I don't get why Microsoft feels like it needs to compare PCs to Macs in their laptop hunter ads. Pitting the PC against the Mac doesn't do Microsoft any favors. First, any such comparison is basically going to come down to price. And for a company whose latest "Ultimate" product retails for $219.95 for an upgrade, the implication is, after you buy this laptop the next upgrade to Windows is going to cost you $$$. (A new copy of OS X costs $129. And a family pack-- 5 computers in the same household-- is just $199)

My Flat Panel iMac, which doubles as my home server, introduced by Apple over 7 years ago, is capable of running OS X 10.5 (Leopard) just as fast and as well as the OS that shipped with it: OS X 10.1.2 (That's right, four major versions ago).

When you set the expectation that cheap hardware is abundant, are people really going to feel like the OS upgrade is worth $200+? So does MS expect you not to upgrade the OS, and to just buy a new PC with each OS release?

So what was that about the Apple tax, again?

But this distracts from the broader point. If Microsoft is making $200-300 per copy of Vista Ultimate, why aren't they content to make the same amount with Microsoft Office for Mac? (yes, retail pricing for Office for Mac is in that ballpark)

Wither the Office for Mac ads that say "With Office for Mac, Microsoft brings the best of breed Office product to the Macintosh. So you no longer have to feel like a second class citizen on your preferred platform"?

And it's not just the Mac that Microsoft needs to rethink. They should consider if Microsoft Office for Linux can be profitable. And for that matter, IIS, Access and SQL Server for Mac and Linux too. Top it off with C# and the other developer tools. Why allow Linux and Mac developers to live in a completely different ecosystem? Why not enable them to use the tools and software they need to build software for any platform, using their tools?

Now some people will call me crazy, stating that Linux needs IIS like a fish needs a bicycle. The point is that that by focusing on trying to capture 95+% of the desktop market for Windows, that they are ignoring the fact that they already have a dominant position for Office products on the Mac, and if the execs at Microsoft are concerned about Linux (considering the FUD they've been spreading, they are) the strategy to make money on Linux is to embrace it, not to ignore it.

If I were at the helm of Microsoft, I'd insist on running it as if the antitrust suit to break it apart had succeeded. Let each division make the decisions about the marketplace that are in their best interests, and don't let one division (Windows with their laptop ads) snipe at the other (Mac BU, authors of Office for Mac).