Comments on: Can Microsoft Save Itself, Or Is It Too Late?

By: Rob Whiter

Rob Whiter — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:18:18 +0000

Whow some remarkably emotional perspectives here, for my part I have been closely associated with the rise of Microsoft from the mid 80’s and you know I think that Vista is the tipping point for them. That by the way is not handing the baton to Mac or anyone else for that matter BUT MS has missed the mark with Vista. It is simple really when I look at Windows the reason it prospered in the formative days was simple its gave us what we needed to do our work easier and faster at an affordable price. Today ALL products pass the affordable price test … not so in the days of Windows 3.x Mac for example was 3 times or more the cost.

Now three years ago I invested in one of the early iMacs mainly for the children and as a bit of an experiment to see if this thing really offers a practical computer… 3 years later I have no Win32 PC’s left only one old Windows 2000 Server sits in my office “in case” of an emergency ..

I have not even tested Vista and probably now never will why … simple I dont need it my company supports Mac OS and Win32 equally and I tell you my Macs are better than my last PC a Dell laptop

They let me do my work with less fuss and less cost … yes cost even tho up front they still carry a small premium they cost less in time lost and time spent in maintaining them

MS has massive momentum in the market and any decline will be slow and there is still time for them to reverse the problems with Vista BUT in my 20 odd years of watching our industry from the inside I have noticed that once a Corporate Culture gets in place in a company it is rare than it can be extracted .. and for MS to “let go” of the Win32 ethos … well I don’t know if they can

Lets face it when was the last time you upgraded you PC and on starting to use it said to yourself “Man thats huge now I can do……”

I remember mine : …. it was Windows 3.1 and Excel and Word 2.0a in 1989 ish …. OLE its still to my mind Microsoft’s greatest contribution to desktop productivity to date.

Hey on a lighter note any Zimbra users here … ?

By: mangiaphoto

mangiaphoto — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:23:24 +0000

Very nice post but think about next couple things.

- Vista is installed on almost 99% new computers in America or Canada.
- All manufacturer buy the license for you and you pay for it.
- In next 2-3 years we will replace our computers with the new ones and here we go. We will have Vista and we don’t need it.

Over and out

By: geosite

geosite — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 05:09:53 +0000

Public relations is vital to any corporation’s sucess, and Microsoft has created one of the biggest public relations nightmares in history. Like a chicken with its head cut off, Microsoft runs frome one gaffe or disaster to another – Vista, Zune, a failed attempt to assimilate Yahoo, that bizarre “Earth is flat” ad and on and on.

Billysoft has invested so much in convincing the world that Bill Gates is a philanthropist, which is supposed to somehow make us forget all his past — uh, “transgressions.” But if the general public learns the truth about the Gates Foundation, then I suspect we’re going to hear the gnashing of teeth at Microsoft headquarters.

In the meantime, the Mac’s market share has reportedly reached 8.5% – nearly a three-fold increase from over just a few years ago. Once it reaches 10%, it’s going to make even bigger, bolder headlines. And with Apple’s reputation for innovation (and a relative lack of scandal), that’s going to add up to sales curve that could increase sharply.

By: Stormrider

Stormrider — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:41:00 +0000

Consumer Reports lists “thinking your Mac shields you from all risks” as one of the seven biggest online blunders that expose surfers to risk online.

Says it all :D

By: faramarz

faramarz — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:14:38 +0000

For years, I have tried to switch from Microsoft to another OS. I tried many different OSes. Linux was the best but not for a desktop PC, I prefer to use it on a server and access it through my trusty putty terminal on my good old gateway laptop running windows XP. I have tried vista, I liked it but still there are not enough reasons to make me switch. I have seen Mac OS and liked it very much, i think my new laptop would be a mac, not because mac is cooler, or has more features or because microsoft is corrupted and evil, simply because it would runs vista and linux too, so I won’t have a problem to switch if I ever wanted to.
Apple has the eye candy and is using it against microsoft. But I don’t think that microsoft is going to be in trouble for that.
No matter how many ad campaigns apple organises, Microsoft will be dominating the desktop and laptop operating system market for years to come, because major pc manufacturers almost don’t have any other choice for choosing their OS from. The only other choice they have is Linux. Linux is admirable on servers, but desktop is a very different battleground.
Microsoft has a big bonus, it is the devil you know!

By: Stormrider

Stormrider — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:20:42 +0000

Oh and as for secure, Apple are pretty awful at patching their products, far more than anyone else. OSX DOES have problems, as does unix (like the whole Debian random number generator fiasco a few months ago), and Apple customer service is amongst the worst I have ever used.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/01/osx_still_vulnerable/

By: Stormrider

Stormrider — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:18:52 +0000

the fun part is the real smart people are useing mac osx10 with there pc allready
its known as a hackintosh – and as long as you purchase osx10 retail from apple – ya fully legal in my books

No, it still isn’t legal even if you buy OSX, you can only run it on Apple hardware. Macs are basically a dumbed down version of unix, with an awful and outdated filesystem. If you are a power user, its just a bit rubbish really, it is a watered down OS for people who don’t know how to use a computer.

The rest of your post just shows how little you know about Vista, Microsoft and the state of various operating system in general.

By: Sargon

Sargon — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:23:56 +0000

Yes, this article should have been titled, “Can Microsoft Save Vista”. I was prepared to write a complete diatribe of how failed Microsoft could save itself – not just Vista, that is only a small fraction of a greater problem.

By: ElvIsAlive

ElvIsAlive — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 15:42:25 +0000

the fun part is the real smart people are useing mac osx10 with there pc allready
its known as a hackintosh – and as long as you purchase osx10 retail from apple – ya fully legal in my books
intel wont upgrade to vista is the final nail in the coffin for msoft
if you buy a ipod or iphone ya end up needed ox10

why do you think bill gates run away from msoft, he not dumb or is he
its steve jobs turn and he winning big time

clever steve got the hackers working out the pc part driver problems for the last 4 years

os x 10 go no virus problems and ya dont get hacked on the net – osx10 is sitting on top of unix and thats what the isp useing

so expect ya internet to fly fast with osx10 and it does too

apple must signed a agreement not to release osx10 to pc users for 5 years when msoft and ibm saved the company

but that did not stop the hackers modding osx10 to work on ya pc perfect and fully able to now load osx10 cd orignal on a pc

too funny hey what ya know and what ya dont know hahaha vista is real crap and osx10 is way way ahead.

apple are going to kill them – to hackintosh ya pc goto and leo4all does it without any command line crap

just remmber to buy a orignal osx10 cd from apple and enjoy .

By: Srirangan

Srirangan — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:42:33 +0000

Apple won the OSX vs Vista battle. Their campaign was incredibly destructive for MS’s new OS in the eyes of the public – e.g. people (companies ARE made up of people y’know.)

Have they? Let’s see which sells more. I’m putting my money on Vista. :)

PS: I’m sorry if I am coming off as “confrontational”. Not my intention.