windows. Macs are expensive. This is what you’ve been told, and in your research, it’s seemed to check out. If they acknowledge it at all, Mac fans will rationalize the higher prices by noting that you’re paying for quality. Buying a Mac, folks say, is like buying a BMW (Apple CEO Steve Jobs regularly compares the Mac’s market share with that of German luxury cars). But what if you don’t want the BMW of PCs? What if you can only afford a Chevrolet?The present article is an attempt to prove to you that, on price alone, the Mac is not the BMW of computers. It is the Ford of computers. I am not arguing that the Mac is cheaper only if you consider the psychic benefits conferred by its quality. Rather I’m going to illustrate something more straightforward: Even though you may pay a slight premium at the cash register for a Mac over a comparable Windows PC (a premium that gets slighter all the time), it will cost you less money — real, honest-to-goodness American dollars — to own that Mac than to own that PC. 
It’s not enough to just buy a new computer with great specs and good looks. You need to know if the manufacturer will stand behind its product, be it your always-powered-up desktop, your travel-abused notebook, or the ink jet printer that delivers something to hang on the refrigerator. For almost 20 years PC Magazine has asked our readers to rank the vendors they use, and this year is no exception. [Spoiler Alert: Apple wins.] 
I used to be a Microsoft Fan - a really, really big and obnoxious one too. Whenever someone even brought up the topic of a Mac I would go on about how PC’s were “clearly superior” and “control the market for obvious reasons.” In fact, my friends who use Macs as well remind me that I used to lecture them for ten minutes straight about the supposed advantages of the Windows Platform. Using cliché arguments like “Windows’ Wealth of Software” to defend my views, I convinced myself not to get a Mac last December and so I bought a brand-new Acer PC. 
So how is Vista’s real world usage doing? According to W3Counter - An internet traffic monitoring site, the operating system has only picked up 3% of the market and lags far behind XP. 
Were computers carrying the Windows Vista Capable sticker truly Vista capable? Earlier today, a Seattle judge issued a ruling that indicates that an answer should be warranted. She denied a Microsoft request to dismiss a lawsuit alleging Microsoft’s Windows Vista Capable marketing violated the Consumer Protection Act. 
Acer, the world’s fourth-largest computer manufacturer, has accused Microsoft of making serious mistakes with its new operating system. “The entire industry is disappointed with Windows Vista,” Acer’s president Gianfranco Lanci has told Financial Times Deutschland. 
Windows Vista Refunds!
