It’s odd when you look at Windows 7 and OS X Snow Leopard side by side and examine the markets they’re aimed at. Both Microsoft and Apple have done things with these two new operating systems that they’d never done before.
With Apple, they abandoned any real new functionality and focused on streamlining and slimming down. Microsoft however have simplified and added new usability features.
Now for the purpose of this article we’ll assume that I will generalise a bit and gloss over some features of both operating systems. But there’s a reason for this. Have a look at the two desktops side by side, what do you see?
My thought is that you can see the markets they’re trying to push into just by looking at them and knowing a little about the features. Microsoft are clearly pushing Windows more into consumer markets and Apple are clearly pushing at business.
Before you shout at me let me justify what I’ve just said. Apple for instance have touted their new operating system as being more compatible (with Windows as well as Mac software), leaner and faster. Microsoft are touting multi-touch and new ‘fun’ ways to interact with the operating system.
This, if deliberate or accidental, should not really come as any surprise. Microsoft have had the business market sewn up for years but with the Vista disaster and XP still sold on new netbooks, it’s now the consumer market they need to woo back. Their business customers will buy Windows 7 anyway and it will be a huge success there, this is simply because business cannot afford not to upgrade to Windows 7 after so many years on XP.
The business market is something Apple would desperately like to get a bigger share of. They already have an excellent server product but need to get greater density on desktops in the workplace.
So what set me thinking about this? It’s two things. Firstly, unlike Vista, each version of Windows 7 is a superset of the one below it. This means all of the business editions now include consumer-only focused features like Media Centre. These are things you’d never want on a business PC, but are things that people who use Windows 7 at work can see, hopefully like and which will encourage them to upgrade at home.
On the OS X side we’ve now got talk of an Apple tablet running the version of OS X that’s been on the iPhone for a few years. If you look at this different version of OS X you can see what a truly consumer-focused edition of the operating system could look like if this, any of it, was translated onto the Mac. But it hasn’t been.
It’s in both Apple’s and Microsoft’s best interests to push hard at these markets. Microsoft need to get people off insecure systems and wipe Internet Explorer 6 off the map, and Apple need the additional profile and cash that comes from getting more seats in the workplace. It just makes sense.
It’s a long way from where these companies have come from though. Okay so they both started in business, and Apple got to that starting point years ahead of Microsoft. But let’s take the launch of the iMac as the benchmark. At this point Apple’s focus was firmly on the home and consumer market, and it’s marketing reflected that. This was in response to Microsoft having the home market well and truly sewn up and their products at the time pushing at businesses more by putting all the real innovation into the workplace.
It’s an interesting move for both companies and I wish them both well with it as, ultimately, this type of competition can only be good for us all.
