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52 Comments
- FriendsOfWario, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6I just want a 360 that doesnt die.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6 That was really quite good...
- schestowitz, on 10/11/2007, -3/+7That's the first actual story (not link) that I have ever seen in FSDaily. Worth reading!
- Urusai, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Whatever it is, it can't take a pounding.
- virtualball, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Mac OS X may have an idiotic lock-in but there is one thing it has that Windows doesn't have. Innovation.
- NinjaBoy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4First the was IBM, then Microsoft, and now its Google. Dont worry in 10 - 15 yrs Google will be like microsoft and there will be a new giant comming.
- scanman20, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3For a start, how about Google?
- shaungc, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Must be running windows.
- virtualball, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I always thought Al Gore invented the internet....
Anyone who says "M$" instead of Microsoft is obviously single minded and doesn't know what they're talking about. And Microsoft can't run away from Apple (notice the capitalization?) but they can sure as hell run from innovation. They have none left in them, while Apple pumps out new OS's that promise changes and new innovations, a breakthrough in mobile GUI's (I laugh at Windows Mobile's GUI), and basically dominated the MP3 player and music distribution industry, Microsoft has created a half-ass OS that took them five years, one MP3 player, and the same old, same old. There is nothing new about them. There is a change in technology now, everyone and there mother are using it. It no longer can be clunky and complicated, but smooth, simple and beautiful. And personally, I have yet to see that from Microsoft... Well except for Surface ;) - Wargalas, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3I'm trying to wrap my head around the insane amount of cliches you just used. MS doesn't have a failing business model, they just have ***** products. There is a difference. If Ubuntu sold their products in stores, I would gladly pick up a copy simply because of the quality of work they do. Microsoft isn't "doomed", but they certainly aren't the behemoth that they used to be.
- jdhore1, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I Agree with chieffy...Microsoft has stopped innovating with XP, which is just Win2K with a prettier GUI. Vista is just trying to steal all this stuff (sudo, 3D GUI, etc) from OS X and Linux and failing horribly..."People that fail to innovate are doomed to die"
- chieffy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I'll be L.M.F.A.O in five years if you're still using Windows.
- chieffy, on 10/11/2007, -5/+7Windows keeps getting worse and linux keeps getting better. MS doesn't innovate anymore they're too busy trying to stop linux through legal/political means. You can see them trying to do everything they can to stop Linux adoption but it isn't working. Linux just keeps being adopted by more companies and more governments. Developing nations are choosing Linux. MS has a failing business model. They are losing the trust of the computing industry and the community at large. MS is doomed. How can a ship with a monkey for a captain be anything but. Anyone who believes otherwise is burying their head in the sand or falling for the MS propaganda machine.
- chieffy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3This has been buried at 84 diggs! Digg sucks now. There are so many MS fanboys here it is ridiculous.
- FutureGuy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Its a number quoted by EB Games to sell more extended warranties, they make a killing on those, I don't put too much faith in it. I have had a 360 from launch and so does many of my buddies and none of them had a problem.
- break99, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1+1 digg
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4fanboy alert
- FutureGuy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1you must be kidding me, MS fanboys on digg ya sure.
- justkevi, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1All of this is quite true,
However, Microsoft's had quite a head-start, and it is still gonna take a good while for linux to overtake MS in terms of quality and ease of use. If MS continues their pattern, then sure, they're gonna flop, but it's still gonna take another, oh, five years or so until they're severely threatened. If they make a change to their business model, perhaps taking some cues from the open source community, they might stand a chance. - bigdogap83, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I know Mac OSX. Mac OSX is a friend of mine. Sir, Vista is no Mac OSX.
(Actually, Vista is a pretty good clone of, say OS 8.) - brianbennett, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Could we perhaps wait until Microsoft's marketshare dips below 80% before predicting doom? They've been making money hand over fist for over 20 years and still going strong. Apple has been consistantly far behind in marketshare and any circumstantial migration to Linux is quite unlikely.
- jostheller, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Is not the failure rate (listed by EB games, Bestbuy, etc... Not Microsoft's own numbers) still in the 30% range within the first year? If 30% is a realistic number, then IMHO, that is unacceptable.
- mtekk, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1"There wouldn't be no internet for you to complain without microsoft you stupid *****."
Besides the double negative and other grammatical problems, that statement makes about as much sense as saying if it wasn't for Al Gore there wouldn't be the internet. Clearly that is *****. I believe MS was not the first to the web browser market anyways. - joebruin, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4Looks like the site can't handle the digg, here is the text:
The more I think about Microsoft, the more I realise that they are, possibly for the first time, seriously cornered (or surrounded, depending on how you want to see it). A little history will clarify why I think so - and why I think that this might really be the beginning of the end for Microsoft.
When Linux started its real explosion, in 1998, I told my friend Andrea something along these lines: "They [Microsoft] can't do anything about it. [Linux] will get bigger and bigger. It will invade the server market. Then, it will invade the desktop market. Then, it will crush everything else". Andrea's arguments against my prediction were the usual ones made at the time - mainly the lack of drivers, software, and games. Remember, there was no OpenOffice.org back then, game consoles weren't as established, newsagents were still full of Windows-only CDs, and you had a lot of trouble even installing a printer.
Those problems slowly dissolved. Some of them are still there (I still can't easily load photos in my Canon camera!), but it's clear to pretty much everybody (including Microsoft) that it's only a matter of time.
In a few years, Linux became easy to use. There was OpenOffice.org; the gaming market became more and more dominated by gaming consoles; you could plug most peripherals in to your Linux machine and they would just work. Microsoft tried everything to prevent this, but in the end Linux proved to be unstoppable. Linux gained momentum more and more, rather than staying as a "fringe system", in its own little corner. It was 2003, and Linux's momentum needed to be stopped - or at least slowed down.
The next war frontier was in the patents battlefield. Microsoft tried with SCO (even though they deny doing so). That first attempt was unsuccessful - although it did create considerable grief to the Linux world. Linux probably does infringe some meaningless, have-done-that-before patents which should never been issued in the first place. However, with Linux having the backing of big companies in terms of patents, the penguin's last possible week-spot seemed to be covered as well. Microsoft was apparently left with no weapons.
This is when I start looking up to Microsoft's perseverance. At that point, if I had been in their shoes, I am pretty certain I would have ended up staring at a blank wall, thinking: what on earth am I going to do now, since every single attempt at beating Linux wound up in a dead end? Well, Microsoft didn't stare at a blank wall. They looked at their enemy, and looked for any possible fault. Fragmentation was one of them. The struggling of several distributions was another one. The need to re-establish the patent front was paramount.
"Divide et impera", "divide and conquer", must have been their motto. By getting struggling distributions to sign patent agreements, Microsoft managed to create a situation where parents actually mean something - and maybe even start a factious war between Linux distributors; possibly, alienating people from Linux. They started that strategy. Novell. Linspire. Xandros. They all fell into the trap - as companies do when they are offered vast amounts of cash for very little in exchange. But, the big fish didn't take the bait. Ubuntu (the desktop leader) and Red Hat (the server leader) refused the agreements. They didn't need the short term cash injection to survive - they could focus on the long term instead. Microsoft ended up paying vast (somehow undisclosed) amounts of money to catch minor distributions in a meaningless deal - meaningless for Microsoft, for the distributions, for the market. But, I am sure Microsoft expected this. They were going to be patient.
Then, the GPLv3 came along. Microsoft hated the GPL before Friday, because - unlike the BSD license - they couldn't just rip the networking code and shove it into Windows NT, and charge money for it. They hated it because there were just so many good GPL libraries out there, and yet they had to rewrite a lot of them from scratch. They hated its "viral" element to it - if anything contained GPL code, then the whole piece of software needed to be released under the GPL, or under a compatible license. They hated it because it was just so popular, and it was not what they wanted people to use. Since Friday, I imagine this feeling changed. Now, with the GPLv3, they really hate the GPL. GPLv3 is a much stronger license, and it stops Microsoft from creating patent deals with other distributors. Their plan hit a snag.
Starting those deals so soon was, in my opinion, a considerable tactical mistake for Microsoft: they should have waited until the new GPL had come out. Microsoft's actions prompted changes that were deliberately aimed at stopping such deals. I know Richard Stallman, and I am sure he would have wanted anti-agreement clauses in the GPL from day 1. However, the opposition against those clauses would have been stronger - and he would have looked liked a paranoid fundamentalist. Microsoft's actions turned a hypothetical (albeit real) threat into something very tangible and current. The GPL needed to prevent this - and now it does. Would the GPLv3 have been modified to prevent such deals if Microsoft hadn't started their lucrative "agreements" with struggling distributors? Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows? And, it doesn't really matter anymore. Without the GPLv3, Microsoft would have been able to create pressure on any struggling Linux distribution in the future. Canonical (Ubuntu) and Red Hat are financially strong right now; but what about in one, two or three years? Nobody likes to be tempted by large amounts of cash when they really need it. With the new GPL, that unofficial
bribe cannot be made anymore.
So, here I am. I am trying to imagine myself in Microsoft's shoes, and I find myself staring at a blank wall, thinking: what on Earth am I going to do now? The trick of suing somebody for "unspecified issues" has been tried by SCO. That path is now not workable. They cannot do any more deals with Microsoft. They see Dell happily sell laptops preloaded with Ubuntu - another distribution they hate. They see OpenOffice.org and ODF becoming more and more prominent (although they are fighting a very smart battle to get their own proprietary file format recognised as a "standard"). Linux was meant to be the new kid on the block trying to clamber up with great difficulty. Now, Microsoft are the ones struggling with their defence, rapidly running out of bullets.
Can Microsoft save themselves? The theory of Microsoft "going open source" has been tried before. However, I don't think it's really going to happen. They have a huge cash influx from Windows and Office. It will take years and years to see a marked decline in that influx - as OpenOffice and Ubuntu slowly, slowly take Microsoft's market share away. But, freeing their software doesn't seem to be in Microsoft's radar. They wouldn't know how to do it, where to start, and follow it up. Despite what they would like to think, they are good at one thing: marketing and selling proprietary software, while lobbying governments and pressuring OEMs to make sure things go their way. A "new" Microsoft simply wouldn't be Microsoft.
My wall is still blank. I must admit, I await the next events with some anticipation. I don't like wars, but I do enjoy seeing skilled combatants fight.
One of them is fighting for its survival - a cornered giant struggling because it only knows one way to fight (by brute force) and it's finding that the enemy is somehow countering every attack, is adaptable, impalpable, and is winning. this time, it seems there are no plan Bs in sight.
So, is this really it? - fozzie, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Until I can play WoW and Carmack's new games I will have to use XP. I would be using Linux if I knew I didn't have to take a performance hit.
- chieffy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1You can't lift the entire text from their site. Isn't that against the authors copyright?
- LANjackal, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Apparently this guy doesn't follow business news? MS posted record numbers in their most recent reports *rolls eyes*
Buried. - thesquirrelwood, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1http://www.fsdaily.com.nyud.net:8080/Adoption/Does_Microsoft_have_nowhere_to_run/
http://www.fsdaily.com.nyud.net:8090/Adoption/Does_Microsoft_have_nowhere_to_run/ - mal1964, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Feel for the homeless and hungry they need the ink.
- disciple83, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1I wouldn't necessarily say never. You just wouldn't voluntarily do it. I understand, I am the same way. I have no troubles with Windows, nor OS X... My main gripe against Linux is I have not fully grasped the way it works, but it keeps getting easier, (so I am told). Yet I still have no reason to switch. So I won't.
- break99, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1I dont' think so...
M$ is here to stay, get used to it. And I think it's a good thing: I don't want to have to ask if the device I buy will be supported on some alien unix distro..... - NerdyNinja, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1I think MS will be okay. They may have to have a near-doomsday period of their company's history, like Apple did (and now Apple appears to be on the upswing) but I think with some reorganization, the cutting of some projects, and some good old fashioned creativity, that they'll be okay. I know a few people who work there, and I'll admit they're better computer scientists than I am. They certainly have the ability, it's just applying it that seems to be the trick.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3Well, it's not even the world's biggest now. End of an empire!
- disciple83, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1that excuse is getting pretty lame. You are still a part of a vast minority with a bad string of luck...Mine works flawlessly, and I use the hell out of it. Now get away from me while I go buy a lottery ticket...
- joemofo214, on 10/11/2007, -5/+5I would be sad if microsoft ever dies out, yes, I love them, I would never switch to linux or Mac, but, there might be a day where I would have to...
Till then, Ima just gonna keep building my gaming pc. thats the only thing windows is good for now. - chieffy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Well there won't be many stories on fsdaily; that's not what it's for. Digg only has links. Fsdaily is meant to be the digg for the free software world.
- cybermort, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1microsoft should spin off all of its different businesses. I can't imagine why they haven't done it already, must be pride. spinning off would promote growth (something they are lacking) and value to its shareholders. Not to mention it would protect them from antitrust attacks by its competitors.
Microsoft - software
MS interactive - hardware, xbox, zune, iPhone compatitors, MS tv, next generation portables devices
MS entertainment - MSNBC, msn, Live, digital media production/distribution (music, games, movies), new ventures - chieffy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Working fine for me
- lemur, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1I wonder if Microsoft's recent emphasis on producing hardware is an indication of them relinquishing the software market (albeit slowly).
- n8f8, on 10/11/2007, -4/+3withing the next decade they will own the PC and Game console market.
- amrush4th, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Microsoft has someplace to run...into the ground.
- Comanche, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1Microsoft is not finished untill the corperate world says its finished. Thats all there is to it.
- AndrewDB, on 01/10/2008, -3/+2I know this is going to get buried so I'll make it as short and sweet to the point as possible:
Well when you make your OS look and operate like a Mac.. what can you expect? - RST1123, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2I'm calling ***** on this one.
- break99, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1LOL, dream on dumbasses! M$ changed your world. There wouldn't be no internet for you to complain without microsoft you stupid *****.
Beside, run away from what?? apple? we all saw their technology breakthrough with the iphone: 2G network, no GPS, no file system explorer, at&t (wow!) stupid stupid stupid.. - chris9902, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2You may no like them but they are here to stay. You really think everyone is going to be running Linux in 5 years?
L.M.F.A.O - thesquirrelwood, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1it's down and doesn't seem to have been cached... anyone have a mirror?
- jcastillo81, on 10/11/2007, -2/+0Mirror?
- mikerand, on 10/11/2007, -2/+0Microsoft has enough cash to keep them going for years. In the 90's the same was said of IBM. Microsoft will pull off something.
It would be cool if they would finally realize that OS's are commodity software and create their own window manager for Linux like Apple did with BSD. The other thing that could change everything is if MS wrote a new OS from the ground up, and used a virtual machine for backwards compatibility. Which is also, I think (?), what Apple did.
MS isn't going away, this is not the beginning of the end. -
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