All Access. All in one subscription. From $2 per week
Subscribe now

All Access Weekly

From $2 per week
Pay just
$15.75
$2
per week ongoing
Subscribe now
BEST VALUE

All Access Annual

Pay just
$449
$49
per year ongoing
Subscribe now
Learn more
30
NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Budget 2025
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Technology

Spoiled for OS choice?

Herald online
6 Aug, 2009 02:01 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Part of the dream of Western capitalism is the plethora of choice, and Microsoft really appears to have taken that to heart. Windows 7 comes in ... 66 possible configurations.

That's because you could be upgrading from Windows XP, which means you could be upgrading to Windows 7 Premium in 32-bit or 64-bit, or the same in Professional or Ultimate. That's six.

Or you might be upgrading from Windows Vista Starter - 12 choices. Or from Windows Vista Home Basic (32 or 62-bit), Vista Home Premium, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate ... look at the chart for yourself at Cult of Mac.

The chart is handily divided into green and blue tiles. Green tiles represent 'in-place upgrades' meaning installing it will keep your files, settings and programs intact. Good - that's how OS X usually installs, too, even if you're switching from a PC.

But the more common blue tile represents 'custom install'. It requires a 'clean' install: you move your files off, install the OS, put the files back in the correct places on the system with the new OS on it, then reinstall all your apps. Sounds like an entertaining, fun and constructive way to spend a few hours (days?) in PC world.

Of course, you could switch to Mac. Snow Leopard comes in one version. One. It's 64-bit. If you have an older, PowerPC based Mac, your choice is even simpler - no choice.

The polar-style cat OS requires an Intel Mac. An upgrade also requires you have a Mac with OS 10.5 Leopard on it already - only Apple OS X Leopard users are eligible for the low Snow Leopard upgrade price. Tiger and earlier OS users will need to purchase a version of the upgraded Mac Box Set.

So, do Apple users want choice à la Microsoft? Apparently not. Amazon has been pre-selling Snow Leopard (released next month) for US$29 (about NZD$43).

Days after that started, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard held the top two slots on the online retailer's software sales chart. The single user version of Snow Leopard is top; the second place was taken by the five-user family version (US$49). Both prices are considered very good when you consider that Apple's OS release traditionally cost more like US$129. (You can't order it in NZ, yet, as far as I know, but you can put your name down to be told when it will be available here - just search for Snow Leopard.)

And in case you think people aren't switching from PCs to Macs, the 254 Apple Stores managed to sell 492,000 Macs to 38.6 million store visitors during the June quarter. Half of those sales went to customers who had never before owned Macs. Since every Mac comes with Migration Assistant software in the Utilities folder in your Applications folder, switching from an older Mac - or even from a PC - to a new Mac is relatively easy.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said the retail locations totalled $1.5 billion in revenue during the third quarter, topping last year's $1.45 billion in the same period. US$5.9 million average revenue was generated by each store in the quarter (based on an average over the 254 stores).

Since those figures were released, four new Apple Stores opened and another is due shortly in Paris. Another 24 will open by the end of the year and 27 existing stores are being remodelled. Visits to Apple Stores (it's a recession, right?) were up 22 per cent on the same last-year quarter - 38.6 million visits to Apple Stores in three months.

All this data has obviously generated excitement in the Microsoft camp, as Microsoft announced it would seen be opening its own stores near Apple Stores.

Wow, imagine the choices there.

I think Microsoft should switch from bashing to producing. CEO Ballmer seems all too ready to fire at anyone else still standing in various computing markets - as Macworld puts it, for Microsoft: "... there were losses generally across the board, from Microsoft's search (Let's kill Google!) to the division that runs Windows Mobile (Let's kill Nokia!) and the Xbox (Let's kill Sony and Nintendo!)."

Yes, Macworld is a Mac-centric publication. I won't mention Microsoft's 'Let's kill iPod' effort. Microsoft used to lead markets, now it just reacts to them. And it's capable of a lot better. Well, it has been in the past. And I'm hoping the impending Mac Business Unit announcement signals more leadership, as the Mac BU at Microsoft is standout. The announcement (Thursday 13th August) will be by its head, Eric Wilfrid, who I interviewed on mac.nz late last year.

Two other things have been affecting Microsoft's earnings: the still-strong netbook sector looks good on paper, but the Windows licenses involved cost less so they earn Microsoft less. And sales of new PCs to businesses have been dropping, reducing Microsoft's money stream of OEM Windows license fees.

By the way, everyone's still wondering it Apple will produce some kind of 'netbook'. The same financial caveat would count: if an Apple 'netbook' ran iPhone OS 3 instead of Snow Leopard, Apple would make a lot less than it can from a full OS.

Rumours and speculation on an Apple tablet/netbook/whatever just won't die, from specs suppliers, format, you name it - even a possible Apple netbook name is being discussed.

And this is silly - Apple already has a name: MacBook. Think about it - the white MacBook is clearly end-of-the-line, the aluminium MacBooks are now all Pros ... Apple already clearly has a category it needs a new, small, fun consumer device to fill.

Meanwhile, if you're thinking of installing Windows 7, I hope you like choice. Have fun figuring out which one will be right for your setup.

- Mark Webster mac.nz

 

PHOTO: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, right, and Windows president Steven Sinofsky announce the anticipated release of Windows 7 (AP)

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Technology

Premium
Technology

Tech Insider: The Kiwis most likely to support an U16 social media ban; lawyer's AI horror story

21 May 05:00 AM
Business

Google ramps up search with AI mode amid competition concerns

20 May 11:42 PM
World

Why AI's ability to persuade raises new ethical concerns

20 May 04:19 AM

Deposit scheme reduces risk, boosts trust – General Finance

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
The horrifying ordeal behind Auckland's high-profile gang torture case
New Zealand

The horrifying ordeal behind Auckland's high-profile gang torture case

21 May 09:41 AM
Woman visited death cap mushroom web page a year before fatal lunch, jury told
World

Woman visited death cap mushroom web page a year before fatal lunch, jury told

21 May 09:08 AM
Lotto Powerball: Have you won big in tonight’s $17 million draw?
New Zealand

Lotto Powerball: Have you won big in tonight’s $17 million draw?

21 May 08:22 AM
NSW's relentless rain has led to record-breaking emergency
World

NSW's relentless rain has led to record-breaking emergency

21 May 08:20 AM
Inside the Comancheros revenge plot against bodybuilder's family after gang exit stoush
Crime

Inside the Comancheros revenge plot against bodybuilder's family after gang exit stoush

21 May 07:01 AM

Latest from Technology

Premium
Tech Insider: The Kiwis most likely to support an U16 social media ban; lawyer's AI horror story

Tech Insider: The Kiwis most likely to support an U16 social media ban; lawyer's AI horror story

21 May 05:00 AM

Plus: The 'Google tax' dies a quiet death.

Google ramps up search with AI mode amid competition concerns

Google ramps up search with AI mode amid competition concerns

20 May 11:42 PM
Why AI's ability to persuade raises new ethical concerns

Why AI's ability to persuade raises new ethical concerns

20 May 04:19 AM
Premium
Callaghan shows start-up team the door, Auckland Mayor makes tech grab

Callaghan shows start-up team the door, Auckland Mayor makes tech grab

20 May 03:01 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
All Access. All in one subscription. From $2 per week
Subscribe now

All Access Weekly

From $2 per week
Pay just
$15.75
$2
per week ongoing
Subscribe now
BEST VALUE

All Access Annual

Pay just
$449
$49
per year ongoing
Subscribe now
Learn more
30
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search