Mac buyers pay “Apple tax”

 

Gallery

Posted on 14 Oct 2008 at 09:43

Microsoft is clearly determined to take the fight to Apple in an attempt to reverse the negative image of Windows portrayed, amongst others, by Apple's series of Vista-ridiculing Get A Mac ads.

First Microsoft unveiled its “I’m a PC” advertising campaign to extol the virtues of Windows; now the company’s senior executives are tackling Apple itself.

Last week chief executive Steve Ballmer lambasted the lack of choice that the Mac platform provides and argued, doubtless to the surprise of many businesses that rely on Apple products, that Macs don’t work in business, not least because they “don't really get full Microsoft Office”. (The company’s marketing team, tryin to sell Office for Mac, might dispute that).

Now it is the turn of Brad Brooks, vice president of Windows Consumer Product Marketing, who told Cnet that Mac users have to pay an Apple tax.

“There’s going to be an application tax, which is if you want choice around applications, or if you want the same type of application experience on your Mac versus Windows, you’re going to be purchasing a lot of software. And even at that you’re not going to get the same experience.”

Then there’s the technology tax, Macs don’t support Blu-ray and HDMI, he notes, and the upgrade tax: “The only machine, as far as I know, within the Apple lineup that's actually upgradeable is the Mac Pro,” which, he says, is more expensive than just about any PC.

And if Mac users want to run Windows, that’s another tax, he adds.

But what about the tax on Windows users - antivirus and other security software?

“That is a fallacy to think that Macs are somehow invulnerable, or impervious to virus, or phishing, or spyware,” he says, despite the lack of evidence of any malware proliferating on Macs.

As for phishing, both platforms are equally vulnerable, though his point that Safari lacks any anti-phishing protection is valid, his comment that “service providers like eBay … won't even recommend you using the Safari browser” is simply not true.

Author: Simon Aughton