Percentages
- In a nationwide survey of 22,000 creative firms, 77% of them planned to purchase Macintosh computers in 1999, outselling both Windows and Windows NT by an astounding margin of over 3 to 1. The research company stated, "Apple continues to dominate the creative markets."
(TrendWatch 1999 Creative Atlas Guide)
- 72% of the alumni of Rochester Institute of Technology - arguably the world's oldest (1830s), largest and best school of photography and printing in the world - own Macs.
("Contact Sheet", the RIT alumni news letter)
- More than 57% of Web sites that use video use Apple's QuickTime to deliver it.
(Apple Computer)
- On average, the cost to develop and support Windows applications is 50% higher per dollar of revenue than the cost to develop for Macintosh.
(Software and Information Industry Association)
- Mac users are 50% more accurate and 44% more productive than Wintel users.
(A.D. Little report)
- 20% of all the personal computers in use today are Macs.
(Minneapolis Star Tribune, 5/11/98)
- In 2000, Apple captured an 18.2% share of the U.S. education portable market.
(IDC Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, 9/01)
- Macintosh software comprises over 18% of all software sold. Macintosh users actually use more applications than Windows users, citing ease of installation of Mac applications as one of the reasons.
(Software and Information Industry Association)
- Apple computers account for 15% of CompUSA's CPU sales.
(From the WWDC Keynote Speech by Steve Jobs, 11 May 98)
- According to independent research firm PC Data, Apple's market share has doubled in the past 12 months and is now up to 11.3%
(Retail and mail order sales, fiscal 1999 Q2).
Position
- CNN rated the Apple iBook "Best New Laptop" of 2001.
(CNNmoney Best of the New)
- Apple recently closed the single largest educational sale ever: 23,000 iBooks.
(5/1/2001)
- Apple was the best performing computer stock in 1998, passed Microsoft in price in 1999, and split 2-for-1 in summer of 2000.
- Apple Computer has been profitable 14 of the last 15 quarters.
(7/17/2001)
- Apple is one of only two major PC companies that's still making money during this slump.
(Business Week, 10/24/01)
- Apple's market share is greater than that of Sony televisions, Tag Heuer watches, and the COMBINED shares of ALL European passenger cars sold in the U.S., including Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, Jaguar, and Porsche.
(Appliance Manufacturer & Market DataBook of Automotive News, June 1998)
- The Apple iMac is the best-selling computer in CompUSA's 13-year history.
- As of March 1999, Apple continues to lead in K-12 computer purchases.
- Apple Computer holds more than twice as many computing patents than does Microsoft.
- Apple is the #1 computer vendor in Japan.
(BCN, 2/99)
- Apple is the #1 computer company in Australia.
(IDC)
- The higher percentage of Macintosh computers, the lower the technical support costs.
(Gartner Group)
- There are just as many Mac users as users of Windows 95.
(Microsoft, 5/98)
- A 300MHz G3 PowerMac delivers better graphics performance than a 400MHz Pentium II system.
(PC Week)
- A Westinghouse study showed that engineers doing design work are about twice as productive using Macintosh as those using a PC.
- The iMac was the #3 selling desktop in May 1999.
(PC Data)
- Forbes Magazine recently placed Apple Computer fourth on its list of "most dynamic technology companies".
(4/5/99)
- Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, inventors of the Apple computer, were recently named the 5th most influential businessmen of this century. Bill Gates is 50th.
(L.A. Times)
- When you take the 1999 Fortune 500 and rank the companies based on shareholder return in the past 12 months, Apple is number 5.
(News article re: Barron's 500)
Dollars
- Apple Computer has over $4.2 billion in cash and short-term investments on its balance sheet.
(7/17/2001)
- A business Mac user gets $24,000 more work done per year, his or her computer is down 14% less, and it costs less to support than any other platform.
(Gartner Group)
- An extensive survey of actual dual-platform costs collected from real organizations in the US with a sample size in excess of 312,000 desktop computers concluded that there are NO detectable extra support costs associated with having both Macintosh AND Windows over and above having Windows alone.
(Gartner Group)
- Software developers make higher profits with Mac software than Windows software. Average revenues per unit remain higher overall for Macintosh software than for Windows applications.
(Reports from PC Data and SIIA)
- A single NT server service call to Microsoft costs $195. A year of Apple support costs $70.
- Apple virtually eliminated its historical pricing disadvantages in its newest model line.
Gene Steinberg, Mac Reality Check
- Because of its increased security costs, some insurance companies charge Microsoft Windows NT users higher premiums.
(Information Security Magazine, 5/31/01)
Big Numbers
- Apple sold more than 1.3 million Macs in the last quarter of 1999, which was the highest quarterly sales volume in Apple's history.
(MacWeek article on Steve Jobs' Macworld 2000 keynote speech)
- Apple sold 800,000 iMacs in less than half a year, making it one of the most successful computer launches ever. Three years later (April 2001), the iMac community is over five million, making it the biggest-selling personal computer of all time.
(MacWorld, 8/15/01)
- When NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston switched from Mac to Windows, help desk calls grew consistently from 68,000 calls to 142,000 in two years.
Ultimately, Congress decided the switchover violated the government's "open procurement" law, but it was too late to switch back.
- Other than Word macro viruses, there are over 20,000 PC viruses, yet only 40-80 Mac ones.
Also, there is no Mac virus that can destroy your hardware. Some PC viruses can zero out the flash BIOS and render the computer totally inoperable.
- There are over 18,000 Mac compatible products.
(Apple Computer, August 2001)
- Microsoft admitted on their own website that Windows NT 4.0 has more than 10,000 bugs. (The page has since been removed.) If you don't believe me, take a look at the copy on the box of Cybermedia's First Aid 98. It says "Fixes tens of thousands of Windows problems."
- There are 1,889 Mac-only software titles.
- In the business world, the industry standard for Windows systems is one support technician for every 25 to 60 computers. By contrast, the standard for Macintosh support is one person for every 100 to 200 machines.
Gulfstream, a company that manufactures jets, has 1 administrator for 450 Mac workstations.
- The average Wintel home user spends between 50 and 60 hours each year troubleshooting their computer. The average Mac user spends less than 5.
- The Mac OS is available in over 35 different languages.
(Apple Computer)
- A new Mac is sold every 9 seconds.
- PC support costs are 4 times higher than Mac.
(Gartner Group)
Strange But True!
- Bill Gates' $50 million residence (drafted by Seattle architectural firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson) was designed on Macintosh computers.
- On the other hand, the high-tech electronics inside Gates' mansion are Windows-based. The first evening at home, his drop-from-the-ceiling bigscreen TV would not shut off -- Gates had to throw a blanket over it to get to sleep.
(Barbara Walters 20/20 interview)
- Microsoft doesn't even use (Windows) NT on their own Web site. They use Unix.
(Larry Ellison in USA Today, 12/10/01)
- Bill Gates did not "invent" DOS, the operating system that begat Windows. His company bought code called QDOS ("Quick and Dirty Operating System") and polished it.
("The Six Serendipities of Microsoft")
EDITOR'S NOTE: Let me just say now that this fact comes from the best anti-Microsoft website in the world. You should bookmark Boycott Microsoft, and check it out -- it'll amaze and scare you, and embolden you to fight for the Mac.
- Until only very recently, Intel's advertising agency was an all-Apple shop with over 600 Macs used to create ad content.
- The Navy missile cruiser USS Yorktown suffered a crippling systems failure when its Windows NT operating system tried to divide by zero. "Even a $3 calculator gives you a 'zero' and doesn't stop executing the next set of instructions", said an engineer with the Atlantic Fleet Technical Support Center. The ship ultimately had to be towed into the Naval base at Norfolk, VA.
- The "Shut Down" command in Windows is located in the "Start" menu. (Then again, we drag our disks to the Trash to eject, what's up with that?)
- Numerous case studies from The Aberdeen Group, a Boston-based consultancy, have shown that companies migrating to Windows NT suffer greatly increased costs and user dissatisfaction.
- Until Windows 98, MS' operating system did not even perform such simple checks as verifying that there is enough space on a volume before copying data to it. For example, if you accidentally told it to, Windows would begin copying your 900 MB hard drive onto your 1.4 MB floppy disk.
- PC World's "Best of '99" award for Best (PC) Operating System is... "NONE". Microsoft can't even place in a field of one!
- When technology reporter Don Crabb visited the COMDEX '98 computer show, he noticed that a substantial number of booths were running their Windows product movies and slideshows on PowerMacs. "When I asked some of these vendors why, the answer was always, 'Because we don't have much setup time and little time to fix it if it crashes. So we run on a PowerMac and have done with it.' In a half-dozen Pentium-based presentations I sat through, the crash rate was a spectacularly bad five out of six."
(ZDNet Tech News)
Lastly, an illuminating true story:
- "I have worked for the NYC Dept of Sanitation for over 14 years now and I have NEVER seen a Macintosh of any type placed out for trash collection. I have also asked the men who work for me to please recover and bring in any Mac they ever find out there. I have never had one brought in yet. On the other hand, I have spotted many dozens of that other kind of computer in the trash piles. Apparently even the trash pickers out here aren't interested in picking them up."
(Claude Nolan, NYC Dept. of Sanitation, as quoted on the EvangeList)
It's soooo easy.
- Double-clicking on a Mac document automatically opens the application that created it -- no matter where the app is on your hard disk, your network or your server, no matter what that document is named.
- You can transfer an application from one Mac to another simply by copying it -- and it will usually work perfectly. And you can transfer a file from any Mac to any other Mac -- even from 1989's System 6 to today's OS 9 -- without the file name changing.
- You can drag an "alias" (akin to a Windows "shortcut") into any folder or window -- anywhere on your hard drive -- and it will still work, pointing to its intended file.
- You can perform a clean installation of the Mac OS without erasing any other contents of your hard drive.
- You can change the icon of any object on your Mac desktop -- file, folder or hard drive -- by copying and pasting.
- You can rename your Mac's hard drive simply by highlighting the icon and typing in the new name.
- When you insert a floppy or removable disk into a Mac, its icon appears on the desktop. If you eject the disk, the Mac indicates that it has been removed. And if you then try to read from or save to it, the Mac will tell you to reinsert it.
- You can use the characters /, ? and " in a Macintosh file name (e.g. Inventory/July, Current?, "cool stuff")
- When you drag numerous folders and their files to the trash, the Mac maintains their hierarchies until they are deleted.
- To facilitate troubleshooting, you can start a Mac with a "known good" base-level system, or even with all system extensions off.
Maybe you guessed it, but none of the above statements is true for Windows 95.
Now, re-read the statements with that knowledge.
And really, you tell me which is easier to figure out:
"Open Transport Library", "QuickDraw 3D Viewer", "Speech Manager", or...
"CONFIG.SYS", "BOOTSECT.DAT", and "MSCDEX.EXE"??
GIVE ME A BREAK!!
You can always tell when Mac software has been ported from Windows - they'll often lazily maintain the convoluted, confusing names. No self-respecting Mac programmer would name his file "MSL C.PPC.DLL".
Unbelievable.
Windows 98! It's new and impro--
Uh, nevermind.
- The setup routine for Windows 98 deliberately disables files used by competitors' software and installs different versions of those files ("for the use of Win98").
The specific program that performs this is never mentioned,
and is buried 7 menus deep.
- Until complaints, and despite continual concerns about security, Windows 98 serial-numbered each document made, allowing users to be traced to that document without their knowledge.
- Several PC makers warned their customers to take a "go slow" approach upgrading PC hardware to Windows 98. But many of these caveats were removed from the PC makers' websites -- under direct pressure from Microsoft.
- "I don't see any compelling reason to buy Windows 98, except for the bug fixes."
(PC Magazine's John C. Dvorak, "Don't pay for Windows 98!")
- Just 6 weeks before its release, Bill Gates demonstrated Windows 98 at the Comdex computer show in Chicago. As soon as his assistant plugged in a scanner, Win98 crashed.
Download the movie!
240x180 / 30 sec. / 1.7 MB
160x120 / 30 sec. / 1.1 MB
- An article in the British magazine ComputerActive reports that 47% of readers say they now regret having upgraded from Windows95 to Windows98.
BTW, this particular article, though promoted on the cover, is not on the online site.
- Despite all the attention, all the news articles, and the rapidly shrinking timeline, Windows 98 still had recent Year 2000 issues. (12/7/98)
Astonishingly, the text no longer exists at this link ("Document expired.") Although we've found archived messages we've posted from years ago, for some reason this news was deleted 6 months later...
Of course, these bugs were eliminated with a service pack, but just let a few months go by and...
- Again! More Win98 Y2K problems. (4/22/99)
- Not only that, there were serious questions about whether Microsoft knowingly held back a Wind95 patch, in favor of customers assuming they needed to upgrade to gain Y2K compatibility.
(Computerworld article)
- "If this were Hollywood, then Windows 98 would be the equivalent of 'Heaven's Gate', 'Waterworld' and 'Godzilla' rolled into one. A huge, overhyped, bloated embarrassment."
(Jesse Berst, Windows Sources and ZDNet columnist, as reported at Boycott Microsoft)
And though Jesse is decidedly not an Apple fan, he's recently considered buying an iMac, because "I hate Windows even more."
- "We're supposed to look at our hard disk with a web browser? Like, somebody asked for this?"
(David Pogue, Macworld, February 1998)
Hey, wait just a darn minute! Doesn't Microsoft have a NEW version of Windows??
- PC-oriented industry expert calls Windows 2000 a failure. And Microsoft secretly agrees.
But they fixed it, right?
- Microsoft recently dared hackers to break into their server with the latest beta of Windows 2000 and its firewall. Before anyone could, the server crashed by itself!
(ZDNet)
Yeah, okay, but I'll bet Windows NT is really secure, isn't it?
- After a well-publicized hack into their website, The U.S. Army abandoned NT servers in favor of the Mac OS. The Army's web site administrator stated, "It is more secure than its counterparts."
Fine, they'll upgrade it then.
- Months after installing a brand new $100 million network of PCs and servers to automate all aspects of their business, Hershey's is still reeling from the problems created -- which are actually causing drops in both their stock price and their market share. Hershey's has agreed with vendors that it is not the specific applications they are running -- and they can't be certain when they will be back up to speed.
(Kiss your Hershey treats goodbye, ZDNet News)
Okay, okay! But XP will be the ultimate OS...
- Windows author says XP not worth upgrade.
(7/30/01)
Quotes
- "The (Windows) system is so complicated...that it has become unusable...even by geeks like me. (My system crash has been) a nightmare in which even the experts couldn't solve my problems, leaving me at the mercy of an impenetrable and unpredictable system."
(Stewart Alsop, longtime PC column author and Wintel supporter.)
Others words used by Mr. Alsop included "unmanageable" and "ghastly".
- "Windows has become a bloated, unwieldy product only experts can use without confusion, crashes and endless compatibility problems."
(Windows magazine Editor-in-Chief Mike Elgan's "Open Letter to Bill Gates" May 1998)
- "We often have little choice but to put up with shoddiness in PC products. Who in their right mind would tolerate these sorts of problems with cars, TVs, or telephones?"
(Cathryn Baskin, Editor-in-Chief of PC World magazine, March 1998)
Remember, folks, these are quotes from leaders of the PC press. Hmmm... how about the multi-millionaire CEOs of Windows products?
- "Intel chairman Andy Grove, co-developer of the 'Wintel' PC, has seen the future of computing and it is a Macintosh."
("Andy Grove Loves His iMac.", TIME Daily, 23 Sept 1998)
- "Because there is such a gap between (using) the PC and the Mac platforms, converts come across as having a messianic quality. It's like having a pain suddenly disappear. You're so happy the pain's gone you want everyone to be as happy as you are."
(Ryan Lanctot, in a response to the Alsop article above)
- "Market acceptance non-withstanding, Windows is far, far behind the Macintosh."
(Computer Reseller News)
- "I wonder if in part why so many people are angry at Microsoft is not just because their products frustrate them so much, but also because this frustration is ignored. The computer makes people feel like they are dummies, when in fact it is the computer that is stupid."
(Rosalind Picard, Associate Professor of Media Technology at MIT, April 1998)
- "If switching to a single OS saves money, how come no IS manager that went all-Windows has EVER asked for a cut in budget and/or staff?"
- "(People ask me) 'There are many PCs that are less expensive than a Mac. Isn't it smarter to buy the cheaper one?' You know, that same argument was used to sell a lot of Yugos and Hyundais in the 1980s, but nobody was calling for the death of Mercedes-Benz."
- "There might be less software on the Mac side of the aisle, but a lot of what's produced for Windows isn't all that good. Crap does not survive in the Mac market."
(James Staten, an analyst with Dataquest)
- "Every time you get a dialog box you don't understand, you ought to get a nickel from Microsoft, and every time it crashes, you should get a dollar. That would make Bill Gates homeless and me a rich man."
(Ben Shneiderman, University of Maryland computer science professor)
- "PC users brag about what the media has said about their computers; Mac users brag about what they've done with their computers."
(Neal Porter)
- "I wrote an ad for Apple Computer: 'Macintosh - We might not get everything right, but at least we knew the century was going to end.'"
(Author Douglas Adams, on the Y2K problem)
- "The Macintosh may only have 10% of the market, but it is clearly the top 10%."
(Douglas Adams)
- "Microsoft announced today that the official release date for the new operating system Windows 2000 will be delayed until the second quarter of 1901."
- "With two young children, I told them it was important to buy a computer the kids would be comfortable with, could learn from, and could use easily with no hassles involved (Can you say 'Mac'?). I also told them that while PCs were good machines, their problem lies in the fact that they are difficult and confusing, aren't easy to set up, aren't geared toward new users, and weren't very cost effective over the life of the computer."
- Being a Mac user is like being a Navy SEAL: a small, elite group of people with access to the most sophisticated technology in the world, who everyone calls on to get the really tough jobs done quickly and efficiently.
- "Don't worry about the Apple Macintosh computer; I understand the Pilgrims' world market share was about 8% in the beginning, too."
(David Pogue)
- "I have yet to witness an incident where the PC bailed the Mac out of a problem."
(Aaron D. Lewis)
- "I'm a better person, I'm a more creative person, my reach is greater, my grasp is greater with an Apple computer."
(Actor Richard Dreyfus)
- "Within the computer industry, the description 'more like a Macintosh' is always a high praise. The description 'more like Windows' is rarely used as praise."
(The Seattle Times)
- The only thing Apple has a monopoly on is compliments.
- Macintosh -- because you can see right through Windows.
- The Apple Macintosh: Because sometimes Windows are just a pane.
- Windows 95: The most expensive solitaire game that money can buy.
- "INTEL INSIDE" -- The World's Most Widely Used Warning Label
- The box said "Windows '95 or Better"... so I got a Mac.
- Friends don't let friends use Windows.
- Life is short. Use a Mac.
- If builders built buildings the way Windows programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.
Of course, one of Apple's biggest evangelists has a few things to say:
- "When it comes to computers, unlike any other product I can think of, the prestigious or right or smart thing to do is portrayed as buying the same thing that the rest of the world does. What other product can you name where people are supposed to say, 'Gosh, I want to be the same as 95 out of 100 people'?"
- "Do you always buy the market-dominant product simply because of that market dominance?"
- "Saying Windows is equal to Macintosh is like finding a potato that looks like Jesus and believing you've witnessed the second coming."
- "Pigs will floss before I own a Wintel computer."
(all Guy Kawasaki)
And perhaps one of the smartest statements ever made about the subject:
- "The fact that [Windows] is widely used means nothing more than that it has been promoted and marketed more effectively than its competitors. Most purchasers of personal computers, including the corporate purchasers who made Windows popular, are not experts, and usually make product selections primarily based on initial cost and a considerable degree of herd mentality. These criteria have nothing to do with standards or technical superiority."
We won. Every computer in the world is basically a Macintosh now.
(Steve Wozniak, inventor of the Apple Computer)
Help Fight the Good Fight
If you have any URLs for unreferenced facts here, let me know.
Also, please tell me if you find any legitimate mistakes or broken links, and new facts - 2003 or later - are always welcome, too.
Thanks!
Do you know how many Macs..? (etc.)
Sorry, the facts here come from casual surfing and submissions - I can't do your research, nor have an answer to any Mac question of yours.
I suggest you go to the Google search engine and type in a phrase about which you want information. That's what I do.
Tech Support Questions?
This not a tech support site. To answer your question, I recommend the following:
1. Read the manual that came with your computer or software.
2. If your computer is still under warranty, call 1-800-SOS-APPL (1-800-767-2775).
3. Apple Computer has a HUGE amount of tech support information online.
4. MacFixit is the largest non-Apple database of tech support issues, updated 4-5 times a week.
5. If your problem seems to be with a particular piece of software, try going to www.(name of company).com or www.(name of product).com
6. If your issue involves getting online or surfing the Internet, check the homepage of your ISP (the people you call up to get online, e.g. www.earthlink.net or www.aol.com etc.) or call their tech support number.
Good luck. Nobody's Mac should act like a PC!
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