Microsoft Blasts “Apple Tax” Again?

microsoft_logoOnce again, Microsoft has made an official statement to criticize Apple for its alleged “Apple tax,” a higher retail cost for computers which otherwise have the same specifications as a Windows system. In an e-mail sent to journalists this week, Microsoft argues that a low-end Mac mini is approximately 16 percent ($100) more costly than an equivalent PC, while a low-end iMac is 25 percent ($300) more expensive.

Though this statement might have some truth to it when comparing physical hardware specifications, there are a few more things that buyers should take into consideration before believing this propaganda. Read more…

An Amusing Diversion

Since Apple’s announcement of the MacBook Air back in January, it seems to be the machine that people love to hate. The design of the machine is absolutely amazing, but the innovative design sacrifices some of the functionality that people have come to expect on a laptop. As an alternative to the MacBook Air, PC maker Lenovo introduced a new model to add to their lineup called the X300. The X300 is a little slower and larger than the MacBook Air, but it does include a few of the things that Apple had to sacrifice. To help drive these selling points home, Lenovo recently posted an ad Parody on YouTube. This is great…

My opinion? Given all of its limitations, I still like the MacBook Air. I just find it amusing that not only are companies doing everything in their power to duplicate machine designs and technology from Apple, but now, they are borrowing from the minds of their creative marketing teams as well. I guess some things never change, do they?

iPhones in the Enterprise? Coming Soon…

iphone_handIn a town-hall style meeting today, Apple announced their intentions of releasing version 2.0 of the firmware for the iPhone in June. This new firmware release would feature support for Microsoft Exchange’s ActiveSync protocol and several industry-standard corporate security standards. ActiveSync support will include not only ‘Push’ email for immediate delivery, but will also feature contact and calendar synchronization for Exchange users. iPhone 2.0 also offers certificates and identities, WPA2/802.1x support, enforced security policies, more VPN protocols, device configuration, and ‘remote wipe’ functionality to delete data on lost or stolen iPhones.

Since its release in June of 2007, the iPhone has been widely criticized for its lack of support of enterprise features. This announcement, though it comes as no surprise to many people, should now allow the iPhone to effectively compete against Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices in corporate settings. Like many others, I can’t wait to get my hands on iPhone 2.0!

Leopard: First Impressions

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Well, I have now reached the 12-hour mark with Leopard and thought that I would make a few comments about my first impressions. As many people know, I have been patiently waiting for Leopard for some time now, and from what I can tell, it was worth every minute. With over 300 new and improved features in Leopard, it’s going to take a lot more than a 12-hour period to examine everything, but so far, I am not disappointed.

Read more…

Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard Announcement

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Apple has finally announced the release date for the next generation of Max OS X v10.5, named Leopard. Leopard will hit hit shelves on October 26th, 2007 and pre-orders are now being accepted at the Apple Store with free delivery.

I think I’m going to be staring at the door until FedEx knocks.

Optimized for iPhone

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To coincide with the redesign of BurnedOutGeek.com, I have enabled a template that properly formats the site for the Apple iPhone as well as the iPod Touch.  Even though these devices will render the “normal” version of the site, as most iPhone owners know, a view that is optimized for the correct screen width and lower bandwidth is quite nice. iPhone owners rejoice!

Blackberry users?  Umm… resume whatever it was that you were doing.

iPod Video… The Verdict

Well, I finally did it. I broke down and bought one of the new iPod Video devices. When they were originally introduced, even though it was a cool toy, and definitely the coolest new geek toy of the year, I really wasn’t impressed enough to make the jump and to be really honest, I just didn’t see the benefit of spending $400 on another toy. Boy, was I wrong. Maybe I shouldn’t listen to my own logic sometimes.

When I went to finally make the plunge into the newest 5th generation iPod, I was rather torn between the 30Gb and 60Gb versions. The cost difference of $100 was just enough of a difference to make me debate whether or not I would actually utilize the extra space. At the end of the day, being the true geek that I am, I opted for the larger 60Gb version.

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