I love Apple. I've used Apples since grade 2 (first computer ever touched was a IIc). I went through the whole gamut of Macs - LCs, Performas, Quadras, PowerMacs, iMacs, G3s, G4s, MacBook Pro. Apple is going to grow in business, but they aren't going to threaten Microsoft.
Why? Many reasons. Companies don't like being beholden to a single provider. With Windows, at least for the computer, they get Dell, HP, and many others to buy from. There is a huge ecosystem around Windows. I work at an office that uses Exchange for email/cal. Entourage always has little weird anomalies. We have constituent management software that only runs on Windows and we're not going to switch because we have too much data (and it's a terrible, proprietary format).
Plus, the biggest thing, businesses like ABI stability. It's why MS has done so well. While others would break compatibility on both the ABI and API level, MS has kept it stable for over a decade for the most part. It's made Windows cludgy, sure, but customers like it (mostly). Often, when Apple releases a new OS X, there are little things that need changing in programs. Apple seems to have put this more in the past and I'm really excited about Snow Leopard. However, if Apple goes the MS route and demands forever backward compatibility, it's likely that OS X's advantage disappears.
Apple is poised to make inroads, but part of MS' problem is also its greatest feature - backward compatibility. Should Apple follow suit, the pace of development would slow and OS X would get more cludgy. And if Apple ever displaced MS, MS would have the option of breaking compatibility and then leapfrogging Apple like Apple has done to them.
Part of the reason I love the Mac is that Apple is willing to break compatibility to make things better/more stable/more lovable. OS X is at a really great place right now and I'm also glad Apple is going for more stability than in the past, but businesses really want MS-style ABI stability. I definitely see Apple displacing a good amount of MS in the home, but businesses can be more conservative.
I guess I'll see what happens. As someone who was in the fold during the darkest times, I'm just glad to know the company is stable, profitable and growing.
"However, if Apple goes the MS route and demands forever backward compatibility, it's likely that OS X's advantage disappears."
Apple doesn't have MS's infinitely hard task of dealing with n variants and combinations of PC hardware and drivers. They also already dealt with major issues of backward compatibility through emulation.
Why? Many reasons. Companies don't like being beholden to a single provider. With Windows, at least for the computer, they get Dell, HP, and many others to buy from. There is a huge ecosystem around Windows. I work at an office that uses Exchange for email/cal. Entourage always has little weird anomalies. We have constituent management software that only runs on Windows and we're not going to switch because we have too much data (and it's a terrible, proprietary format).
Plus, the biggest thing, businesses like ABI stability. It's why MS has done so well. While others would break compatibility on both the ABI and API level, MS has kept it stable for over a decade for the most part. It's made Windows cludgy, sure, but customers like it (mostly). Often, when Apple releases a new OS X, there are little things that need changing in programs. Apple seems to have put this more in the past and I'm really excited about Snow Leopard. However, if Apple goes the MS route and demands forever backward compatibility, it's likely that OS X's advantage disappears.
Apple is poised to make inroads, but part of MS' problem is also its greatest feature - backward compatibility. Should Apple follow suit, the pace of development would slow and OS X would get more cludgy. And if Apple ever displaced MS, MS would have the option of breaking compatibility and then leapfrogging Apple like Apple has done to them.
Part of the reason I love the Mac is that Apple is willing to break compatibility to make things better/more stable/more lovable. OS X is at a really great place right now and I'm also glad Apple is going for more stability than in the past, but businesses really want MS-style ABI stability. I definitely see Apple displacing a good amount of MS in the home, but businesses can be more conservative.
I guess I'll see what happens. As someone who was in the fold during the darkest times, I'm just glad to know the company is stable, profitable and growing.