The announcement by Google of its new OS has the industry buzzing - and it will certainly be interesting to see the clash of these titans. Google will strike Microsoft right in its heartland– the Windows desktop system and its accompanying office package. Of course, the OS is still very much 'vaporware', but the threat is real.
I remember the ‘attacks’ by IBM (OS/2), Novell (Dr DOS), Corel & Borland (on Office), as well as Linux in more recent years. Each time Microsoft prevailed simply because it had the better product, the better marketing and the competing product was just not ‘different’ enough. So Microsoft has the track record to shake off Google - only things are little different now.
The market parameters have changed and so has Microsoft. Microsoft is no longer the lean, mean and focused company that it was in the nineties. It has not focused on its main stay products – Windows XP/Vista and Office. There has been little innovation for those products whilst the market has been demanding faster and more manageable versions.
Instead, Microsoft has been messing about making Financial and CRM software (Dynamics), VoIP / Conferencing software (OCS/Response point), Firewall software (ISA server), Xbox, Zune, Online Search, Online ads - and not been very successful at it! Does Microsoft need to be in those businesses? I think not. The stock market does not think so either. Luckily Google has been kind enough to give Microsoft a headstart (Chrome OS will not come until 2010)
Windows is an excellent operating system and Microsoft has the credentials to come out victorious against Google. But it will require focus and commitment.
Who better then Bill Gates to lead such an effort? He has done it before in 96 when he embraced the internet. He has the vision to do it. Build a brand new netbook OS!
As a Microsoft Shareholder: Mr Gates, please consider a come back to head up this effort!
7 comments:
What do you mean Microsoft had the better product and most importantly , what do you really mean when you say Mr. Gates please come back!!?
Progress is only natural and it would only be natural for Google to bring it through. Nothing has progressed in operating systems for a long time now and this is a problem for people held back that rely on the operating system to push their product through.
As far as Linux is concerned I doubt you have the facts straight since most enterprize-ware today is unix derived and runs on UNIX systems (e.g apache over IIS) , (pfix over exchange)(I could go on and on).
Windows is far from an excellent operating system for any environment, the only reason you praise it is because you make money from a product that runs on top of windows itself.
Microsoft lost many battles in recent years and they are about to lose more for the simple fact that they have lost the ability to acquire skillsets to build the future (with the exception of .net of course).
Look at the Zune? do people even know about the zune? It was Microsoft's answer to the iPod. Don't see much of them in the streets of London. Lot's of iPods though.
Look at the phone. Lots of microsoft phones out there, until the iphone came along.
Silverlight? Yeah, only in cartoons. flash is still no. 1 and always will be.
Lots of windows users too , that are there simply to keep feeding tech companies (for the time being).
The level of maintenance and absence of trust in your own operating system (who the hell knows what its running underneath the hood) is simply unacceptable in todays desktop or server computing. Even OSX is a proprietary system but you can still access , recompile and look at the kernel code.
Google's approach is clearly an expected and interesting one. They have the online skillset that nobody else has, they have the money, and they have the innovative minds surrounding their own developing product.
You strike me as a person that simply fears the future because you have your own little stake on what Mr. Gates built.
Microsoft has a track record of barely escaping the friendly fangs that Google can show :)
Do you really think with a CEO like Ballmer Microsoft will ever see light again?
More Microsoft/Google bickering http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8148969.stm
Darth,
"Microsoft lost many battles in recent years and they are about to lose more for the simple fact that they have lost the ability to acquire skillsets to build the future (with the exception of .net of course)."
I guess this is why Nick is pleading for a Gates comeback. Microsoft has no real vision for the future and a solution would be a visionary like who more than his holiness, Gates himself? I doubt he's motivated at this stage of his life for such a comeback though... who would be?
Google as a nascent and agile company has something that Microsoft does not have anymore... motivation; something that is key to any enterprise success, let alone a now overly complex to manage, fat conglomerate like Microsoft
"... messing about making ... Xbox ... and not been very successful at it!"
This is a bit of a soft spot :) I wouldn't certainly qualify what MS did with the Xbox as 'messing about'. If you just consider, apart from all the popular Xbox-exclusive titles, the recent entertainment content and titles sign-ups that MS landed (some of which were Sony-exclusive), the XNA Game Studio that allows anyone with coding abilities to develop and publish their own games to the community, and the Natal project (granted - it's just been announced and maybe has a lot of tweaking to do before the commercial launch), I wouldn't say the Xbox is 'not very successful'!
Wayne - exactly, i think Bill Gates has the vision. Motivated? well not by money, but on the other hand if what he built all is life (Microsoft) is in 'under attack', he might consider doing something like this and it would be a challenge to turn it around!
Hi Chris! My knowledge of gaming is very limited - I am not saying they do not make good games but i do not believe Xbox adds to Microsofts bottom line and i do not believe its a strategic market for Microsoft. Yet Xbox takes away focus from a market that is strategic.
For example, they have failed to impress in the mobile OS market (Windows Mobile sucks compared to Iphone - I recently switched). I'd say mobile OS is pretty strategic. And focusing on that instead of Xbox might be more important for Microsoft....
If there is one thing that i learned from the computer business then its focus. Focus, focus and focus. Anything less and you can just can't compete. You need to strive to the best in your market - and in this cut throat IT business it requires focus. Never mind how big you are!
Post a Comment