The reason why having a preference for MS' products can be a pain in the ***

[Simon Tupper]

I feel like I am at Hogwarts speaking of Voldemort whenever I pronounce the word 'Microsoft' in public. Microsoft is shaping our world and people are denying it to a point where it's considered ridiculous to even like Microsoft's products.


Windows is seen as the ******** big brother of OS X even though it is powering almost everything and OS X is almost nowhere to be seen in most countries.


To them, Microsoft is dying and it became irrelevant. No matter how good your arguments are regarding MS' performance. Heck there is ten times more arguments supporting the survival of MS than it becoming irrelevant, but one bad quarter is enough to convince them that they are right.

Even the Xbox One has more to offer in terms of features and innovation than any other console. But not so surprisingly, it is seen as a lesser product. The Kinect has more innovation in it than every hardware made by Apple, but MS made it therefore its not impressive.

The Surface sold more than any Chromebook, but its the biggest flop in technology?

I know negativity is not nice to read, but sometimes people are simply too stubborn.

My Surface RT is great. I can watch a live stream and have conversation on facebook without having to jump between both apps. My Surface is more convenient than the iPad, but it doesn't have the shiny fruit on the back, therefore its a lesser tablet.

If only people could let you love the things you love without freaking out about it. Do they even know why they hate Microsoft or is it just because its cool to do so?

 

[Jazmac]

It not so much about what a product does for the "chattering" class of bloggers. They want to be "validated" and they want your compliance of that opinion. Much of this is the same blueprint Mac has used for years to gain visibility. Remember the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads? To get visibility, Apple would challenge Microsoft talking about viruses and how MS would be better in the next version. Now google and its rabid class of talking heads are doing what google does best. Copying from others.

 

[dznk]

I couldn't agree with you more. I genuinely like Microsoft products on the whole, and that's why I use and have puchased many myself. I will of course consider most brands when buying, but when it comes to tech products they usually relate to Microsoft. I have had an Android phone in the past, I have a Sony PS3 (as well as an Xbox 360). But I mainly buy/use Microsoft products because I can see through marketing, status symbols, 'coolness factor' etc and buy a device or software for what it is technically and how it benefits my daily and working life. For a lot of people it is 'cooler' to get and be seen with other products, mainly speaking of Apple here. Hence Microsoft or Windows becomes in a way, uncool and people can more easily slate them. It is simply a brand image problem in my opinion.

You point to good examples with the Surface (especially RT) and the Xbox One, which isn't even out yet and is getting mostly negative writeups. However, I must add that Microsoft have not helped the situation at all with their back tracks on Xbox One things, but like you said, look at the innovations and what you get with the console and it is impressive. But I feel the same way as you do, and have experienced the same attitude in real life as you have done. Stick that fruit logo on and the tech bloggers will on the whole love it. Put a Microsoft logo on it and it gets questioned, dissected and seems to only get a 'good' review even if it is genuinely brilliant.

"Do they even know why they hate Microsoft or is it just because its cool to do so?" - I think you answered your own question in my opinion. I hate all this 'cool' malarkey, but that's what goes on unfortunately.

 

[Sergio The One]

I agree with you completely. In my case, I believe it's all about how you talk about a product.
When I talk to someone about a MS product that I like, I really try to sell them on it, even if it means exaggerating a little. For example, when I whip out my Windows Phone, people at first are like... I don't know... and then I tell them it's really Windows, and what that means, (embellishing of course because even if it's Windows it's still a separate Windows, if you will) and show them the similarities and convergence with Windows 8 and the way it works together. Then they start to get it and say ""well, that's pretty cool actually".
I have made even people that are 100% Apple centric appreciate the Windows ecosystem, which I consider to be quite a feat. It's all about the passion with which you convey your message.
But that means nothing in the grand scheme of things. I'm just one guy talking to friends.
Microsoft's problem has been a PR one for a while now. I wish they'd get the story straight once and for all... and get it together.

For now, it's enthusiast like us that have to keep doing what we're doing.

 

[Jazmac]

Exactly what I think. I didn't need the chattering class to make decisions for me when I chose Windows Phone 3 years ago and I won't need there input when I get around to thinking what comes next. I sure won't need my decisions crowd sourced by those that only speak about technology based on the last tv commercial.

Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Tapatalk

 

[squire777]

I think the anti-MS brigade is composed of many smaller groups. For example:

- The pro-Linux crowd - usually guys who are more tech-savvy and feel like everything should be free and open source. They will tell you that the best thing MS ever did was XP and automatically assume that every OS since Vista is terrible. They feel that MS and Apple are just money grubbing corporations that are holding everyone back. They seem to not mind Google's money grubbing ways though. Meanwhile they spend much of their time dressing up their Linux distros to look and behave like the latest version of Windows.

- The pro-Apple crowd - The average Mac user thinks that all of MS products suffer from blue screens or virus problems. If you use an MS product they think your are too poor to afford an Apple product or are some tech nerd that doesn't like to be cool. The problem with this group is that they occupy many spots in the media so they are always pushing this agenda in the mainstream.

- The PC/Nintendo/PS gamer - usually associates XBox gaming as being responsible for "bro gamers" even though the PS3 and PC games are pretty much similar. Also hate the XBox and MS since they are American while at the same time thinking that anything from Japan is automatically gold.

I know those are generalizations but from my experience many people I have met fall into those categories. The good thing is that many people that work in the IT sector appreciate MS products.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I've never been one who cared what is considered hip, trendy or popular. I buy or use products that I like and that work for me.

Yes, I do also use Linux. However, I do not make Linux look like Windows.

 

[ag1986]

I know those are generalizations but from my experience many people I have met fall into those categories. The good thing is that many people that work in the IT sector appreciate MS products.

I would disagree on this one point. Those of us who've spent time in corporate engineering, working with large scale Windows deployments, are likely to hate MS with a passion. Try skulking around on The Register, Ars Technica or Slashdot, and you will find sufficient evidence of this.

 

[Jaskys]

People doesn't like stories about success or about great sales, it's all about negativity in press.

It's sad that Microsoft getting bashed the most, even if it's products getting used everyday by those hardcore haters.

 

[gsquared]

Love them or hate them. MSFT still sits at the top of the hill. They have prevailed in nearly every war they have been in. To me is a question of "Where else are you going to go?" I don't want anything to do with GOOG and as for AAPL, I'm just not a fan.

 

[Keith Wallace]

As someone else said, Microsoft is a bit like AMD, who has to fight Intel in the CPU space and Nvidia in the GPU space, in addition to the upcoming ARM chips they will release, where they will face the Snapdragon, Tegra, and Exynos SoCs.

In Microsoft, you have another tech giant playing the game from several fronts. They go up against Linux and OS X in the desktop OS space. They fight iOS and Android in the smartphone and tablet spaces. They fight Sony and Nintendo in the console space (I consider the PC market secondary to the console market, in that they are not direct competitors to each other). Microsoft faces Google and Mozilla in the browser wars. They face Google with Bing. They have dabbled in peripherals, where Logitech reigns supreme. They've started to face Apple, Samsung, ASUS, and others in the tablet market. They've recently acquired Nokia, meaning they will face those same companies, plus HTC and LG, in the smartphone market. They've got Server software, along with their Azure servers. They've got SkyDrive (until it gets rebranded). They had Zune. They have Xbox Music and Video. They have a software division for console games.

Microsoft just has its hands in EVERYTHING. If you run through all of that, Google and Apple are the only ones with any kind of meaningful reach across several fields. Even in that instance, Google doesn't touch mobile hardware, and neither company touches consoles or games. Microsoft just does so much in so many markets that they have to put up with the fanboys from every angle.

 

[SwimSwim]

I hear ya.

I (and many others) have said it before and will say it again. If you just were to take any modern, "Metro" Microsoft product and stick an Apple logo on the back, it would sell in the millions and be a runaway success, loved and adored by all.

 

[goodintentions]

I hear ya.

I (and many others) have said it before and will say it again. If you just were to take any modern, "Metro" Microsoft product and stick an Apple logo on the back, it would sell in the millions and be a runaway success, loved and adored by all.

It's kinda funny, really. I know people who are always broke like a joke and they always have the latest iphone. It's been 2 years since I upgraded my phone, and I bought a $60 windows phone. One of these clowns just asked me why I couldn't afford the latest iphone. They just don't get that those of us who wake up at 4:30 am everyday to go to work in our office probably can prioritize better than the dude who works at starbucks while holding the latest iphone.

 

[Jas00555]

- The pro-Apple crowd - The average Mac user thinks that all of MS products suffer from blue screens or virus problems. If you use an MS product they think your are too poor to afford an Apple product or are some tech nerd that doesn't like to be cool. The problem with this group is that they occupy many spots in the media so they are always pushing this agenda in the mainstream.

+2520 on this one. The Apple crowd is the worst crowd ever when it comes to blindness of products. Let me tell you a story that is 100% true, which is actually kinda sad:

I was in my English class and we had to write a paper on cheating i.e. famous examples of cheating. I picked tech companies and how MS, Apple, Google, Samsung, etc... All copy stuff from each other. Well we had to show the teacher our paper as a rough draft one at a time and she'd look over them. Well, behind me was one of these pro-apple fanatics who's name i don't know, so we'll call him Molly (I'm sure you can guess why). Anyways, molly was apparently listening on my paper because my English teacher didn't know about something that i wrote when I said that Apple copied something from someone (I think it was Siri, but i can't remember), but molly spoke up going
"dudes Apple is the one everyone copies from, not the other way around, just look at that Windows"
And i conveniently had my Surface so i went to the metro screen and sarcastically said "yes, because this looks just like your $2000 Facebook machine"
*teacher laughed*
So molly responded "oh really? Well how many viruses have you had? 6? 7?"
So i gave him a weird look and said "uh... None? It comes with built in antivirus for free"
So my teacher said "yeah, I've never had one either, they mostly come from going to places you shouldn't be going anyway"
"naw, I don't believe that" -molly
(I couldn't make this up if I tried) He actually turned around to the half of the class that was left and went "hey, how many y'all got viruses on your Windows"
*one guy raises his hand*
"see, man, told ya *looks at guy* where did you get your virus?"

So the guy says "alright, I'll admit it, were all adults here, I got it from *insert porn site*

"see?" -me

"dude, I don't believe that, I know you all are lying" - molly

For the rest of the year, we could not convince him that

 

[WinFan1]

+2520 on this one. The Apple crowd is the worst crowd ever when it comes to blindness of products. Let me tell you a story that is 100% true, which is actually kinda sad:

I was in my English class and we had to write a paper on cheating i.e. famous examples of cheating. I picked tech companies and how MS, Apple, Google, Samsung, etc... All copy stuff from each other. Well we had to show the teacher our paper as a rough draft one at a time and she'd look over them. Well, behind me was one of these pro-apple fanatics who's name i don't know, so we'll call him Molly (I'm sure you can guess why). Anyways, molly was apparently listening on my paper because my English teacher didn't know about something that i wrote when I said that Apple copied something from someone (I think it was Siri, but i can't remember), but molly spoke up going
"dudes Apple is the one everyone copies from, not the other way around, just look at that Windows"
And i conveniently had my Surface so i went to the metro screen and sarcastically said "yes, because this looks just like your $2000 Facebook machine"
*teacher laughed*
So molly responded "oh really? Well how many viruses have you had? 6? 7?"
So i gave him a weird look and said "uh... None? It comes with built in antivirus for free"
So my teacher said "yeah, I've never had one either, they mostly come from going to places you shouldn't be going anyway"
"naw, I don't believe that" -molly
(I couldn't make this up if I tried) He actually turned around to the half of the class that was left and went "hey, how many y'all got viruses on your Windows"
*one guy raises his hand*
"see, man, told ya *looks at guy* where did you get your virus?"

So the guy says "alright, I'll admit it, were all adults here, I got it from *insert porn site*

"see?" -me

"dude, I don't believe that, I know you all are lying" - molly

For the rest of the year, we could not convince him that

I gotta chime on this because I had a guy who was similar to this say apple products was supreme and everyway better than windows phone, but he actually didn't know how to use siri or how to open multitasking or what multitasking was.... Some people truly just want to show off by saying that they have expensive things man. People buy things on gimmicks and hype. Just my 2 cents

 

[Ordeith]

As someone else said, Microsoft is a bit like AMD, who has to fight Intel in the CPU space and Nvidia in the GPU space, in addition to the upcoming ARM chips they will release, where they will face the Snapdragon, Tegra, and Exynos SoCs.

In Microsoft, you have another tech giant playing the game from several fronts. They go up against Linux and OS X in the desktop OS space. They fight iOS and Android in the smartphone and tablet spaces. They fight Sony and Nintendo in the console space (I consider the PC market secondary to the console market, in that they are not direct competitors to each other). Microsoft faces Google and Mozilla in the browser wars. They face Google with Bing. They have dabbled in peripherals, where Logitech reigns supreme. They've started to face Apple, Samsung, ASUS, and others in the tablet market. They've recently acquired Nokia, meaning they will face those same companies, plus HTC and LG, in the smartphone market. They've got Server software, along with their Azure servers. They've got SkyDrive (until it gets rebranded). They had Zune. They have Xbox Music and Video. They have a software division for console games.

Microsoft just has its hands in EVERYTHING. If you run through all of that, Google and Apple are the only ones with any kind of meaningful reach across several fields. Even in that instance, Google doesn't touch mobile hardware, and neither company touches consoles or games. Microsoft just does so much in so many markets that they have to put up with the fanboys from every angle.

Google doesn't touch mobile hardware. Except for the nexus brand, and that whole buying Motorola thing.

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

I generally don't have too many issues with my Microsoft Preference. I do get ribbed a bit by friends about Lumia over iPhone/Android due to lack of Apps(Which I am starting to see myself as well) but i've never experienced too much moronic anti-MS behavior in the real world.

The only recent thing is that this guy told me his Ipad was better than my RT because it had hundreds of thousands of Apps...I was like um, okay...Well you have fun with that launching those apps one at a time and I'll have fun doing multi-tasking using 2 apps at the same time and i'll have fun doing assignments on my RT while you can play fruit ninja and angry birds

LOL most of the drama I get is with Windows Phone since my friends don't understand Why I use a Lumia and half the time I am always confused when they are talking about various apps(which is starting to bug the crap out of me as I am always late on apps...Just played Candy Crush the first time like a month ago )

 

[Chregu]

If only people could let you love the things you love without freaking out about it. Do they even know why they hate Microsoft or is it just because its cool to do so?

I would let you love what you love, as long as you don't preach about it. What you are doing, right now.

 

[rex.reyesiii]

They probably think your Surface has lots of Virus.

Anyway, how about the Preacher on your Sunday Service endorses Apple and says Windows is of the devil? <<-- just kidding.

Our preacher though uses a Mac laptop then mentions negative things about his personal experiences with Windows.

I feel like I am at Hogwarts speaking of Voldemort whenever I pronounce the word 'Microsoft' in public. Microsoft is shaping our world and people are denying it to a point where it's considered ridiculous to even like Microsoft's products.


Windows is seen as the ******** big brother of OS X even though it is powering almost everything and OS X is almost nowhere to be seen in most countries.


To them, Microsoft is dying and it became irrelevant. No matter how good your arguments are regarding MS' performance. Heck there is ten times more arguments supporting the survival of MS than it becoming irrelevant, but one bad quarter is enough to convince them that they are right.

Even the Xbox One has more to offer in terms of features and innovation than any other console. But not so surprisingly, it is seen as a lesser product. The Kinect has more innovation in it than every hardware made by Apple, but MS made it therefore its not impressive.

The Surface sold more than any Chromebook, but its the biggest flop in technology?

I know negativity is not nice to read, but sometimes people are simply too stubborn.

My Surface RT is great. I can watch a live stream and have conversation on facebook without having to jump between both apps. My Surface is more convenient than the iPad, but it doesn't have the shiny fruit on the back, therefore its a lesser tablet.

If only people could let you love the things you love without freaking out about it. Do they even know why they hate Microsoft or is it just because its cool to do so?

 

[AaHaa]

Microsoft's image is an ongoing issue... Really hope they can pull something wonderful off with the reorg.
But if you think that's bad, try saying you use Bing in public. People look at you like you're some kind of alien.