4 ms·

I don't think that MS and Apple hates each other (by MS and Apple I'm thinking about leadership and the general sentiment among engineers). But I'm pretty sure

I don't think that MS and Apple hates each other (by MS and Apple I'm thinking about leadership and the general sentiment among engineers). But I'm pretty sure that MS and Apple hates everything Google.

ahomescu1 12y ago
I don't know, but they are competitors in one huge market: desktop computers (sort of) and operating systems. If there's one company that's successfully taking down Windows, that's Apple (with Mac OS X).
- ForHackernews 12y ago
  > I don't know, but they are competitors in one huge market: desktop computers (sort of) and operating systems. Kind of, but not really. Apple gives its operating system away for free, and sells hardware. Microsoft sells its operating system to OEMs and business customers. They aren't directly competing in the way that Coke and Pepsi are. And Windows (of some version) still has >90% market share for desktop OSes, so OSX is not a credible threat to Microsoft in that space. Microsoft's biggest obstacle in the desktop OS space is Windows XP.
  - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
    OS X is a credible threat to Microsoft in the high end desktop market, which is the only place where its OEMs can make money (and are not making money right now); the Windows ecosystem can't survive with 90% marketshare but only 40% profit share. But Apple is more concerned these days in selling iPhones, which makes them a lot of money. And Microsoft wants in on that (disclosure: Microsoft employee, but speaking for myself).
    - retroencabulato 12y ago
      No one in Silicon Valley gives a crap about desktops, all the growth is in mobile.
nathantotten 12y ago
I recently left Microsoft for a startup, but spent about 4 years there on several teams. From my experience nobody really hates anyone. The tech industry is still a fairly small community. Most everybody has friends who work at all the competitors and a significant amount of people have worked at several of the big companies. So while everyone competes, I don't think hate is the right word. Generally, the fanaticism in HN comments is much stronger than the sentiment of anyone actually working at these places.
guardian5x 12y ago
I don't think that MS hates Google so much, at least they are releasing Office for Android. Google on the other side, tries not only doesn't support Windows Phone, they also try to prevent MS themselfs to offer Google Support, like being seen on the Youtube App.

ahomescu1 12y ago

I don't know, but they are competitors in one huge market: desktop computers (sort of) and operating systems. If there's one company that's successfully taking down Windows, that's Apple (with Mac OS X).

ForHackernews 12y ago
> I don't know, but they are competitors in one huge market: desktop computers (sort of) and operating systems. Kind of, but not really. Apple gives its operating system away for free, and sells hardware. Microsoft sells its operating system to OEMs and business customers. They aren't directly competing in the way that Coke and Pepsi are. And Windows (of some version) still has >90% market share for desktop OSes, so OSX is not a credible threat to Microsoft in that space. Microsoft's biggest obstacle in the desktop OS space is Windows XP.
- seanmcdirmid 12y ago
  OS X is a credible threat to Microsoft in the high end desktop market, which is the only place where its OEMs can make money (and are not making money right now); the Windows ecosystem can't survive with 90% marketshare but only 40% profit share. But Apple is more concerned these days in selling iPhones, which makes them a lot of money. And Microsoft wants in on that (disclosure: Microsoft employee, but speaking for myself).
  - retroencabulato 12y ago
    No one in Silicon Valley gives a crap about desktops, all the growth is in mobile.

nathantotten 12y ago

I recently left Microsoft for a startup, but spent about 4 years there on several teams. From my experience nobody really hates anyone. The tech industry is still a fairly small community. Most everybody has friends who work at all the competitors and a significant amount of people have worked at several of the big companies. So while everyone competes, I don't think hate is the right word. Generally, the fanaticism in HN comments is much stronger than the sentiment of anyone actually working at these places.

guardian5x 12y ago

I don't think that MS hates Google so much, at least they are releasing Office for Android. Google on the other side, tries not only doesn't support Windows Phone, they also try to prevent MS themselfs to offer Google Support, like being seen on the Youtube App.