Love the closing line. Similarly, Bill Gates in his most recent interview was asked about Apple's marketing and it pissed him off.

Translates to curiosity, and that leads to switchers.

Apple has almost doubled their market share in the last year, of course Microsoft should be worried! The Mac OS is a better OS - slicker, easier to use, more stable with fewer security problems, and easier to secure because of that.

Good article, not shrill or extreme at all.

That may be why, these days, whenever Steve Ballmer is interviewed, he's asked about Apple products… and walks out in a huff.

Fortunately for Microsoft, they aren't in direct competition with Apple. Apple sales can actually drive Microsoft sales, especially with the switch to Intel and Bootcamp. Some one switching from a "PC" to a "Mac" because of these new features is exactly the type of person who will still purchase a copy of Windows. Microsoft doesn't view Apple as its main competition as Martellaro seems to think, they are more concerned about software companies like Google, whose product line and development are much more inline with the markets that Microsoft tries to capture. Mac on Intel and Bootcamp only means that Apple users can now also purchase Windows. This just means more money for Microsoft as previously Macintosh was unable to run Microsoft's flagship product.

MS is not in direct competition with Apple. They make lots of money off of MS Office for Mac and now people can even run Windows on a Mac.

But a world where most of their product sales end up on a Mac is not a happy thought for them. (I know that world is a ways off right now.) Why? Because it is a world that MS does not control. On the Mac they are just another competitor. They have no monopoly. They must write to real standards, not ones which they can change to their liking. Having to play in such an environment is what really scares Microsoft.

Over the course of the last year, we replaced every winbox in our home with a Mac.

Mac hardware and OS is vastly superior to anything I've used before, and I've used many PC's and every Microsoft OS (with the exception of Bob) until Vista. I beta tested Vista (on a beautiful 20" iMac Core 2 Duo), but quickly tired of the "are you sure you want to move the mouse now?" intrusive character of the OS.

Steve Ballmer is a putz, and he would do well to remember the days when IBM was the 800 pound gorilla in the room. In a few short years, Microsoft turned the tables on IBM.

Whether Apple gains market share against IBM is inconsequential to me, however. I chose Apple for the simple reason that they make better stuff. Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates know this, and that's why they get all pissed off whenever the name Apple comes up in an interview.

Excuse the reply to my own post, but I meant to say "whether Apple gains market share against Microsoft", not "IBM".