Apple vs Microsoft: a story of tech titans. Apple or Microsoft: which is better for an investor to choose?

Microsoft and Apple almost simultaneously showed off their new gadgets. The first presented a gigantic touch computer and a productive laptop with a very high prices. The second offers a more affordable device that should replace real rarities. After all Apple computers Mac latest times updated more than 1000 days ago.

Microsoft has been working for several years to restore the reputation of Windows hardware. The first such sign was the Surface tablet, which was later joined by a laptop, and this year - a powerful desktop PC. the main task These new products will change the perception of Windows as an old and boring OS. To achieve this, the Surface Studio computer even received an interesting accessory that offers new way Windows management.

At the same Apple time has a reputation as an innovator, but last years she is unsteady. Executive Director Box company, which provides services cloud drive, Aaron Levy, after the presentation Microsoft computer Surface Studio tweeted:

"Microsoft's strategy for hardware and software gives convincing results. It's as if Steve Jobs Almost everyone was right." To which the creator of the iPod, Tony Fadell, replied: “Not almost - it made and will make sense! Except it looks like Apple has forgotten this valuable lesson."

Not only users, but also analysts are asking questions about Apple's innovativeness. They delivered them at Apple's recent analyst conference, where the company unveiled its financial results for the fourth quarter. Several participants asked Tim Cook what the next iPhone-like breakthrough would be. It could be a car, television or a media business - a corporation does it all.

Tim Cook, in typical Apple fashion, avoided answering questions regarding future plans. But perhaps he simply didn’t have anything to answer? Perhaps the company does not have a general strategy for the next 3-5 years? “We have the strongest position ever, and we are confident in it,” was all Tim Cook responded.

The Apple CEO's words would have sounded reassuring if he hadn't said something similar in 2014. Then, to a similar question about innovation, he replied: “I think users will love what we do. We have no problem with the things we want to do and what we want to radically change. The challenge is to always focus on small quantity, which requires our full commitment." Later that same year 2014 there was a new product - apple watch Watch, whose sales fell 72% in 2016.

This year, the most interesting was the announcement of the iPhone 7 in September, which became a kind of storage for virtual assistant Siri. You can communicate with the latter via wireless AirPods headphones, which were supposed to go on sale in October, but were delayed. And there is no news when they will be available for purchase. It's a small glitch, but experts see it as a significant challenge to innovation.

Even if Apple is no longer a major innovator, its reputation is still for a long time will work for the company. But unless Tim Cook initiates reforms, Steve Jobs' legacy will begin to fade.

A lot of words but no understanding why I need this and how to put it all together.

Apple gives you a MacBook (iMac) + iPad + iPhone + watch + TV set-top box plus a bonus, everything is thought out to the point of idealism, you bought it, you use it, do you need to transfer the system? 10 minutes of time machines and tI on new car.. those who use an apple become so accustomed to quality and convenience, those who understand what beauty is, simply look at their competitors with a smile.

The last example is AirPods, hundreds of headphones and you bought them and just use them.

All this newness from Windows and a thousand other manufacturers is for ordinary people who use Windows/Android/Samsung/Huawei/Acronis Recovery/Logite and so on.

And you just use it and go about your business, yes, nothing is perfect, but what you get from Apple is not always on time, sometimes you have to wait, but it’s 100% worth it.

The one who rushes around - it’s out of boredom, you’re bored that you have everything, but when you look there you think, what could be better there? Or maybe they are cooler? Maybe be like everyone else?

@denoli, I personally like to use a MacBook and Windows, each has its own tasks and each copes with them with a bang.

@denoli,
1) The time machine will only, in theory, transfer your data normally: I have already encountered a bunch of times that a backup made, for example, on 10.9, on 10.12 either does not unfold, or unfolds with jambs. Moreover, most programs have their own clouds and accounts, and just log into it on a new computer and all the data will be pulled up.
2) The latest AirPods are an overpriced and rather mediocre product: essentially, Apple sells the same AirPods, with the same sound quality, but 5 times more expensive. Taking into account the fact that the same iPhone rocks monitor ears without any problems, my ears personally curl into tubes from the sound of AirPods. And the fact that there is absolutely no soundproofing is a strong minus. In short, Apple needed to make earplugs, then they would fit tightly in the ears, and the sound would be better, and there would be sound insulation. But Apple, as usual, neglected convenience and made ctrl+s - ctrl+v design.
3) The only problem is that it’s now impossible to work normally on a Mac. Do you want to display a picture on Monique from a new MacBook? Buy an adapter. Do you want to transfer data to a flash drive? Buy an adapter. Do you want to connect a hard drive to Thunderbolt 2? Adapter. Are you used to the keyboard of old Macs? Here's almost sensory bullshit for you. Are you used to poppy living for 7-8 hours? Here's 5-6 for you. Are you used to using the f-buttons blindly? Here's a hay strip for you. On Windows everything is simple - you have a choice: some Lenovo will release a laptop without normal ports - you will laugh and take a laptop from some Dell with ports. Acer released a laptop with a crappy keyboard? No problem, take some asus with good keyboard. But on a Mac you have no choice - you use what Apple gave you, and if you don’t like it, either tolerate it or leave the Mac. Personally, I chose the latter, and so far I have never regretted it.
P.S. If you were on Windows, you could call up the Russian keyboard on the screen and calmly type the letter s. But your super-convenient Mac is not capable of this...

@Mes Zadrot, when you try AirPods yourself, then you will understand what rare crap you wrote in paragraph 2

@DDK, I tried it and even compared it with airpods - the sound quality is absolutely equally low, there is no sound insulation. Apple claimed that they studied the shape of the ears, but apparently they didn’t take mine into account - a couple of head rolls and the earphone flies to the ground, plus the bare plastic without rubber makes the ears hurt after an hour. There is literally no soundproofing at all. And taking into account the fact that for 12k you can buy awesome wireless overhead ears - Airpods are in flight.
P.S. I myself use akg y50, the earpods smoke quietly on the sidelines.

@Mes Zadrot, after purchasing the AirPods, the first thing that surprised me was the sound quality. The Western reinforcement plugs went to the bottom of the bag and cannot be removed from there. Sound insulation is quite enough for the street, airplane and subway (except for old carriages, but not all plugs cope there). Only one girl complained about discomfort in her ears - her ears were very small and began to hurt. All my other friends find them more comfortable than plugs. That’s why, in fact, I didn’t believe your words about the AirPods.

@DDK, I don’t want to upset you, but all the hardware in the headphones responsible for sound output remains exactly the same as in the earpods. So your laudatory ode is just a placebo. And yes, on the bus you can clearly hear the stops, just like on the subway. And the conversations of people nearby. I’m generally silent about the metro - you won’t listen to classical music on the routes, only rock, metal and analogues. Again, it’s a matter of taste, but if I had 12k for my ears, I would buy airpods last, because their red price is 5 thousand rubles.

@Mes Zadrot, it’s unlikely that iron is the same, because they understood the dimensions and even the material of the membrane itself. You know, I had a case where I mixed up the headphones. The right one inserted the left ear and vice versa. The headphones fit into my ears, but immediately the sound became disgusting, like earpods, and the surrounding audibility increased, and discomfort in the ears appeared. At first I was scared, I thought they were broken. Then it dawned on me) Maybe the reason for your dissatisfaction with the AirPods lies precisely in this?)

@DDK, um, how do you imagine earpods inserted on the wrong side?))) These are not plugs, there’s no mistaking them. In short, this is everyone’s business, taking into account the fact that music in the case of MP3 is once again compressed into AAC during transmission - no, thank you, listening to really 128 kbit/s MP3 in your ears for 12k is not for me.

@Mes Zadrot, “all the hardware in the headphones responsible for sound output remains exactly the same” - can you be more specific about what you mean? Otherwise it turns out funny: the output was analog, but became digital, but “the hardware is exactly the same.” Or are you talking about membranes?

@Mes Zadrot, I added the Russian layout especially for you because I don’t like it when there are many languages.
1. I’ll give an example of a backup after several years of administering systems on Windows where you need to find a program, find the serial number, find which one is better and this is again forums and a lot of time, then study a bunch of tricks in what format, what image where to save and the fact that I need to save the system I’ll keep the settings and files silent, so here you can write a book, in short, it’s easier for a simple user to upload his music documents to a flash drive and install the system from scratch.

here, for example, I have a Mac mini with ssd128 and hdd500, I need to quickly transfer all this to new macbook 128 and I don’t have time to think about how to combine ssd + hdd, where to get the program, etc. I just connected an external 2.5 hdd, made an image, then turned on the MacBook, pressed the OK button twice and my entire system, all the settings on the new MacBook, everything that did not fit remained on the 2.5 hdd, which is available without any left-handed programs that should be mounted - open the image to pull out which files .

For such convenience, you are ready to believe that there is an Apple that thinks about simplicity and philosophy where everything should be done in two clicks, and the rest will be thought for you by the Apple that you pay money.

I’ll also give you an example from an interview with Jobs where they asked him why you don’t implement flash? he replied that when people buy our products, they also pay us to think ahead for them, that is, they are already laying down what was going to happen someday and that’s how it happens. Flush was abandoned.

2. if you are satisfied with the monitors or in-ear headphones please use, but I think I and many others who also used both to get comparisons really liked the earbuds that for some reason they took as a basis because there are reasons for this, versatility in the first place (children, grandparents)

3. MacBook 2016 is the same example of Retina 2012 or Air of the first revision, over time there will be improvements, regarding the lack of ports, so move with the times, minimalism plus the search for the necessary (new) accessories, that is, it’s time to change the monitor or change the flash memory or give up wired mouse. you bought a Mercedes or Audi, where do you add oil, how do you change spark plugs? but no way.

p.c. if you chose Acer, it means you didn’t fully understand Apple’s philosophy or something really didn’t suit you in your work, Apple is not just a piece of hardware, it’s first and foremost a soft Mac + iOS, if you don’t care what the interface, icons, minimalism looks like. Of course, it’s better to buy what you like best.

@denoli,
1) On Windows, if you need to quickly transfer data from one computer to another, then it’s trivial to change the drives themselves - 10ka itself pumps up the missing wood and voila, after half an hour you have exactly the same system on the new computer. Maximum activation will fail, but this can be fixed. And backups are always a lottery: maybe you’ll be lucky and it will be restored without errors, or maybe the process of restoring the backup itself will freeze halfway, maybe after restoring the backup, funny glitches will appear, such as a lack of sleep on MacBooks (especially if the backup was from an aimac or a Mac mini), startup problems, etc. It’s just that you haven’t encountered any problems, so you think that the time machine is ideal. But when the time machine steals all your data, your opinion about it will change dramatically. By the way, under iOS the situation is exactly the same - in theory, backups should allow you to drag and drop data between devices. In fact, this is dancing with a tambourine, to the point that a fresh backup hanging in iCloud on the same version of the axis... does not want to be restored to the same device)).
2) I have not yet seen any children, much less grandmothers (!!) wearing Airpods, because these are precisely the categories that will lose them in half an hour. Apple presents them as a youth product, but at the same time does not care about convenience and sound quality, but keeps the price the same good sleepyheads. That's why the boom in them quickly passed - people tried them out... and continued to buy some AKGs at half the price with better sound.
3) Rework? Updating the laptop for 2 green pieces?)) Why should I be scared to take such a laptop and then run around service centers? If you are already selling cars at this price, then be so kind as to modify them, because the jamb with flickering screens on new firmware was caught by more than one or two people, and the fact that Apple did not see it at the testing stage means that they have no testing as such No.
4) Oga, keeping up with the times? Should I throw away my old one that works great? HDD just because Apple got it into their head new port do? And if it’s not a disk, but a box for an external video camera for 500 bucks – what then, is it also in the trash? Or buy adapters from surprise-surprise the same Apple for about 10% of the cost of the laptop?)) Apple openly started milking people, that’s all. Nobody stopped them from doing 1-2 USB-C port and 1-2 regular USB, leave HDMI and SD card slot. And everything would fit in size, and the people would be happy. But no, let’s deprive professional photographers with SD cards of card readers, and to connect the same iPhone to a MacBook you need an adapter for only 50 bucks.
P.S. I had two Macs, an iPod and two iPhones (one of them now). I felt this philosophy when your MacBook doesn’t see the Wi-Fi network point-blank, but the Jaui for 5k can see it perfectly. I danced with a tambourine so that the iPhone could see the airdrop and transfer the file. I danced even more passionately so that SMS from the iPhone would arrive on the Mac and so that handoff would work. And the saddest thing is that this was not only my problem, and far from mine alone. Apple still has not fixed the distribution of Internet from the iPhone - you have to constantly switch it on so that other devices can see the iPhone’s network and connect to it. So you don’t have to worry about the ecosystem – it only works well in theory. And do you know what got me? 10ka on the same MacBook works faster than the native Mac axis. That's it, it was the finish line and the sale of the MacBook. The iPhone is still holding up, because in terms of speed, iOS is still better than the droid.

Apple vs Microsoft: a story of tech titans

I'm not an expert in technical field, so I had to strain to understand the subtext of Stephen A. Ballmer's resignation as head of Microsoft. And what I am about to say may seem obvious to many. Still, I think it needs to be said: if you look a little deeper, you can see an amazing symmetry between Microsoft strategy in its heyday and Apple's current strategy.

Microsoft History

In the 1980s, both Microsoft and Apple had operating systems to offer to customers. Apple's product was obviously better.

But Apple didn't understand the nature of the market. She said: “Our system is better. So we will only offer it with our amazing cars and charge premium prices.”

Meanwhile, Microsoft allowed its system to be installed by many low-cost hardware manufacturers and gained a leading position through network externalities. People used Windows because others used Windows, more software was offered, corporate computer departments were better trained to provide necessary support and etc.

This dominance continues today: I'm writing this on a laptop running Windows 7, and it wouldn't even occur to me to buy Apple laptop primarily because wonderful people from the department information technologies Woodrow Wilson Schools at Princeton, which saved my life more than once, is not ready to work with Apple products.

But Microsoft missed an opportunity in mobile devices, while Apple was ahead of the curve for a time. I say "for a while" because, as far as I can tell, Apple products there is no longer a dramatic quality advantage. I used to have an iPhone, which, unfortunately, I must say, did not survive immersion in water. But now I have a Samsung and I don’t seem to see a huge difference. I have an iPad 2, which I purchased because high-quality picture. But when I decided that I also wanted a small tablet that I could carry in my jacket pocket, it turned out that iPad Mini not much better than a row their Android competitors and, based on my needs, in some moments it is even inferior to them.

Now unlike Microsoft company Apple doesn't sell the product worse quality. But it sells products at premium prices that are not much (if at all) superior to those of its competitors. How does she manage to do this? Again, network externalities: first of all, it has a much more developed line of applications, or so it was explained to me (in fact, I don’t use many applications myself).

So how do Apple's chances of dominance compare to Microsoft's? Let's not forget what's behind us Microsoft history incredible success: it has maintained its position in the field of personal computers for decades and maintains it today. The market is just changing. In my informal opinion, Apple's position is not that strong, partly because it relies on loyalty individual users in contrast, Microsoft relied heavily on the loyalty of corporate IT managers, who are by definition more conservative.

My problem with Apple is this: the company itself is generally in the spirit of Steve Jobs, who knew what would be good for you and didn't give you a chance to do anything differently.

And if you're not a typical user, you'll end up having to put a lot of effort into dealing with the iOS operating system. Apple system to do simple things.

Let me give you an example: I actually really enjoy watching artists perform on YouTube. And I want to be able to watch the best of them even when I don't have broadband Internet access. So I download them to mine Personal Computer in MP4 format (there are many programs that allow you to do this). But I also need them on my tablet. To achieve this on iOS, you must first upload them to iTunes on your computer. Then synchronize the devices. Not that difficult. But still a couple of extra annoying actions. A big problem, however, comes up when you want to organize your videos: how do I explain to iTunes that, say, my 10 favorite band performances Arcade Fire– is this a linked collection?

Well, the only way I've found is to convince iTunes that these are episodes of a TV show that doesn't exist. It can be done, but it's stupid. Whereas on my Nexus 7 I just copy them into a folder called Arcade Fire and that's it.

Reader comment: User friendliness is a delicate matter

P.D., Mexico. Mr. Krugman, you are one of the most brilliant people I have ever read, but you just made a completely ridiculous point. Has it ever occurred to you that if you bought an Apple instead of a PC, you wouldn't have to go to the IT department at Princeton to use it?

- T.H., Minnesota. I know you love controversy, but you've gotten yourself into an argument that makes economic stimulus look like child's play.

– Dan Abrams, New York. Oh, Mr. Krugman, you remind me so much of my father now. He often complains about how bad his iPhone is because he can't do this. I explain to him that the device can actually do this and often show him how. At this point, he accuses Apple of not reading the instruction manual himself. As a techie who used to be a big believer in Microsoft and is now a dedicated Mac user, I can say this: Mac provides significant benefits for power users. They provide a whole range of third party software that allows you to really have fun. But even for a non-techie Apple products is almost always best choice. Once you learn how to use it, it will give you a huge advantage over PC and Android devices.

– David S., Australia. Before you jump to the conclusion that there is not much difference between Android platform And iOS system from Apple, I suggest you dial in Google search engine“Android malware” (“Android malware”) and click on one of the links that pop up, of which there will be a dime a dozen.

– Tom T., Minnesota. Many people don't seem to understand that first Apple's turn is a company that produces hardware, and secondly, a company that produces software. In other words, Apple isn't trying to sell you its operating system, it's trying to sell you its iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro. This model is completely different from Microsoft, a company that primarily wants to sell you its software. And, Xbox aside, Microsoft has generally failed spectacularly in the hardware space.

I'm a software developer, and for the last eight years I've primarily acquired Apple equipment, although I write almost all software in virtual machines on Windows based. This is because Apple hardware is incredibly stable. I still have the very first MacBook Pro I bought in 2006, and it works great no matter what I throw at it. I've never had a PC that worked so well.

In the 21st century, Apple and Microsoft are leaders in the technology field. They compete with each other all the time and fight for first place in all positions. Today we will look at which corporation is more profitable for investors and how the companies are actually doing.

The rivalry between the two powerful companies Apple and Microsoft have been going on for a very long time. In the race for investors, company dividends have been very generous. Whose shares are more profitable to buy?

Competition is a huge plus and a good indicator.

Let's start with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Their advantages are the unique ecosystem built by the company and interaction with the consumer. IPhone is the weakness of millions of consumers; probably, everyone who planned to buy a new mobile phone first thought about buying an iPhone. Let's face it, now every second person has an iPhone. It's fashionable, it's stylish and functional. People like it. And they're looking forward to it new model to be in trend. Apple fans are also interested in other technology. In addition, their mobile applications, attract millions of users. They really know how to retain a client and attract a new one.

Now about Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). The company itself recently noticed that its advantages in the form operating systems, unfortunately, this is no longer the case. Windows is what made the company famous and entered the high level. Over the years, their operating system was indeed in great demand and brought in millions in profits.

Despite the fact that Microsoft is older, Apple has surpassed its competitor very quickly and primarily thanks to the mobile phones and operating systems for them.

Apple realized that it was unable to openly attack Microsoft and quickly occupy the computer software niche. And they resorted to a trick: they decided to focus on the development of mobile operating systems. At this point, Microsoft attempted to counterattack by creating the Windows mobile OS, but it was too late. Apple's victory in mobile technology allowed it to launch an offensive in the development and sale of PC OS. In recent Apple of the Year increased its share more and more.

Even though the two giants in the technology world compete in several other areas, Apple's result is in the mobile bidding. The OS allowed it to break away from its competitor.

Apple - Economic stability.

The performance of the two companies is shocking. These giants in the world of innovation are like money-making robots. But no matter how impressive Microsoft's financial picture is, the strength and profitability of Apple's balance sheet are unrivaled.

Development: Apple wins again.

The last 5 years, Apple's profits have been much greater. Income increased by approximately 10% each year. Global analysts believe that earnings per share of the two companies will continue to grow over the next five years. About 12.37% for Apple and about 11.45% for Microsoft. The indicators are not too different to give the investment decision to one of them.

Now let's summarize.

Talking about the benefits of buying shares of a particular company is a stupid idea. You need to look at indicators such as:

• share price to earnings ratio;
• share price to earnings ratio for the last year;
• the ratio of stock price to expected earnings and cash flow.

According to these indicators, Apple shares are cheaper and more profitable. Therefore, they have a slight advantage over Microsoft shares.

As we see, Apple is more promising. Age doesn't matter. It is development and plans for the future that play a role. Apple is clearly the leader in this regard.

Apple is the second most valuable company in the world; It's no wonder she attracts a lot of attention. However, it is Microsoft today that is developing the kind of technology that Apple fans can dream about.

So, 11 reasons why Microsoft is better Apple:

Cortana is smarter than Siri

Unlike the Apple assistant, Cortana learns the user's habits much better and adapts to them. In addition, Cortana is available simultaneously on Windows 10, as well as on iOS and Android. Voice assistant Apple is stuck with the iPhone and iPad, still lacking integration with desktop OS X (not to mention Google's rival OS).

Stability is not a sign of mastery

OS X hasn't changed much over the past few years. Microsoft wasn't afraid to experiment with the Start menu (which disappeared, reappeared, and was practically perfected in Windows 10). For example, now Key information about programs and files can be obtained without launching them.

Apple is not a toy for children

OS X never claimed to be a popular gaming platform. Microsoft's merger plans Xbox One and Windows leave Apple no chance in the gaming industry. The unified ecosystem will be built on Universal Windows Applications (UWA) technology, which will allow you to run games from Xbox One to PC and vice versa.

Windows has its head in the clouds

Cloud Microsoft services They are superior to Apple in everything. OneNote and OneDrive services allow you to access documents from any device with Internet access, not just from Apple gadgets.

Microsoft windows > Apple windows

Windows lives up to its name and beats OS X in terms of ease of window management. Just drag and drop open window to the top of the screen and it will go to full screen mode. Dragging a window to the edge of the screen maximizes it exactly halfway. The last feature is convenient for completing a row parallel tasks. Apple can't boast of this.

Apple - talented imitators

In fact, when creating an iPad Pro Apple company copied a large number of technical solutions. However, the set iPad applications The Pro is severely limited, whereas the Surface Pro 4 is capable of running any Windows app.

Microsoft managed to rethink the concept of the PC and its target audience, successfully combining laptop and tablet into the super successful Surface Book. The hybrid has sufficient power to solve resource-intensive tasks, while maintaining compactness.

A look into the future

The post-PC era was predicted by Steve Jobs in 2010. And while Microsoft is bringing it closer by creating mobile multifunctional devices, Apple does the opposite, limiting the functionality of its gadgets as much as possible.

HP Elite x3 is portable gadget for a business that is equipped with the best hardware on the market and exceeds Apple flagships in everything. The device supports memory cards up to 2 TB. Cards of this size do not yet exist, but Microsoft is looking to the future.

Flexibility in everything

The Windows Continuum app allows you to use your Windows 10 Mobile smartphone as an almost full-fledged PC. True, the range of applications available in this mode is significantly limited.

Microsoft is ready for change

Microsoft has released many experimental apps for Android and iPhone in recent years. For example, the Hub Keyboard makes it easy to switch between apps and reduces the time it takes to complete every day task.

Scientific research

Microsoft's experiments are not limited to creating applications and gadgets. The company also pays attention to fundamental research. The Microsoft Research division develops many areas simultaneously - from speech recognition technologies to the creation of artificial intelligence.

On all fronts

When Satya Nadella took over as CEO of Microsoft, the company began releasing applications on more platforms. At the same time Microsoft time entered into several deals with competitors, such as Red Hat. Obviously, the company is trying to cover the maximum available devices and operating systems for its applications.


P.S. Also, don't miss our Windows 10 guide you can't live without.