
Who can feel sorry for...
... consumers who knowingly buy into Microsoft's monopoly.
9 publicly visible posts • joined 30 Apr 2008
This means a designated set of pre-tested hardware components and specifications set by MS. Look for shiny holographic "Microsoft Approved" stickers on your future HPs and Dells and expect the price forentry level machines to reflect the (cough cough) improvement.
What must really scare ballmer is that apple switchers will find little reason to come back to windows and they can run their newly purchased macs for 6 to 10 years before possibly feeling the need to replace them. That's a lot of lost revenue to microsoft - especially when they discover that free Open Office (OO) does a heck of a job replacing Microsoft Office for the mac.
"According to IDC, Apple’s worldwide market share grew from 2.4% in 2006 to 2.9% in 2007. (See chart below.) Munster is conservatively modeling global market share to remain flat this year, but he notes that enterprise sales account for 70% of the worldwide market, a segment Apple is not aggressively targeting. In the consumer market, where Apple does compete, he estimates the Mac’s share is now 10% worldwide and an impressive 21% in the U.S."
http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/04/01/analyst-apples-us-consumer-market-share-now-21-percent/