Based on the huge success that Apple is having nowadays the most natural question would be: Is it time for Apple to fight Microsoft face to face?, it will be a good fight, but let divide the areas where Apple can have a nice round and those where Microsoft will demolishes it (Apple).

1) Business
Apple has decided to go for the personal experience, the computer’s user, letting in a retard place its business stratety while providing decent tools, but not enough to have a fight with Microsoft, in this area Microsoft has a vast experience and it is not ready to let others take its space. So Apple should refocus, spend more time with businesses and let them know that Apple is here to support them with innovative tools and service.

Microsoft 3 rounds, Apple knocked out.

2) OS X vs Vista
I put my bet on Apple if Steve goes to war. Don’t get me wrong, Microsoft has a enormous user base, but with Vista they don’t provide any better experience than with Windows XP, users are angry about Vista performance and the amount of money to spend updating pc to make Vist runs. Apple has the advantage here, with Leopard and Macs running Intel processors Apple can make an invisible layer that let you start your Windows applications running Bootcamp without even notice it and bring the best of both world, Mac OS X and Vista, for people that need them.

Apple 12 rounds, Microsoft 12, Apple won by an edge, the big M corner is unhappy with the decision.

3) Home Entertaining
While Microsoft provides a bunch of solutions (Xbox, Zune, Media Center), none of them are recognise as revolutionaries and there is a big chance for Apple to bring its power to the scene. Apple has wireless television with the AppleTV that in conjunction with Itunes Store let you watch your tv programs; Frontrow, a decent way to have all your media in just one place; the Ipod has become the most important piece in the entertaining universe, it can be hooked everywhere from jukebox, home stereos, cars and so on. So to compete with Microsoft, Apple needs to make bigger effort to bring more games to the mac, creating a Imac for games or buying a game producer. Microsoft has the advantage here, while the xbox is losing money every quarter, there is a huge library of games for windows, so if users can’t have a game console, they can play in their Windows Machine, in this area the mac lags behind maybe because only in recent days Apple has realized that games are importants, I hope that those coming games arent’ Ipod only.

Without a content division that provides Apple fresh media and the reality that you can’t record TV programs with your AppleTV will place Apple in second place when competing with all the solutions from Microsoft.

Microsoft 7 rounds, Apple knocked out.

4) Digital Music and Video Players
Not much to say here, Microsoft with all its monopoly power and partners around the world didn’t practice for this fight and end up backstabbing them (partners) with the launc of its music player (zune), so there a whole universe of Digital Music Players based on an abandoned Playforsure Platform. Meanwhile the Ipod keeps flying high and Apple polishes every once in a while letting the competition in the dust. So it is difficult to fight a Heavyweight with Amateurs techniques. Microsoft has not chance here…

Apple 2 rounds, Microsoft knocked out.

This is an illustration of how I see things, these ideas can be wrong, you have the right to let me know where I am mistaking here, but these are my considerations by now, I will add your recommendations in the second part when I pitch the Mobile strategies of Microsoft and Apple and other businesses advantages of weaknesses of these giants.

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whataboutmac.com