This is because long ago there was the Apple Macintosh and the IBM Personal Computer. So things that were “PC compatible” were not Macs. So the term got applied to Windows stuff. It’s not used very much now, but that article is from 2007.
So while it’s correct terminology to say Windows are PCs and Macs aren’t, it’s pretty outdated and another example of his failure to be recent on tech trends. I don’t think I’ve used the term PC to mean Windows since 2020 at least. Probably longer.
PC absolutely has to do with the OS in certain contexts. Do you not remember the “Hi, I’m a Mac.” “And I’m a PC.” Line of commercials?
Example of the usage: https://www.computerworld.com/article/1568544/mac-vs-pc-cost-analysis-how-does-it-all-add-up.html
This is because long ago there was the Apple Macintosh and the IBM Personal Computer. So things that were “PC compatible” were not Macs. So the term got applied to Windows stuff. It’s not used very much now, but that article is from 2007.
So while it’s correct terminology to say Windows are PCs and Macs aren’t, it’s pretty outdated and another example of his failure to be recent on tech trends. I don’t think I’ve used the term PC to mean Windows since 2020 at least. Probably longer.
I do remember those ads but I did not know about the IBM Personal Computer distinction, to be honest. Thanks for the added context!