Forbes: Microsoft Still Can't Find Its Future

mbratch

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I guess I don't see the vast majority of the up-sides that the previous poster is speaking off. I honestly think MS is in more danger than I ever thought before after reading this article. They are far from the go-to solution they once were. Lots of other devices and people to go to.
 

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I guess I don't see the vast majority of the up-sides that the previous poster is speaking off. I honestly think MS is in more danger than I ever thought before after reading this article. They are far from the go-to solution they once were. Lots of other devices and people to go to.

Microsoft possesses a lot of good technical and marketing resources, and they have a large, loyal development network. That's a huge upside (and by that I mean "potential") if they make significant changes in their inbound marketing and product planning.
 

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Interesting article. It's a shame that the author cites no references. None.
Yes, there are references. Did you try clicking on the hyperlinked statististics?
 

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Yet another the sky is falling article about Microsoft from Forbes. The author misses some key things because the article is 100% client-centric - Windows isn't the predominant player on the client because people are buying tablets, so Microsoft is doomed, without realizing Microsoft basically owns the backend and is making a strong play to be the leader in hosting services and platforms in "the cloud" where all of those devices connect to do the things they do. So yes, PC sales are falling because people want smaller devices with better battery life, and while this may be the slow decline of Windows' dominance as we once knew it on the desktop (as an employee I hope not, but the market will exert it's will no matter what I personally want), I certainly don't think Microsoft is going anywhere but continuously upward on the backend/server side, and Azure is already a big player in "cloud" and getting bigger.

The article is correct without being accurate, in my opinion, but I don't expect much more from Forbes than article trolling for hits. It seems bashing Microsoft (erroneously) is the way they want to get some of their web hits, and they're using data to manipulate and match a story that's not exactly right. It's accurate, as far as the numbers go if you look at them how you want, but if you look at them showing what they actually represent, it's not quite right.

Also, for full disclosure, the author should have noted that all of the "Links" at the bottom of the page go to his own blog, so he's mostly using his own blog posts as the source for his article. It's just another log on the fire, for what it's worth.
 

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Ahhh, we never consider the long term...

Sure, right now you can Microsoft is in trouble if you look at the short term like EVERYONE simply does. But if you look further, you'll probably see a Microsoft that is still rather prominent. Windows 8 is kicking off the tablet PC/touch PC wave that Windows xp would had started a long time ago. People aren't buying new PCs right now as there is no need when the software can run on older hardware. BUT, when people do buy new PCs, they will mostly all be touch enabled, thin, light and/or in the tablet form factor.

The Windows PC has been around for a LONG time. Windows 1 came out late after apple released their first GUI PC in the '80s, and it was thought they didn't have much of a chance. It took almost a decade with Windows 95 when it knocked apple down when it was getting weaker and took dominance with the PC.

Nowadays, Microsoft has released a new wave of Windows for the new PC and new smartphones. Will they get a giant market share a year from now, two? No, probably not. Five to ten years from now? Probably yes.

One must not underestimate Microsoft....
 

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He conveniently ignores W7, the fastest selling operating system in history.

"As of January 19, 2012, over 525 million copies have been sold."
Its market share has increased from ~38% to ~45% since then.
 

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I think Microsoft's biggest mistake is focussing purely on a touch environment. They should have split the emphasis and put Windows 8 improvements squarely at the desktop and tablet space as separate, but related entities. Even the latest ads are nothing but fluff, showing people touching the 'start menu' but actually doing nothing (which is exactly what you get).

I don't want Microsoft to fail, as then there'd be stuff all left. I'd rather do without a computer than use Apple, and Linux is still wet behind the ears despite, being at pension age in computer years. I sometimes wonder whether Sinofsky did see the reality and was rolled by slick, snake oil merchants.
 

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