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Paul Graham Claims "Microsoft is Dead"
netbuzz writes "He doesn't mean dead as in six feet under, but rather that the software giant no longer instills the kind of fear — particularly among entrepreneurs — that it did back in the day when it was making road kill out of companies like Netscape. Microsoft obits have been around for almost as long as the company, but Graham's stature, style and devoted following are likely to make this one a classic."
It now seems inevitable that applications will live on the web
Oh, please. Web-based software? C'mon. Ajax and "web-based" applications haven't gone anywhere, and they're not going to. I file this alongside of Java's write once, run everywhere, and "push" technology.
no one who cares about computers uses Microsoft's anyway
I don't care what this guys credentials are... he is clueless.
I don't respond to AC's.
Microsoft's OS's may not be "sexy" anymore, but the server tools and software development environment they provide is light years ahead of anything anyone else has. There are a few cool UNIX-ish development tools like Ruby on RAILS, PHP, etc... but when it comes to real software development most of the UNIX stuff is absolutely tinker toy.
No. You are just plain wrong.
I have tried to switch to Linux 3 times now, and every time, within a week or so (longest I've made it being a little over a week, and yeah, that was with Ubuntu--the best so far!), I've given up. I know that if I'd read a few more manpages by illiterates and written a few more lines in some conf file I'd probably get things like wifi to work (well, basically work--might be some bugs), but you know what? I have things to do. I don't have time to hunt for drivers and then pray they work. Most people don't.
And that's even before you consider the fact that I even know what a driver is! My parents don't. Most people don't. They put Linux on their computers and something doesn't work, they're gonna call someone like you or me. You will fuss around and either get it to work or explain that it won't but you won't miss it (It's not Linux's fault! It's your hardware! And the vendors! And Microsoft!). I'll tell them to go back to Windows.
Of all my geeky friends, only two are using Linux as their main OS. Both of them are software engineers for HP. Everyone else, including the chip designers and web application developers, and our network admin, are using either Windows or MacOS (mostly the former--only the network guy uses a Mac). And those two people still maintain Windows volumes to boot to when they want to do something like play WoW with their friends (one of them got it to work under Linux, but gave up because of performance issues).
Linux is a toy OS. That isn't to say that it can't do amazing things--of course it can, duh--but it is primarily used by people who don't need it to do all the little consumery things we like computers to do, or people who actually enjoy tinkering. Basically, for the home user, Linux is great for checking email and browsing the web. Granted, those are the main things people do with their computers, but it isn't all they do.
Until there are many, many more native games and a native MS Office, Linux is kind of a joke.
Compulsory car analogy: Every aspect of a NASCAR "stock" car is tinkered and tuned. And as a result, they go quite fast, even with ho-hum hardware. But we don't drive those cars to work every day. We drive real stock cars. I don't want to monitor a pile of gauges or have no seats or windows or any of that crap I'd have to deal with if I were driving a NASCAR car. I just want to hop in my Daihatsu, crank the KMFDM, and drive to work. I don't want to find special gasoline or have to search for someone to repair it. I just want it to work and leave me alone. Windows and the MacOS do that. Linux is a pain in the ass.
I understand the idea that "Hey, I'm doing it! It's easy!" But it isn't true. I have stopped telling people that building their own PCs is easy. It is only easy if you've been doing it for years and know the history of the process. Any new development is just some new fact to toss on top of a very large pile of information. People starting from scratch do crazy things you'd have never even considered, because it's second nature to you. You have to explain things that seem like common sense. And I think that is the same thing with Linux. If you've been involved with it for a long time and are comfortable with UNIX and know what compiling means (I do, but only on a conceptual "definition of the word" sense), then yeah, it's easy. But most people do not walk in with that skill set. Only when ignorance of any of that poses no problem whatsoever will Linux be a serious competitor to Windows or the MacOS.
That is probably how it should read. MS didnt write anything they currently sell. They acquired it and revised it and added stuff to it. There is a very very long list of all of MS' acquisitions someplace online listing them all - including every part of Office, the entire graphics engine (including DirectX), IE, the Windows GUI, The WinXP theme changes, DOS, Win16, IIS, Exchange, and on and on. Acquired and added to by MS.
Everyone does this... What's your point ?