Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Soul of A New Microsoft

Posted by Zonk on from the nice-picture-j dept.

BusinessWeek Online is running a front page story today about the new future of Microsoft. By 'looking beyond Windows', the company is utilizing fresh blood to come up with new products like the Zune, the Xbox 360, and various online sites. While the Zune probably isn't getting off to as successful a start as they might have liked, the article argues it's a positive sign that they're at least making the attempt. From the article: "The point is that Microsoft needs to find its un-Vista. Several of them, in fact. The software giant is entering perhaps the greatest upheaval in its 30-year history. New business models are emerging--from low-cost "open-source" software to advertising-supported Web services--that threaten Microsoft's core business like never before. For investors to care about the company, it needs to find new growth markets. Its $44.3 billion in annual sales are puttering along at an 11% growth pace. Its shares, which soared 9,560% throughout the 1990s, sunk 63% in 2000 when the Internet bubble burst, and they have yet to fully recover."

5 of 294 comments (clear)

  1. And finally a new name... by sgt_doom · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Yup, and I just heard M$ is planning on changing their logo to a genetically-modified apple. Kinda doubt it will work....

  2. Is their new soul.. by QuantumG · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    as black as the old one?

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  3. In Todays News.. by Trailwalker · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Microsoft ponders acquisition of a Soul

    This really belongs on Fark.

  4. The Soul of A New Microsoft by albert28 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    yes, but does satan have to pay for the license of this one too? or is it a free update for him?

  5. Re:need to find their heart by chris_mahan · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    > Once Win95 hit on billions of cheap PCs, it was "good enough."

    Ubuntu is "good enough" and free. They'll even send you cds by mail for free (no shipping costs to you) if you don't want to or can't burn them yourself.

    I use it at work. It opens word, excel, powerpoint (even has a MS access reader) and pdf fine. Runs java no problem. Eclipse no problem. samba makes mounting networked drives a breeze, and the hibernate works as advertised.

    There are a few font issues, but you can install a microsoft font pack. The sub-pixel anti-aliased fonts look "good enough" on my 19inch lcd at 1280x1024.

    Ok, it doesn't run Photoshop. Well, newsflash: if you need Photoshop for your Business, you're already running OS X. The GIMP is "good enough". Try Inkspace too...

    Firefox and extensions work fine. Flash is mostly there (no characters in google's finance flash dynamic charting, but I'm ok with that). Besides, I use an extension that stops flash anyway.

    Oh, and for non .Net development, it's better. UNIX-land tools are native (CVS, SVN, docBook toolchain, etc. No need for cygwin) Eclipse runs fine.

    In sum, linux on the desktop in the Ubuntu flavor is "good enough". The revolution is being televised^WYouTubbed.

    Oh, and before you think fanboi, know this: I've spent ten years in my life in MSLand. (from qbasic on DOS 5 until ASP 3.0) Python squeezed it out of me.

    --

    "Piter, too, is dead."