Why Apple Loves Microsoft

Apple loves Microsoft.  It’s a fact.  In fact, Apple is thankful everyday for Microsoft’s very existence.  Why?  Because without Microsoft, Apple could not and would not be Apple.

Apple currently  holds about 10% market share.  Microsoft has pretty much the rest  (except for the tiny fraction that Linux etc. has).  If it were the other way around, Apple would be a very different company.  There are several reasons for this.

First, Microsoft is the easy target for every allegation of monopolization, anti-competitive practices etc.  When you hold almost 90% of a market, that is the burden you must carry.  Comparatively speaking, Apple is much more anti-competitive that Microsoft.  With that much marketshare, if Microsoft also built computers and went as far a suing companies for building computers and putting their operation systems on them, they would be in court in every country of the world.  You could pay off the cost of the Stimulus Bill with the fines.  But when Apple does it, it is not a problem.  People just say they are protecting the integrity of their product.  Microsoft got sued for putting it’s internet browser on computers and making it slightly difficult for the end user to get rid of it.  Think about those difference for a moment.

Next, Microsoft gets beaten for years over an operating system, that to be honest, is actually pretty good if you have the computing horsepower to run it.  To me, it is fair for a company to expect an end user to have up to date hardware to run up to date software.  Apple does it.  Try putting the latest Apple OS on an old Apple machine.  To be fair, Microsoft did make a mistake in the beginning by allowing computer manufacturers to put Vista on machines that did not meet the specs.  But that does explain someone complaining that the OS is bad because they tried to install it on a 5 year old machine.

When you have that much market share in the consumer market and an even higher market share in the business market, you can’t just do anything you want.  The software has to backward compatible.  It also has to work with thousand of 3rd party programs.  Hardware manufacturers have to be pushed to create drivers compatible with the new system.  In the end, there is infinitely more work that goes into software upgrades when you are the major player than when you hold 1/10th the market share.

Next we can compare Microsoft’s and Apple’s Enterprise solutions.  Oh, nevermind.  Apple doesn’t have one.  In fact, Apple licensed Microsoft’s software so the iPhone could be connected to corporate email systems.

I know you are thinking that I am an Apple hater.  That is far from the truth.  I have an iPhone that I love.  I have an iPod that I adore.  Apple does make great products.  What I get sick of is the constant Microsoft bashing from the Apple fanboys.  Most of it is baseless.  I run Vista on 4 machines.  None of them have ever crashed…ever.  Not even when editing High Definition Video.  I know for a fact that Apple users can’t say that.  I have seen too many tweets on Twitter from some much respected podcasters (that will remain nameless) that their Macs crashed during compression etc.

To everyone I say this.  Love what you love, but stop the hate.  In the end, it’s just silly.