Steve Ballmer Suggests Microsoft Has No Backup Plan if Windows 8 Fails

Only time and sales figures will ultimately determine if Windows 8 is a success or not, and in the meantime, all we can do on the consumer side is speculate. Microsoft, however, is in a position to do more. The Redmond software giant could, for example, come up with a Plan B in case Windows 8 and its radically redesigned interface doesn't catch on with consumers. Interestingly, it doesn't appear Microsoft is too worried about that scenario playing out.

In an interview with The Seattle Times, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sort of dodged the question of what Microsoft's plan will be if Windows 8 doesn't take off the way the company hopes.

Read more at source:
Maximum PC | Steve Ballmer Suggests Microsoft Has No Backup Plan if Windows 8 Fails

 

[R0bR]

Apple isn't going to do anything in this space, they failed at enterprise (xserves, xraids) and are failing at the desktop, which is why they concentrate on mobile. We use Macs because we're in the graphics business and can tell you that they suck in an enterprise environment, they don't work well with Windows environments and require more support people to manage them. Macs used to be the go to machine for graphics but it's our PCs that do the large graphic work, the only reason why Macs are still needed is because of fonts.

Google? these guys don't even warrant a response for being any kind of viable option for desktops in the future.

 

[TanyaC]

Windows 7 has support until 2019. and by then (hopefully) Windows 9 will be completed, which will correct all defects and deficiencies in the Windows 8!

<sigh> Wouldn't that be nice. Ahh, but it would be so out of character. Micro$oft has rarely fixed any defiiciency in a successor product. Have they fixed all the deficiencies in explorer in windows 8. Sadly, no.

It all boils down to what microsoft call deficiencies versus what consumers call deficiencies. For the most part, what we see as a deficiency Micro$oft calls an improvement.

 

[PaulGo]

If Windows 8 fails then I believe Steve Ballmer will be forced to resign. Mr. Ballmer has caused Microsoft to miss the boat on developing a quality OS for Smartphones and Tablets. This panic has resulted in Microsoft releasing a one size fits all solution for desktop and portable devices that may cause Microsoft to deliver a desktop OS that is really suitable for portable devices. Will this solution be in time to cause the Microsoft OS to be widely adopted on portable devices? In the past Microsoft has has a bad track record when playing catchup unless they can leverage their monopoly products. An example of this is Internet Explorer which became successful when Microsoft made it the sole choice on Windows, but it is now losing popularity when people realize they have a choice. Bing is example of a Microsoft failure, because the invested great sums of money in developing it ad it never became a major player in the search area. Has Microsoft become a lumbering giant that cannot move fast enough to adopt to a changing market? Only time will tell, but remember what happened to Wordperfect.

 

[cluberti]

Yeah - Microsoft killed it with Word. Sorry, couldn't resist .

Microsoft might be slow, but I think in this case the company has a holistic, logical view towards the computing patterns of the future, and it's software stack(s) are designed to address the future (not just the present). Yes, this means the experience is very different for users on non-touch devices (it's fine for use once you get the hang of it, and I do actually find it quicker in most areas with keyboard and mouse than the old desktop / start menu environment), but those devices aren't the future. Yes, they're not going away, but they're not the bulk of the market, and their usage is diminishing in usability versus smaller, more portable devices. Also, and on point, Bing isn't a bad search engine, and it's not just a competitor to Google - it's technology is behind more than just Microsoft's search. It's used (obviously) to sell advertising, but it also can be used to design and tweak Microsoft's own search engines in products like Exchange and Outlook, Windows itself, SharePoint, etc.

I think Microsoft actually has a winning strategy for the future, even if we can't quite see it yet. The future of computing (say, 10 years from now) is going to be devices, services, and "cloud" storage and computing for the vast majority of consumers and small to medium businesses. For the large businesses, Microsoft's products can easily be tuned to accommodate "private" environments (they already do this), so that there will be choice there.

Will it actually be a winning strategy? I honestly don't know without a crystal ball, but it does seem like there's been a lot of thought and planning into the products being released this year and next and how they all sort of just "go together". It's a bit difficult and premature to look at the forest they're trying to plant today and say what kind of growth it'll have, but again, this will be something we'll revisit in 7-10 years and see whether or not this strategy has resulted in a growth forest or a forest fire .

 

[SIW2]

@Paulgo,

I think Stevie B will be handing over gradually.
Win8 is perhaps his last hurrah.

He has been called a lot of names , e.g. the world's worst CEO by Vanity Fair, Forbes, and others.

Not sure he is entirely to blame - perhaps he wanted to do different things but was blocked by the board.

I don't think he would want to go with that reputation.

It may well have affected what has happened with win8.

If you want someone to blame win8 on - it may be the result of Vanity Fair and Forbes comments.

 

[R0bR]

Bing is example of a Microsoft failure, because the invested great sums of money in developing it ad it never became a major player in the search area.

Bings market share has been increasing monthly since it came out, it currently sits second in market share at 16% and if you include Yahoo which uses Bing it's almost at 30% collectively. Since Bing came out Google's market share has been on a slow downward trend, it's still at 66% market share but moving in the wrong direction. With Bing providing even better results now it's going to continue its trend. Doesn't seem it is the failure that you eluded to.

 

[PaulGo]

Bing is example of a Microsoft failure, because the invested great sums of money in developing it ad it never became a major player in the search area.

Bings market share has been increasing monthly since it came out, it currently sits second in market share at 16% and if you include Yahoo which uses Bing it's almost at 30% collectively. Since Bing came out Google's market share has been on a slow downward trend, it's still at 66% market share but moving in the wrong direction. With Bing providing even better results now it's going to continue its trend. Doesn't seem it is the failure that you eluded to.

Is Microsoft's Bing search engine officially a disaster? - The Week

 

[Coke Robot]

If Windows 8 fails then I believe Steve Ballmer will be forced to resign. Mr. Ballmer has caused Microsoft to miss the boat on developing a quality OS for Smartphones and Tablets. This panic has resulted in Microsoft releasing a one size fits all solution for desktop and portable devices that may cause Microsoft to deliver a desktop OS that is really suitable for portable devices. Will this solution be in time to cause the Microsoft OS to be widely adopted on portable devices? In the past Microsoft has has a bad track record when playing catchup unless they can leverage their monopoly products. An example of this is Internet Explorer which became successful when Microsoft made it the sole choice on Windows, but it is now losing popularity when people realize they have a choice. Bing is example of a Microsoft failure, because the invested great sums of money in developing it ad it never became a major player in the search area. Has Microsoft become a lumbering giant that cannot move fast enough to adopt to a changing market? Only time will tell, but remember what happened to Wordperfect.

I don't know about Microsoft failing at catch up. They've had their share of misses and hits, but overall, they manage pretty well.

There's Windows that played catch up with the mac in the 80s, and later proved to be the most used OS platform in the world in both consumer and enterprise space. IE has a pretty good record, although being threatened by chrome. Zune in concept was a great product, but half-arsed implemented. No one thought the Xbox would make it anywhere, it's in more living rooms than the PlayStation and definitely Wii, I think even combined too. There's Bing, of course it seems absurd for Microsoft for doing search, but now it seems more sensible. It's currently second behind google, and yes the gap is huge, but the gap is closing. Yahoo uses Bing's search engine and vice versa, it's default for Windows Phone, default for Windows 8 and hopefully for Bing's sake the default home page of IE, it's in Xbox, and even now in the Amazon Kindle. It has nowhere to go but up and we'll see more innovation in search from both Bing and google because of the competition. Windows Phone has been out for two years and yes, it's anemic in the mobile market share, but looking at it optimistically because of Nokia, it's been going up. Yes, it's not going higher yet, but because of Nokia entering Windows Phone we now have phones that don't look like black pieces of plastic and cloned off the iphone. Nowhere to go but up. There's Windows 8 and the tablet PC, time will tell if that goes anywhere, but looking at the PC market right now it looks positive. Heck, even Microsoft's mice and keyboard are pretty popular, and their Surface might be too.

 

[Vertex]

Windows devices are not popular from where I live. Windows operating systems are mostly on XP and Windows 7 in our place but when it comes to mobile devices, I know a couple of mates who has Androids, no one with any phones with Windows Phone OS in it. Also a sister-in-law whose in the US who recently got the new iPhone.

MS mice and keyboards, I don't remember seeing any for a long time. Surface? Did not hear anybody but one of my mates talking about it. Windows 8? Even the very few fellow IT-oriented guys either did not try it or have dissed it after a short while. Many months ago, I installed DP for at least 2 of the guys I know. Neither used it for a long time, even if I had applied the Start Menu hack. A lot of average Joes who use the computer almost everyday for work don't even know that Windows 8 exists. Many are happy with Windows 7 and don't know anything better.

As far as the mobile industry is, MS have gotten it too late. I've been into malls, saw a few Nokia Lumias on display, I wanted to try it but they are inside the shelf. On another stall at the mall, you got telecommunications companies offering iPhone 4S or iPads that should come with their new subscription services and they are out there (attached to a lock of course), free for people to touch and test. Tested the map thing on the iPhone 4S months ago, tested a few apps with the iPad as well. I'm not impressed with the navigation because of the lack of close button to exit apps and yet they are so popular not because they are so good but because of the hype. And MS are not in any stage close to this popularity of Apple or Android products when it comes to mobile devices even if the functionality is admittedly competent.

Yes, Windows 8 hasn't taken off just yet. We have to wait ti'll a year from now to make our judgment fair but the problem is that MS's competitors (Apple and Android) have already rooted deep with a very huge user base and hype base and are battling for dominance.

I think its early to conclude the fate of Windows 8 and if it does not make it big, Windows 7 ,Office, dev tools and other services are still there to support MS lifeline.

 

[R0bR]

Is Microsoft's Bing search engine officially a disaster? - The Week

Did you actually read the article or just the headline? It clearly states that Bing has failed to make a profit for Microsoft at the level Microsoft expected. It then goes on to state...

"No. Things are looking up at Bing: Yes, "Bing is still a distant No. 2" in search, but "Microsoft touted some recent improvements," says Robert J. Mullins at eWeek. Globally, Bing is expanding its geographic and market reach — it's up to 28 percent, according to Experian Hitwise — its revenue per search is growing, and it just announced plans to include Yelp reviews in its web search results, which should make Bing more attractive for searchers. Don't write Microsoft's search portal off yet."

 

[PaulGo]

I read the whole article, Microsoft has lost ove 6 billion dollars to make marginal gains in the search engine business, Microsoft is trying to put a spin on it, and they also paid off yahoo to let them be their search engine.

MSFT’s $6.2B Failure: Should They Get Out of Search? - Tech Trader Daily - Barrons.com

 

[R0bR]

It doesn't matter what spin Microsoft or the investors put on it, doesn't change the fact that it continues to gain market share even if it is in small amounts. Failure would mean losing marketshare. As for Yahoo it's a moot point, Yahoo has lost market share and Bing has covered that loss maintaining the upward trend as a whole. So we've established that Bing isn't failing but also isn't performing as Microsoft expected and that they made a bad investment in the Ad company so we can move on.

 

[PaulGo]

Yes the point of this thread is Steve Ballmer and my point I don't think Microsoft under his leadership has made the best bushiness decisions including losing over 6 billion on Bing.

 

[thunderclap]

Yes the point of this thread is Steve Ballmer and my point I don't think Microsoft under his leadership has made the best bushiness decisions including losing over 6 billion on Bing.

I suspect if Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and Surface don't meet sale expectations Ballmer will be out. He has been bad for Microsoft.

 

[Dellius]

Let me tell you where Windows 8 fails and why it is a failure.

1. Windows has a poor reputation, to put it gently. Words are not enough to describe how dreaded and hated it is. Having said that, Microsoft should have released their Tablet OS under a different brand name, like say "Surface OS", or for short sOS, or any name other than Windows, to avoid the massive prejudice a Windows-branded product would have to fight against. Windows RT, aka WOA is not a real Windows OS anyway, as it's incompatible with Windows 8 under the hood, so there is no point to call it Windows if it's not Windows.

2. Metro could have been successful, if only Microsoft have not given it a split-personality and have put a "Desktop Pack" of features there, for work on, you know, Desktops, instead of making your mouse feel like a second-class citizen.

3. Steve Ballmer is playing tough on consumers and OEM's, trying to get them to stop crying so much and learn to live with the change. Imagine how much everyone will start crying if he gives in and says "well, I will give you back your desktop if you want it so much". He will be forced to give it up in the end, but he doesn't want it to look that way, for now.

Really, in his case he is the tail and the consumers with their money are the dog. He will either end up doing what consumers want, or be forced out of his CEO chair. He knows it, and we know it, but right now he doesn't want to openly admit it. He wants to give consumers more time to explore the change and get used to it before listening to any more feedback, because when drastic changes are made the people will cry against the change itself, not against what it brings or takes. Makes perfect sense.

 

[PaulGo]

[h=1]Microsoft CEO's bonus trimmed for Windows, browser misstep[/h]
Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer got a lower bonus than last year's, partly for flat sales of Windows and his failure to ensure that the company provided a choice of browser to some European customers.
Ballmer, who took over as CEO from co-founder Bill Gates in 2000, earned a bonus of $620,000 for Microsoft's 2012 fiscal year, which ended in June, down 9 percent from the year before, according to documents filed Tuesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.


Full article at:

Microsoft CEO's bonus trimmed for Windows, browser misstep | Reuters

 

[chev65]

In my opinion there is no such thing as a replacement for the PC, Ballmer is delusional.

 

[Britton30]

Let me tell you where Windows 8 fails and why it is a failure.

1. Windows has a poor reputation, to put it gently. Words are not enough to describe how dreaded and hated it is

I suppose this is why it is the most used OS in the world. Unless you are only referring to W8

In my opinion there is no such thing as a replacement for the PC, Ballmer is delusional.

There are many delusional "intelligent" types who have been predicting the demise of the PC. I, for one, don't consider a tablet or fancy "smart" phone to be a computer. They try but fall way short.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
Still running Windows 2003 server on my laptop -- have played around with W7 and W8 but NONE come anywhere near performance of W2003 server --and even though it's a 32 bit OS it still can by various bits of trickery unlike basic XP address > 4GB of memory too.

W2003 server still has Ms support for the next few years -- I hope the cludge that is W8 will have faded into history by that time and Windows 9 (or whatever) will finally recognize the difference between people who expect their computer to behave like a smartphone and others who still want a "Traditional desktop" environment.

Running a server as a desktop OS needs some sort of manipulation for example kill the nag screens when the server is re-booted , and allow Internet access properly -- but it's do-able and Windows 2003 server probably was MS's most efficient OS ever including W8.

How to convert your Windows Server 2003... to a Workstation!

(Classic old games still work on it too).

I use it daily -- no intentions of abandoning it any time soon -- I don't care if office 2013 won't work on it --office 2010 does just fine for my needs.

Cheers
jimbo