Apple a Day: Leopard gets love, Vista gets dissed - The Baltimore Sun's David Zeiler follows all developments related to Apple, Inc.

The latest report from Rockville, Md.-based ChangeWave Research reflects customer satisfaction running in opposite directions for Vista and Leopard, the newest version of the Mac operating system.

An amazing 81 percent of customers of those who purchased a Mac in the previous 90 days said they were “very satisfied” with it. This compares to 27 percent of PC buyers who got Vista Home Premium on their new PC and a pathetic 15 percent of those who bought PCs with Vista Home Basic pre-installed.

According to the ChangeWave report, “Leopard’s high customer satisfaction not only dwarfs its competitors, but it’s having a direct impact on customer intentions to purchase an Apple computer. More than one-in-four respondents (26 percent) say the Leopard OS makes them more likely to buy an Apple computer in the future.”

Seemingly contradicting the IDC and Gartner reports released earlier in the week that showed the Mac’s market share slipping a bit from the third quarter to the fourth, the ChangeWave data showed an increase in Mac buyers. Of those who bought a computer in the past 90 days, 17 percent (up from 14 percent) said they bought a Mac laptop and 16 percent (up from 10 percent) said they bought a Mac desktop.

Looking ahead, of those respondents who said they planned a PC purchase in the next 90 days, 33 percent said they’d buy a Mac laptop and 29 percent a Mac desktop. The laptop number is up from 29 percent in November and from 20 percent a year ago. And that survey was taken before the MacBook Air was announced.

The Mac’s desktop number of planned purchases stayed the same (it was also 29 percent in the November survey), but has risen from 18 percent in the January 2006 survey.

But why does the Mac do so much better in the ChangeWave surveys than in the more conventional measures of market share conducted by IDC and Gartner? The data from those surveys put the Mac’s fourth quarter market share at about 6 percent.

The Mac excels in the ChangeWave data because in this particular survey, the focus is on consumer purchases rather than overall PC purchases. Removing corporate buying from the equation shows just how much progress the Mac has made with the average PC consumer.

Meanwhile, dissatisfaction with Windows Vista has grown so severe that tech Web site InfoWorld has launched a petition to Microsoft to keep selling its predecessor, Windows XP, past the planned June 30, 2008 deadline.

“Millions of us have grown comfortable with XP and don't see a need to change to Vista,” InfoWorld Executive Editor Galen Gruman writes. “It's like having a comfortable apartment that you've enjoyed coming home to for years, only to get an eviction notice.”

Well, as a Mac user I can’t explain the love for Windows XP, but apparently lot of Windows users share Gruman’s sentiments – 30,000 had signed the online petition as of 5 p.m. Jan. 17.

Comments

its always funny to hear "professionals" and other ppl in the American media use language that African Americans and our children are often crticized or labeled stupid when used in their own conversations, writings, songs, etc.

Dissed? wow

when did "diss"..."beef...."bling bling" become part of acceptable vernacular ? when are the majority going to apologize for continually highjacking people's lingo with proper recognition.

Please stop trying to be cute. Please write so that we can all understand what you mean....last I heard dissed was not used in proper professional circles......

are we now telling the children its okay to say diss....when they mean disrespect?

Posted by: C Love | January 18, 2008 1:28 PM

As an OS X user, you obviously will never understand the ability to choose whatever hardware and software you want to use.
Unlike Vista, XP is the only OS that will work with virtually everything. That's why a lot of people love it.

Posted by: Bob | January 18, 2008 7:32 PM

@ C Love...a fast glance over your english lesson to Mr. Zeiler led me to find 11 grammatical errors...Get the red pen out and grade yourself before preaching to others about the correct way for a blogger to express him or herself...this was a blog entry not a children's vocabulary lesson..ps "dissed" is in the dictionary; therefore, it is an acceptable term.

Posted by: c | January 18, 2008 10:37 PM

Uh, sorry. Loathing Vista doesn't mean loving XP. These people have chosen something that works over something that doesn't.

If they are forced to abandon XP, many will abandon Microsoft for good.

And Leopard will be waiting.

Posted by: GP | January 19, 2008 12:32 AM

Bob, you write: "Unlike Vista, XP is the only OS that will work with virtually everything. That's why a lot of people love it."

XP? Didn't you mean Linux?

John Davis

Posted by: John Davis | January 19, 2008 1:19 AM

Leopard?
No, everyone knows that Microsoft alway produces crap OS's. But everyone also knows that they get better over time. XP was crap, but now people love it. 98 was crap, it got better. Vista is crap but I have no doubt that it will get better

And even if this is not true, your forgetting that Mac now has other competition, and on Youtube it has built up its own advertising campaign.

Posted by: Simon | January 19, 2008 8:14 AM

I wonder how the OS market of those who actually know, choose, and buy their OS breaks out. This research suggests that "choosers" maybe buy OSX at a higher ratio than the OS market as a whole.

Posted by: Steve | January 19, 2008 10:39 AM

John Davis, when I say "everything" I mean everything... that includes software... sorry, Linux is nice and very compatible with hardware (now) but even with virtual machines you still can't run virtually anything.

Posted by: Bob | January 20, 2008 6:49 AM

Bob,

its obvious...my post was over your head.

Please argue the substance.

Im not picking on your buddy....just making a point

Thanks again Bob!

Posted by: C Love | January 20, 2008 5:02 PM

...i'm a bit leery of satisfaction surveys done within the first year, let alone the first 3 months.

Like a new car, everyone is excited about it, but give it time and the real feeling comes out.

Like how GM has 85%+ satisfaction rating but make crappy cars.

Posted by: tomax7 | February 3, 2008 7:33 PM