Our take on Apple
Apple is a great company, and we love to follow AAPL on the NASDAQ. They have managed to acquire an impressive market share, and in 2008 we anticipate Apple to command more than 4% of computer sales worldwide. They are presently worth $9bn in liquidity. Most impressive.
Why competition is non-existant
We encourage Apple's growth as a company. And the reason?
The OS X platform is awesome because it's structured on the Free BSD (Unix) filesystem. But we believe still, that a great difference exists between the OS X platform and that of the Windows or Linux operating systems. Allow us to explain.
OS X vs. Windows
What's Good: MacOS is sexy. Apple has refined the user's experience and its performance is something to behold. The Mac operating system is clean and most intuitive. It's stable, it looks good, and doesn't have anything to prove. Apple's ingenious marketing strategies have created an abundance of evangelists.
Why It Doesn't Matter: Microsoft to this day has been dominant within the desktop realm, whether it be XP or Vista. Software companies have realized the inherent exposure potential, and have developed their applications to fit the mold, sometimes because of this entirely.
As such, whether or not Windows continues to win over new users, its current breadth of public adoption makes it an easy choice. Windows is ubiquitous, invariably customizable, highly tunable, and easy to maintain. Its support for the newer 64-bit environment and scalability makes high-performance computing both affordable and easy for homes and businesses alike.
OS X vs. Linux
What's Good: Again, the greatest correleation with Linux and MacOS is the Unix filesystem. Meaning the filesystem, certain commands, applications, and some of the most commonly found properties of Unix are available. This functionality is highly regarded by power users and the tech savvy. MacOS provides the user with unprecedented simplicity, and troubleshooting issues, whether through Apple support or with personal knowledge, is straight forward.
Why It Doesn't Matter: Linux has become an exciting and more viable, trustworthy, inexpensive alternative to the high premiums for today's options. In terms of the desktop environment, Linux continues to improve on hardware support and overall useability. Its open source model is attractive when it comes to the licensing of software, and worldwide community support strengthens further as distributions increase in popularity.
Why The PC Prevails
Let's face it--Windows isn't going away anytime soon, and, as users become more experienced, they soon will come to learn where Linux fits into the picture. We choose not to compare Linux or Windows, as one does apples to oranges; rather, each is powerful on its own accord and each makes our computing experience more productive, well-rounded, and enjoyable as a whole.
The same applies to Apple's operating system, as it's inherently strong in certain areas, but in terms of Apple's business, their products remain closed and proprietary as you might expect from such a company.
For these reasons, the PC platform running a form of Windows or Linux will continue to make waves in the vast ocean of personal and business computing.
