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. 
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”
“…I went in to Best Buy less than 24hrs after purchasing it and they wouldn’t take it back. They just kept insisting that there’s nothing wrong with it. I told them “I don’t want it. I hate it. Your sales person told me that all of my Vista concerns were not valid and that I’d be happy with this one. Well, I’m not happy with it and I want to return it.” They finally agreed but said there would be a 10% restocking fee. I’ve had the thing for less than a day but they wanted a $190 restocking fee. After going back and forth, I finally spoke to the manager. He explained that there would be a 15% restocking fee. We’re up to $285 now!! He explained that their policy is posted but when I asked him to show me where, he pointed over to the registers on the opposite side of the building and said it’s by the registers. the registers where you can’t possibly buy a laptop.” 
… 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. 
…“You can build your system for a lot less than a real Mac and get the performance of a top-dollar Apple machine. This is fact and a lot of the real Mac users will deny, but it is fact. My machine runs a e4300 Core Duo Processor over-clocked to 3.40 GHZ. Where can you get a 3.4-GHz Mac? It will cost you a fortune. I have 1066-MHz DDR2 memory. Where can you get that on a real Mac???”
Looking for the fastest laptop for Windows Vista? Is it time to retire your old laptop and get a new laptop that will be able to run Vista? PC World has some advice…
…Well its been only a day since the Mac OSX Leopard was released officially by Apple and the hackers have managed to create a patched DVD that everyone like you and me can use to install Leopard on PC’s without having to buy a Mac. Please note the tutorial that I am going to post is still experimental and things might not work the right way simply because it is still early days in hacking Leopard to work on PC’s. Well if you don’t mind your PC getting screwed then go ahead and try out this tutorial. 
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.] 
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. 
While they’re only the third strongest seller of computers in general, nearly one out of five laptops out there have that signature Apple logo riding the back of the display. When you think about it, Apple’s laptop offerings are, dare I say, quite common. It’s also an homage to the masterful transition to Intel chips. Where would Apple’s laptop business be if PowerPC chips still powered them? In the toilet. 
Not since Windows ME or Mac OS X 10.0 have I observed a more troubled consumer operating system. This is a difficult post to write, because I really don’t want to beat on Microsoft about Vista yet again. But yesterday’s continuation of the Windows Vista Capable lawsuit and several conversations I had today are reasons to look at what Microsoft got wrong and why the company should make things right. Simply put: Windows Vista is a train wreck, but it didn’t have to be. Unfortunately, my “Wow” moment was accepting Windows Vista for what it is. 
Microsoft succinctly and clearly identifies many of its major competitors. Why should anyone outside of Microsoft or among shareholders care about this information? Partners can identify areas of Microsoft strength or weakness that could impact their businesses. For IT organizations, Microsoft loosely identifies alternatives to its own products through its list of competitors. 
I bring you news of a cool tutorial on streaming media from your Mac to a PS3. This method is basically built around the MediaTomb open-source UPnP media server. The tricky part is installing MediaTomb on your Mac with fink and setting it up for the PS3 from the command-line. But once you do, you should be able to stream audio, video, and pictures from your Mac over the network. 
Remember the problems with game consoles being stolen at launch time? Remember armed holdups on people waiting in line with cash in pocket - to buy 360’s, PS3s, and Wiis?
RETAIL is supposed to be hard. Apple has made it seem ridiculously easy. And yet it must be harder than it appears, or why hasn’t the Windows side of the personal computer business figured it out?
On April 29, Microsoft will release their third flavor of 360 ice cream — the black Xbox 360 Elite. Let’s not be coy; the reason in adding a third, more expensive 360 is solely due to the existence of the $600 PS3. Since the inception of game consoles, prices have traditionally dropped with age, not increased. But If Sony can sell 3 million….
Windows Vista Refunds!
