Lately, this has become a popular question. What is going on with Microsoft? One could argue that it’s been all down hill for Microsoft since Windows 95. Windows 95 was truly a landmark product. It vaulted Microsoft to the top of the heap, and the Wintel (Windows/Intel) PC platform still remains dominant. However, Microsoft may now be in its weakest position since its infancy, with Google and Apple pressing them hard.
The Windows platform has stagnated. Very few non-Microsoftees would debate this. More and more, the difficult-to-manage platform relationships (between Microsoft, software developers, and hardware developers) are making PCs too difficult for average users to deal with. Apple has certainly taken advantage of this dynamic, as they entice users to switch over to their more integrated platform – Apple controls the hardware, operating system, and many other key components of their landscape.
With Bill Gates now gone, Microsoft appears to be somewhat rudderless. They’re inway too many areas, in my opinion – XBOX, Windows, Office, BING, Zune, browsers, etc… They appear to lack focus, and many are confused with what their strategy really is. What are they trying to be?
No doubt, Microsoft will not disappear from the landscape any time soon. They are here to stay. But, in what form? Only time will tell.
Perhaps the most troubling issue is that Microsoft may not even know what’s coming. For example, consider the commentary from noted Windows-ologist Paul Thurrott during this week’s episode of Windows Weekly. During the podcast, host Leo Laporte suggest that Microsoft is headed down the same road as IBM – the once dominant technology leader that still exists as a large company with a known brand, but no longer as a tech platform leader.
Paul’s response – “…but Microsoft is not the same as IBM…IBM didn’t even try.”
This is plainly inaccurate. IBM certainly did try to stay on top once they had realized they missed the PC boat. Have we forgotten about the colossal failure of the micro-channel architecture, the PC Junior, and OS2? IBM certainly did try. I was there in the mid-1990′s as well as the early 2000′s, and for sure, IBM did try. But, after a near-death experience, IBM bailed out and morphed itself in to the #1 technology services player on the planet. So, they still exist, but in not nearly the same form and function that brought them to dominance. If you ask me, I see Microsoft destined to follow a similar path…which, by the way, isn’t all bad.
What some may fail to realize is that even if Microsoft suddenly wakes up and “gets it”, much of the damage is already done. They probably can’t recover. The Microsoft brand is so heavily connected to client-heavy Windows and Office, that it will be difficult for them to overtake Google in the cloud or Apple in creative media integration, just to name a couple of areas.
While Microsoft may emerge as a large player in the business world, their days as the Microsoft we remember may be numbered.
One Response to “Can Microsoft Continue to Thrive?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
August 15th, 2009 at 7:26 am
i agree that microsoft has taken a dive lately. it’s because of their products, but mostly because of their image i think.
windows has been pretty bland since 95. every iteration since has pretty much been a new skin on the same underlying platform. there have been some amazing things independent linux developers have done with the user interface for the various distros, and everyone knows apple is the king of the UI world with not just OS X but all their devices. stability has improved quite a bit, but in the last week alone in the office i saw 2 co-workers get blue screens on their laptops.
add in the original zune which failed incredibly (especially with that brown option) and that’s really damaged their reputation. they’re not hip. they’re not cutting edge. they’re not pushing limits.
however, i think they’re doing well with the xbox 360 (i hate my ps3 except for the blu-ray player in it), the first looks i’ve seen of the zune HD look pretty cool actually, and using the RC of windows 7 on a virtual machine – i have to say it’s actually not bad. but is it a little too late? maybe. the hardest thing to do is fix a damaged reputation — and microsoft is definitely damaged goods.