Windows 7 to trump Snow Leopard?

A revitalised Windows raises the bar for Apple's Snow Leopard, says Seb Janacek.

Apple reported record fourth quarter results this week, despite the recession and multiple reports of iPhone component shortages.

The iPhone's star continued to rise with sales up 41 per cent quarter-on-quarter.

However, it was Mac sales that must have truly pleased Apple shareholders, as the company reported a 17 per cent rise in sales based on the same period 12 months ago - far above the mean for PC sales.

Apple said Mac sales have been fuelled by demand for its latest Mac OS X release, Snow Leopard. The software has been selling at twice the rate of its predecessor Leopard, although this is hardly surprising given it's been retailing at about $100 less.

While Apple has benefitted from a strong hardware and software offering in recent years, it has also benefitted from a key piece of third party software - Windows Vista.

In some ways, Apple has had it easy in the years since Microsoft unveiled its 'Big Wow' which turned out to be more of a 'Big Meh'.

Windows 7 has more up its sleeve to scare Apple's Snow Leopard
(Photo credit: Robert Vamosi/CNET News.com)

Vista predecessor XP is now long in the tooth but remains the overwhelming choice of consumers and businesses alike. When one of the selling points of your new OS is the ability to downgrade to an earlier version, you know your product has critical problems.

With Apple carving its own destiny, Vista was manna from heaven to Steve Jobs and the rest of the Apple team. The perfect counterpoint to the increasingly elegant OS X, Vista was regularly sent up by Apple executives in events and in marketing.

The Get a Mac ads rubbed it in for years by pitching the cool Mac against the awkward but somewhat lovable PC.

However, now the PC has a far more compelling option - whisper it - something more akin to the Mac OS itself.

This week, Microsoft launches Windows 7 and consigns Vista to a footnote in Windows history.

According to reviews thus far, Windows 7 is a polished beast, slick and quick and a worthy contender for Mac OS X.

Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg, long an advocate of Apple products, compared Windows 7 favourably to Snow Leopard.

My own hands-on experience with Windows 7 has been fleeting but positive. The consensus from wider reviews seems to be that Windows 7 is 'Vista as it should have been'.

Performance in particular has been improved in the latest Windows - and the number of profoundly irritating system messages from the much-maligned User Account Control technology (which aimed to eliminate threats from malware) has been reduced.

It matters less that many of the features of Windows 7 are imitations of OS X. Microsoft has long had a successful strategy of taking the best features of competing products and repackaging them with its deft populist touch. Steve Jobs himself once said that great artists steal.

Aesthetics will matter little to corporate buyers for whom user experience is a trivial matter - then again, Apple has little interest in that space, with its focus on high bulk, low margin sales.

There are far richer pickings to be had elsewhere, as it's proved with its recession-busting plan of selling high-end kit.

While Windows 7 will undoubtedly provide a revitalised challenge for Apple in the consumer space, the Cupertino company is already preparing its next attack. According to reports, new consumer desktops and notebooks are due any time, ahead of the Christmas season.

Furthermore, Apple sees Windows 7 as an opportunity to sell more Macs and is preparing a new marketing campaign.

Brian Croll, Apple's vice president of Mac OS X worldwide product marketing, told silicon.com sister site CNET News.com: "Users are really growing tired of Windows and the headaches it brings... We've seen this with Vista, XP and the other Windows operating systems going all the way back."

He argues that Windows users will be put off moving to Windows 7 because of the troublesome upgrade path. In addition, the iLife software that comes bundled with every Mac offers a compelling suite of lifestyle apps for consumers, Croll added.

Expect to see the adverts anytime now and expect them to be well made and funny.

The problem for Apple? It's using much the same argument as it did with Vista but may find it harder to peddle the same line with Redmond's latest offering.