Microsoft vs. Google — Mutually Assured Destruction

jmcbain writes "Robert X. Cringely asserts that nothing good will come out of the ongoing war between Microsoft and Google: 'The battle between Microsoft and Google entered a new phase last week with the announcement of Google's Chrome Operating System — a direct attack on Microsoft Windows. This is all heady stuff and good for lots of press, but in the end none of this is likely to make a real difference for either company or, indeed, for consumers. It's just noise — a form of mutually assured destruction intended to keep each company in check.'"

Comments

I hope Microsoft gets stuffed by Google

[JustNiz]

Their products suck badly, their licencing sucks badly, their monopoly sucks badly, their whole attitude sucks really badly.
They're so overdue to be brought down.

Re:I hope Microsoft gets stuffed by Google

[furby076]

A monopoly is not just the lack of substitute (or competing) goods - it's about the lack of viable competing goods. So in this case, MS still fits the bill (e.g. Being the most popular platform, and with the win32 API being very heavily embedded in many products, targeting Windows is the only viable option for a lot of companies. It doesn't necessarily mean it's the only one)

OS-X is not a viable competing good? Are you also saying that google chrome is not a viable competing good? How is it MS fault Apple/Google cannot produce competing goods - they have the money to do it. THough I think they are competing goods. Being the most popular is not enough to be conisdered a monopoly. I think Wii is the most popular game console (it could be PS3 or Xbox depending on which report you read) - does that make Nintendo a monopoly? No.

While MS did some bad things in the past (using their power to ensure retailers only sold their OS) this has pretty much gone the way of the doe-doe bird.

Linx, OS-X, Chrome(yet to be proven) are all viable products.

Let the best OS win = Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

Google "will fucking kill them"! Balmer must be going through a lot of thrown chairs right now :)

Re:Hey anyone remember the Network Computer?

[Orion Blastar]

The only reason why XP is so popular is because it can run "Legacy Windows Software" better than Vista or Windows 7 beta.

Does the Chrome OS run "Legacy Windows Software"? No it does not, so it is not a good replacement for Windows XP. The only way the Chrome OS netbook can succeed is by running all applications on the "Cloud" via the Chrome web browser which is part of the Chrome OS.

Why does this matter? In order to beat Windows XP it not only has to run applications in the "Cloud" it has to run applications that businesses need to run to keep their businesses going. Not just accounting software and tax software, but each business has their own system they either develop their own custom software for or they buy commercial software to do it for them.

I used to work for a small business that made surgical tray inventory software. It ran in Windows 98 with Visual BASIC 6.0 code and MS-Access and MS-SQL Server databases. It required barcode scanners or RFID chip technology to keep track of each tray, etc. They were not the only company to invent such a program, dozens more in the USA offer the same sort of software and service. Hospitals need this software to run their business and avoid infections by properly cleaning surgical tools in each tray, designed for each surgery. Some surgical tools can be steam cleaned, while others cannot and steam cleaning them would ruin them. So the software has to know which tools to remove and clean a different way when steam cleaning a tray. If Chrome OS cannot provide software like that, hospitals will continue to use a Windows solution.

That is just one out of millions of examples.

Another example is Legal Practice Management Software, or Medical Practice Management Software, as all law and medical records are supposed to become electronic.

But wait there is more, PLC (Programmable Logic Controllers) using RLL (Relay Ladder Logic) are used for many manufacturing jobs and automated systems like 911 CAD (Computer Automated Dispatch) and the PLC programmable software runs in XP and not Vista or Windows 7, and has no Chrome OS version, and requires a serial port (replaced by USB on most modern systems) to program the PLC devices. Does a Netbook with Chrome OS have a serial port and software to program a PLC in RLL yet? Nope.

Until software like that can be made for Network Computers or Chrome OS Netbooks or Linux, companies are still going to use Windows XP and Windows systems.