How to Beat Apple

I am a long time Mac user, going on a little over 3 years as of today. I have been very satisfied with the entire Mac experience. One thing that blew me away when I got my first Mac was that I didn't have to download printer or scanner drivers. Every version of Windows, at that point in time, had required my to physically download and install the drivers for both my printer and scanner. There were a myriad of these “gee whiz” moments. Another example of a “gee whiz” moment is when I realized that my Mac was the first computer that could open a MS Word Doc without downloading more software.

As Apple gobbles up more and more mind share there are going to be problems with lack of competition, and that concerns me. Competition drives innovation. More companies need to be more competitive with Apple. I have been trying to formulate ideas on how to “beat” Apple.

Microsoft should do A or B immediately:

A.  Don't allow Windows 8 to run on Mac hardware.
B.  Get a vendor to build a virtual machine, similar to Parallels, to run Mac OS X.

Microsoft should bundle the equivalent of Dropbox as part of Windows 8. I have heard talk of this for Windows 8 but am not sure if it’s going to be there. Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony should release an open platform handheld video game system that has a controller, stylus pad, and/or touch screen like the Nintendo DS.

I have really struggled with coming up with ideas on how to beat Apple. How do you think Apple can be “beat”?