PC Magazine Shows its Macintosh Hand (a pair of nothing)

This is a rebuttal to a PC Magazine article that was so bad it was good (dugg)...

So, times are obviously good for the Macintosh. How does one know this?  Because even the people who should be trumpeting the virtues of Vista and Linux are clumsily falling all over themselves to praise the Mac.  Honestly, I haven’t read PC Magazine much.  I’ve spotted it in a few magazine racks and dentist offices with subscription cards falling out everywhere, but nothing ever interested me enough to pick one up or visit the website.

However, when trolling Digg for Macintosh news items, what should appear but a PC Magazine article written about the Macintosh entitled Apple’s Mac Set to Soar penned by Lance Ulanoff. After reading a few lines, it became clear that Ulanoff has never come within thirty feet of a Mac.  He starts off by mentioning the blather that Dvorak spewed a few weeks ago about liking the Mac or something.  Usually, when I see “Dvorak” in print, I immediately hit the back button or close the window – which has unfortunately left a void of information about this optimized keyboard layout thing..hmm digress time..  Anyway, this article was so bad it was getting good – in a “Amerika, we stand as One” or “Why must I cry” sort of way.

Why was this article so (bad it’s) good? Because it was becoming ever more apparent that this guy has very little computer, let alone Mac, experience. How does one know this?  Have a gander at this little gem:

The introduction of Intel chips has not made the Mac OS more susceptible to virus attacks, though I wonder what the experience is like running Windows with Boot Camp on a Mac. Has anyone gotten infected?

Where to start?  
1. Viruses are not CPU based?!  At least not yet anyway.  I don’t think there is one virus that has ever been written in low level machine code.  Kudos to whoever does – if it is ever done.

2. Asking if someone has gotten infected in Boot Camp shows that this author really has no idea what Boot Camp is.  For the uninformed (and unwilling to do 10 minutes of research), running Windows in Boot Camp is exactly like running Windows on a PC – except the hardware is prettier – meaning that you have the exact same susceptibility as a PC.  Even running Parallels or VMWare leaves you as susceptible.

Will there come a time when I recommend only Macs? No. But the day when Apple owns a much, much bigger slice of the computer-market pie is now within view. Let’s mark our calendars, shall we? I say that by Q1 2012, Apple will own 12 percent of the market. Anyone want to guess where it’ll be by 2025?

1. If you are asking this guy for a PC recommendation, you are in REALLY bad shape.  Stick with the typewriter.

2. Apple has been gaining market share for the last few years.  But 5 years from now?  Twelve percent of what market?  In five years, I would be surprised if anyone was still using desktop machines.   I am not saying we will all be using space cars, just that most people will probably be using their mobile phones/communicators for computing.  Will Apple have 12 percent of that market?  It is naive to try to equate things now and five years from now when the technology landscape will be infinitely different. Frankly I have no idea but I certainly will not be hedging my bets with PC Magazine.

A word to the wise, PC Magazine, stick to your guns (Windows/Linux) or hire someone who has some Macintosh experience. You aren’t doing yourself any favors by showing your

“triple core”

hand.