Mainly Macintosh

Working Tech: A reality check for Vista - Sep. 8, 2006

A Business 2.0 editor compares the product line management practices of Microsoft and Apple when it comes to operating systems.

He names which one he does not like, and it sounds like the other is okay with him.

Owen Thomas, Business 2.0 editor:

Microsoft needs to keep up with the competition. Apple (Charts) CEO Steve Jobs loves to point out that his company has released five versions of Mac OS X in the time it has taken Microsoft to develop one. And the volunteer programmers behind Linux continually tweak and improve that open-source operating system.

Kind of a surprising closing at the end of the review.

Sounds like false bravado. It would be hard - and probably ill-advised - for any computer owner to go for more than a few years without buying a new OS.

I think lack of improvements and retention of problems is what drives most consumers to change to a new brand when they buy an old product.

It happens a lot when a maker has passed its zenith. Speaking of which, remember Zenith, RCA, Commodore, and those other old familiar brands?

Where are they today?

Played out. Out-improved. Stagnated. Done.

I would still buy a new computer, though.

Just not from them.

Speaking of competing, Apple is supposedly rolling out new products and/or services on September 12.

Maybe that will include Apple's long awaited announcement of its iTunes movie store.

Amazon rolled out a non-Apple compatible online movie store called Amazon Unbox this month. It does not sound like it is doing very well.

I read one in-depth review of it and the person who wrote it has already uninstalled it. That was as difficult as all the preceding parts of the process. There were things the Unbox software did that just did not sound like a lot of thought went into what the program did.

It is hard to tell if a product/service is going to flop or not when it first comes out. However, the Unbox thing is sort of screaming flop in a number of ways.

Might make a more receptive audience for Apple's new announcement. Amazon has surely wetted the masses' appetite that works good, even if they don't have it to sell.

Amazon can sell the iPods. Apple can sell the movies.

posted by John Collins @ 8:26 PM