Intel Mac Attack -- Redmondmag.com

Intel Mac Attack

By Doug Barney
01/12/2006

This could be the beginning of something cool, but unfortunately so far is only semi-swell. Apple this week announced its first two Intel-powered Macs. I’m in the market for a third Mac laptop (this one for me) and was hoping for some financial relief. Unfortunately the new dual-core MacBook starts at two grand: I could buy four HPs for that price! The MacBook looks pretty sweet with loads of add-on video software, and it promises to be plenty fast. But a $2,000 laptop is not a tipping point that could dismantle Windows desktop hegemony -- only well-healed, anti-establishment types will be picking up this puppy. Based upon recent Internet browser share numbers, Apple has about 3 percent market share; a line of low-cost, Intel Macs could turn this into a real number. Are you eyeing a Mac these days? Let me know at [email protected].

IE Going Down Slowly
Internet Explorer has had a good run. After brushing aside Netscape by making the browser a mandatory part of Windows, IE’s share soared -- as close to 100 percent as you can get without utterly eliminating all competitors. But not all was perfect in IE land, and competitors ultimately moved to open source and built browsers that actually take real brains to hack. All that has moved Firefox’s share to almost 10 percent. Of course, Redmond magazine has been advising the move to Firefox (or any Mozilla-based browser) for a while now. What’s your favorite browser? Let me know at [email protected].

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About the Author

Doug Barney is editor in chief of Redmond magazine and the VP, editorial director of Redmond Media Group.

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