Scott; True, there are some semantics there. The problem is that there are two entities making up a Wintel. The CPU entity has made them faster better cheaper and the only real expansion of capability was the MMX stuff, and that is an artifice to get proprietary room to roam. The OS entity has hogged more and more memory and perfected a GUI with plug and play coming at those concepst(that Apple has already in different ways) from the DOS arena and only recently shedding DOS to become a standalone operating system(the skeleton lurks as the core code must be DOSlike)
If I had a space alien who knew nothing about the baggage that Apple and Wintel drag forward, how would sthe assess the situation?
He would know nothing about the Apple glee club, or the Windows one and would just try each one. As they sit at this point in time they are quite similar, with fewer crashes on some Apple systems and more software on the Wintels. You can get a Wintel system that does not crash at all, as long as you have only a limited amount of Microsoft software on it, as the microsoft stuff gets along better with it's brethren(is this on purpose?, undocumented calls etc)
However the unhindered competition that the Wintel platform has engendered is what made the rapid change, and Apple must get that or die. They must actually run faster than the Wintel group to gain share(they can also run smarter, but to get smarter you need more runners to find the smart ones)
If they keep the status quoo, then 2% and dropping, run as fast as Wintel, stay around 2% and gain/lose randomly by a little. Run faster and smarter, go from 2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-20-30-40% Dreamers can be winners too.
Bill |
