Lets start with one of the TV commercials released by Apple yesterday talking about the release of Windows 7.
Pathetic. That’s the word that came to my mind after I saw the 3 commercials. The first one was talking about Microsoft promising a new OS without bugs and I have to say that that was the stupidest of all 3 because Snow Leopard has been the buggiest of all the releases of Mac OS X. How can Apple talk about bugs when they have not removed yet all the “fleas” from their own spotted animal.
But anyway, lets go back to this video. The migration path from Windows XP to Windows 7. How many times we have said and all my fellow IT friends have said that a clean install is better than an upgrade? Millions. Now this is where the whole thing fails. Everybody does not know about Windows Easy Transfer. This program makes a backup of all your documents, emails, programs configurations, etc, from your old XP and restore it back in your Windows 7 installation. Simple like that. After that all you have to do is reinstall your programs. Windows Easy Transfer is a freeware that comes pre installed in Vista and Windows 7 and can be downloaded for XP at Microsoft.
Now, I won’t lie to you, this is where the thing becomes a really mess if you are not a very organized person and you do not keep track of your serial numbers. But come on! You can’t blame on Microsoft for your own problems. You have paid for most of those programs, that’s like an investment so you should keep or your serial organized in a document kept in a CD or somewhere safe.
I understand that many people buy pre configured computers because they are afraid of installing anything. For those people the message is simple. Do not be afraid. All those big programs have a Setup Wizard that guides you during the whole installation process. Every thing is easier than what you think. A lot easier than switching to Apple, a new completely world for you. And a closed world I should say. A word where everything comes from Apple and should be approved by Apple, in a single word, a Dictatorship . What are you going to do with your freedom of choosing from millions of programs every time that you want to buy a program? Or… what you are going to do when you want to find a freeware for something that you want to do and you find that there are not that many options in the Apple World. And let’s not talk about games!
I’ll tell you how you are going to end. You will end like the 85% of the Mac users out there that still have a PC or have installed Windows in their Macs in a sort of virtual machine.
This commercial like all the other commercials of this series is just a lie. And if you think that I’m too rude when I said that let me rectify. The commercial is not reflecting the reality. The switch from XP to Apple is not a lot easier than switching to Apple. Oh, by the way, where is the part in the commercial that says that Apple does not allow you to install Mac OS X in your PC and that means that all your hardware investment is useless and you will have to buy Macs that is a lot more expensive than your current PCs.
The next time that you see on of these commercials from Apple in your TV remember me. They are the last thing that you can use as a reference or research if you are seriously thinking about to switch from Windows to Mac. I have not seen one in the last few years reflecting the reality in any grade.
Frank -- when I installed Windows 7 RC, EasyTransfer from Windows 7 beta did not take care of my Windows Media Center settings (in particular, my digital channel lineup, which takes some real work). Do you know if that has been fixed, or any solution for it?
ReplyDeleteSorry, but I do not have any info that I can give you about your question.
ReplyDeleteCTitanic,
ReplyDeleteI like to follow your site. It is really helpful and I enjoy reading and watching your reviews. But I am truly disappointed on this article. It doesn't matter if you like one OS over the other. There are lots of geeks trying to run OS X on PCs and lots of people running Windows on the better looking Mac hardware. But one thing is true: I own lots of PCs and lots of Macs. With the Macs, it is really easy to go from one version to the other. I've been using the same settings, installed apps and documents on five different Macs and four different OS X versions. I never have to reinstall anything. It just works. It is a little more difficult with Windows. You can use the program you mention, but you have to reinstall all your programs. If you are like me, you may have hundreds of programs to reinstall.
I like to use both OS, but Microsoft has the disadvantage of having to support 95% of the computers made out there, and all of their different configurations and peripherals. Please don't be mad at ads showing the public the few advantages Mac OS has over Windows. They may be lies, but being number one on customer satisfaction is not a lie.
I'm not saying that Mac OS X is bad. It's an OS like any other created by men. And it has bugs like any other.
ReplyDeleteTo say that's easier to switch to Mac than upgrade to W7 is a lie no matter how I put it.
I just got tired, like many others of Apple's absurd attacks full of lies.
I agree with you, two of the three ads are lies.
ReplyDeleteBut at the moment you switch and stick wit Mac OSX, it is really really simple to upgrade. Not so if you stick with Windows.
And the ad that shows the PC guy saying that "this time Windows 7 won't have the same problems as Vista, trust me", it is not a lie, Obviously you can say the same for OS upgrades from Mac or any other mayor OS change.