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68 Comments
- carolinaws, on 06/26/2008, -5/+4916. Fire Ballmer.
- nmanguy, on 06/27/2008, -5/+3416. Make an ad saying why Apple's ads are such *****.
- Scaryclouds, on 06/26/2008, -5/+26 Love open source, but it is not the future of software. It will definitely be in the future, and I suspect it's role will grow, but I doubt open source will ever truly dominate the software market.
- krystalo, on 06/26/2008, -7/+21Buried for typical innacurate PC World article.
- inactive, on 06/27/2008, -1/+1017. declare the redmond campus a chair free zone
- kraetos, on 06/27/2008, -0/+8PC World sucks. These suggestions are either impractical, ambiguous, or just plain bad.
- baylat, on 06/27/2008, -4/+11I really wonder why people keep bashing Vista when today, it's already quite stable.
- wynja, on 06/26/2008, -14/+21#1 Embrace OSS and stop trying to fight the future of software.
- trying2hide, on 06/27/2008, -7/+13They could make a formal public apology for Windows Me and Vista.
- tama00, on 06/27/2008, -0/+5Microsoft will get much more sales than 3dmax or adobe creative suite. Those are technical pieces of software that are aimed for a much smaller market which is why they put the price up to cover the costs. Windows on the other hand sells hundreds of millions! So naturally they should drop the price as they will profit much easier with more sales.
They could sell Windows for $10 and still make huge profits beyond any ones dreams.
So end result is Microsoft is just greedy and they want to milk the sack of every customer. - inactive, on 06/27/2008, -3/+8#1. Continue business as usual. A wise man once said "Never listen to anyone unless they are doing better than you." 90% of the desktop share, looks like they are calling the shots. Still. Everyone seems to have their opinion of what Microsoft should do, while bashing them to no end in the same breath.
- Charun, on 06/27/2008, -3/+8Nice to see PC World isn't trying to cram 15 things into a single page.
- vats, on 06/26/2008, -1/+6I don't think Microsoft will remain in the same phase at Post-Gates era too. Let's see how it goes.
- Phocion55, on 06/27/2008, -0/+4You might want to redirect your rage to PCWorld.
That's who wrote the article. - Sagags, on 06/27/2008, -4/+8Without gates around the Microsoft compound how will they be able to secure it? Some sort of laser system?
- UKsHaDoW, on 06/27/2008, -2/+6Retail Windows has always been expensive.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Windows-XP-Home-Service-Pa ...
Actually its quite cheap compared to other software.
3dmax, autocad, adobe creative suite etc all over £1000.
I think people forget how expensive real software is.
Software has been more expensive then the hardware, the majority of the time. - HairyPoter, on 06/27/2008, -1/+5don't even think that. Ballmer is Apple's and Google's secret weapon. The guy is an *****. A guy with brains could do damage to Apple and Google. Shhhhh.
- inactive, on 06/26/2008, -15/+18Everything digg is good for - praising the quality of Apple products and making Microsoft look bad. When will you ***** ever grow up? Sensationalist bitches, GTFO. Ungrateful bitches.
"OMG MICROSOFT IS FAILURE, DUR" - Tahin, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2What does Ubuntu have to do with Microsoft? Perhaps you are suggesting that Microsoft buy Ubuntu? Would you really want that? I like my Ubuntu free, thank you.
- WiseWeasel, on 06/26/2008, -2/+5Make products people want to use, don't make them jump through a bunch of hoops to do it, and work well with competitors' and legacy products in an unrestricted ecosystem.
- TheWindBlows, on 06/27/2008, -1/+4This would be a major mistake if DirectX source code were open. WineHQ or a project like wine would take the DirectX source and immediately begin to intergrate it into their API code. Afterwhich they would have opened up an easy transition for people to switch to linux and that would cause a swift end to Microsoft.
- ultrasparc, on 06/27/2008, -1/+3Seems like there was a lot of wishful thinking that went into that article.
- d3dm, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2I'll grant you that, but I'll digg the article based on the author's name alone - Harry McCracken???
Is that a special McD's burger with a little something extra?
Or how about this, Does Harry have a brother named Phil? - motters, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2The future for Microsoft looks difficult, and most of the points in this article are not going to save the company in my opinion. The biggest challenge to MS is the rise of open source/free software on desktop/laptop machines, and simply toying around with Windows, making it "more boring" or trying to push proprietary Office formats onto the web doesn't address this. It may be that the timing of Gates' departure is no accident. Perhaps he can see the writing on the wall and is smart enough to quit whilst he's ahead.
- YodaJones, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2Microsoft should get into the pizza business. Maybe than can do that right.
- revisrev, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2I don't recall who wrote it, but I read this book called "Good to Great." There are a few pages devoted to businesses pursuing opportunities, and one passage in particular that Microsoft should consider: A company is more likely to die of indigestion from pursuing too many opportunities than it is to die of starvation from pursuing too few. Microsoft could invest their resources into their five biggest opportunities... whatever they consider those to be, and be a much healthier company for it. As it stands, they have a few divisions which are growing while they lose ground in the rest of them. That is not a smart way to run things.
I can think of two projects that they should abandon right now: Internet Explorer and the Zune. Two projects that cannot competently compete because Microsoft has its sights set elsewhere. There are probably other ones that could be ditched as well, but those are the two biggest examples that come to me at the moment. - randumbusername, on 06/27/2008, -3/+5the sad thing for the ms bashers is microsoft would do a better job producing opensource software that works for the public at large than the current crop of oss companies.
- thevoiceless, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2How viable would #7 be? It's probably different for Microsoft since it's a for-profit company, but maybe they could try doing something like Ubuntu does with the LTS (long-term support) releases; Do incremental releases (not necessarily every 6 months like Ubuntu, something like 2 years might be better) with occasional stable landmark releases that have longer support time than the other releases.
Windows 7, if Microsoft does a good job with it, could be the first LTS release, and then they could built on it from there.
Yes? No? - UKsHaDoW, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2They do sell windows for $10 its called oem. Special deals for big companies.
But if you buy retail Windows £180 + Office £200 = £380. you can buy hardware for that.
And back in they day the price of windows was considered cheap for a os. Thats why it took over.
Unix was probably in excess of £1000 - hexydes, on 06/27/2008, -6/+8Microsoft needs to figure out what its ten-year plan for Windows is, because frankly, Windows is becoming an embarrassment. It looks old, still feels hacked together, is extremely bulky, not scalable for different levels of hardware, etc. If I were the new CEO of Microsoft, on day one I would:
1. Scrap all current plans for Windows. Everything is on the chopping block.
2. Create a new beta program. Open to all, free, anyone can download the ISO and try it out. Give feedback in forums. Let people develop things and roll it into the beta. Begin taking what works there and rolling it into the main product branch.
3. One version of Windows. No different OSes for server, workstation, desktop, mobile, etc. One OS that runs everything, with different services that are loaded in to determine what "version" the OS is.
4. New designers. I don't know who is currently designing Microsoft's software, but they should all be fired. Seriously, did someone think it was a good idea to use a stylus or the tip of your pinky to click on microscopic text on a screen? And Vista's theme? Really, that's the best you could come up with? OS X 10.0.0 looks more impressive. I see so much talent on the Internet for making UIs...it just boggles my mind that with basically unlimited resources, Microsoft comes up with what it does.
5. Vision and follow-through. I use Windows EVERY DAY, and yet I know the names of Apple's software (iMovie, iDVD, FinalCut Pro, iTunes, Safari, Dashboard, GarageBand...just off the top of my head) MUCH better than anything in Windows. Everything in Windows seems un-inspired, and I generally don't care what it's called because it's a good chance that it will either be changed or removed later on. There's no sincerity, and that goes back to the mess that Windows is, a hodge-podge of applications all mushed together.
Microsoft is a good company that has done a lot (both good and otherwise) for the software and tech industry...but honestly, I haven't cared about ANYTHING they have done in the last five years (except maybe XBox, which is probably the most successful venture they've had in a decade, in terms of execution). They just don't do anything interesting, they take no chances, never think outside the box, etc. It's like they're just going through the motions. "Well...time to release another operating system, I guess. Where do we start? Who's doing what nowadays?"
Inspire me, Microsoft. I want to care about what you're doing, but as of late, you've given me no compelling reason to do that. It's not so much that people LIKE your competition...they just are sick of your same old dog and pony show. - thevoiceless, on 06/27/2008, -1/+3Good for us, bad for them
- UKsHaDoW, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Then getting a contractor to write a one off would be a stupid amount(£50000?). This was back in the days when you could not get off the shelf packages. My dad was telling me that software was often considered to be more expensive then the hardware.
- WileEPeyote, on 06/27/2008, -1/+2I would like an apology for Windows ME, but I like Vista.
- WileEPeyote, on 06/30/2008, -0/+1I do not understand why people dugg you down. You were just sharing your experience...
BTW, love the Handle/Graphic...I miss my Amiga... - denizen42, on 06/27/2008, -1/+2How about re-instating the logic of smart computing as a top priority, instead of the logic of short-term profits?
- aliguana, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1erm... they do that already. Every Windows version is a LTS product. Look at XP and how that has been extended.
- pdarg, on 06/27/2008, -1/+2you know, apple copied the idea for a windows based os from xerox in the 80s.
everyone always give ms crap about copying osx but no one points out the similarities between kde and windows or gnome and mac os. companies copy eachother all the time. - iiiears, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Improve perception of your product.
1.) Reduce clicks on your site and in the OS. Customer time saved is your money.
2.) Welcome competition from Apple and diplomatically and accurately show where their ads and product are flawed.
3.) Give your customers (All of them) a feeling of importance in a community built to improve your product.
4.) Admit privacy and security are under attack and use someone well known to the internet savvy to inform, educate and code for them. Make Microsoft THE security company.
5.) Try to remove DRM.
- carolinaws, on 06/27/2008, -1/+2You make a good point.
18. Re-hire Ballmer as head of PR/Corporate Imaging. - zabouth, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Form what I can gather that article is saying be apple
- fquednau, on 06/27/2008, -0/+118. Profit?
- kb9rlf, on 06/27/2008, -3/+3What I meant was why even use M$, my house is currently 100% M$ free
- AgmLauncher, on 06/27/2008, -2/+2Exactly. If people cannot earn money for the time and passion required to produce truly innovative and solid products, they won't. It's why communism failed and capitalism succeeded.
There aren't enough people who are talented enough to make something better than OSX or Windows and do it for free. There just aren't. That's a reality.
What's worse is open source could lead to a massive devolution of software compatibility. It's bad enough that Mac and Windows are fundamentally different, but imagine fifty dozen variations of operating sytems, each with single digit market shares, and each fundamentally incompatible with each other?
That would be far worse than any supposed consumer benefits of open source operating systems. - jamesmudgett, on 06/27/2008, -1/+1perfection
- zenerdiode, on 06/27/2008, -3/+3It's hard reading the article because the author is so narrow-minded in his tech focus. Ultimately, Microsoft, like Google and Apple, is a business out to make money any way possible.
Just take the first item:
"1. Stop trying to be everything to everybody. Microsoft makes software and services for everyone from humongous companies to little kids. It provides applications for PCs, servers, industrial devices, phones, GPS units, and cars. It's trying to be a major force in online advertising. It manufactures gaming consoles and audio players and mice and keyboards and touch-sensitive tables, and owns part of a cable news channel. No company on the planet could do all these things well, and Microsoft doesn't even do many of them profitably. Rather than jumping on every imaginable bandwagon, it would be smart to focus on core businesses such as operating systems, productivity applications and services, and programming tools. Possible role model: IBM, which is so disciplined about the opportunities it pursues that it decided to exit the PC business it created."
If I owned shares in MS, I'd prefer that they explore the possibilities. Even they must realize their software dominance won't last forever, and it is a wise business decision to look for growth in other markets. It's the same reason Apple introduced the iPod and Google would like to introduce Android. Innovation doesn't have to mean you innovate in your particular field only....it can also mean branching out to new areas. The Xbox division is a great example of why this strategy can work. For the longest time the Xbox and Xbox360 were big time money losers, but currently, it is finally turning a profit. But more importantly it has gained a significant user base and has phenomenal growth potential and is extremely well positioned for the transition to digital media delivery.
Basically, MS is trying to become the GE of the computer generation...and well, that's not a bad target to shoot for. GE may not be at the forefront of tech innovations any more, but they make a butt load of money and the entire market holds its breath whenever GE is about to announce its earnings. They may not be much bigger than MS, but they've managed to maintain their size and profit for a damn long, long time now. -
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