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Microsoft Year-End Report Card: B-



Well, Redmond, it's been a funny year, hasn't it? Even if you ignore those Apple commercials, it's hard to ignore the fact that Vista was probably one of the main reasons people switched to the Mac OS, or to third-party Linux-based systems. We'll get to the big V—and that other mighty stain Windows Mobile—in a bit, but first you deserve much credit for some impressive feats in gaming, entertainment and home networking.

Xbox 360: A-
Microsoft, you have to be happy as hell that you pushed Xbox 360 out of the gate a year before the PS3 and the Wii. Console sales have been great, staying ahead of Sony and only recently challenged by Nintendo. This is fueled by two factors: a better selection of hot games like Halo 3 and BioShock and the only real implementation of live online gaming in the console world. The Xbox Live community has even allowed you to pilot programs for HD video downloading and all sorts of other media treats that make Sony (and Apple) nervous. Sadly for HD DVD buffs, compatibility with that format is not one of the selling points, or you would have included it in your recently revamped HDMI-equipped 1080p Xbox 360 Elite.

Performance aside, I would say that the only mark against you on this front is the hardware itself. I personally would like some kind of Xbox 360 Ultimate with integrated with HD DVD, but even if that doesn't happen, it's still pretty noisy, and the Red Rings of Death are getting to be more than just a clever punchline.

Zune 2: B+
The Zune is one of those products that gets shat on just for being what it is, but the first one really was a weak contender. Why start with an HDD player when, in 2006, flash-memory giant SanDisk shook Apple to the core with an affordable low-frills nano challenger? Apple owned the higher-end hard-drive based media-player market, but could be challenged more easily in flash memory. Still, I'll admit that as of June, the Zune share was something around a respectable 11%.

Fast forward to October, and you get it much closer to the bull's-eye, with a flash player in four non-brown colors, plus wireless syncing and a slightly more lenient over-the-air sharing policy. Missing were two key customer demands: the ability to purchase songs over Wi-Fi, and the availability of movies and TV shows in the online Zune Marketplace.

The absence of those features wouldn't have been such a trauma if it weren't for the fact that Apple's iPod touch, which lets users buy songs over the air, had just arrived in stores, while the iPhone got an upgrade to do the same. Ironically, sales of your thin new 80GB player may be boosted by some frustrations with the iPod classic, which was introduced at the same time.

We're still a long way from seeing many Zunes in subways, and even longer off from that great social day when strangers are sharing Zune tracks on those same subways. My own personal opinion is "yawn" but I'm not going to begrudge you your successful attempt to jump well into the middle of the non-iPod pack.

Windows Home Server: A-
When I first peeped the WHS this past summer, I was impressed by the wealth of features it presented, such as smooth network file sharing, centralized daily backups and web-based remote access. The "media furnace" concept has always appealed to me, and it was nice to see Microsoft's server division creating a home product that didn't seem to have all of the emotional and technical baggage of the Windows franchise. Beta response was overwhelmingly positive, and it appeared a slam dunk was in order. Though I had my minor troubles in testing it, the platform itself is getting rave reviews. Lately, I've heard talk from both inside Microsoft and just outside of it that the next WHS might even offer full support to Macs as well, just thing thing for hybrid homes like mine.

Windows Vista: D
Let's cut the blather about new functionality and early-adoption growing pains and all that: New operating systems are supposed to run smoother than older ones. In my own life, three Vista machines proved unable to meet the mobile rigors of blogging in the field. I had used both Macs and PCs for years, but my primary devices had been PCs. Unable to find a Windows laptop that could hold up, I turned to a certain machine with the initials MBP, and can report zero regrets to date, even with the impulsive day-of update to Leopard.

Let me repeat that, so any people who accuse me of fanboyism can wrap their heads around it: I was trying hard to find a Windows machine that I could work on. I tested a handful of them, all without satisfactory results. Then, and only then, did I switch to a Mac for full-time use. Incidentally, my dad switched, too, and is enjoying his new iMac.

You can blame the OEMs for the troubles, but they blame you: In recent my conversations with execs from big PC makers, one said that the good news about Apple gaining market share is that maybe, just maybe, Microsoft would "get the picture" and work harder to build a better product. Just yesterday, another exec told me that customers were "crying like schoolgirls" to get XP put back onto shipped Vista machines.

Windows Mobile: D
My feelings about Windows Mobile were best expressed in a sentence from my hastily written Motorola Q9m mini-review: "Seriously, if you buy this phone, you are dumb." Frustrated as I've become with the platform, I turned to the coolest head I know—Jason Chen—for a reality check, but his thorough, non-biased evaluation of Windows Mobile proved almost all of my gut instincts correct. WM6 is not the improvement that was needed to fix what's broken, and it doesn't look like that will come now until at least WM8. Thanks for the heads-up, Microsoft, but telling us to wait that long for something that has the features commonly found in Treos, BlackBerrys and yes, iPhones, is not very alluring.

Like I said, this has not been the easiest year for you, but then again, out of some unexpected places came some against-all-odds victories, and you should be proud. Just please, for the love of all things holy, get crackin' on an OS that might convince the switchers that you haven't just given up. By the by, I'm really looking forward to the new Office... for Mac.

Final Grade: B-

Sony Year-End Report Card: B+



Although Sony makes everything from music players to phones to robots to computers to movies, the biggest news of 2007 was made in its gaming and TV lines. Sure, we liked Sony Ericsson W- and K-series' flashy designs and were proud that Vaio PCs joined the increasingly crowded CableCARD home-theater PC market, but nothing topped the PlayStation 3, PSP and Bravia TVs for news coverage or everyday impact. So how did Sony do? Pretty darn well, proving that its learned its lessons from the rootkit massacre of 2005/2006, and that bit of news about exploding batteries.

The PlayStation 3 kicked off a surprisingly strong year with the introduction of folding@home, an app intended to distract people from the thin library of games. If you can't play Final Fantasy, the least you could do is help cure Parkinsons. Then there's the upcoming Second Life-esque Home, along with web browsing and installing Linux—activities which occupy the time that you could be spent gaming.

Good news continued as Sony's XBR5 and XBR4 series of LCD TVs rolled out to critical acclaim. Even the killing off of its rear-projection TVs represented a forward-looking move, and another example of Sony owning up to its problems. We'll miss the 70-inch 70XBR5 for a little while, but by this time next year we'll probably be dazzled by some other sweet set. If Sony still knows how to do one thing, it's manufacture quality hardware.

...But if Sony knows how to do two things, it's make proprietary formats that nobody likes, as evidenced by their killing off the ATRAC format. We're glad to see it go, but many consumers are still peeved at having it forced down their meat hole all these years.

Things were looking good on the home front as the slimmed-down second edition of the PSP sold 1 million in only two months. I even pondered aloud that the PSP might even be able to catch up to the DS someday, although that was somewhat of a fantasy situation.

Sony did manage to beat the Nintendo Wii in sales for four straight weeks, something nobody thought could be done without some sort of Metal Gear Solid or Final Fantasy injection. Are the hardcore gamers in Japan finally warming up to the PS3 because of its media functionality, or are they snapping it up because of the recent influx of decent games? Probably both.

Despite all the improvements the PS3 has had this year, Sony still managed to slap consumers with one hand while taking money from them with the other. Of course, we're talking about the gradual elimination of backward compatibility. It was first reduced to software-only emulation on the 80GB system, and then eliminated entirely on the 40GB version. If you can't play PS2 games, you're gonna have to buy our PS3 games! Right?

Sony's Blu-ray format pulled out a sizeable lead in 2007 over the rival HD DVD, even though Sony's own CEO Howard Stringer says that the fight isn't that important and the two sides are in a stalemate. Nevertheless, the fact that Blu-ray is kicking butts in terms of players in homes (thanks to the PS3) and titles sold bodes well for the format.

Don't think Sony could pull out an untarnished victory, as Blu-ray wasn't without its gaffes for the year. Not only were there compatibility problems between different Blu-ray players when playing back discs, it happened multiple times. Then there's that whole BD Profile 1.1 mess: bottom line, Sony's standalone players don't support the latest interactive discs, even ones being released by Sony's own home video division. People have to buy a Panasonic (or update the firmware on their PS3) for compatibility.

Overall, they've had a good year. We've seen good product releases from all over the consumer electronics spectrum with no crazy rootkit scandal to speak of. The PlayStation 3 and PSP are finally gaining steam, and the Blu-ray format seems to be doing well for itself. If it weren't for the missteps, Sony would have received an A—but a B+ is nothing to be ashamed of.

Final Grade: B+

Nintendo Year-End Report Card: A-



It's been a gigantic year for Nintendo. It reclaimed the living room console throne for the first time in forever with the Wii, and continued to dominate the portable gaming space with its DS. But how did it do on a scale of A to F? Did it earn good marks for quality games or did it get points off for the fact that it's had a little problem with truancy? Here's how we graded.

• Things were looking up for the Wii at the start of the year after it completely sold out during the holidays—but it still managed to lose to the Xbox 360 in overall sales due to the fact that there weren't enough units available.

• Gut-check time for Nintendo as the first modchip became available in February. Would its laissez-faire attitude toward piracy on the DS and Wii continue to bite Nintendo in the ass? After all, there was little incentive to not mod your Wii since there's no punishment, like withholding Xbox Live service from pirate users for. Someone could just disconnect a system from the network and run all the free Wii games he likes.

• More bad news for Wii owners when Nintendo announces that there will be no third-party online games until the end of the year. This might seem to doom the Wii to the fate of the GameCube—great first-party support and yet utter lack of third-party support—but that doesn't seem to be the case. Third-party developers and publishers are falling over themselves to get stuff on the console that , at least in Japan, has already passed the GameCube in lifetime sales.

• Along with third-party software manufacturers, hardware manufacturers were also getting in on this motion-sensing gravy train. The Nyko Wii Party Station is only one of many Wii accessories we saw this year.

• Although Wiis were selling faster than they could make 'em, E3 brought a big upswing in interest as Nintendo unveiled the Wii Fit. Emphasizing a focus on casual gamers while still playing lip-service to hardcore fans, Ninty showed yet another clever means to get people who don't normally play games into its corner. It's still working, though the Wii Fit won't be out 'til the spring.

• The Xbox 360 finally bowed down to the Wii in overall sales in September, despite having been on the market about a year longer.

• Showing that this Christmas season will be as strong as the last for the big N, the DS set a game console sales record for Thanksgiving week at 653,000 units purchased.

• And, to top everything off, there's the fact that Wiis are still very hard to find. Not only is it the most talked about Christmas item for two years running, it's been the most talked about year-round item as well.

So here's how Nintendo did. Sales are phenomenal for both the Wii and DS, even while features were fairly few and far between. Sure, it announced DS Demo downloads and a upcoming developer channel for homebrew-ish games, but they aren't here now. And speaking of games, once you get past the first-party titles for the Wii like Super Mario Galaxy and every other game that has Mario in it, the library looks a bit thin. The DS, however, looks as strong as ever.

A Exhibits positive self image (Strong sales)
B+ Seeks help when appropriate (Let third-party developers in)
B- Focuses on task at hand (Interesting games, though not enough of them)
C Doesn't play well with others (Weak online support; friend codes are a joke on both Wii and DS)
C Tendency towards truancy (Hard to find in stores)
B+ Shows adequate attention (They're ramping up production, they promise)
B+ Makes responsible choices (Didn't can Manhunt 2)
A- Finishes required tasks (Got Mario Galaxy out the door)

Overall: A-

不错，sony居然能和ms打平。。。愉快愉快。

我就是因为实在受不了windows而今年投靠了mac os的人。。

[ 本帖最后由 江户川柯南 于 2007-12-28 05:23 编辑 ]

俺不懂鸟语~哪位好心的翻译下

MAC OS如果是从事设计编辑方面的工作的话真的不错，家用的话软件太少了。。。

老任为什么才A-?
还以为是AA或S呢

老任供货没跟上吧。

估计老任供货不足，惹的大众不满吧！！！

R版:建议第一张图片换一下,我还是觉得老门比较帅气

因为SCEA还存在，否则就是A+了。

业精于专，所以老任成功是应该的

引用:

原帖由 江户川柯南 于 2007-12-28 05:21 发表
我就是因为实在受不了windows而今年投靠了mac os的人。。

VISTA不错的说

引用:

原帖由 金碧辉煌 于 2007-12-28 19:53 发表

VISTA不错的说

支持一下，的确不错~~

VISTA就是那渣中渣
出SP2之前我是不会考虑它了

:D 我觉得说VISTA是渣中渣的...心态真有问题...

不过算了~我自己也没在用..不过明年换新机器就要上了~用过朋友的~感觉很好..

MAC我有本子~虽然还算不错~但不觉得多好~吹到神化的省省吧..

LIUNX~服务器用的就是~感觉也没多好~~不过比UNIX舒服些...感觉..还有台服务器在用WIN2000ADV SERVER版~..觉得也一般..

XP...凑合用吧~内存大点~优化好了还是很方便..现在期待的是SP3..

WINDOWS不是多好~但是说他渣.我找不到理由~自己使用问题就说渣.?

每个系统都有自己的优点~认识不到就全盘否定?

看着就恶心~

[ 本帖最后由 灵り魂 于 2007-12-28 23:22 编辑 ]