The ultimate comparison of Microsoft VS Apple desktop operating system

On July 29th, Microsoft will simultaneously push the latest desktop operating system Windows 10 in the world, after experiencing "just like" Windows 8 and 8.1 Windows 10 seems to be once again the stage of history as the lifeline of this software giant. Correspondingly, Apple will also launch the official version of OS X El Capitan in September. Although for Apple, this seems to be an annual routine upgrade, but combined with Microsoft's big move at the end of July, this year's desktop operating system war, it is likely that these two giant manufacturers are robbing users of desktop devices. The ultimate battle.

Are all free operating systems?

The dilemma is changing. After the introduction of the astounding Windows 8, Microsoft's latest system installed rate will be taken out at the Apple Developer Conference every year to be fun. Therefore, this time Microsoft finally decided to gamble on its own fate on Windows 10, high-profile announcement that Windows 10 will be upgraded for free, and also cooperate with domestic technology vendors, through computer assistant software, the first time to major users Push the genuine system, the purpose is the installation rate, installed capacity, installed capacity.

For freely licensed operating systems, Microsoft naturally has its own difficulties: the tide of mobile devices, the entertainment attributes of desktop operating systems are mostly eliminated, and the dependence on productivity is not enough to make more non-office users. Continued to choose Windows system, in the second quarter of 2015, global PC shipments tumbled 11.8%, the sluggish PC market has increasingly highlighted the strength of Apple products, Mac's global shipment growth of 16.1%, is silent Face the face.

Although the high-profile announcement of upgrading Windows 10 does not cost money, but Microsoft's free to come is not simply. First of all, Microsoft has been vague in its free upgrade for Windows 10 systems. Microsoft said that Windows 10 will be upgraded for free within 12 months, but it will still be free after 12 months. If it is not free, then the price of the sales version is still a lot. For these problems, Microsoft has not paid the bottom for everyone. Obviously, as the company's profits exceed 20%, the company's revenue is second only to Office's Windows, Microsoft has no intention to stop getting higher benefits from it. It’s just that on the road to higher returns, the larger number of users is obviously a top priority. Before you can complete this tricky goal, you have to pretend to be generous.

As the other end of the ice fire world, Apple's OS X is clearly enjoying the word-of-mouth rate of return from the free system. Due to Jobs' accurate positioning of product tone, the integration of hardware and software makes it difficult for you to really distinguish which part is the profit brought by hardware, which part is the profit brought by software, and the free OS X system is the whole set of Apple products (service) )a part of. What Apple needs to consider is not how to make money with OS X, but how to attract more Mac users by OS X. In other words, OS X has never really been free, it is only sold as part of Mac, and with consumers. A text game that is three to four.

OS X user stickiness

Before 2010, OS X was almost as sticky to the average consumer as my colleague Su Yang’s girlfriend —— Su Yang No girlfriend. For example, with domestic users, in that year, there is no excellent Chinese input method, Thunder can not be accelerated offline, online banking payment is more hanged by Windows, for ordinary consumers, buy a Mac is to buy a metal body Go home and install a Windows, then find a conspicuous position in Starbucks.

But after Apple officially released iCloud, it seems that there is a new turn. Thanks to the number of users of iOS terror, the important content of the iOS side is seamlessly synchronized to the desktop system, which has become a new user demand that Apple began to think about. After that, more and more platform applications are integrated, starting with cloud data synchronization of photo streams; FaceTime, iMessage cross-platform communication; then browser, office software Hand-off function, even now OS X Yosemite can make calls directly from a mobile phone with a Mac. The strategy of OS X is very clear, that is, the Mac as a mobile device expansion screen: desktop systems and mobile devices will continue to be independent, while deepening integration.

And Apple's personal audio-visual entertainment function for more than ten years has also ushered in a new world after the rocket-like leap of network speed, plus Apple's friendly development environment (the only thing that can complete Web, iOS, Android, Linux) , Windows virtual machine development platform), so that more and more Fan IT field workers will shift their focus to the OS X platform.

But is OS X really a bright future? Over-reliance on iOS devices is likely to stop the development of OS X. The market share of Android models is getting higher and higher, and the experience is getting closer and closer to iOS. If one day, the iPhone is falling, as it used to be. Nokia and BlackBerry, then the layout of OS X is likely to become a gorgeous bubble.

Windows user stickiness

Unlike OS X, Windows has a lot of blind confidence in the integration of the platform. In Windows 8, even the start menu was cancelled, which made the system congenitally encounter the exclusion of the consumer market. Even a large number of users who have never used Windows 8 have become more convinced when criticizing the system.

And because of the unsmooth climate of Windows Phone, in 2014, Microsoft only sold 35.13 million Windows Phone devices worldwide, accounting for 2.8% of the total global sales of smart phones (1.245 billion) last year. The route of mobile devices to drive desktop devices has basically failed, which directly led to the layoff of 7,800 people in July, and the mobile phone department was completely reorganized.

Although exploration in new areas has failed, but for desktop systems, Microsoft still has full confidence. First of all, building a 20-year software ecosystem has become the first moat. In the coverage of software in the professional field, the level of Windows is unmatched by OS X; while Windows is in the traditional enterprise office, with X86+. The overwhelming status of Office+Windows, almost no one vendor (including Apple and Google (microblogging), or even Microsoft itself) can shake. However, it is this that has become a hindrance to Microsoft's own system update. Due to the cumbersome effects of replacing the system, many enterprise office systems still remain in Windows 7 or even Windows XP.

So, rather than Windows 10's goal is to fight OS X, it is better to say that its ultimate goal is Microsoft's self-shuffling. With Windows 10, Microsoft hopes to promote the penetration of new systems in traditional enterprises, and to bring Windows into a new era through free upgrades and forced push.

Who can beat Windows 7

Therefore, the world war of desktop systems actually includes the three-way battle of OS X, Windows 10 and the stubborn forces represented by Windows 7. The new hope of OS X is whether the iPhone can continue to marginalize the PC. As the number of desktop users converted by the iPhone increases, more and more developers will pay attention to OS X or Mac platform, and then quickly The OS X ecosystem is perfect; and the Windows 10 empire counterattacks whether it allows users to recognize that it is a modern, even future-oriented system. Urging more users to upgrade to this unified platform system will not only improve Microsoft's control over future system development, but also drive sales of mobile devices.

This fall, Windows 10 and OS X will challenge Windows 7 with two very different product ideas. If Windows 10 can impress consumers, it is very likely that consumers will be obsessed with Windows. The old-fashioned traditional cognition, in order to regain the limelight by opening up the consumer market, further consolidate the huge market share that is leading the world, and by that time, Apple can only lie in the niche market show industrial design. However, if OS X can chase down Windows 10, then with the continuous improvement of the software ecosystem and the popularity of the iPhone, Windows 10 is likely to be branded as a desktop operating system that is only suitable for the office. Therefore, this fall is a significant time node for the two manufacturers and the two systems. Who will finally win this war, we will wait and see.