Quote:
Originally Posted by nixgeek  It was mentioned that Mac users have to pay for every point release. Consider that Windows users did as well, but because of the names they have thanks to MS marketing monkeys they had no idea.
Windows NT 3.5
Windows NT 4
Windows NT 5 (aka "Windows 2000")
Windows NT 5.1 (aka "Windows XP")
There's more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_NT
I believe that Vista is considered Windows NT 6, but don't quote me on that. All you have to do is open up a Command Prompt and you'll see the revision number right above the c:\> prompt. If I'm not mistaken, those are point releases just like Apple has done. Also pay close attention to the times of release on the link I provided. They've been from 1-3 years between releases. Apple does them every 2-3 years. So i ask you, is that really much different from what Apple does?
As for Vista taking 5 years, the only reason for that was because they kept delaying. It was meant to be released in 2003, not 2007, and was promised with some groundbreaking features for Windows users. After 5 years, MS comes up with this "Vista?" How disappointing after such a long wait.
And consider that the Service Packs for Windows are like the Combo Updaters for Mac OS X. All they have are a bunch of rolled-up patches and features that you can download for free.
So your point about point releases has no point.  |
ummm no. The point is in 5 years, apple as release 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 and XP is still XP. Each time apple releases the next version, support for people who purchased their machine with the previous version decreases. If they want to stay on top of the game (as well as maintain compatability with new hardware/software) they have to spend $$ to upgrade. Your windows point release info was pointless because the frequency of those releases are spaced so far apart. Also you can STILL buy new hardware and software that runs on win98 which is 9 years old. I'd like to see brand new printers, scanners, network cards, raid controllers, sata controllers...that would come with OS 8.6/os9 drivers. Apple makes you spend money on the newer point release much more frequently unless you're ok with little support.
Also vista may seem dissapointing as a release but you know, nobody really cares. XP still has full support for software and hardware and as an XP user myself, I'll probably just wait until the NEXT version. There are tons of people that still run win2k even. Why bother changing if almost all CURRENT hardware and software run great on your OS?