Apple's Snow Leopard bests Windows 7 in speed tests

When both Mac OS X 10.6 and Windows 7 were tested on a MacBook Pro, Apple’s new operating system clearly beat Microsoft in terms of speed, a new test has shown.

Both operating systems were tested on a 2008 MacBook Pro machine by CNet, and each was given its own, separate, clean hard drive. The 64-bit version of each OS was included in the test, which measured a variety of speed and performance related tasks. Snow Leopard was given true, full 64-bit support with most of its native applications taking full advantage of modern processors.

Each OS had the same software installed: iTunes 9, QuickTime, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Cinebench R10. In the test, Snow Leopard booted and shut down significantly faster than Windows 7.

“In time-based tests, Snow Leopard consistently outdid Windows 7,” the study found. “It took only 36.4 seconds to boot up, while Windows took 42.7 seconds. In a shutdown test, Snow Leopard took only 6.6 seconds, while Windows needed twice the amount of time: 12.6 seconds. Both computers, however, took just about 1 second to return from sleeping. For this reason, I didn’t actually test the wake-up time as it was too short in both operating systems to produce meaningful numbers or even allow me to measure the difference.”

The Mac software also unsurprisingly ran Apple’s own native applications more efficiently. Converting a movie from M4 format to iPod in Quicktime X on Snow Leopard took 444.3 seconds, while Windows 7, with QuickTime 7 (the latest version available) took 723 seconds. Similarly, converting 17 songs in iTunes from MP3 to AAC took 149.9 seconds in Snow Leopard, while Windows 7 required 162 seconds.

The test also found that Mac OS X 10.6 had better battery life on the MacBook Pro than Windows 7. The 2008 model has a removable battery. But author Dong Ngo said he believes Boot Camp drivers were mostly responsible for the Windows 7 battery life, as many PC laptops fared much better than the 77 minutes the Microsoft OS fared.

One area where Windows 7 was able to easily trump Snow Leopard was in graphics performance. The system’s 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics card helped the system score much better in the latest version of Windows, earning a 5,777 3D rendering score in Cinebench R10. Snow Leopard scored 5,437.

In testing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Windows 7 again came out on top, with an average 26.3 frames per second performance, compared to 21.2 frames per second within Snow Leopard.

Ngo’s conclusion: Unless you are a gamer, get a Mac.

“If you can get by with just software designed by Apple and if money is not a big issue, you will be happy with a Mac,” he said. “Examples of these software choices are iTunes, iLife, QuickTime, Safari, iChat, and so on (and you probably won’t need much more than those for daily entertainment and communication needs). Finally, if money is not an issue—and it definitely is for most of us—you should get a Mac anyway. It’s the only platform, for now, that can run both Windows and OS X.”

source:appleinsider

Microsoft's latest ad: iTunes and the iPod are crazy expensive

Microsoft’s latest 30-second spot features Wes Moss, Certified Financial Planner, explaining that iTunes “costs a lot” while Zune Pass “costs a little.” The argument, of course, is that at a buck a song (or more), filling up your iPod costs way more than getting the Zune Pass which costs $15 a month, and lets users download an unlimited number of tracks. The ad does not mention however that subscribers can only permanently keep 10 tracks a month, and that any track not chosen to keep is lost should a person unsubscribe. The latter music can also be synced only to Zune players.  Good luck Microsoft, I don’t think you’ll get to many defectors.

Microsoft "Laptop" ads made on Macs?

Microsoft’s Laptop Hunter ads were potentially made by a largely Mac-based marketing firm, a visit to Crispin Porter + Bogusky shows. In spite of producing ads showing creatives opting for less expensive PCs over Macs, the company contracted to produce the commercials is seen in photos using Macs near-exclusively, hinting strongly that most of the production was accomplished using various MacBooks and even some eMacs.

The apparent contradiction isn’t entirely unexpected given the usage habits of the industry and the tendency for ad agencies to regularly serve multiple clients, but comes as Microsoft has tried to portray Macs as unnecessarily expensive in its own online and TV campaigns. Crispin Porter + Bogusky isn’t Microsoft’s only contracted agency but is the primary firm behind the $300 million push, which has also included the Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates spots.

source:electronista

Microsoft releases new Laptop Hunters ad

Microsoft has expanded its “You find it, you keep it” series of television ads, now bringing the cash limit up to $2000. The segment features a filmmaker, Sheila, as she tries to find a notebook with a fast processor, big screen and “able to cut video.” She migrates to “the best Apple,” a MacBook Pro, but eliminates the choice because it only has 2GB of RAM.  Too bad about her choice though.  I thought the reply from the salesman was hilarious. When she asked if it was a good video card..his reply “ah huh”

I'm sure you have seen the video

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:0bb6a07c-c829-4562-8375-49e6693810c7&showPlaylist=true&from=shared" target="_new" title="Laptop Hunters $1000 – Lauren Gets an HP Pavilion">Video: Laptop Hunters $1000 – Lauren Gets an HP Pavilion</a>

But what about this one from GeekCulture.com

source:geekculture

Update on Saturday, April 4, 2009 at 1:15AM by Jon Arnason

Microsoft’s Lauren ad faked say bloggers

Accusations are flying within the blogosphere that Microsoft simply faked its latest ad portraying a real buyer named Lauren shopping for a 17” notebook under $1000, who supposedly couldn’t find what she was looking for in the Apple Store.

Bloggers forensically studied the advertisement in slow motion, pointing out that the shots of Lauren entering and leaving the store appear to have been shot all at once; the surrounding people walking past in both shots appear in the same place. This must mean, they conclude, that Lauren never entered the store looking for the $1000 17” notebook, and that the ad simply included a scene at “the Mac store” to offer Apple some additional free advertising.

Of course, it doesn’t really matter if Lauren walked into the store and spent any length of time there. The entire ad was contrived by definition. Lauren wasn’t given money to find the ideal computer for her needs, she was given a specific budget and told to find a specific hardware feature that Apple does not carry.

Apple only sells one 17” notebook with a high quality, full resolution screen. No PC maker ships anything comparable to the MacBook Pro for under $1000. As the ad points out however, there are plenty of low quality, low resolution 17” screens available from PC makers trying to dangle low prices in front of consumers in the overcrowded, low differentiation market for low end, generic PCs that ship with Windows Vista.

For the complete story, hit source link below.

source:appleinsider

Ballmer: 'Tide has really turned' against Apple

Steve Ballmer identifies the difference between Windows PCs and Macs:

“The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment — same piece of hardware — paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that’s a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be.”

It’s interesting that Mr. Vista would think so little of the importance of operating systems.

source[boingboing]

No iPods, iPhones allowed in Bill Gates household

This is pretty funny. He is depriving his family of some very cool toys. Sucks being the kids of a billionaire..maybe when they are a little older, they will sneak this stuff into the house like all other good boys and girls.

The three children of Bill and Melinda Gates may not be allowed to have a product from a certain Cupertino-based rival in their home, but that doesn't mean Mrs. Gates doesn't wish for an Apple gadget every once in a while.

Melinda Gates told Vogue in a recent interview that the couple's three children try to have "as regular a childhood as possible,", but that doesn't include Apple's ubiquitous iPod digital music and video player or its cellular companion, the iPhone.

"There are very few things that are on the banned list in our household," she said. "But iPods and iPhones are two things we don't get for our kids."

Gates' husband Bill, of course, founded Microsoft, which sells its own line of digital media players under the Zune brand name. So when it comes to the market-leading iPod, it's look-but-don't-touch for the Gates family, including the three children (aged 12, 9, and 6), and even Melinda herself.

"Every now and then I look at my friends and say, 'Ooh, I wouldn't mind having that iPhone,'" she said.