Charlie, unfortunately it has nothing to do with how well you make your points. In the end, you are working for one of the companies whose products you are comparing and contrasting. The company I work for doesn't support a public blogging culture, but if it did and I was trying to compare one of our solutions with a competitor's, I would have to fully expect people to take my words with a softball-sized grain of salt. Would Matt Goyer been able to speak his mind as frankly and truthfully if he was still there (reference -- http://mediacenter.mattgoyer.com/archives/2006/12/08/1192)?

Please don't get me wrong. Teenage-level comments or other ad hominem attacks should hopefully be tuned out to the best of your ability (don't forget the first rule of blogging: Don't feed the trolls!), and your blog is the best place ANYWHERE to get the scoop on up and coming things with Media Center. It's just that your current position is far from ideal when making public comparisons on competing products.

I think your thoughts on Apple would be great but sadly as you predict the hordes would descend upon the blog and attempt to flay you with frothing mouths full of vitriol. It seems there are still a large number of Internet users unable to do anything but pick a side and doggedly defend it, unwilling to see the pros and cons of the other side or to even allow that someone with differing views may still be a good person and worthy of respect.

It's a pity because learning what a product maker thinks of their competitors is often very insightful. I worked on one project where I explained my position on our competitors and that both helped my clients understand where I was coming from as well as opened up some good dialogs on how to position my product better. Of course this wasn't an emotionally charged area like Apple vs. Microsoft, so people kept a level head.

i'd rather not hear about any Apple product ...
i'd rather hear how Media Center is being improved and what MCE is/will be bringing to the conversation of value.

As a member of the hoard, i apologize for my brethren. Some of them are well meaning but, after the lean years in the mid 90s, have become used to defending their choice tooth and nail. Some are just A**holes who have nothing better to do. Part of the problem is there is an amazing network of sites for apple users that allow us to find close to every typed word about apple. Most of these site post on their links to the articles the most inaccurate tidbit in it to draw people through the link and to have them post on the sites forum. I have been guilty in my younger years of pointing out only the flaws (That idiot does he/she not know that all you have to do to remove the apple drm legally is burn a cd). However, i would enjoy reading more of your bloggings on comparisons and so forth. the apple tv in my view is very limited in its usage at the moment... hopes for future functionality updates as apple has promised. though i am a die hard apple fan boy i do use MS to game on both consul and on computer, thanks to bootcamp for now. just to know my level of apple devotion, im a certified tech despite my primary work being graphic design. well i look forward to future updates on your blog, im off to game on my xbox 360 game tag goddog.

I think you should comment and compare and not worry about the perceived lack of objectivity by rabid MacFans. Most people I know who are PC users are unaware of the various multimedia features of the Microsoft platform and have only heard the constant chorus of PCs are for work and Macs are the only place for creativity. When I show someone MCE running on my work laptop, explain what it does, and then point out that the Windows platform has been doing things comperable to Apple TV for years they usually are amazed and want to know more. If nothing else posting your honest opinions in this area will at the very least increase site traffic ;-)

Dear Charlie,

'Signal to noise ratio.'

Despite being a dyed-in-the-Aqua Mac-man, I think I get your point.

I don't hate MS (though I did back in the Browser Wars days).

I watched the Bill and Steve chat (on iTunes) from D: All Things Digital the other day. I was really struck by the feeling that these guys DO NOT dislike each other.

Apple is the underdog.
Apple is a come-back kid.
Apple has undeniable style.
Apple = cool

Microsoft is a global power house.
Microsoft is one of the most successful companies in history.
Lots of incredibly talented people work at Microsoft.

Compared to Apple, Microsoft lacks fans and defenders.

Why?

Microsoft has created a lot of bad karma for itself in the past and appears to have completely changed its corporate culture a lot since. However, I don't think that this accounts completely for the 'signal to noise ratio' issue.

This is actually a really fascinating question and one that could be studied very deeply. I am sure that there are some very measurable dynamics at play here.

Charlie

Hi charlie,

lil bit off topic but I want to know if Aero theme and all the new cool stuff of Vista works properly on Macbook's Intel GMA 950 with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM. Thx.