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You can't really call it a duel. One is a new version o fan OS the other is some updates.

A duel? How many people use OSX? Don't make me laugh.

A "duel"? A "face-off"?

I think that almost NOBODY is going to switch from one OS to the other just because of the new releases or updates. Whoever is using Apple, will continue to do so, and whoever is using Windows, will continue to do so.

Its not 1995 anymore, let it go, let it go.

TomKinneydtkj, on 17 February 2012 - 07:50 AM, said:

What you fail to see is that both Apple and Microsoft are headed in the same general direction. They are both bringing their desktop and mobile OS closer to the point there is little difference between them. They are of course taking different approaches and it may take a few more iterations... but the end game seems pretty obvious. As that happens, it's not just one desktop OS vs. another, it's one desktop/mobile OS vs. another. When you consider those terms, the numbers aren't quite as lopsided as you see them. Also consider that Apple's desktop OS has outpaced the growth of the overall PC industry for 23 consecutive quarters by a considerable margin.

That said, Gregg Keizer is clearly guilty of sensational journalism here. I doubt that either Apple or Microsoft sees this as a duel.

TomKinneydtkj, on 17 February 2012 - 07:50 AM, said:

After Windows 8 failure ? Everybody .

I love Windows Phone but I'm not sure when it comes to desktop.

Microsoft in decline for sure. Windows 7 is my last Windows, and it is currently running on my MacBook Air.

TechConc, on 17 February 2012 - 11:00 AM, said:

"Apple's desktp OS has outpaced the growth of the overall PC industry for 23 consective quarters"? Only a Apple fan will believe that. Even Apple is admiting their OS for Mac is less significant. Their main focus is OSi for the mobile market. They even change their name from Apple computer to Apple Inc. meaning the care less for computer and more for the mobile side.

While Microsoft is uniting their software, traditional desktop OS (Windows 7) with their mobile (Windows Mobile 6) and games console (XBox) with Windows 8, Apple is still maintaining two separate OS. OS X for Mac and OSi for mobile (IPad, IPhone)

In another article, it was said Apple has sold 122M Mac's in 28 years. Tom Cook said and I hope I get it right and if I don't people will surely correct me, OSX Lion has reached 10% of the 60M users of what I think he said was the previous version of OSX.

So it si reasonable to assume, that out of the 122M known Mac owners, only 1/2 of them have an Intel Mac capable of running Mountain Lion which is just an update, not really a new OS. I mean, how can a full OS cost $30? Oh wait, because the rest of the cost is saturated in the 40% markup of the hardware....yeah.


What duel are you referring too?...tho one Apple has been losing since 1985?

A midget trying to fight Arnold Schwartzen-Muscles?

Until OSX finally gets to OSXI, it is nothing more than an incremental upgrade. The same as Windows 98 was to 95, as 98SE was to 98, as ME was to 98SE as XP was to Windows 2000.

jazzy007, on 17 February 2012 - 01:39 PM, said:

Well technically it is true. Windows PC market has 89% of the share, while Linux has its per usual 1% or less and Apple has what si left shared with Solaris and Unix. Windows can't really grow unless one of the other guys fall and vice versa. So if you ahve 89% of the market, there isn't much room to grow unless someone drop a few percentage points.

But yea, the reality is, the saying is BS.

Here is another point to take. In a new article "Apple Sold More iOS Devices in 2011 Than Macs Ever
By Ben Camm-Jones, Macworld-U.K. Feb 17, 2012 12:44 pm " It mention that it took Apple 28 years to sell 122 million Mac. I quote "it took us 22 years to sell 55 million Macs. It took us about 5 years to sell 22 million iPods, and it took us about three years to sell that many iPhones" http://www.pcworld.c...nl_dnx_h_crawl.

Now compare to Windows 7, which it sold 525 million in 2 years, to the total sells of all Apple product combine 221 million devices in 28 years (122 + 22 + 22 + 55 = 221) it doesn't compare. I am not even mentioning the sales of Microsoft for the past 28 years like all the Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows Millinuim, Windows 95, Windows 3.0 and MS DOS, Zune, Xbox, Windows Phone and Windows Media, etc, etc etc.

It's like pointing out how large is your olimpic pool. It's big as a pool but compare that to the oceans of the world and it get's lost.

Windows PCs out sell Apple only because Apple never realized their PCs were way over priced.

And Most PC users were like lemmings back in the late 80's early 90's.

Remember the Amiga, sure you dont,

Most people had no idea that 4 colored screens were not the norm, and that other computers were Actually out there, the Amiga had 4096 colors at the time PCs had 4.

And that windows 3.1 was a true dog and even the Atari ST had a better OS than Windows.

The truth About OS's is 98 and XP were the best OS's Microsoft ever made.

Macs always had a strong OS, just too high priced computers.

They all stole their Ideas from Xerox Parc and Doug Engelbart anyways,
Who created this whole GUI OS thang, Props to you all Doug and Xerox!,Nothing but love for you all.

Just ask Steve Jobs ,Oh wait, you cant.

But he went to visit Xerox Parc one day and seen what they were doing.

And as for Windows 8?, looks like something you would find on a Vtech childs toy computer.

Seriously, This is what Microsoft thinks desktop users want? A giant cell phone screen?

No thanks!, I'm an adult, not a prepubescent little kid.

Give me XP 2012!, with more a stable, over 4G memory access and quad core support.

Peace out fan boys!

jazzy007, on 17 February 2012 - 01:39 PM, said:

No, nothing so dramatic... actually, all it takes is someone who can read to believe the facts. If you challenge the growth rate of the Mac as opposed to the PC industry, then I ask you to provide evidence which refutes this claim. Until then, the first example in a Google search confirms the following:

Mac sales growth

"The Mac has outpaced PC industry growth for 23 consecutive quarters. And during the last quarter of 2011, Mac sales grew 26% year-over-year compared with the overall PC industry, which was flat. "

But hey, don't let the facts stand in the way of your insults.

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Of course... and that makes perfect sense when you realize that Apple's iPhone business alone is bigger than all of Microsoft. Yet, that doesn't change the fact that Mac's sales growth has been significantly higher than the PC industry for quite some time now.

QUADICON, on 17 February 2012 - 02:29 PM, said:

Yeah, expensive hardware... yet PC OEMs are having a hard time trying even match Apple's prices with their ultrabooks and that's with an Intel subsidy. Go figure. Apple doesn't compete in the race to the bottom and offer much of anything in the sub- $1000 range. Since they only offer higher end (and yes, thereby higher margin) products they are considered more expensive. Well, yes and no. Their average prices are higher, but when comparing similar products, their prices are usually right in line.

At any rate, to answer your question, while Apple does make great software, their business model is about selling hardware. When Apple sells an OS, they can sell it at a price to make a profit based just on the costs of that software project. Microsoft is a software company primarily. All of their overhead costs go into the price of their software. Also, how much do you think OEMs pay for a copy of Windows? Do you think they pay anywhere near the full retail price?

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I agree with you that there is no duel going on at the desktop level. The desktop market in general is flat... overall, there's little to no growth. No, there is a duel happening right now, but it's in the mobile market and Microsoft isn't doing so well this time around. Both Microsoft and Apple are changing their desktop OS's in a way to try to attract more users to their mobile platforms. Two different approaches to the same problem. The mobile market is already bigger than the PC market and it's growing at a tremendous rate. I can assure you, that's where the duel is and Microsoft isn't really even a challenger at this point. It's a two horse race between Android and iOS.

This post has been edited by TechConc: 21 February 2012 - 12:19 PM