Wassup Jose Weblog nonsense at its best!

Apple vs Microsoft

Sat down this evening and knocked out the two issues that were bothering me about my personal website and also some IE issues that my wife pointed out. I sometimes forget a large majority of the internet population use IE.

I like Microsoft, but their browser still sucks. In fact I had a conversation with a friend the other day. We were arguing about Microsoft's suckage rating.

My argument: Microsoft rocks!

His retort: Vista, Media Player, IE sucks balls!

I had to agree with him. I can't stand Vista (regardless of the under the hood mods). WMP has always been a thorn in my side (Winamp™ has always been my preferred choice). Firefox is far superior in many ways. So I had to take a minute and step back. Have I had wool over my eyes this whole time? I think not. I forget that not everyone sees MS the way I do. Visual Studio is by FAR the most advanced and intuitive developer environment. MS Team Foundation System has made time consuming tasks as easy as editing a configuration file. IIS7 has powerful integration options...the list goes on. But a lot of these boons, aimed at developers, most people never see and I think that Vista was a stab at changing the face of MS, especially in the face of rising Apple. I think that if MS can keep the nerds and their core base happy that they'll do just fine, but they shouldn't risk increasing general consumer goodwill if that means gaining developer ire in an inverse proportion.

I don't honestly think that Apple has a profound foothold in the market. I use the adjective profound loosely here. iPhone mostly rocks. The hardware is solid and the software is sleek. It's those pesky business decisions they make like keeping iTunes full of DRM(recently changed), or telling iPhone devs their not allowed to post on the internet about their experiences(also changed) or using a closed architecture(also changed!). Apple, to me, is a very reactionary company. They score again and again on hail Mary passes and just manage to score the last touchdown on a technicality. I think we need Apple in the marketplace because of their interfaces. A LOT of companies can learn from them but on the flipside as Vista tries to take that advice, MS falls flat on their face because Windows is just TOO configurable. There are too many options and that is difficult to put into a couple of click menus that make operating the software easy. Know thyself. That's what makes MS so great. When windows has a hiccup I can usually resolve it. When my iPhone or iTunes breaks I have to reinstall/reboot it. THOSE ARE MY ONLY OPTIONS.

The iPhone is great because it's a mobile device which lends well to what Apple does best. But OSX blows and the limitations Apple puts on their hardware just bleed you dry. Want to develop on the iPhone? Sorry, you need a Mac. If that wasn't bad enough. Want to develop on the iPhone and are already a loyal Apple consumer who owns a previous Apple PC? TOO BAD! You have to buy the new intel based Mac. ahaha! What a fucking joke. If I had been following Apple for any kind of length and they scammed me like that, I would be PISSED.

If it wasn't for IBM, we'd all be buying $10,000 Apple PCs. Thank you IBM for having the competitive edge to blow it all.