Microsoft employee switches to a MacBook

[Wilkin]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10075063-71.html

Originally Posted by CNET

I was just browsing Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland's most popular daily newspaper (have to keep the native language up, you see), when I read that the new Apple ads were being featured on an official Microsoft blog.

Clicking on the link, I discovered that this was not the case. The blog was that of Joseph Tartakoff, a staff reporter at one of Seattle's newspapers, the delightfully-named Post-Intelligencer.

However, once I was there, I got sucked into the comments left on the post, which was, indeed, about the latest Apple ads that continue to insert humorous needles into the Microsoft doll.

One poster wrote: "I've been an MS employee for a long time, and I knew we were toast the first time I laid hands on a Vista based machine. When I replaced my personal laptop this summer, sorry to say, I went with a MacBook. As far as operating systems go, Apple has us beat hands down on stability, security, and user interface. OS X+ isn't perfect by any stretch, but in 5 months of use on two machines, I've had it freeze up on me exactly once."

Now I know you might get wrapped up in the technical bits of his comment. And, given that it's all IT Department-speak to me, I will agree with everything you say.

However, my first question on reading these words was: "This is really a Microsoft employee?" So I kept reading.

This can't be him, can it?
(Credit: CC EdKohler)

"We have as employees thousands of the smartest people I've ever known," continued the poster. "I know in my heart that we're perfectly capable of putting out great products, when they're well planned, well executed, and properly tested (from watching the process from inside the Empire, Vista was none of these; sorry, Windows team). But we need to be producing OUTSTANDING products and change our image in the eyes of the end users or we will continue to lose market share."

It is sad that we can't persuade the Post-Intelligencer to find this intelligent poster and sweet-talk him into a little polygraph. (I'm guessing these things work well, judging by the story of the young woman who smeared the letter 'B' the wrong way on her face in Pennsylvania.)

But if I was inclined to place a wager, I'd place it on this being a genuine, impassioned Microsoft employee. One who has bought himself a MacBook.

Please listen to his conclusion: "Guys, we deserve what we get when we put out products like Vista. For those who argue we're being slandered, take a hard look at what our customers are saying; there's a solid core of truth in all of it. Apple's merely taking market perception and using it against us in time honored marketing fashion--it's not like we don't do the same. We need to stop giving them ammunition and focus on getting our products right the first time."

Which leaves me to wonder a couple of things. And they may not be the same as your wonderings.

I wonder what this poster actually does at Microsoft. And I wonder how reflective of Microsoft employees in general, and their feelings in particular, he is.

And I wonder how many companies are fortunate enough to employ people who care about their product as much as he seems to.

Squeek may have just died a little on the inside.

[MooMoo_Cowfreak]

I think he made a good choice. If Macbooks weren't so overpriced I'd get one.

P.S. 1,000th post, for the 2nd time!

[Afrobean]

"in 5 months of use on two machines, I've had [my macbook] freeze up on me exactly once."

Funny, because my XP setup doesn't freeze that "often". In all the time I've been using it, I've never once had a problem with something like that that wasn't easily explained by specific software crashing or other such things. The OS itself has never given me trouble.

[EnR]

Originally Posted by Afrobean

"in 5 months of use on two machines, I've had [my macbook] freeze up on me exactly once."

Funny, because my XP setup doesn't freeze that "often".

He's not talking about XP though.

[Professor Raine]

Well I've had my vista for about a year and I've had no problems so far. Still don't know what's the bitching about. :/

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by EnR

He's not talking about XP though.

Touche!

Still don't see why they feel the need to cram Vista. I forget it even exists most of the time just because it's simply unneeded. Rather than a massive system shift, they should have just kept doing things for XP. Heck, you throw a fancy graphic skin on XP and everyone would be better off. No stupid-ass incompatibility ****.

[MooMoo_Cowfreak]

Originally Posted by Professor Raine

Well I've had my vista for about a year and I've had no problems so far. Still don't know what's the bitching about. :/

I hate UAC. And then all the crap you have to go through to install something.

[Professor Raine]

Originally Posted by MooMoo_Cowfreak

I hate UAC. And then all the crap you have to go through to install something.

What crap? OMG it asked me if I should run an installer that's so awful. -_-`

[makdaddy]

macs rule

[customstuff]

big macs rule

[george123456789]

Originally Posted by customstuff

big macs rule

OH yeah, ^^ he's got the right idea

[Wilkin]

Some of the Macs that I use for my music tech class tend to freeze up a lot while running GarageBand. It's incredibly annoying.

[Squeek]

I have Vista. I bet I paid less for my desktop than he did for his notebook.

Vista has never crashed or frozen on me.

[Crashfan3]

Every Mac I've ever used gets about 8FPS on most Flash applications. Flash is one of the most widely-used web interfaces today. And you call that a superior OS compared to Vista? Bite my ass.

[sumzup]

Just because the guy is possibly an MS employee doesn't mean what he says is automatically the gospel truth. Personally, I've had no problems with Vista, and find it far superior to XP. It wasn't a gigantic improvement, but there are a lot of little things that make it better. I do expect the next iteration of Windows to actually deliver some big things that Vista didn't include, but it's not as if each OS X version has much improvement either.

Also, I ****ing hate the stereotype that Macs rock and Windows sucks...Windows is just as good as OS X, if not better. The holier-than-thou attitude Macheads exude is extremely annoying.

In the end, though, just let people use what's best for them. I think all OSes have their own merits (and demerits), and I certainly wouldn't hate using any of the main 3: OS X, Windows, or Linux. I admit that I have a slight bias towards Windows, but that's mainly because it's put down so much when it really is a decent product. I have no idea how to end this rambling post, so I'll just say that cutting down on the fanaticism would be good (even I am subject to fanboyism sometimes, though, so I have to work on that, too).

[Izzy]

I find everyone who uses a mac or thinks a mac is superior to windows or other operating systems is highly computer illiterate.

First of all, it's not even the mac osx that is wrong with mac. It's the hardware and the way that it is sold. Just because apple uses a sleek shiny look on their computers doesn't mean that is going to go faster or work better. The only reason they can possibly claim to have less errors with their operating system is because they give users 0 authority to do anything unique or convenient on the OS. It is also nice to know that if you ever want a better piece of hardware that you have to buy a new computer since its impossible to upgrade a mac. I love non standardized stuff.

I dont know why windows claims to just be all that a pc is, but they do. A pc has nothing to do with the operating system. I could put mac on a pc if i felt like it. Oh well. I would never spend money on a mac computer. It is a horrible waste.

[tsugomaru]

I hate the Vista and XP war because at this point of time, it's really a preference choice. There isn't any monumental difference between getting one OS from the other.

~Tsugomaru

[Musiks]

Mac is great, but OS X is just too hard to personalize and make your own. That's why I use Ubuntu on a MacBook, it's unbeatable.

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by tsugomaru

I hate the Vista and XP war because at this point of time, it's really a preference choice. There isn't any monumental difference between getting one OS from the other.

One is a lot more taxing on resources than the other.

Oh and the other one already had a good installbase and was a good product in its own right and didn't need to be replaced.

[Squeek]

Originally Posted by Afrobean

One is a lot more taxing on resources than the other.

Oh and the other one already had a good installbase and was a good product in its own right and didn't need to be replaced.

You wouldn't have said that if Microsoft stuck with their three-year cycle.

I'm not really sure what caused them to drop that plan, either. They're getting back in it though. People hear about the next Windows and think 'oh they're doing it to cover their shame with vista'. Was Windows 98 to cover for 95's shame? Hell no. 95 kicked ass. Was 2000 to cover for 98's shame? Hell no. 98 kicked ass. Was XP to cover for 2000's shame? Hell no. 2000 kicked ass. Was Vista to cover for XP's shame? Hell no. XP kicked ass.

Also if your computer can't even run Vista then it's time to update your computer. Experts say you should be getting a new computer every two years. I stick to doing it every four years. Seriously, if you can't even run Vista then you won't be able to run much of anything at all. Times change quickly in this world, folks. Game installs aren't 500MB anymore. We're almost at 20GB for one game. A terabyte isn't that big anymore. Hell I have more than a terabyte and I'm close to filling my capacity. It's time to get more than 512MB of RAM. It's time to move past that 128MB video card. It's time to get more than one core in your processor.