Rumor mill: Two Microsoft Shareholders Want Satya Nadella to Kill Xbox, Bing, and Surface

[dkediger]

https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...enship%2Fen-us%2Fnonprofits%2F&token=B2PmLosc

 

[a5cent]

...It generates positive mindshare, which is very valuable for a company that has a history of being pure evil.

There was a time when I disliked MS' business practices. However, in hindsight, it all seems rather tame now. What I disliked most was MS' ability to kill off any competitor just by entering the field with a competing software package, which they could give away for free, sometimes bundling it with Windows. I always felt that the better software product should win, but many such products were sunk, because you can't beat "free".

Today, that is pretty normal. Google does exactly that, just on a much larger scale. The profit potential in any field Google enters is eventually eroded. The only way to remain active in that field is by subsidizing your efforts with money earned elsewhere, which most companies can't do. I don't think that is evil anymore. It's just business. Larger fish eat the little fish. End of story. Fact of life.

Today, the only people who don't look bad calling MS "pure evil" are folks over 90 that no longer realize how the world has evolved over the last 15 years. If we'd apply the same standard today, we'd be calling every company in the tech industry "pure evil". That isn't helpful.

On the other hand, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has done more good for humanity than all the other large tech companies combined. Granted, that isn't MS, but it is a direct result of MS' earlier success.

 

[anony_mouse]

Evil or not, I don't know, but remember that Microsoft still subsidise unprofitable businesses from profitable ones in a way very few companies can. Windows Phone, xbox, Bing, Windows RT, ... are all subsidised by the historical success of Windows and Office, and by the other MS divisions.

All established companies do this to some degree - Microsoft can afford to do it more than most.