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Microsoft's Unique Innovation

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the stuff-to-read dept.

Anonymous Coward writes "The way John Carroll sees it, Microsoft doesn't get enough credit for all the technology it invents. The company's understanding of the marketplace, argues Carroll, has proved fertile ground for many of the inventions, however incremental, that Microsoft produces on a regular basis. That awareness is that all software markets, however "unrelated" they may seem, have linkages to each other. And it's an awareness that open source will have a hard time matching. Another reason many fail to appreciate Microsoft inventiveness, continues Carroll, is because most inventions are pieces of larger puzzles."

9 of 575 comments (clear)

  1. What the..... by RiscIt · · Score: 5, Funny

    * checks calendar *

    Nope... it's not April 1st. Did I miss something?

    1. Re:What the..... by cursion · · Score: 5, Funny

      I know ... I've got mod points, but I can't find a way to mark the article flamebait...

      --
      remember when it was {of|for|by} the people?
    2. Re:What the..... by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 5, Funny
      Given the fact a *fucking lot* of Open Source applications are copying ideas from Windows, there must be some clever heads at Microsoft.

      I know! Just like Apache copied IIS, Sendmail copied Exchange, BSD copied their old network utilities, and Mozilla copied IE. I tell you, it's amazing they ever let us have any of their new toys, since we're just going to steal them right out from under 'em.

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    3. Re:What the..... by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 5, Funny
      There was a time before the brainwashing when it was considered patently obvious that you get better product when you pay people to build it.

      I get paid quite a bit to write Free Software, as do a lot of my friends. The teenage hacker in his mom's basement is terribly '90s; you really need to update your cliches.

      Even if Microsoft gets Longhorn out in 2008, it will still beat linux.

      Yes, Longhorn '08 will probably be spiffy compared to Linux '05. I don't plan to be running Linux '05 then.

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
  2. Hmm. by Limburgher · · Score: 5, Funny
    The reason for that unstoppability is the lack of an awareness on anyone else's part of the value of an end to end solution where everything works together using the same technology

    Riiiight. I work in an almost all MS shop, and if everything suddenly started working seamlessly, I'd have a friggin' heart attack.

    --

    You are not the customer.

  3. Frequent Rebooting by Average_Joe_Sixpack · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't remember having to reboot as much with other platforms ... I guess that's sort of an innovation

  4. With this article I'm sure.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    A mature, rational discussion will follow.

  5. Re:MS keeps innovating in their spin by Undertaker43017 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "has to have the tires upgraded every lap"

    Guess you missed the US Grand Prix this year...

  6. Xerox PARC and real innovation. by kupci · · Score: 5, Funny
    Hasn't anybody else noticed that the slope of progress on linux is far less than for Mac OS X, or even Windows? Even if Microsoft gets Longhorn out in 2008, it will still beat linux. And by that point Apple will be selling something that makes both look like a Speak 'n' Spell.

    Slope of progress? Like, do you measure that in utils, or what? Lines of code? Eye-candy? How many OEMs include it? Or do you measure it in reliability, security, standards-adherence? The underpinnings (openstep, freebsd) have always been there for the taking by anybody in the OSS community yet it took Apple to produce what I think (and many others do, too) is the first decent version of UNIX for the desktop.

    Always there for the taking? Nice corporate attitude. Well, that sentence speaks for itself. Apple benefits from the hard work of the folks at Berkeley and KDE, then adds some polish, calls it innovation. 'cepting they wouldn't be where there are now had it not been for open-source. And by the way, if you search the Slash archive, you'll see Apple is not exactly a self-respecting member of the open source community. They see far, by sitting on the shoulders of giants. But don't contribute anything back, unless they get their hands slap. Read up on Safari's roots in KDE's KHTML.

    Even if Microsoft gets Longhorn out in 2008, it will still beat linux.

    NOW you're talking crack. What an inane statement first of all. Still beat linux in what way? Again, what are your criteria? Besides, the Linux development pace has forced Microsoft to entirely revamp their glacial development process to the 'Agile' process of the Linux crew. Read up on the article in WSJ recently about how sloooooow it took to get builds from Microsot.

    Just look at GNOME. It's practically got a [bleep] start menu.

    The start menu. Oh, thank you very very much Msf. What a wonderful contribution. But they stole the entire user interface for Windows, and Windows 95, from Macintosh, who stole it from Xerox PARC. Xerox Parc built the GUI interface. Msft contributes a button. Thanks.