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Strategy Shift In The Air For Microsoft

Posted by timothy on from the look-out-that-carrot's-loaded dept.

mrdaveb writes "In the face of a declining market for MS Windows and MS Office, Microsoft's recent statements and acquisitions point to a future in which .NET is a key driver behind a strategy which will see Windows CE devices taking the limelight. This article explores the problems which Microsoft face in maintaining their stranglehold, and their likely route to keeping Windows on top."

5 of 439 comments (clear)

  1. Strategic retreat... by the_skywise · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've been wondering about this for awhile. Microsoft's overall strategy has always been to be the mediator between your computer/data and you. At the beginning this was DOS, then it became Windows on top of DOS. Then Office to get to your business data, etc; Netscape was a major threat because they could usurp that position and allow you to get to your data through the web browser on a PC without needing a MS product. .NET is the ultimate implementation of this strategy. If they can really make it run anywhere: PCs running Windows, OSX or Linux on various hardware flavors AND on palms, consumer electronics devices, etc; Then they'll have succeeded in making a standardized "glue" layer between you and the hardware.

    Next port Office to .NET and you have practically the same scenario as you have today except now Windows(.NET) runs anywhere.

    Linux? OSX? Windows? Bah, who cares, so long as you're running a .NET license...

  2. Bill's pet project by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 5, Interesting
    You can bet that MS corporate strategy will follow Bill's pet projects. Bill is seriously into the handheld device, so you can be sure that MS effort will be put into that.

    MS has screwed up so many times in the handheld arena, but now the technology is getting to the point where maybe they can get their bloatware to work: i. mobile devices are getting powerful enough and cheap enough; ii. 3G and effective wireless netweorking are getting to the stage where they are reasonable as mobile data carriers.

    MS has been losing money in mobile for many years. This might give them an edge in the future.

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
  3. I think the author missed something important by ShatteredDream · · Score: 4, Interesting

    About Longhorn. It was supposed to be the Great Leap Forward for Microsoft and yet most of the cool features have either been pulled for future releases or being backported to XP. This will probably be the first version of Windows where there is very little incentive to upgrade from the previous version for most of Microsoft's users.

    The absolute worst thing that could happen to Microsoft would be for Windows to lag in sales. So much of their company rides on the success of Windows and Office that if one of those gets badly damaged it would have very damaging results for the entire company.

    --
    Click here or a puppy gets stomped!
  4. "Profits" vs "Market Share" by KiltedKnight · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Actually, while Microsoft may have posted record profits, they've also noted that their sales of Windows have actually declined. Their entire profit increase was more due to cost cuts and sales of Halo 2.

    Read about it here

    --
    OCO is Loco
  5. Back to school for you (YOU FAIL IT)! by temojen · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A natural monopoly is an industry where the most efficient production is through a monopoly. This means Municipal water supply, electricity distribution, local telephone service, public postal services, etc.

    Microsoft's monopoly came about mostly by their exclusive contracts with hardware vendors, agressive bundling, and buying up competitors. This is the antithesis of a natural monopoly.