Does Microsoft Care More About You Than Apple?

Engadget has a good writeup on the differences between Apple and Windows on how they want to please their users. Basically, the writer says that Microsoft has historically wanted the love of their users. They go out of their way to listen to their users and develop functionality around what their users want. While I don’t find this to be consistently true (I don’t know anyone who wanted those annoying “personalized” menus), I have noticed that MS is much more empathetic to their customers than Apple.

The author goes on to mention that Apple tries to do the same, but is inevitably more authoritarian with their users. This isn’t really surprising, the only true competition Apple has is itself–they simply operate on an entirely different level than Microsoft. Steve Jobs is the dictator mastermind of his own little computer utopia. He simply has a level of control over Macs that Bill Gates will never have over Windows, let alone PC hardware.

This leads me to question why there are no true Windows zealouts as there are Mac zealouts. Taken as a sort of religion, Windows lacks a key icon like Steve Jobs for its fans to worship. While most everyone knows of Bill Gates, he certainly doesn’t carry the charisma that Jobs does. Just look at what Jobs did with the iPod Shuffle: Few could have marketed such a device, a music player without a screen, with the effectiveness of Jobs.

This, coupled with the larger install base of Windows, leads to the general negative opinion of Windows. Thus, I can only really consider myself a Windows apologist. Perhaps in a few years the public will be able to look back and see how much they owe Windows for bringing computers into the mainstream.

Switched On: The contractor and the architect