Microsoft’s Lost Decade - from Vanity Fair

[smoledman]

Under the Hood, windows 8 is amazing.

On top? Different? But I think it will be great.

I remember, the hardcore Apple guys bitching about how bad OSX would be....what do you know? now they love it.

I'm so impressed with Windows 8 features like Picture password. How long before Apple rips that off, rips off the Touch/Type covers of the Surface tablet and many other innovations and calls it their inventions and "magical"?

 

[Peace]

I'm so impressed with Windows 8 features like Picture password. How long before Apple rips that off, rips off the Touch/Type covers of the Surface tablet and many other innovations and calls it their inventions and "magical"?

Not very long. Apple and Microsoft signed a cross-licensing agreement a couple of weeks ago.

 

[smoledman]

Not very long. Apple and Microsoft signed a cross-licensing agreement a couple of weeks ago.

No doubt. I'm pretty sure Microsoft has 100-150 patents for the Surface and Surface Pro devices and they will fight to death to protect that IP.

 

[thekev]

And people who already have PCs just won't upgrade. I have a couple of PCs left and I'm sure not going to spend time and money upgrading them to that POS.

I doubt consumer upgrades of existing hardware are a major source of sales for microsoft. I too will leave bootcamp on Windows 7. Anyway the pricing probably dissuades a lot of people unless they require certain features, but some of the bigger developers still support XP in a limited manner. Windows 7 will be supported for quite some time, and for most people that will be what matters. If your software runs well, it won't matter whether it's the latest numerical release. In some cases this is a bit more critical on OSX where Apple offers limited support for older revisions, and developers are starting to move on faster. It's definitely not the end for Microsoft, but I remain unsure of their strategy here.

 

[NewbieCanada]

I doubt consumer upgrades of existing hardware are a major source of sales for microsoft.

Apparently they're expecting half a billion in upgrade revenue just from PCs that qualify for the $14.99 upgrade. Don't know what they expect overall, or how big a deal that is for their revenue.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/01/us-microsoft-revenue-idUSBRE8500U420120601

 

[thejadedmonkey]

None of them have been above the quality that any PC in the same price range is.

That's so true. Once you hit the $1000 mark for a PC, macs aren't that amazing... People generally forget that Apple laptops need to be compared to premium PC laptops, like the Latitude Z-600. Sure it had its issues, but Wireless Charging! Wireless USB! And that was a few years ago!

And the power user group? Much larger than you think. And the Mac? Its been 15 years, and apple has barely managed 10% marketshare, Windows is in no danger.

And the power user group is something apple needs to cater to, sure maybe only a small number back Apple, but what if those power users switch to windows....then surface tablets....then windows phone.....plus the 360.

I used to love Apple Products, but they have turned into a company of garbage, like the iPad. I really honestly hope that Android and Windows 8 phone, take off big time, and knock Apple off its high horse, so they might start making good products again.

And lets be honest, Android has already knocked apple off at Number 1, and I'm happy as a consumer. Because maybe Apple will update the 5 year old out of date iOS.


Because right now? Besides the laptops? I think its all garbage.

This is something that I don't think Apple can under-estimate. I myself switched a few people to OS X, and they went to iOS... But lately I find OS X to be meh at best, and with the loss of any pro support, I've moved back to Windows. Now I use a Windows 7 PC, I have a Windows Phone, and I'll be buying a slate on day 1. And guess what I'll say when my technology-illiterate friends come to me. It won't be Apple anymore.

 

[boss.king]

This article made the rounds a few weeks ago, and a Microsoft spokesman had a bit to say about it.

If you're into MS, I'd definitely read this article, it paints a fuller picture than the vanity fair article.

Edit: Forgot the link: http://www.neowin.net/news/what-the-hell-is-microsofts-lost-decade

Good article. It cracks me up when people talk about how MSFT is failing, when they are in fact still a wildly successful company. As with every company, they made some mistakes, but they are still raking in money and are on the verge of launching an entire ranch of new products.

 

[G51989]

How ignorant to compare a ****** DOS-based kernel with an NT-based one. Obviously you have not read anything about Windows 8 features under-the-hood. You are a troll and should be ignored.

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Thing is while Apple might never dominate the power user group, that market will continue to decline as tablets/hybrids take over. So what if Microsoft continues to get 90% marketshare of 50% reduced PC sales? Apple is dominating the skyrocketing tablet market.

Tablet sales are going up.

PC sales worldwide are also expected to climb as well.

 

[TSE]

Office still dominates. Xbox 360 is the most successful console of all time. While Windows PCs are faltering they still dominate the market. No company can remain top forever, but Microsoft has done a solid job diversifying their business model to remain big.

 

[maflynn]

but Microsoft has done a solid job diversifying their business model to remain big.

If you look at how MS makes money, I'd say that they have not been successful in diversifying their business. True they have a number irons in the fire, but the majority of profits comes from Office and Windows. This continues to worry the investors as that at some point those revenue streams will not be as lucrative as before.

Bing, is losing money, Xbox is largely a loss leader but opens the doors to consumers buying xbox games.

 

[TSE]

If you look at how MS makes money, I'd say that they have not been successful in diversifying their business. True they have a number irons in the fire, but the majority of profits comes from Office and Windows. This continues to worry the investors as that at some point those revenue streams will not be as lucrative as before.

Bing, is losing money, Xbox is largely a loss leader but opens the doors to consumers buying xbox games.

I agree with some of what you are saying.

Xbox 360 has dominated this generation of consoles. True, Microsoft has only but recently in the past year or two been getting a return for all the money invested in it, but now it's a clear path of nothing but profits unless something goes horribly, horribly wrong for it. Not only that, but they have diversified the Xbox and set it up as a future living room fix, promising new TV features for it that will make Microsoft have a huge foothold in the living room television set business over Apple once it enters. Google has all but lost in this business. It's definitely going to be interesting to see yet another Microsoft vs. Apple battle, this time Microsoft has a foothold and it's Apple trying to play catch up.

Windows 8 is going to be a failure, I feel. It's nothing but an awkward transition from Microsoft, but I feel they will get it right with Windows 9. These past few OS X releases have been underwhelming transition OSes also.