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in addition a lot of those mac sales are people upgrding to the superior intel processors. and who'd blame them, powerPC macs are relative slow turtles. If I owned one I'd upgrade it too.

Actually, Apple is on track to surpass Gateway as the #3 computer manufacturer. In fact, Gateway only sold something like 83,000 more units than Apple last quarter. With a worldwide install base of 15%, and a 12% U.S. notebook market share and rising, analysts have been reporting how Apple is taking market away from competitors. At Princeton, half of the computers sold to faculty and students are Macs. If you take out those big enterprise volume licenses of Windows for their cubicle workers and secretaries, Windows market share shoots down dramatically. As for the IE7 vulnerability, that's just not true, Paul. It uses IE as its point of attack, and Secunia demonstrated it in a fully patched version of XP SP2. Obviously Microsofties will try to spin it because they don't want the bad PR, but if it's a vulnerability in Outlook Express, then, perhaps they should fix the damn vulnerability in Outlook Express? If only it was a WMA DRM crack, then we'd see a patch in three days. I guess this is Microsoft's idea of "Trust Computing."

@guruguru: "in addition a lot of those mac sales are people upgrding to the superior intel processors. and who'd blame them, powerPC macs are relative slow turtles. If I owned one I'd upgrade it too." Uh, XBox 360? The big dual G5 PowerMacs actually hold their own, but the heat is just too much. The big thing about Intel is its low power consumption for Apple's notebooks. Notebooks outsell desktops now, so it was important to move to an architecture that allowed progress in that market. Luckily, Apple's superior software infrastructure allows for architecture-independent universal binaries, unlike Windows. This is the reason OS X Leopard will ship in one single 64-bit version that runs 32-bit apps and drivers natively and not 7 editions of 32-bit and 64-bit versions like Vista, which only runs 32-bit code using slower translation and requires application developers to ship two versions of their executables. On the Mac, you ship one universal bundle that contains multiple-architecture code. For some reason, Microsoft hasn't caught up to this technology, which shipped with NeXTStep back in the early 1990s. Then again, Vista still relies on 25+ year old BIOS firmware for power management, so we shouldn't be surprised.

Bonch, where are you getting the 15% install base figures? It simply is not possible. And you quote this as WORLDWIDE, where Apple barely makes a dent. The figures for the last quarter stand at 2.7% or so (and that is with increases). It just doesn't add up. And while Apple may be able to supplant Gateway, other figures clearly show that HP and Dell have many more times the sales of Gateway. Those two account for over 30 times the sales of the Mac. The market share, install base, whatever, the argument doesn't hold water, so please, find something else to crow about. And we all know that the G5's did NOT hold their own, outside of Apple's inflated claims to the contrary. If was more than just heat. Sure, Photoshop may have run faster, but they were dogs otherwise. --- CAPTCHA refreshes: 3

Paul, you're being silly on purpose. You know very well that it makes no sense for people to "own" the software they buy. Otherwise, they would copy it and sell it as they please. This is the same with music, books and other intellectual property. The things is, I know that you know this very well. So, I think you are trying to throw some ninja smoke bomb here to hide you embarrassing comments about the new EULA. BTW, I think that everyone should read Mt. Bott blog, because things aren't as Paul says they are.

Wow. Preseton is Bonch after all. Back to ignore mode.

Bonch, Paul is right about the IE7 "issue". It's not an IE7 vulnerability by any means, it's an OE flaw. Think of it this way: if there's a flaw in the Flash or RealPlayer ActiveX controls, does that make it an IE7 vulnerability just because IE7 uses them? Or analagously: if there's a flaw in the Flash plugin for Firefox, or some other third party Firefox extenstion, does that mean the flaw is in Firefox? OE in this case is like one of those third party plugins. The only thing different is that it is made by the same company and is always installed (as part of the OS).

"Wow. Preseton is Bonch after all." I've suspected it for some time, but the 12% Apple notebook comment confirmed it. Actually, I was thinking that relative newcomers Vandil and Waethorn might be Bonch. Heck I suppose they still could be... Or maybe I'm Bonch as well, suffering from severe multiple personality disorder...

I've always wondered why Microsoft doesn't issue more service packs for their OSes. Like Paul said, every 6 months to a year, push out a new service pack with all the hotfixes and use the SP to roll out any new "features" like WGA or what you will instead of relying on flagging everything as Critical updates. They could easily bundle every post-SP2 Critical Update + WGA + IE7 into an XPSP3 and make life easier for themselves and the people using their software. At least Apple gets it right. Apple releases "service packs" for the lastest version of Mac OS X, 10.4, almost every 2-3 months. Tiger has already seen 8 service packs that implement new features, tweak settings, and bundled security/driver updates from the elasped time between "service packs". And Tiger has only been out since April 2005.

Actually, now that I think of it, I believe that Paul is trying to say something like "as long as one is buying a license, one should not complain about what the license says." Yeah, he's saying it in between lines and has implied it before. So, according to Paul, the solution is to buy the software not a license to use it. However, given that he knows this isn't possible now or in the futures, the conclusion is that the new Windows EULA is reasonable. I don't even know how to begin explaining why this black-or-white-only logic is so inadequate for the complex world we live in. Incidentally, this reasoning reminds of the people that say that there are always going to be rich people and poor people and so one should not worry so much about eliminating poverty since it is futile. The answer to that argument is that there are many different ways of being poor, some of them are inhuman, some are not. In the EULA case, there are many ways of writing an EULA, some are abusive some are not.

@Patriot: "Bonch, Paul is right about the IE7 "issue". It's not an IE7 vulnerability by any means, it's an OE flaw. Think of it this way: if there's a flaw in the Flash or RealPlayer ActiveX controls, does that make it an IE7 vulnerability just because IE7 uses them?" You really need to read Secunia's description of this vulnerability at http://secunia.com/advisories/22477/ This is a problem with Internet Explorer's handling of "mhtml:" URL redirections, which can be used to reach documents on another web server. The exploit requires clicking a link in IE7.

"Actually, Apple is on track to surpass Gateway as the #3 computer manufacturer" Hahahhahahhahaha....hhahahahahaha...oh man. Thats a good one. I didn't even realize gateway was still around. I can't believe @pple hasn't even passed a dying Gateway

Bonch...the vulnerability is similar to this one, posted a few years ago on the same site: http://secunia.com/advisories/11067/. This vulnerability disclosure was published more for publicity for the security firm than anything else.

Patriot: Your assessment offends me. I am not, nor will I probably ever be a Mac fan. They are overpriced, ugly, crappily-made systems and the company that makes them doesn't do a thing for resellers short of locking them into a bloated purchase contract. I have my own computer sales and service company that caters to PC's only. There are no suppliers that require purchase contracts for systems, including for several namebrands. I sell Acer, HP Smartbuy, Toshiba, and Lenovo systems, but I prefer to build my own, including "Verified By Intel" notebooks (mainly Compal models). Microsoft has an ideal Partner Program for resellers and system builders. Mac has absolutely NO organized partner program mentioned anywhere on their public website. Good job supporting resellers with thousans of free online training courses, purchase rewards, & credentials that IT businesses look for, Apple! (sic!) As I've stated before, I'm a Microsoft Small Business Specialist (SBS'r), and that incidentally makes me a Microsoft Certified Professional. Ever since advertising that SBS certification and logo, I've seen several small businesses from the area approach me, because they wanted someone qualified with Microsoft software to advise them or sell them product. I'm also 18 Partner Points away from becoming a Microsoft Certified Partner, although right now, I'm in the Registered Partner Program and subscribe to the Action Pack. The "Designed for Windows" WHQL-approved sticker cert is expensive so I haven't got that yet, but maybe in the new year on Vista.. Since Apple won't support small computer businesses, I make it a point to tell people on the phone that I service pretty much anything in the PC or server world, EXCEPT MACS! BTW: Of all of Ontario, there are only 24 stores that are resellers of Apple computer systems, those being mainly Future Shop, Best Buy, and Staples store locations that actually carry them. There are 75 stores that sell iPod's.

"Actually, Apple is on track to surpass Gateway as the #3 computer manufacturer" Gateway isn't even in the top 5 manufacturers. Know who are the top 5: HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, and Toshiba Check the article above.

Orion's right, I checked these figures yesterday on Paul's Internet Nexus: HP - 16.3 percent Dell - 16.1 percent Lenovo - 7.5 percent Acer - 6 percent Toshiba - 4.2 percent Apple - 2.7 percent Apple's often missunderstood "nimble" market share actually makes sense when compared to Toshiba, ranked 5th who only has 4.2 percent of the market. As Paul said yesterday; "...increasing market share is surprisingly difficult and requires dramatic growth when compared to the competition." I agree. Any growth from Apple at all is astonishing, given what's required to move up against an entire world of PC's.

Market share is only a percentage of annual sales. What you want to look at is install base, which is 15% worldwide with 18 million OS X users. Macs are also dominant in several markets, and the constant attempt to portray Apple as some niche player is defensiveness from Windows fans who are used to citing market share as a victory qualifier because it's all they have to defend the aging Windows operating system. As for the IE7/OE vulnerability, either way, it's a vulnerability shipping in Windows that has yet to be patched. If it was a WMA DRM crack, on the other hand...

Patriot, I hope you were being cheeky with your commment about Waethorn, which I'm pretty sure you were. He has stated several times his stance, and it is no where near bonch's. I'm a registered member in the Partner program myself, but not because I sell MS software, but rather because I am an IT professional that uses the software extensively. It is an excellent program. Waethorn, as an SBSer, I'm sure your familiar with Susan Bradley ;) Preseton quietly admitted in the comments of another article that he was bonch. I guess bonch was banned, so he came back as someone else. And that is probably why he also has toned his rhetoric slightly down, so that he doesn't get banned again. And Derek, you make a good point. It is very difficult to move up in market share, and they have only moved up a tenth of a percentage or so, even with 30% growth on their side. What irks me is the constant assertion by iPeople that this once again is the year of the Mac, and that they are going to take over the world. In order to make some headway, they need more than a 30% increase. They need an increase in the magnitude of 3,000%. Talking about marketshare vis-a-vis the Mac is a dead issue. Talk about something that may actually matter. I'm just joking around here, but what if bonch was actually Steve Jobs? I mean he does accuse everyone of working for MS. And in one of the more recent Mac commercials (which I have admitted before are very clever), the cool Mac dude and the staid PC guy are in therapy. The Mac dude acknowledges that PC's are really good at numbers (ie, spreadsheets) and games (like the Sims). Coincidence?

According to BusinessWeek, Gateway is the third biggest computer maker in the U.S., and that is where Apple is making headway (only missing it by 38,000 units). What excuse will you guys have when Apple becomes the #3 U.S. computer maker next quarter?

@bmnbmn: "Preseton quietly admitted in the comments of another article that he was bonch. I guess bonch was banned, so he came back as someone else. And that is probably why he also has toned his rhetoric slightly down, so that he doesn't get banned again." Haha, that's what you guys would love to think. " I mean he does accuse everyone of working for MS." Waethorn = everyone?

I think you guys are just getting desperate, defending Microsoft's aging Windows technology that's five years behind everyone. For Christ's sake, you guys will still be using BIOS in 2008! Macs were on OpenFirmware over a decade ago and are now on the latest, EFI. When will you catch up, another six years from now when Vista 2.0 comes out? You only just now got tabs in your web browser and are finally getting hardware-accelerated compositing in 2007! How do you defend Microsoft behind so far behind all the time?

And let's not forget all the false positives being reported for WGA as covered by Leo Laporte and ZDNet. If you don't pray to the Microsoft gods, they'll lock you out of your computer. A company with billions upon billions in the bank, and they install WGA spyware that locks you out of your computer and insert text ads into your IM conversation windows. Awesome! Because they need more money, after all.

"Market share is only a percentage of annual sales." Which for Apple have been increasing only in recent years, and are still only a blip. "What you want to look at is install base, which is 15% worldwide with 18 million OS X users." What??? The math does not add up. Show me one article that makes any sense, using this thing called MATH that is widely used today. Taking a look at pure Googling users, giving an estimation of install base, the numbers show something is amiss with the 15% install base. If I need to, I will try to find more, but this is just a start: http://www.pegasus3d.com/osshare.html "Macs are also dominant in several markets" By markets, what do you mean? Education, China, Starbucks drinkers, Cupertino, Steve Job's family, your myspace "friends"? What markets, please explain.

Please clarify your figures, bonch. First you said 83,000 units. Now you say 38,000 units. Which is it? And did you not say in a post, possibly about two weeks ago, something like "Ugh, I thought everyone knew I was bonch already?" And you don't deny that you are bonch. Vandil has denied it, buy you have not. You have also implied multiple times that more than just Waethorn has worked for MS. But certainly, he has been called out by you on that matter several times. The excuse that we will have when and if Apple surpasses Gateway is that it still doesn't mean antything. The combined total of the two market leaders is so very far ahead, like I have mentioned, 30 times the size. Plus add up all of the manufacturers below, and you still get the approximately 200 million Windows PC's per year, and about 6-7 million Macs per year. I won't need any excuse for that. --- CAPTCHA refreshes: 4

I'm sorry Waethorn. It's just that after bonch "disappeared", I noticed a few new names show up, Preseton, Vandil, and Waethorn, and they all seemed to me like they could possibly (keyword: possibly) be toned-down bonches. And now we've found out that it was really Preseton. No offense intended to you or Vandil!

@Preseton The bottom line is that market share won't change much over the next 10 years. So @pple may gain a little here and there but it still niche.

Bonchie: "You really need to read Secunia's description of this vulnerability at http://secunia.com/advisories/22477/ This is a problem with Internet Explorer's handling of "mhtml:" URL redirections, which can be used to reach documents on another web server. The exploit requires clicking a link in IE7." You really need to read Microsoft's MSRC blog entry on the subject: http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/archive/2006/10/19/information-on-reports-of-ie-7-vulnerability.aspx. I'd tend to believe Microsoft over Secunia. It is a vulnerability in an OE DLL, inetcomm.dll. The IE vector isn't limited to IE7; it works via IE6 as well because guess what, IE7 doesn't included updated OE DLLs. Wouldn't you think that Secunia's people would be smart enough to know what pluggable protocols are, what inetcomm.dll is, and who owns it? In this case they're less concerned with accuracy and more concerned with sensationalism, being able to announce the first "supposed" IE7 vulnerability. Another thought... the file-sharing app EMule installs an "ed2k" protocol handler. If that protocol handler had a bug, similar to this one in the mhtml protocol handler, would that be IE's fault as well?

"Uh, XBox 360?" What about the xbox360? It uses a tri-core IBM chip. When was the last time Apple ever bought one of them from IBM? That's right, never.

"According to BusinessWeek, Gateway is the third biggest computer maker in the U.S., and that is where Apple is making headway (only missing it by 38,000 units). What excuse will you guys have when Apple becomes the #3 U.S. computer maker next quarter?" Well, it doesn't matter what the actual figures are, you seem to ignore them anyway. In your mind Apple will be #1 by 10,000% inside a year, and you'll be citing your mothers underwear.

PatriotB6007, waethorn and vandil were posting even while bonch was allowed to post on this site. preseton is the only person who started after bonch was banned and I think we have enough proof that preseton is the same bonch who calls his computer "honey".

Patriot: Thanks for the apology, but I guess I overreacted. Will: At the risk of sounding like an a--hole, I feel I have to correct you by pointing out that IBM was one of the partners that designed the Power architecture in PowerPC chips, and the XBOX360 CPU is (VERY) loosely based in that same architecture. Many reviews describe the chip as being a "triple-core PowerPC processor". That said, it would have to be very much improved over your standard-fare G5 chips, as it's now triple-core and doesn't need 20 pounds of copper to cool like they put in G5 MacPro's. Those things were incredible - 120mm fans in the front and back of the case and the entire inside volume of the case was one huge heatsink. In the dual CPU systems you couldn't even see hardly any part of the motherboard. Compare that to the fairly slimline X360 and you can tell that things have changed since then. Preseton: As I've stated before even though you seem to be very ignorant of the fact (about everything), I DO NOT work for Microsoft anymore than you do for Apple. Wait, let me rephrase that: Why don't you quit beating around the bush and spell your name the proper way?: With the letters "W O Z"!

@Waethorn In a previous article, you were lamenting the fact that HP and other manufacturers were hurting small system builders like yourself. One of our neighbors had a similar situation with his small business. His business was giving tours to groups all over the Pacific Northwest. He was up against companies like Raz Transportation, but he distinguished himself by going the "extra mile" and providing top-notch service. The result was a successful business b/c people knew they would receive quality service, even if they had to pay more. I can't help but think that if you continue to provide top-notch service, use quality parts, and are honest in every way, people will be willing to pay more to (1) support the community, and (2) receive better service. Word of mouth advertising is often *much* more effective than print/online ads. If I knew a good system builder in our area, I would recommend him to those interested in purchasing a new computer. I have not thought much of small system builders in our community since our neighbor (the same one with the tour company) bought a "super fast" computer from a local small business and he got *screwed.* (They sold him a celeron with other shoddy/outdated parts). He always complained that his computer was running slowly and was *always* having issues with it. His next computer was a Compaq. Regarding this Praeston/bonch debate, I'm still not 100% sure that Preaston = bonch. A *lot* of Apple fanboys will cite the bogus 12% figure. My theory on why PC sales are down and Mac sales are up is that people are getting tired of XP's outdated, clunky interface, and Apple offers a better GUI. I fully expect when Vista comes out, that PC sales will regain and retake the 0.1% marketshare from Apple. I'm typing this from Vista, and I shudder when I have to use XP for some legacy app. Although Vista has issues (the back btn. fiasco), it is a must-have upgrade IMO, and outpaces OS X in nearly *every* front.

I agree with everything you say. I must point out that in Canada, there is a major computer chain called MDG that sells using precalculated mail-in-rebates in their advertised prices without noting the original price, as well as very vague system specs. I've known several people that have a) not gotten their mail-in-rebates from them after spending twice as much as the advertised price b) taking the "free" printer (usually a cheap Lexmark worth $60), but having to pay over $100 for the power cord and ink in what they call a "printer starter pack" and c) not getting the "free" upgrades to the higher processor or whatever the ad claimed for the same money. Their entire business is based on very deceptive advertising and are probably the very worst I've seen in the industry. I just got a newspaper and on the back page is an ad for an MDG desktop featuring an "Intel latest dual-core processor" (although it doesn't say Core 2 Duo or the speed), but it says the motherboard is a genuine Intel board with DDR400 and DDR333 support. If you know anything about systems, you know that to run a dual-core on an Intel board it has to have at least a 945 chipset and they ONLY support DDR2-533 and higher. They also call Media Center "Windows XP Pro-MCE". Well what is it? Pro or MCE? They are not the same! The system has 512MB of RAM, a 300GB hard drive (doesnt mention if its SATA, but probably not), and an ATI Radeon X300 128MB PCI-e card. It also says that it is "guaranteed to be compatible with the latest software and hardware" BULL **** ! There's also two listings for notebooks here and the specs are the same except that one has a DVD burner, and although on both it's very vague about the processor (it says it's an "Intel mobile processor 1.5gig") the DVD burner system is $50 cheaper than the other which only has a CD burner!!! Both indicate that they're Intel Centrino and support dual-core but are running on 915 chipsets More BULL **** !!

I'd like to add a few comments about MDG to my previous post since I didn't have room. 1) the much-advertised product line under the name "Horizon" only have a 3-MONTH warranty. (YES Really!) 2) they get their laptop shells from the same company that Acer does (does anybody know who that is?). 3) although I mentioned on the previous post that you need at least a 945 chipset motherboard for a dual-core processor, for Core 2 Duo's, a 965 chipset is required. I know most of you, as well as I, know that already, but I thought I'd mention it before someone pointed it out. Of course, their advertisement mentioning it's the latest dual-core processor is completely wrong on two points. 4) although the laptop ad doesn't specifically mention the chipset, it does mention that it's a GMA 900, which is in the 915 chipset. If it supported dual-core, it would be a 945 mobile chipset and would have the GMA 950. 5) if this all isn't reason enough to buy from them, I'll say it loud and clear: "DON'T BUY FROM THEM!!" The nametag for the company should read: "Hello, I'm MDG. I build computers. I'm Canadian. And I suck." It's a sad state of affairs that the largest independently-owned chain Canadian system builder is such a piece of dog doodie. Obviously many people will think that Canadian system builders are generally pathetic if MDG is used as a baseline. Please DON'T!!

Also, as a system builder, I've had some time to play with the RC1 OPK and deployment tools, and they're simply AMAZING! It takes so much less time to build system images to deploy across numerous machines now. Windows Vista no longer has the HAL-specific issues or problems with differing drive-controller drivers in the duplication process. I can't wait to start building machine with it. I can now pre-duplicate Windows on numerous hard drives in one machine, rather that waiting until all my machines are built individually and duplicating on each hard drive in a separate process like I do with XP.

The processing core of the X360 chip is PPC design through and through, there is no denying that, however the I/O architecture is absolutely different. Like you mentioned, the only system builder I know that uses more airflow shrouding than dell is Apple. I still don't have a clear picture of what mobo Apple used for their dual-G5s, because I was too lazy to sit down and rip off the shrouding. If anyone has any pics of the Mac Pro innards, that might be interesting to see... especially since I have first hand proof that Core2 can run stable (albiet at 70C) without any cooling at all.

Pics of teh Mac Pro innards can be seen in this article: http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2832 I don't know about you, but that seems like a lot of work to upgrade something like memory or a cpu

That pic is of the Dual XEON Mac Pro. The Dual G5 PowerMac desktop is even worse!! I saw one about a year and a half ago and through the side window all you could see was heatsink (almost up to the glass and from front to back with fans on BOTH sides of the heatsinks). This pic is pretty detailed, although you still can't see the actual content of the heatsink: http://www.overclockers.com/tips1133/ This page has the official Apple photo too (very similar pic): http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/G5.ars/3 I would love to see a pic of the heatsink on the dual-G5 dual-core (Apple calls it a "quad-core" which is completely wrong!).

The big story here is GOOGLE. Their business model is working, and very well. And what does this say, that the network is the future. The PC paradigm will be surplanted in the next 5-10 years IMO. Cheers, Dave.

Google is first and foremost an advertising integration company. Next thing you know, EA will start using them for their already atrocious ad/spyware in their new games. Have you read about this?? EA tracks your surfing habits and "gathers other information from your system" to display related ads in their games! Does that mean that your kids will start seeing Cialis ads in the new Need for Speed game like it was made from SpikeTV, cuz you surf for ****? What blasphemy!!!

you can't say p0rn?...

I think Google are first and foremost an Internet company and have a firm eye on the future. The PC is not a consumer product and requires significant maintenance resources, in both time and money. Once the micro economics have been worked through by business and government, it will be goodbye PC hello network device. The mobile phone is a forerunner, and how many people have those. Profiling is already happening now. It's not personal - just business. Cheers, Dave.

@mcc288 Google sell adverts, its their entire business model. However they wrap it up (be it in Writely or whatever) they sell adverts. I seem to recall a certain Mr Larry Ellison predicting the same death of the PC with network devices about 6/7 years ago....... Still, time will tell.

Thanks for the link, I agree, thats alot of work for just a standard cooling method, it doesn't matter how much directing you do, air can only cool so much, and there is definitely a point of diminishing returns.