That Mac OS X Snow Leopard, as a mostly bugs and features upgrade, was $29 (and if you wanted to install it on multiple machines, the honour system applied, rather than your machine phoning home to Microsoft), and point releases are free - we're now on 10.6.6 - is neither here nor there.
I have the Windows reaction on all three systems. The Mac updater is by far the most obtrusive though. (I don't pay for updates as it's a work machine)
Oh man. Updates on unstable[1] OSen when you're already cruising the limits of what your hardware can handle can be harrowing. And Linux on a laptop is already just begging for an update to screw your video or wireless completely.
[1]: In the "Stable, Unstable, Testing" sense, not in the "will crash regularly" sense. Ubuntu updates often *add features*. This is not good behaviour if you're at the limit of your hardware.
Yeah, I know it! Just a shame, because I was really quite fond of my little 1st edition Acer, and really quite happy with the Ubuntu build I actually installed!
Right, because the $39 Mac OS X Snow Leopard is TOTALLY CHEAPER than the $300+ Windows 7 Ultimate. What's more expensive is the *hardware* not the OS or its updates.
Who buys "Ultimate"? It doesn't actually have any useful features that Professional doesn't.
(But rather than pricing a full OS update from the ground up, along with retail license, a closer comparison would be "free for XP SP2" versus "$39 for OSX SPWhatever")
Also: Yes, the hardware is the major price difference, I agree. It's too bad it's just a PRICE difference and there's noQUALITY difference to go along with it. But if this comic was about hardware, it would be "Hey, my computer needs more memory / extra storage / a better processor / a new battery. Gee, it's glued shut, I guess I have to buy a whole new computer"
*I* would buy Ultimate; I have no legal Windows licenses to upgrade, and over here a new Windows 7 Ultimate is $300+, which IMHO is awfully overpriced. Not to mention a joke, how many different OS types do you need? LOL.
All my 3 Windows boxen are warez. I also have no legal Office licenses - it also seems overpriced as hell.
Anyway, there's no clear-cut difference. I use all three OSs daily for development and there's shit to go around, so focusing on Macs is stupid, whatever your usual anti-mac knee-jerk reaction is.
(not to mention that I've been using and developing in MS-DOS since version 3.3, then DOS 5, Windows 3.11, etc - how long have you been using Microsoft's products?)
You don't. You pay $90 for an OEM copy of 7 Pro with your new machine and install XP Pro instead under the same license key, assuming you want XP and not 7 for some strange reason.
And my real point is, when a Service Pack comes out you don't pay for it. And some of those Service Packs have a TON of realy good improvements, comparable to the OSX pay-for-the-service-pack model. Which is why I suggested "Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, which was free" as a comparable package.
*I* would buy Ultimate;
But *WHY*? "Ultimate" adds nothing worth having.
a new Windows 7 Ultimate is $300+, which IMHO is awfully overpriced.
A new retail copy of Win7 Ultimate, yes. OEM copies of standard OSen are much cheaper - but, hey, you only need to buy one retail copy ever if you only want one machine at a time. You can just move it from machine to machine, legally, until you want something that isn't Win7.
All my 3 Windows boxen are warez.
So, you WOULDN'T buy Ultimate, is what you're saying.
I've found pirated software to be way more trouble than it's worth, personally.
I also have no legal Office licenses - it also seems overpriced as hell.
The trick is to buy it bundled with something, at which point it's cheap, or to use OpenOffice or something like it if you don't actually need the full power of Office. There are still some things OFfice does that no competing product does nearly as well - but those are rarely used by non-business users, and a business user normally gets his copy from his company, who gets it cheaper for a bunch of reasons.
there's shit to go around, so focusing on Macs is stupid, whatever your usual anti-mac knee-jerk reaction is.
Yes, but price-related shit sticks to Macs more, just like UI failures for Mac and Linux.
Plus, I've found Google Apps are starting to become quite useful. Google Spreadsheets and Google Calendar, in particular, have become very, very useful lately, in real-life situations (Google spreadsheets especially! we used that for NYDFS planning).
I would pay $90, but that just doesn't happen here in Australia.
I just came home from shopping, and the cheapest Windows 7 Pro non-upgrade available to the public in the stores I checked was $438 (http://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers/accessories/microsoft/windows-7-professional-full-version-sku-50682/) That's a bit over US$438, btw. That price is the equivalent of a dark alley rape. Mac software seems GPL licensed by comparison...
So, let's see - OEM maybe? That's around $150 here (from a random site, and lists prices from $136 to $505) (http://www.shopbot.com.au/pp-microsoft-windows-7-professional-oem-64-bit-price-203434.html) TBH, it still seems too high, especially with the Australian dollar being worth slightly more than the USD.
So, the OEM version is definitely not $90 here. And I can't just buy the US version, you get no support whatsoever unless you are in the country you purchased your stuff from. My sister got a new computer in the US that came with an "upgradeable to 7" Vista, but that offer didn't hold anymore once she returned to Argentina.
This sort of BS anal rape price also applies to Adobe, Autodesk, and other companies that multiply their prices by ~1.5 when selling the exact same software down under.
And why Ultimate? Cause if I have to spend $400, i might as well get whatever the top of the line is. Even if i'll never use BitLocker cause I'm using TrueCrypt instead.
But then again, I'm relatively new to this country, so maybe people do buy the US version and get it shipped over. I haven't asked around.
About $400 for a retail full version is about right, yeah. And yes, it's stupidly expensive, in part because they're trying to *not sell those* in favour of the OEM and Volume versions.
OEM: Anyone who sells you an OEM license without a computer is violating the license - so OF COURSE there's a "Microsoft will refuse to supply me with any more licenses and I'll have to buy them from a reseller" price hike there, just in case MS ever cares.
Regional version: Uh, it's an operating system. Who the fuck needs *support*, beyond activating it? Many *computers* have support limits, but that's not the OS.
Why Ultimate: No, really, the top of the line is Professional.
except of course that the OSX upgrade is optional and generally won't be a vital element to making your OS secure and functional, while the SP2 thing was a gig of horrible kludges who's purpose was to stop spammers from using the whole "steal your face over the internet" exploit that had been inexplicably made central to the functionality of XP and Vista and 7's kernel shells.
One of the major reasons why Apple can get away with charging for incremental upgrades is because none of their customers have had their faces stolen while using OSX.
Therefore all of the problems people have with apple is ultimately microsoft's fault for hiring thumbless monkeys as programmers.
As a Mac user I also get the annoyance of the NOT AGAIN! guy in the middle, cause it seems like Apple is CONSTANTLY pushing software updates at me. Like, every day that little blue icon is hopping up and down on my dock like a hyper chihuahua.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 02:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 03:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 04:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 07:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 08:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 02:28 pm (UTC)[1]: In the "Stable, Unstable, Testing" sense, not in the "will crash regularly" sense. Ubuntu updates often *add features*. This is not good behaviour if you're at the limit of your hardware.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 09:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 11:25 am (UTC)What's more expensive is the *hardware* not the OS or its updates.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 02:26 pm (UTC)(But rather than pricing a full OS update from the ground up, along with retail license, a closer comparison would be "free for XP SP2" versus "$39 for OSX SPWhatever")
Also: Yes, the hardware is the major price difference, I agree. It's too bad it's just a PRICE difference and there's noQUALITY difference to go along with it. But if this comic was about hardware, it would be "Hey, my computer needs more memory / extra storage / a better processor / a new battery. Gee, it's glued shut, I guess I have to buy a whole new computer"
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 09:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 09:44 pm (UTC)*I* would buy Ultimate; I have no legal Windows licenses to upgrade, and over here a new Windows 7 Ultimate is $300+, which IMHO is awfully overpriced. Not to mention a joke, how many different OS types do you need? LOL.
All my 3 Windows boxen are warez. I also have no legal Office licenses - it also seems overpriced as hell.
Anyway, there's no clear-cut difference. I use all three OSs daily for development and there's shit to go around, so focusing on Macs is stupid, whatever your usual anti-mac knee-jerk reaction is.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 10:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 10:17 pm (UTC)Here, this is how it goes in the real world:
(edited by me)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 11:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-06 03:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-06 03:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 11:43 pm (UTC)You don't. You pay $90 for an OEM copy of 7 Pro with your new machine and install XP Pro instead under the same license key, assuming you want XP and not 7 for some strange reason.
And my real point is, when a Service Pack comes out you don't pay for it. And some of those Service Packs have a TON of realy good improvements, comparable to the OSX pay-for-the-service-pack model. Which is why I suggested "Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, which was free" as a comparable package.
*I* would buy Ultimate;
But *WHY*? "Ultimate" adds nothing worth having.
a new Windows 7 Ultimate is $300+, which IMHO is awfully overpriced.
A new retail copy of Win7 Ultimate, yes. OEM copies of standard OSen are much cheaper - but, hey, you only need to buy one retail copy ever if you only want one machine at a time. You can just move it from machine to machine, legally, until you want something that isn't Win7.
All my 3 Windows boxen are warez.
So, you WOULDN'T buy Ultimate, is what you're saying.
I've found pirated software to be way more trouble than it's worth, personally.
I also have no legal Office licenses - it also seems overpriced as hell.
The trick is to buy it bundled with something, at which point it's cheap, or to use OpenOffice or something like it if you don't actually need the full power of Office. There are still some things OFfice does that no competing product does nearly as well - but those are rarely used by non-business users, and a business user normally gets his copy from his company, who gets it cheaper for a bunch of reasons.
there's shit to go around, so focusing on Macs is stupid, whatever your usual anti-mac knee-jerk reaction is.
Yes, but price-related shit sticks to Macs more, just like UI failures for Mac and Linux.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-06 03:11 am (UTC)Not sure I'm going to get Office 2010.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-06 03:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-06 04:15 am (UTC)I just came home from shopping, and the cheapest Windows 7 Pro non-upgrade available to the public in the stores I checked was $438 (http://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers/accessories/microsoft/windows-7-professional-full-version-sku-50682/) That's a bit over US$438, btw. That price is the equivalent of a dark alley rape. Mac software seems GPL licensed by comparison...
So, let's see - OEM maybe? That's around $150 here (from a random site, and lists prices from $136 to $505) (http://www.shopbot.com.au/pp-microsoft-windows-7-professional-oem-64-bit-price-203434.html) TBH, it still seems too high, especially with the Australian dollar being worth slightly more than the USD.
So, the OEM version is definitely not $90 here. And I can't just buy the US version, you get no support whatsoever unless you are in the country you purchased your stuff from. My sister got a new computer in the US that came with an "upgradeable to 7" Vista, but that offer didn't hold anymore once she returned to Argentina.
This sort of BS anal rape price also applies to Adobe, Autodesk, and other companies that multiply their prices by ~1.5 when selling the exact same software down under.
And why Ultimate? Cause if I have to spend $400, i might as well get whatever the top of the line is. Even if i'll never use BitLocker cause I'm using TrueCrypt instead.
But then again, I'm relatively new to this country, so maybe people do buy the US version and get it shipped over. I haven't asked around.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-08 02:06 pm (UTC)OEM: Anyone who sells you an OEM license without a computer is violating the license - so OF COURSE there's a "Microsoft will refuse to supply me with any more licenses and I'll have to buy them from a reseller" price hike there, just in case MS ever cares.
Regional version: Uh, it's an operating system. Who the fuck needs *support*, beyond activating it? Many *computers* have support limits, but that's not the OS.
Why Ultimate: No, really, the top of the line is Professional.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-06 03:47 pm (UTC)One of the major reasons why Apple can get away with charging for incremental upgrades is because none of their customers have had their faces stolen while using OSX.
Therefore all of the problems people have with apple is ultimately microsoft's fault for hiring thumbless monkeys as programmers.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-06 03:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-06 03:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-06 03:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-05 12:09 pm (UTC)the Mac one just isn't accurate
I totally get that feeling with linux, though :D [the new Mint is gorgeous]
(no subject)
Date: 2011-03-06 03:57 pm (UTC)russian roulupdate.
Date: 2011-03-08 12:09 pm (UTC)