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Apple Tells Microsoft To Stop Running Laptop Hunter Ads

Microsoft has been contacted by Apple's lawyers

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  1. Stan

    I find both the laptop hunter ads as well as the Justin Long Apple ads to be equally as annoying.

    but, if the ads are working for them – more power to them.

  2. It goes to show that some people can dish out, but just can’t take it. Frankly, I’m surprised that MSFT has shown as much restraint in their obvious rebuttal to the endless tirade by Apple… many of which hit FAR below the belt!

    What? Is this what we call Sour Apples?

    A PC Fan…

    • Jeremy Muncy

      I just find it funny that Apple has ran their commercials for years… and as soon as Microsoft essentially begins their “Laptop Hunters” commercials, Apple calls foul.

      Sour apples indeed.


      Jeremy Muncy
      Follow me on Twitter twitter.com/jmuncy”>@jmuncy

  3. Daniel

    Why does Apple think Justin Long is cool? The guy playing the Mac is far cooler then he will ever be?

    • Jeremy Muncy

      LOL, good point.
      In that scenario John Hodgman is far “cooler”.


      Jeremy Muncy
      Follow me on Twitter twitter.com/jmuncy”>@jmuncy

  4. I’m a PC, but I do cheer for underdog Apple.

    This reminds me of the Cola wars where Coke blinked…only this time Apple blinked.

    This must be the first semi-hip ad campaign Microsoft has ever run, so now I don’t know who to cheer for.

    • Jeremy Muncy

      Good comparison to the Cola wars… who would you consider as Pepsi & Coke?


      Jeremy Muncy
      Follow me on Twitter twitter.com/jmuncy”>@jmuncy

  5. Joseph

    Do you think they used a Mac or a PC to make that commercial ;-)

    Sorry, I just had to….

    • Guest

      a director. an actor, a sound man, a grip….

  6. This commercial is M-I-G-H-T-Y!!

    I’ve had a LOT of mixed feelings in the whole PC/Mac war over the years, but I’ve stayed PC because:

    1. It’s cheaper. I spend 4x LESS on my stuff than I would for a Mac.
    2. I can build my own stuff
    3. I can fix my own stuff
    4. I have WAY more software to choose from
    5. Apple support s-u-c-k-s. Not like MS support is great, but I almost never need them.
    6. As a web developer, unfortunately I NEED Internet Explorer in all of its horrible and evil forms.
    7. I’m currently using Windows 7 and it’s a HUGE leap forward for MS. Windows is actually becoming “elegant” … 0.o

    Cheers,
    Chris

    • Good point with the “I can build my own stuff”. Apples aren’t very user friendly in that aspect, sure there plug-in-play but heaven forbid if you want to add more RAM.

      • Guest

        That’s nonsense. Adding RAM on any of the current Macs is significantly easier than any PC I’ve ever seen. All of the memory slots are trap-door accessible in the laptops and iMac, and in the Mac Pro there’s a removable daughter board that takes up to 32GB.

  7. Guest

    LOVE THEM!!!

  8. NickJR

    If it happened at all (the phone call and the words spoken) it was probably taken out of context for purposes of fitting into this presentation.

    IMHO the Laptop Hunter ads are on par with Apple’s. No better or worse.

  9. Once you go Mac you never go back. Can’t be said for a PC. People blowing smoke about PC computers just never used a Mac before.

    Nothing I like more then to hear all the complainers talk about how their PC crashed, they lost this, or that. How they can’t get something to work or have to upgrade again. You just don’t have these problems on a Mac that is worth more then $1000.00 by far.

    Apple builds the computers their operating system runs on. Microsoft TRIES to build the operating system thousands of different systems try and use and fails time and time again.

    Switching to Mac is easy. Heck the stores will even transfer all your files over for you. The learning curve is about an hour! It is just so easy to use and it just works.

    • Mac’s have exactly the same issues PCs do…hard drives crash, video goes berserk…I have several in my shop right now. There are lots more PC users – that is why it seems like the PCs have more issues.

      Your comments are so unfair and untrue. Why must people like you do that? The comments have no place here

      If you like Macs – fine..if you like PCs fine…learning curve is far more than an hour for either one and that doesn’t include other software you may wish to use.

      MS has a great ad program cooking.

  10. The mac is perfect for a specific task by a none computer interested/literate person in the office environment, desktop publishing for a newspaper or a graphics design company. but when it comes to versatility & multiple usage for many different tasks by somebody that has basic knowledge of how it works you cant beat the pc for operating systems available, interchangeability and availability of spare parts at a price affordable for none corporate use.

    • Guest

      Yeah, that’s why they’re using them (Macs) at the Adler Planetarium to connect with a live satellite feed from the Moon. Maybe it’s because they know they won’t crash during such an important event. Uh huh, Macs are useless.

    • Zaphod

      I deal with guys like you every day. I am an MRP/ERP software engineer consultant. Some of the worlds largest companies are my clients. I love the list of “specific tasks” you mention. Just about half the things businesses need done.

      Add to that what I use my 5-year-old Powerbook for:

      Unix development
      Perl development
      PHP development
      C++ development
      AS/400 and mainframe access and emulation for MRP / ERP development
      POS emulation and development
      Running Apache / PostgreSQL / MySQL / RUBY+Rails / Eclipse
      Oh yeah: Windows programming, too.

      True, most of my clients run Windows networks. So what are these hugely important “business” applications that have to be handled by a PC? Excel, Word, Outlook, and some emulator to the company mainframe. Wow. All that can be done more easily on a Mac, too.

      At one company, their network guy had been telling the marketing department they couldn’t have Mac’s for years because they “couldn’t support them”. He gave me the same warning when I walked in with my Powerbook, but since I was a consultant he couldn’t ban me. He went out of his way to tell his staff not to support me and had a PC put on my desk so I could punch in and out. (They had to come back twice to get it working). He was astounded to come back a half-hour later and see me connected to their servers, working on their mainframes, and retrieving email.

      Unfortunately for him, I was seated right outside the office of the IT director. The director came out and saw me working away and asked me what I had to do to get my Mac running on their network. I said “turn on my computer”. The following week I saw 25 G5′s with 32″ displays being delivered for the marketing department. Other departments were green with envy watching all the Mac users video conferencing with ease, sharing their iTunes music with each other, AND NOT CALLING PC SUPPORT TWICE A DAY!

      OK, I’ll admit that PC’s are better for Gaming. But then again, I have a PS3 for that.

  11. I’ve used the two of them, windows and mac’s.

    Love Windows!!

    Plus, the ads are right, you pay too much for the Apple brand.

  12. Competition is a good thing. Regardless whether Mac or PC is a better product.
    And to be honest? I’m getting so sick of the whole Apple mania the last 3 years. All I see is young female marketing students buying them CAUSE THEY’RE WHITE AND BEAUTIFUL.

  13. I have owned both a Mac and a PC. I gave the Mac away!

    So making a statement like “If you go Mac, you’ll never go back” is cute but not necessarily true.

    It’s fun to watch both sets of commercials. Do they change my mind about which I’ll own. No.

    I base my buying decision on the ease of use and how many programs are available for my OS.

    Microsoft wins hands down. And my website logs show this applies to others as well.

    Judith

  14. The new MS ads are brilliant. Got to give it to them. I use both. I like both. However, for business I only use one; guess which.

    Follow us on Twitter @neusys

  15. Guest

    I found the whole series of commercials amusing, but a bit shady…. They can’t “corporately” say the things that are said in the commercial because there are truth in advertising laws – so they get these naive and uninformed consumers with the notion that as long as it’s the consumer saying it, they can’t get into trouble. Note that none of these consumers are really savvy about computers or what’s inside. For example, they all mention the RAM included, and gush over how much is in their PC – but not one actually considers the real issue… how much RAM is left for your applications AFTER your operating system loads…. WINDOWS is so bloated you NEED twice as much RAM to get near the available RAM for applications that Macs offer out of the box.

    As I said, they are amusing… little kids in a candy store – but when you go to make an expensive purchase – are your really going to take the “expert” advice of these kiddie shoppers with their free, but limited money???

    CAVEAT EMPTOR

  16. Guest

    I’ll start this reply off with this: I respect and appreciate the Mac, having owned more than one of them during my lifetime. I especially appreciate OS X – what a HUGE upgrade from System 7/8/9. Probably saved the Mac platform, at the end of the day.

    But all this stuff about all PCs being rife with errors is simply not true. I have 6 PCs here, all of which have been running XP Professional for 5 years or more. They all boot up, and turn off, without errors every time, and do exactly what I need them to do.

    On my “main” PC, I edit and create movies, store photos, check emails, surf the web, do my finances, and I do it completely worry-free, because it’s never died – not ONCE. Anyone who has a PC that does this obviously doesn’t know how to take care of it – install available updates, keep your directory structure clean, don’t install a bunch of needless software (and remove if if you do!).

    Cannot remember the last time I hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete on any of these machines unless it was to get to a login prompt…

  17. I love the morons that say “the PC costs less” if you do a five yr comparison the Mac comes out quite a bit cheaper..

    NO anti virus software.. (around $100 saving)
    NO Anti Virus yearly payment (another $30+ saving a year)
    NO Spamware.. $10-50 savings.
    NO Spyware another 10-50 savings
    NO Needed “tech support” (offices running Mac OS almost never have issues once it’s up and running, unless it was done by a PC person)

    Almost never crashes ( I’ve had 3 crashes since OSX came out on 6 computers, each was my own fault playing around to much)

    NO replacing the computer after a year or 2 I have ALL my Macs going back to 040 processors still running and my 2002 Power Mac is still a main unit where a 2007 Laptop PC is already out dated.

    NO memory hog!! A mac laptop runs fine on just 512 memory running OSX 10.5.6 current full install…

    NO issues, no problems, not tech people…

    Do a TRUE cost of ownership for a PC to a mac… list everything (not just the cheap purchase price but everything you buy for it in 5 yrs including software, hardware, tech people.. bla bla bla..) I have… the Macs saved me about 1000 bucks in the course of 5 yrs… anyone telling you different is ..
    1. A tech geek who fixes everything himself ( all the more power to them! but I’m not nor do I want to be)
    2. not including everything involved with owning a computer!!

  18. The ad is fine, it didn’t even attack the mac in the same way the Apple ads did/do.

    Sour Apples is what we have here….

    BTW when my Mac using friend was still using 2 year old software because he needs/wants to buy a new mac to be able to use the latest version, but he isn’t comfortable dishing it out again, I told him get a pc, with 1000$ you will be running the latest version and you will have all the power you need or you can wait until you feel comfortable (a simple mac wouldn’t cut it) and by then PC users will be using the next version…

    The app is zbrush, RAM counts there. Oh and with the new Phenom processors on the market I can get the same performance for even less. Plus a couple of extra pcs for rendering. That is multitasking.

    Create on one PC, render on your affordable farm, deliver exceptional quality, don’t break a sweat.

    Even big studios use macs only when required, like in: when Apple bought the software they were using and don’t have plans of publishing on the pc – also known as blackmail. Never ever heard of anybody buying the whole studio iMacs or G5s nor have I ever heard of a Mac Farm, do servers exist that are Macs?

  19. Laura Williams

    Ha, Apple will be okay. If they don’t like it, they shouldn’t run commercials with PC vs. Mac and talk the pc’s down which are clearly ran by windows! Everything in the commercial is true anyway, it’s not like they’re making a false statement in the Hunter Ads. They’re merely mentioning everything that everyone already knows. (Has no real qualms with actual computers; loves PC and MAC and has both.) Mac just needs to stop dishing out stuff if they can’t handle it.

  20. Jack

    Not all PC’s are windows! There are many flavors of Unix that will do everything that either a Mac or Windows OS will do, including all the bells and whistles.

    Most web servers are a version of *nix and run on PC hardware. Isn’t osx actually just another flavor of *nix?

    “There’s a new underdog in town, …and its name is *NIX!”

    …I am a PC.

    • Kostas

      How true, along with the fact that MS is using as much as they can
      from the *nix platform, starting with Vista….and who knows

  21. Ok, I’m PC user, and have been so since the days of building my own 486′s and running DOS.

    Do I think Macs are better? Well, I have owned several over the years, and still have one even now, but find that whilst they are good for specific things, they are generally more expensive than PCs.

    Why? I don’t actually know, because now that the Mac has embraced all things Intel, and can even run Windows, there should really be no price premium now for what essentially is now a type of PC. I can only assume we are paying for the ‘Cool’ factor, and the sealed unit that the Mac is.

    Personally I’d rather have a PC, because if something goes wrong there is a pretty good chance I can fix it, which is much less likely with the Mac.

    Although it sounds like I am running the Macs down, I’m not, it’s just you need to have specific requirements to own one.

    And how many businesses have Macs across their desktop and server infrastucture? Not many of the larger companies I’ll bet.

    As for the TCO somebody mentioned earlier, talking about antivirus and spyware etc, you can get this for free or quite cheap for the PC, so it adds little to the cost, especially when most companies go for 3 years rather than 5.

    And I for one wouldn’t run a Mac without AV or Spyware software, because despite OSX being inherently more secure, it still has flaws, and being arrogant about it and stating ‘Macs don’t need it’ is leaving yourself vulnerable.

    Thats my 2 penneth!

    • Guest

      I think they’re stupid ads. Sounds like Microsoft is in trouble again. Viewers of the ads learn nothing about the products that they are buying.

      • Kostas

        I don’t think they are in trouble.

        The girl wants one with a 17″ screen. I ‘m looking through the Apple Store no and I can’t find one with a 17″ screen below 1000$, so I think you should also look.

        Size does matter, a girl has to get what a girl wants to get.

      • Guest

        Of course they sound stupid when you have a complete lack of understanding. I couldn’t run a business using Macs – although I do run 18 web servers using Linux and Apache.

        I recently attempted to help a client using his Mac – it was a nightmare.

        Now, here’s an even better thought… I’ve been running a high-end Dell PC with Windows Vista Business for 2+ years – without a single flaw.

        The solid firewall and antivirus provided by Comodo works flawlessly and so does every other program on the PC.

        I’m tired of the whining… get over it. Macs will never reach the same market penetration as PC’s – ever.

  22. I have had a look at my website server reports from dates 18 July 2008 to 18 July 2009.
    Hits from all versions mac osx 103,115
    Hits from all versions windows 1,476,394
    The figures speak for themselves to which type of computer is most used to access the internet and therefore most poplar in use world wide.This is only one website but the difference in hits would suggest that other sites are lightly to give similar results.

    • Kostas

      Exactly

    • vatzcar

      MAC sales figure can never reach the PC sales figure. PCs will be sold hundred times more than MACs. Premium products (all kind of) do not sell in tons.

  23. Guest

    Every time I see one of the commercials I think: “Yea; if you only knew. You get what you pay for.” The main point is cheap, and a PC is not, in the long run.

    In truth I’ll bet 90% of the people who say they have used a Mac-n-still-like-a-PC have used a Mac and gotten frustrated with the unfamiliar… At first I thought I’d made a mistake when I switched.

    I used PCs for about 10 years (didn’t know better, and still have to use one at work) and lots of money on software. My needs were actually fairly simple, but I’d buy software thinking this time it’ll do the job. Then buy more software because it didn’t, or I’d find it wasn’t compatible with the other software…

    After lots of research I finally bought a Mac about 5 years ago. I couldn’t believe (after I learned how) it all worked together and did everything with pictures, movies, text, graphics… Not only would it do what I wanted, the software came on the Mac. The only software I’ve bought till this day is Adobe Photoshop.

    If your hard-headed like me, like to play games, or fixing problems, stick with your PC. If you want to get something done, get a Mac.

    BTY A couple months after the warranty expired I had trouble with my first Mac. The bill was more than the original computer cost. Apple fixed it and I was charged nothing. Check “Consumer Reports” and see who’s happy with their computers, service, and tech support. Like me, other people are beginning to see the light.

    I think Mr. Bill Gates abandoned ship (retired) because he knew it was slowly sinking. He has done the world a tremendous disservice by being a great businessman who could sell us poor products.

    • Kostas

      What software does a pc user need to buy? If your needs are fairly simple I don’t see what you need to buy. Photoshop is the same on both platforms, so what is your argument again?

      Anyway, who got in trouble for trying to give a complete package to the end user? You know IE, monopoly and stuff?

  24. Guest

    Are you really as stupid as
    you seem? Apple’s lawyers contacted them because the ads claim a MacBook cost more than 1000, and it doesn’t anymore. That is it.

    So now they are running their like $800 computer notebook trash. So the ads can still be run, and no one cares.

    I have used macs and pcs for over 12 years. The macs stay useful years after the pcs are in the trash. So now I buy Apple hardware no matter what OS I plan to install.

    If want to believe Apple hardware is not worth it. You are just remaining ignorant.

    • Guest

      The girl wants one with a 17″ screen. I ‘m looking through the Apple Store no and I can’t find one with a 17″ screen below 1000$, so I think you should also look.

      Size does matter, a girl has to get what a girl wants to get.

    • Microsoft Laptop Hunter Ads are miss leading. feature for feature dollar for dollar Apple beats PC hands down always have and always will. You have so much more with Apple for less money and they last many years long than PC’s

    • Macs have 1/20th the available software, no wonder you think they last longer.

    • Laughing at YOU

      You call people stupid but fail to realize there are little difference in apple and windows hardware. But your ignorance will allow you to pay ALOT more far identical features. I am an engineer and usually when I see people in my line of work they use boot camp and are running windows 90% of the time if not more. So they paid nearly double fo an apple logo on the box an an os that won’t run ANY standard engineering sofware. I like apple as competetion is what makes capitalism work but until they get off the over priced arrogance train I support Microsoft. PS I typed this on an iPhone 3GS just to prove a point that I don’t hate apple just their arrogance.

  25. Mac vs. PC

    The holy wars begin.

  26. Also, noobs.

    Antivirus software and anti-spyware software is free.

    The two best programs are still AVAST and Spybot S&D which have always been and always will be free for home users.

    Tech support is mostly outsourced nowadays.

    Macintosh is for snobs, it’s the equivalent of people who buy a Benz, they’re great cars, but you could buy two of basically anything else for the price of a Benz and the snooty hood ornament.

    • vatzcar

      But still people buy Benz, and you can’t stop it :-) . Mac is surely not for PC users, it’s for different class of users/buyers.

    • David

      “Macintosh is for snobs..”? Are you serious? Also comparing it to people who buy a Benz really shows you have no idea of what you’re talking about. People are willing to pay more for quality. That’s the bottom line.

      Ever driven a Benz before? I doubt you’d say you’ll never buy one after driving one. ;)

  27. Shocker

    Joe Brown has the best comment/point of all the ones I’ve read hear. Both Mac and PC have their pros and cons.

    One thing that pro Mac users have to admit is that there is more selection with the PC. For the consumer, this is very good.

    What it comes down to is that you have to compare a specific PC laptop model with the comparative Mac model. Comparing Mac and PC just on the platform seems flawed.

    It’s pointless to debate non quantitative points. Who can really evaluate the learning curves of each. I bet Microsoft and Mack would differ on this.

  28. I think mac users have this false sense of perfection. Fair enough Macs have reduced instruction sets on the CPU, and in the old days Macs could make files larger then 4gb and ran considerably faster, but those days are gone. NTFS and EXfat has sorted out file size, and CPU with multi-cores and crazy FSB speeds has more then leveled the playing field. I have not seen one real Statistic in this arguement except for the price. Prove to me that MACs can work quicker then a PC (keeping in mind most intensive graphic redering in PC’s is happening via PCI-e NVIDIA graphic cores using CUDA which has killed previous PC rendering and I would love to what MAC has planned to combat this). Then theres that absolute dumb ass arguement that MACs dont need Anti-virus. Well neither does a PC if you have a solid firewall and dont download anything lol..But if you do a FACT search you will see that viruses do exist for MAC and companies do sell products, but I failed to see that mentioned (probally the $80 per year that would of deflated the MAC arguement considerably)..What our MAC buddies have forgotten to mention is the truths about MACs, but have done a reasonable job of describing worst case scenarios PC’s. For 98% of the planet dont need an expensive, Propriety driven platform, in which one part cannot suit all, and alternatives are not an option and this is why PCs will always dominate a constantly outdated market. And my closing comment with Quad cores, crazy FSB, and better GPU’s that are capable of redering 10X quicker then most CPU’s, most software companies are only now just starting make FULL use of the PC and are writing rograms to suit…..I see this as the begiining of the end for MAC..lol..lol..lol..Why pay 3 times as much for MAC (and its AV software which is soon to be free for PC users via MS Morro).

  29. cmelton13

    You get what you pay for. Period.

    I’ll gladly shell out a little more cash for a Mac.

    I actually think those PC commercials are funny- when I see one I haven’t seen before, I tell my boyfriend “wait just wait, they’re gonna trash Mac somehow”… and then the snide comment from the ‘totally candid’ shopper comes. It’s illustrative of how one can have a conversation about an issue that is a non-issue for those in the know. Cost is a moot point for superior machinery.

  30. Guest

    Most people just don’t know, I didn’t either. Even after I got my first Mac at first I thought I’d made a mistake. After I learned a few things, like it just worked and didn’t send me messages to tell me it was trying to do the task, or that I had a fatal error, or some other nonsense. I get work done on a Mac rather than ‘working on’ the computer.

    The biggest difference is the OS and the way the software which comes on it all works together. I have bought very little software; don’t need it. For the average user, non geek or gamer, a Mac is just what they need to easily handle their pictures, music, movies, email, surf…

    Much of the hardware (guts) are about the same today; if you pay enough for the PC. Still if you look at “Consumer Reports” Mac wins in almost everything. People who have a Mac love them, the other people just don’t know any better.

    I’ve been using Prehistoric, Pretty Crummy, Piece of Crap Computers at work for many years; there is simply no comparison. IMHO

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