Microsoft: Falling apart or coming back?

[JerseySal]

What irks me are the people that create threads and speculative posts about market share as if they just ended their shift as an expert business reporter on CNBC, when in fact they're most likely echoing another blog or thread somewhere else by a similar wishful thinker that thinks he/she is a business expert as well.

 

[Coreldan]

I don't know. People are happy to pay the "Apple Tax". I'm one of them, own a MacBook Pro and the hardware, while not the best in specs, works like a royal charm.

You are not anywhere near the usual "masses-target audience" referred to, though. Anyone who visits a tech website frequently is nowhere near average in any usage pattern when it comes to technology. Sure, Macbooks etc are pretty luxury and a lot of certain audiences have them, but I dont think we will see the usual "I shall buy this cheap 400€ bloatware laptop"-soccer mom audience going for 1000€ MacBooks anytime soon or a large basis. And at the same time I think that the tablet market will also cannibalize these sales even more in the future. Sadly people don't realize the greatness of Windows 8 tablets and still go for a gimped iPad

Somebody is probably gonna bite into the above statement so I'll clarify. iPads are great pieces of tech, but what I'm saying is that the usual soccer mom-audience would suffice perfectly with a Windows 8 tablet-hybrid. While iPads are great, no proper USB connectivity (keyboard, mouse, printers, etc) and no flash support is probably something that still makes these people need another device.

 

[diapers]

Falling apart. I've been developing for windows since WinNT and there is a huge braindrain going on in the MS ecosystem. A lot of young and upcoming developers code for android, ios, web.. compared to years ago. Their 99$ dev registration fee to develop on windows was absolutely ********, mentioned this a year and a half ago.. and guess what happened today? they changed it to 19$. idiots.. they keep bleeding developers, their ecosystem is dying frankly this is the first time I've ever considered that MS that the future for MS is going to be a very different one 5 years from now; and not for the better.

 

[In Limbo]

What irks me are the people that create threads and speculative posts about market share as if they just ended their shift as an expert business reporter on CNBC, when in fact they're most likely echoing another blog or thread somewhere else by a similar wishful thinker that thinks he/she is a business expert as well.

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THANK YOU!!!

I find myself frequenting these threads occasionally (which I suppose makes me sub-hypocritical, lol) but seldom do I attempt to highlight the recent stock numbers as if I work on Wall Street. It's easy to start repeating what the "experts" say, but when you're not one, things tend to get taken way out of context.

 

[sravanv]

Speaking of Wall street numbers, if we use that as a barometer, Microsoft has risen almost 30% from Jan 2013 to June 26th (today). And MSFT is considered a safer-than-market-stock (beta is < 1). Clearly they're doing something right.

 

[Blu3V3nom07]

They're coming back. Their behavior at BUILD 2013 was proof enough.

 

[jlzimmerman]

I'm one of them, own a MacBook Pro and the hardware, while not the best in specs, works like a royal charm.

When you pay 2 to 2.5 times the cost of a comparable PC, IT BETTER work like a royal charm.....

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

When you pay 2 to 2.5 times the cost of a comparable PC, IT BETTER work like a royal charm.....

I have certain software that is licensed for Mac only, including a ?2'500 media suite... I have to pay 100x the cost of a comparable PC. The software is part of my degree program.

 

[bbqrooster]

So how many people needs this certain software that is licensed for Mac only? Do you know how many software only runs on Windows OS? Using yourself as a yardstick is no way to judge the market. By the way, what is this particular software? Does it have a name? I hope it's not called iOS.

 

[spaulagain]

What irks me are the people that create threads and speculative posts about market share as if they just ended their shift as an expert business reporter on CNBC, when in fact they're most likely echoing another blog or thread somewhere else by a similar wishful thinker that thinks he/she is a business expert as well.

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Exactly, hence my earlier posts. These threads are just silly.

 

[jmshub]

First off, Microsoft isn't falling apart. They are still a massively profitable company, selling business tools alone. If Windows on the desktop, X-Box and Windows Phone all failed, Microsoft wouldn't fold, they'd just be a boring business devices and services company, a modern day IBM. They make a lot of money selling...something...

I think Microsoft is making large strides into becoming a "cool" company, for the first time perhaps ever. If they could ever manage to implement their three screens ideas as much as they hope they can, they will be popular for years to come. Here's hoping they don't blow it...

 

[Laura Knotek]

I have certain software that is licensed for Mac only, including a ?2'500 media suite... I have to pay 100x the cost of a comparable PC. The software is part of my degree program.

That's like my situation only the opposite. I have Photoshop for Windows, so I could never use a Mac (unless I also bought Windows and ran Windows on the Mac).

 

[Mike Gibson]

Falling apart. I've been developing for windows since WinNT and there is a huge braindrain going on in the MS ecosystem. A lot of young and upcoming developers code for android, ios, web.. compared to years ago. Their 99$ dev registration fee to develop on windows was absolutely ********, mentioned this a year and a half ago.. and guess what happened today? they changed it to 19$. idiots.. they keep bleeding developers, their ecosystem is dying frankly this is the first time I've ever considered that MS that the future for MS is going to be a very different one 5 years from now; and not for the better.

Yep. If they lose Windows, which they're trying their best to do, then they'll lose the company. WinRT is only suitable for applets, not programs. I see posters on various forums asking why Office requires a desktop on a Surface RT -- that's because the WinRT API is unsuitable for programs of any complexity. C++ devs like me are especially screwed on WP8 because we can't write a XAML/Direct3D/C++ app, we have to use a C# shell and stuff all the C++ in a runtime component. Although we can't use most of the well known, battle tested Win32 APIs, the WinRT framework uses them under the covers (e.g. IXMLHttpRequest2 uses WinInet)! In addition, the Win32 file and directory functions are over 200 times faster than their WinRT equivalents ... mostly due to the File Broker in WinRT. And let's not even get started on the TextBlock and other XAML elements being limited to the maximum texture size of the GPU. Who *physically* realizes an entire graphical element (instead of drawing only what's visible)??? This is Programming 101 stuff. None of this was necessary. All they needed to do was add a scalable UI API and system to Win32.

Anyway, after seeing the complete clusterfrack that is WinRT I decided sell the MSFT shares I've held since the late 1980s/early 1990s. My livelihood depends on Windows so I hope things don't collapse too quickly. And, of course, there's still a chance that they might turn things around.

 

[cckgz4]

I'm not going to predict ANYTHING since that's not something I do for a living. But what I will tell you is from experience, on and offline, I haven't seen Microsoft being as popular as they are now, ACROSS THE BOARD, in a LONG time. And being HIGHLY competitive, which is a great thing. Launching stores, competitively priced tablet hybrids, commercials attacking the competition, it just seems that they are at their best and getting better. Are they perfect, without flaws? No, which is why I don't own a sole Windows ecosystem, but who's to say that it won't get better than what it is now? While "give it a chance" seems to be the automated response on these parts, it seems for Microsoft that time has been a great asset for them for growth

 

[Jack Larson1]

nah, they are not going to blow it, the new EOS nokia is coming out, they are opening stores in the seattle area, and WIN 8.1 is coming, not to mention the restrictions that they lifted on the xbox 1. also, apple copied metro style with ios 7(LOL) and office 365 is doing great so far! so i think MS is not only doing great, but ahead of the game in the next gen os, metro style. good.:grin:


you know if apple attempts to copy you that your probably on the right track.

 

[Jack Larson1]

You just come aacross as an ***, just saying

this is an opinion, just saying

some people beg to differ.

 

[Jack Larson1]

yeah, i' ve heard of these geniuses not being able to fix ipods locked for 40 years (seriously). they have a sort of hubris from what i've read.

 

[JamesDax]

Not falling apart and coming back from where? MS is doing fine.

 

[jlzimmerman]

I have certain software that is licensed for Mac only, including a ?2'500 media suite... I have to pay 100x the cost of a comparable PC. The software is part of my degree program.

I understand this. The point is, when you spend that much more for a machine with similar hardware/OS system specs, one should expect it to function better and with less bugs. I always snicker when my iFan friend brags about how her MacBook is so superior to my Gateway (with full blown MS Office) laptop without mentioning that she literally paid three times more than I.

 

[jlzimmerman]

Their 99$ dev registration fee to develop on windows was absolutely ********, mentioned this a year and a half ago.. and guess what happened today? they changed it to 19$.

Well at least that's a step in the right direction. *Shrug*