Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference in San Francisco, Mr. Oppenheimer commented “We really have simplified the installation process in such a way we donit think itis a deterrent to sales.”
Mac OS X 10.5, due sometime this spring, will likely help boost Appleis bottom line. Typically, Mac software sales slow leading up to a new operating system release. After the release, however, sales jump dramatically. “The last [Mac OS X] release, in its first quarter we had $100 million of OS sales,” he said.
Should consumers feel that Windows Vista offers superior features and security, some experts feel that may sway them away from considering a Mac. Mr. Oppenheimer responded “I donit really see Vista as a threat.”
“In the time that it took Microsoft to develop Vista, weive come out with five releases of Mac OS X. We think we have the gold standard in operating systems,” he said. “We believe we have the superior OS in the market today, and Leopard will only extend that.”