Is Microsoft dying a slow death?

[Black Magic]

Check out this very interesting article: http://www.vanityfair.com/business/2...-steve-ballmer

What are your thoughts?

[tech4all]

I think I found their problem:

More than 150,000 techies and executives were swarming the city’s hotels last January in the annual bacchanalia of cutting-edge gizmos and gadgets. Attendees ran from one vendor to the next, snapping up fistfuls of freebies, inhaling flavored oxygen, and rubbing elbows with stars such as LL Cool J and Justin Bieber.

[stockscalper]

Is Microsoft dying a slow death?

I sure as hell hope so.

[G51989]

Originally Posted by stockscalper

Is Microsoft dying a slow death?

I sure as hell hope so.

Why would you hope for a company to go under? Tens of thousands of people out of work, billions in lost wealth as well. The loss of microsoft would be a massive blow to the tech world.

And no, Microsoft is not dying a slow death, they are number 1 in enterprise and business software, Office and windows are the standard in tons of industries, and the home.

They are still a very profitable company, and seem to be on the rebound, this artical isnt very objective.

Are they in a slump? sure. Apple almost went bankrupt, but they sprung back.

Microsoft was top dog for a very long time, and they arent anymore, but still succesful and very competive. Who would replace them in enterprise? Apple? Try deploying OSX on a large scale and have fun ripping your hair out when it takes 8 minutes to access a network drive lol.

Apple is king right now, and just like microsoft, they too will fall to 2nd or 3rd, or lower.

[spinedoc77]

Originally Posted by G51989

Why would you hope for a company to go under? Tens of thousands of people out of work, billions in lost wealth as well. The loss of microsoft would be a massive blow to the tech world.

And no, Microsoft is not dying a slow death, they are number 1 in enterprise and business software, Office and windows are the standard in tons of industries, and the home.

They are still a very profitable company, and seem to be on the rebound, this artical isnt very objective.

Are they in a slump? sure. Apple almost went bankrupt, but they sprung back.

Microsoft was top dog for a very long time, and they arent anymore, but still succesful and very competive. Who would replace them in enterprise? Apple? Try deploying OSX on a large scale and have fun ripping your hair out when it takes 8 minutes to access a network drive lol.

Apple is king right now, and just like microsoft, they too will fall to 2nd or 3rd, or lower.

I thought that was a weird answer as well. It's interesting how people personify companies as evil, or at odds with their companies altruistic intentions towards consumers.

Microsoft is taking chances at least, they are making some bad decisions but overall their strategy makes sense, they just have to streamline their strategy.

[Renzatic]

That article does a great job of explaining exactly why they went from top dog media darling to the state they're in now. MS has some of the smartest people in the industry working for them, but they were mismanaged to hell and back. They didn't allow their best people to do the best job they could because of internal politics, backstabbing, and...oh god...progress evaluations.

Tragic stuff really. Ballmer isn't what I'd call a stupid guy, but after reading those 6 pages, I can see why he isn't a good CEO.

[spinedoc77]

Originally Posted by Renzatic

That article does a great job of explaining exactly why they went from top dog media darling to the state they're in now. MS has some of the smartest people in the industry working for them, but they were mismanaged to hell and back. They didn't allow their best people to do the best job they could because of internal politics, backstabbing, and...oh god...progress evaluations.

Tragic stuff really. Ballmer isn't what I'd call a stupid guy, but after reading those 6 pages, I can see why he isn't a good CEO.

Yeah I lived thru the days of Pocket PC and Windows Mobile as a consumer. As consumers the outcry was huge on which direction to take that platform, MS could have completely cleaned up the smartphone market for 20 years, but they dropped the ball hard and Apple picked it up.

Even now with their Surface and Windows 8 strategy you can see through the unification many splinters to their strategy, some of it feels like different departments worked on their own strategy and only late in the game was a big strategy put into place.

[Dr McKay]

Damn, if making more and more money each year is the sign of a slow death.... Apple doesn't have long left...

[marc11]

Originally Posted by stockscalper

Is Microsoft dying a slow death?

I sure as hell hope so.

Do you live in ANY country that derives value directly or indirectly from Microsoft? That would be...to name just a few, PC mfgs, part mfgs, raw material mfgs, mining, programming, retail, third party support, in house IT staff, companies, banks, stores, government.....of which, the death of Microsoft would have a severe and negative impact on levels your mind cannot clearly comprehend. And not just direct impact but trickle down exponential impact...no to mentionthe good they do driving companies like Apple and Google to be where they are through competition.

Now, MS taking a hit and forcing them to rethink their products and redesign their products is a great thing for everyone. Evidenced by the thought and quality they put into Windows 7, Windows 8, latest Office and the new Surface tablets.

Yeah, having a company like MS fail is a good thing for everyone....maybe the most foolish thing I have ever read on this forum.

[Michael Goff]

Originally Posted by stockscalper

Is Microsoft dying a slow death?

I sure as hell hope so.

It'd be great if thousands of people lost their jobs and several markets lost competition?

[ReallyBigFeet]

Really good article. Thanks for sharing.

I still have my boxed copy of Windows 1.0 from 1985. I honestly believe they won't make it to Windows 10 with more than 25% market share of the OS market. Considering they have almost 85% today, I think they are just now entering their free fall phase.

[marc11]

Originally Posted by ReallyBigFeet

Really good article. Thanks for sharing.

I still have my boxed copy of Windows 1.0 from 1985. I honestly believe they won't make it to Windows 10 with more than 25% market share of the OS market. Considering they have almost 85% today, I think they are just now entering their free fall phase.

So you expect that over the next two to three years, nearly 75% of all home and more importantly businesses worldwide will not only switch PC's to Apple, but also train millions of users on a new OS, new Office products and also reprogram each and every intranet site, in-house programs and third party business applications that currently run under Windows to run under Mac? So billions of not trillions of dollars worldwide invested in this switch in just a couple of years? At the Apple preimum price point and IT costs? Riiiiiiight.

[beyondthepale35]

Some people do not realize how entrenched MS is in the enterprise world, you cant just flick a switch and have everyone change to Macs in a year. Anyone who works in a professional setting will tell you how thats not even a remote possibility. They have nothing to worry about, besides, where are all the people who always tout how competition is good and it drives Apple to innovate, etc. Why does everyone denounce the days of MS's monopolistic tendencies in the 90s and then want Apple to rule as the supreme leader of all of technology and repeat history? Makes no sense to me.

[Rodster]

Originally Posted by beyondthepale35

Why does everyone denounce the days of MS's monopolistic tendencies in the 90s and then want Apple to rule as the supreme leader of all of technology and repeat history? Makes no sense to me.

It's called

[ReallyBigFeet]

Originally Posted by marc11

So you expect that over the next two to three years, nearly 75% of all home and more importantly businesses worldwide will not only switch PC's to Apple, but also train millions of users on a new OS, new Office products and also reprogram each and every intranet site, in-house programs and third party business applications that currently run under Windows to run under Mac? So billions of not trillions of dollars worldwide invested in this switch in just a couple of years? At the Apple preimum price point and IT costs? Riiiiiiight.

Windows 7 released in 2009. Windows 8 in 2013. So no, I'm not talking two years. It could easily be 2018-2020 before we see Windows 10.....or it's renamed equivalent.

And nowhere did I say they'd lose the OS market to Apple.

But to say that Windows-driven PCs will be driving the global computing market in 2020? THAT is delusional thinking.

[marc11]

Originally Posted by ReallyBigFeet

Windows 7 released in 2009. Windows 8 in 2013. So no, I'm not talking two years. It could easily be 2018-2020 before we see Windows 10.....or it's renamed equivalent.

And nowhere did I say they'd lose the OS market to Apple.

But to say that Windows-driven PCs will be driving the global computing market in 2020? THAT is delusional thinking.

So now you know Microsofts release plans and you also know that Apple's growth will continue? And just how long do you think it takes to replace machines, train and rewrite core applications to a company on a global scale? And you think ALL this change will happen in under 8 years...yes under 8 years, because even if your are right with the release schedule, it will take 3 to 6 years to rewrite and redeploy programs and machines in most companies, which means they need to start in the next year or two...oh and THAT assumes nothing changes with the Apple OS and it further assumes somehow companies small and large can manage a partial transition over time with staff running partially Apple and partially MS. Not going to happen.

Will MS lose some marketshare, especially in the home and small business market, yes. Will Apple have 75% of the global PC market, home and business in 7 years? No freaking way.

[ReallyBigFeet]

Originally Posted by marc11

So now you know Microsofts release plans and you also know that Apple's growth will continue? And just how long do you think it takes to replace machines, train and rewrite core applications to a company on a global scale? And you think ALL this change will happen in under 8 years...yes under 8 years, because even if your are right with the release schedule, it will take 3 to 6 years to rewrite and redeploy programs and machines in most companies, which means they need to start in the next year or two...oh and THAT assumes nothing changes with the Apple OS and it further assumes somehow companies small and large can manage a partial transition over time with staff running partially Apple and partially MS. Not going to happen.

Will MS lose some marketshare, especially in the home and small business market, yes. Will Apple have 75% of the global PC market, home and business in 7 years? No freaking way.

You seem incredibly fixated on Apple OS, something you've injected into this discussion entirely on your own. Again, nowhere did I even imply that MS loses to Apple.

MS loses to their own encumbrances. And there are already many examples of the "impossible" scenario you keep throwing out. Symbian had over 60% of the global phone OS market in 2007. RIM had over 20%. Five years later and Android owns Symbian's lost share, while iOS takes over for RIM.

The only predictor of future behavior from Microsoft is their past. They are, as the article states, the Detroit of the tech sector now. Lost and oblivious. The market changes far, far faster than they can keep up. They even fail at executing a "fast follower" strategy.

They should spin-off the entire Xbox business to protect it, fire Ballmers sweaty butt and merge the rest with Google. It's their only hope for survival.

[marc11]

Originally Posted by ReallyBigFeet

You seem incredibly fixated on Apple OS, something you've injected into this discussion entirely on your own. Again, nowhere did I even imply that MS loses to Apple.

MS loses to their own encumbrances. And there are already many examples of the "impossible" scenario you keep throwing out. Symbian had over 60% of the global phone OS market in 2007. RIM had over 20%. Five years later and Android owns Symbian's lost share, while iOS takes over for RIM.

The only predictor of future behavior from Microsoft is their past. They are, as the article states, the Detroit of the tech sector now. Lost and oblivious. The market changes far, far faster than they can keep up. They even fail at executing a "fast follower" strategy.

They should spin-off the entire Xbox business to protect it, fire Ballmers sweaty butt and merge the rest with Google. It's their only hope for survival.

Well as I see it, there are three OS' out there, Windows, OSX and Linux variants. Since this is an Apple forum I assumed you meant Windows would lose market share to Apple, if that was a wrong asumption, okay, my bad.

But frankly, I do not see Unbunto and its various Linux breathern as a real growth area; yes for servers and specific uses its great, in fact, I think its great for many home users too; but it is not mainstream enough for business use.

So that leaves OSX and Windows, and frankly I stand by my comments above. Companies moving from brands and OS of mobil devices is vastly different than operating systems. And even still, look how long it has taken, the iPhone has been around for how long now? 5 years? And just now has it STARTED to gain mainstream use in larger businesses and still holds a small footprint. Change in large companies does not come easy or swiftly; change at the level of a core system and supporting systems, sweaping the entire global organization, well that takes far longer. Many companies are still using XP because the switch to Windows 7 is too costly or painful to deal with. My own company just this year moved to Windows 7, the cost was huge and the roll out time has taken two years and counting...and still many programs had to be changed or abandoned.

[beyondthepale35]

To respond to this article, heres a good one from Ars Technica about this supposed fall of Windows.

http://arstechnica.com/information-t...-will-prevail/

[thekev]

It's an old heavily opinionated article, and it's been discussed before. Big companies all get top heavy and sluggish at one point or another, but right now they have the money and resources to do something about it. I wouldn't expect them to disappear.

[onthecouchagain]

Windows 8 doesn't know what it wants to be. There, I said it.

[ixodes]

Although I've witnessed it for years, why Apple enthusiasts seem so compelled to badmouth any competition, seems a bit off. Yet they will go to great lengths, some rather juvenile, like spelling it "Windoze".

Every company that's not on a rather strong upward path when it comes to profits is dying slowly. Most just don't see it that early.

Microsoft is going through some challenging times, that's no secret. But if we look at what's there without false assumptions, there's still potential for a turnaround. One that could be surprising. Never underestimate a company with their depth & breadth.

[SprSynJn]

The day that Microsoft goes under is the day Apple does. As a matter of fact, both companies are always getting "doomed" articles posted here and there, yet both still sell a miraculous amount of their products. I don't understand the recent fad to claim such nonsense.

[Renzatic]

Originally Posted by onthecouchagain

Windows 8 doesn't know what it wants to be. There, I said it.

Yeah it does. It wants to be Windows with a new start screen everyone pointlessly freaks out over.

BIG SQUARES? I CAN'T HIT THOSE WITH A MOUSE! THAT'S FOR FINGER PUNCHIN!

[beyondthepale35]

Ive been using W8 for quite a while now and I dont miss the old start menu at all. I tried installing start8 and I had it uninstalled by the end of the day. Its really not as big a deal as people make it out to be, and I actually liked discovering some of the quirks of 8. Definitely needs to be a good tutorial on it for newcomers though, but its faster than 7 and I really dont need to leave desktop mode much, so a win for me.