Microsoft digs Macs in back-to-school ads

Convicted monopolist boasting about its monopoly

And if most of the Windows computers at the school used OpenOffice for office work, instead or MS Office, Mac users, Linux users, Solaris users, FreeBSD users etc. would not notice much difference, since it works pretty much the same on all those platforms.

In that part of the ad, Microsoft is pretty much admitting it has the office suite monopoly, and you had better go along with it, or else...

LOL - funny

Was that backward compatable or forwardly back compatible with future versions not yet developed?

Using Microsofts new 2015 prerelease version of office 2020 in 2010 beta verison that only runs *.wankx files (windows anticiapatory neurally keyed Xformat); thus rendering all software obsolete before it's even available.

And all versions ever produced - are now being given a free security upgrade to lock them against further use until the buyer buys the update patches....

What planet are you on?

Yes you're right of course.

There are no vulnerabilities for a mac, and no one has ever had malware on a mac

Only non mac computers are vulnerable to hacking and viruses and trojans

Isn't that right apple fanboy?

Where have you been the last 10 years?

BSOD... nope, not once on Windows 7. XP BSODs are usually caused by poor third party drivers, and I've seen enough Macs lock up to know that they are just as susceptible to crashes.

AV software? Macs are just as prone to viruses, and as the platform is becoming more popular the number will increase. Pig-headed arrogant twats who think they are impervious to such attack vectors are going to be the next victims.

Patches? Of course, Apple NEVER patch their software becuase it's perfect. At least M$ don't charge for service packs.

Zero day exploits. Nothing unique to Windoze, happens on all systems. Your time will come, ignorant fool! Bwahahahaha!!!

@ Aimee

Using XP, I've not had a BSOD in years. I've probably just jinxed myself, but... Oh, and while the Win32 builds (W95/98/ME) could be famously unstable, many of the BSODs on my W98SE box were for amazingly stupid things, like "Please insert CD 6F67DD4635C57665B8678A4E6435 into drive D:"... why couldn't that be a MsgBox?

Are you implying you don't run any anti-virus software? At all? Muppet.

Patches EVERY month. This is a bad thing? It might be a PITA for systems admins with a hundred odd boxes to update, but I think it would be better to have the update in place than to shrug and say "oh well". Because that attitude is a bit lame if it comes After the fact.

Zero day exploits - trust me, I will be on the floor laughing so hard I'm in danger of losing body fluids when Macs get their first headline-making exploit. NOTHING is secure. Perhaps the only reason Macs have remained largely unexploited is because there are a lot more stupid people using Windows, stupid people who will fall for scams like fake login pages and likely use the same password for everything. Think about it, the days of cute obscure political messages and "wiping your boot sector" are over. It would be trivially simple to kill a Windows-based PC, but - come on - what's the point? If somebody is going to compromise your machine, they will be in it for cold hard cash. Botnets, keyloggers, and all manner of scams. These sorts of things will work well on people that need to "call an expert" to plug their printer in for them. In other words, not your typical Mac user. But it will happen eventually.

Running a Mac you get...

BSOD's

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/29/no_java_for_leopard/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/27/leopard_install_problems/

Viruses

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/20/pinhead_mac_trojan/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/28/fake_mac_software_malware/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/20/pinhead_mac_trojan/

No patches

yadda yadda yadda

And they say Mac users have more money than sense

You bought a machine that many think is overpriced, in the first place, and then covered it's hard drive with NTFS. I think you deserve some sort of prize.

Or a trip back to 1999.

One or the other.

Windows makes a great PVR.

Absolutely stunning. I love it. Can't say I've seen any sign of DRM beyond what is on physical media already.

GJC

In all fairness...

...you've probably got more chance of walking into a PC shop and buying a PC without Windows than walking into an Apple store and buying a Mac without OS X.

RE: In all fairness

Real computer shops would let the customer decide what they wanted on the PC.

The one I used to work in would ask when a customer wanted a custom build, which was quite common. We even had "off the peg" PCs with *nix installed ready to go in the shop.

Not all computer shops are PC World.

Because oranges to oranges

You get more Mac for what you pay for than a PC. Unfortunately, since I can't stand Mac - this is a sad fact.

Price

Yep that and https://www.dreamspark.com/ and they don't really need any more cunning marketing as far as students go.

Gaming on a Mac ?

You knock Windows and your excuse is gaming ? In what universe do you live ?

This is the list of games I have currently installed :

AI War, Bejeweled 2 dlx, Battlefield 2, Brothers In Arms, Car Tycoon, Civilization 4, Crysis + Warhead, Diablo II, Dungeon Keeper II, Evil Genius, Far Cry, Freelancer, Galactic Civilizations, Hellgate London, Imperium Galactica II, Lemmings95, LotRO, Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries, Nuclear Ball 2, Star Wars Rebellion, Rome Total War, Settlers 2, SimCity 4, StarCraft II, Unreal Tournament 4, WarCraft III, Capitalism 2, Company Of Heroes, Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War, Dungeon and Dragons Online, Driving Speed 2, Etherlords 2, FreeCiv, Future Pinball, GTA 3 San Andreas, Lode Runner, Mahjongg, Micro Machines 4, Transport Tycoon dlx, Plasma Pong, Prison Tycoon, Stubbs, Supreme Commander, SWINE, Syndicat, Transport Giant, Theme Hospital, TOCA Race Driver 3 and World of Goo.

And you can add Steam games if you want :

Alien Breed Impact, Alien Swarm, Counter-Strike Source, Day Of Defeat, Defense Grid : The Awakening, Enemy Territory Quake Wars, Gratuitious Space Battles, Guild Wars, Left 4 Dead 2, Operation Flashpoint : Dragon Rising, Portal, Half-Life (+Opposing Forces +Blue Shift), Half-Life 2, Serious Sam HD : First Encounter, Supreme Commander 2, Torchlight, UT3: Black Edition, WH40K DoW II.

And these are just the games I play currently, not all the ones I have (legitimately, I must add).

So, MAC boy, how many of these games do you have on your platform ?

Since not long ago, you have Portal. That much I know, since they made a great PR stunt about it on Steam.

What else ?

And consoles, pah ! No console has the selection I have, period. No console has any RTS title worth anything. I doubt you can play any Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, or other MMORPG title on console.

How many subscribers to World of Warcraft already ?

Windows is far from dead, troll.

Far from.

StarCraft 2

There. You got a good reason why I should keep my PC. Of course, I could have a Mac, but I won't as long as Jobs is in the helm, or at least Jobs with his current attitude.