15 ways Microsoft can reinvent itself for the post-Gates era

[cardinals_fan]

This (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9104058&pageNumber=1) is a very interesting article. I'd be interested to know what everybody here thinks about its implications. One quick request: please don't just say stuff like "M$ sux" or "Linux is better". I'm interested in how you analyze the ARTICLE, not the company.

[insane_alien]

i agree with most of the point on that. though the one that i agree with the most is: listen to the customers.

in my recent calls to microsoft tech support i was shunted off redirected given numbers to call and it all ended up with them trying to fob off another copy of vista on me. i called up to enquire about excessive parking of the disk heads(3-4 times per second) it was my fault and i'm not sure how to reverse it.

Another one is bundling an office suite. it doesn't have to be spectacular perhaps Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Because i have to say, there isn't much you can do with a fresh computer just bought without getting a whole lot of other software.

the continual upgrades(perhaps by modularizing windows and centralizing program libraries) would also be a good idea. as they will still need to make money(they are a for profit business after all) they could charge for major upgrades (perhaps $5 or something) but security and bugfixes should be free(something like the way ubuntu upgrades although we don't charge for either).

interesting article. hope microsoft is listening. doubt it'll happen.

[ad_267]

It sounds pretty well thought out to me and I agree that a lot of those would be good for MS, especially the "be innovative" part.

This one was scary though, I'd hate for this to happen:
12. Make the Office file formats indispensable on the Web. The file formats for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are among Microsoft's most valuable property -- even the Office 2007 ones that the company has published as open standards. They'd be an even more powerful asset if they were as widely used on the Web as Adobe's omnipresent PDF.

How about a unified Office file viewer -- ideally with some basic editing features -- that would be a cinch to find, install, and use? (Office Live Workspace does this, sort of, but it's too complicated to become pervasive.) This would sure make more sense than XPS, Microsoft's half-baked response to PDF.

Anyone think this "unified Office file viewer" would be available for Linux? Not that I'd want it anyways.

[Darkade]

7. Split Windows in two. Long-term, the world needs a fundamentally new version of Windows. But the uproar over Microsoft's plans to kill off Windows XP shows that there are lots of folks who just want a version of the OS that's familiar and compatible. The company already sells more than 20 versions of the operating system -- so why not make both groups of people happy by offering both a legacy edition and a Windows that's new from the ground up?

That's actually a great idea. Merging different windows versions and instead selling just two, Legacy and Cuttin' edge 8-) windows, could work. I mean there are a *lot* of windows versions that demand different amount of resources and perform different why not making just one version that works 'fine' and consumes 'small' amount of resources and that and you could enable other features if your hardware supports it


How ever I have to say to this:

14. Build Internet Explorer on top of Firefox. OK, I've suggested this before. I understand that it remains an idiosyncratic and unlikely proposition. But it still seems like a good idea to me. There may have been a time when IE was a strategic asset for Microsoft, but today it's more of an albatross. So why not dump it for a leaner, meaner "Internet Explorer" that's really the supremely customizable Firefox under the skin?C'mon Ain't gonna happen LOL

Anyway, most of the ideas in the article are kind of idealistic, but most of them are great. however I do think that microsoft is trying to do a lot of things, more than they can manage.

[cardinals_fan]

That's actually a great idea. Merging different windows versions and instead selling just two, Legacy and Cuttin' edge 8-) windows, could work. I mean there are a *lot* of windows versions that demand different amount of resources and perform different why not making just one version that works 'fine' and consumes 'small' amount of resources and that and you could enable other features if your hardware supports it

This would allow Microsoft to break backward compatability and release a new Windows rebuilt from the ground up.

[Darkade]

This would allow Microsoft to break backwared compatability and release a new Windows rebuilt from the ground up.

No, no. Or well at least not necessarily. Most windows versions are compatible... kind of. So if you have one legacy that could be say XP professional or something , it would be really compatible, and then you can have windows 7, just one version again, which is pretty much compatible but has a different structure, or I don't know.

My point is that they are segmenting the market too much, average people want a OS that works, and most of them won't understand/care about the version when they are buying a computer/OS but will complain when their OS don't do what they want.

And microsft is already doing something like this, supporting XP 'til 2014? C'mon! that IS legacy, and they of course have windows 7 comming LOL

[Darkade]

Also merging a basic office suit in windows is a good idea. Most people (or at least I've seen it a lot) think windows and office are bundled together and don't realize they are two different products

[rockface]

Now that Microsoft is under the tenure of Steve Ballmer I'm just amazed people think they are going to change the way they do business.

Steve Ballmer is a troglodyte masquerading as a CEO, a thug in an expensive suit. This 'bulldozer in a china shop' has not the nouse or vision of his predecessor. Remember Vista happened on his watch.

Expect more Linux/FOSS technology based companies to be threatened and have to sign dubious patent deals.

Expect OEMs such as Asus and Dell to make their products difficult to use with Linux/FOSS.

Expect emerging new technologies that use Linux/FOSS like UMPCs to get hijacked by Microsoft (OLPC being an example).

Expect government bodies (in the US anyway) to mandate Microsoft file formats such as OOXML.

Expect Microsoft to wave those dollar bills (lol) under the noses of industry leaders and politicians alike.

In other words more of the same.

Gates had savvy and instinct, Ballmer does not.

Gates (who I dislike but begrudgingly admire) could take Microsoft on to pastures new. Ballmer on the other hand will be stubbornly chewing his cud in a field full of his own excrement and not be able to smell his own bull.

[Frak]

Expect OEMs such as Asus and Dell to make their products difficult to use with Linux/FOSS.

Micheal Dell is a very big fan of Ubuntu. He runs it on his own computers. I doubt he'd stop OSS development (Dell helps OSS development)

ASUS also supports OSS development.

Expect government bodies (in the US anyway) to mandate Microsoft file formats such as OOXML.

.doc is already a standard.

[cardinals_fan]

No, no. Or well at least not necessarily. Most windows versions are compatible... kind of. So if you have one legacy that could be say XP professional or something , it would be really compatible, and then you can have windows 7, just one version again, which is pretty much compatible but has a different structure, or I don't know.

My point is that they are segmenting the market too much, average people want a OS that works, and most of them won't understand/care about the version when they are buying a computer/OS but will complain when their OS don't do what they want.

And microsft is already doing something like this, supporting XP 'til 2014? C'mon! that IS legacy, and they of course have windows 7 comming LOL
Windows is a mess at the moment. They've been throwing layer after layer on top of an already bloated code base. A fresh start is needed. Unfortunately, a fresh start will wipe out all backward compatibility. So, they support/sell one old & bloated version with backward compatibility, and release a new version that's lighter and has new features. They could throw around their weight a little so that some high-profile software is available with the new version.

Will that actually happen? Probably not. It's too much work. But it's still a possibility.
Now that Microsoft is under the tenure of Steve Ballmer I'm just amazed people think they are going to change the way they do business.

Steve Ballmer is a troglodyte masquerading as a CEO, a thug in an expensive suit. This 'bulldozer in a china shop' has not the nouse or vision of his predecessor. Remember Vista happened on his watch.

Expect more Linux/FOSS technology based companies to be threatened and have to sign dubious patent deals.

Expect OEMs such as Asus and Dell to make their products difficult to use with Linux/FOSS.

Expect emerging new technologies that use Linux/FOSS like UMPCs to get hijacked by Microsoft (OLPC being an example).

Expect government bodies (in the US anyway) to mandate Microsoft file formats such as OOXML.

Expect Microsoft to wave those dollar bills (lol) under the noses of industry leaders and politicians alike.

In other words more of the same.

Gates had savvy and instinct, Ballmer does not.

Gates (who I dislike but begrudgingly admire) could take Microsoft on to pastures new. Ballmer on the other hand will be stubbornly chewing his cud in a field full of his own excrement and not be able to smell his own bull.
You seem to misunderstand. I don't expect Microsoft to get all warm and fuzzy with FOSS. I DO expect them to change. Tech companies don't last long without changes, and I don't think that Microsoft plans on going extinct.

[rockface]

'You seem to misunderstand. I don't expect Microsoft to get all warm and fuzzy with FOSS. I DO expect them to change. Tech companies don't last long without changes, and I don't think that Microsoft plans on going extinct.'

With Ballmer at the helm I'm not sure they can change. The tactics I cite are what has worked in the past so I expect Ballmer to use them in the future.

Ballmer is without imagination and vision. They will spend more on patent/copyright lawyers than on R'n'D in the years to come. It is cheaper to prop up the monolith that is the Windows code base than to start afresh, which is after all what would be for the best.

[cardinals_fan]

With Ballmer at the helm I'm not sure they can change. The tactics I cite are what has worked in the past so I expect Ballmer to use them in the future.

Ballmer is without imagination and vision. They will spend more on patent/copyright lawyers than on R'n'D in the years to come. It is cheaper to prop up the monolith that is the Windows code base than to start afresh, which is after all what would be for the best.
Some things will change. I expect more overall "connectedness" on the desktop, as fast internet speeds become more and more common.

[rockface]

Some things will change. I expect more overall "connectedness" on the desktop, as fast internet speeds become more and more common.

'connectedness', nice word. The problem is that the Microsoft CEO has to be one of the most disconnected individuals in the entire sphere of information technology.

A 'Steve Jobs' (reality distortion field and all) Ballmer is not.

[dca]

Now that Microsoft is under the tenure of Steve Ballmer I'm just amazed people think they are going to change the way they do business.


Hmmm, not really, I just think now that it's his game they'll now be eight versions of Vista when SP2 comes out instead of four (Home Bas & Prem, Business, Ultimate)...

[dca]

The way I see it, Ballmer ate crayons... What should've happened, Vista instead of being crap on top of XP should've been XP stripped to the core. Don't add nine layers of network connection wizards, network components wizards, network connection managers, and twenty other different utilities that either all do the same GD thing or end up through mouse-clicks from control panels to the same exact fu****g spot! He should've ripped XP down, build his stupid aero on top of it add minimal tweaks, better hardware support THEN only release one vers!. Make sure the vers does not include any web browser or media player and allow users during install to make informed decision on possible choices (or no browser or MP for that matter) and sell it all for $199 like they used to do (XP, 2000, etc)!!!

...then they could've told the EU & US DOJ "look what we did..."

[cardinals_fan]

'connectedness', nice word. The problem is that the Microsoft CEO has to be one of the most disconnected individuals in the entire sphere of information technology.

A 'Steve Jobs' (reality distortion field and all) Ballmer is not.
Connectedness != openness. Even if they can't buy them out, I expect Microsoft to make a deal with Yahoo to integrate Yahoo's web platform onto the Windows desktop. They already tried to do that with their own "Windows Live", but it's such an awful system that nobody wants to use it. They may also consider purchasing Zoho and offering it as a replacement for Microsoft Works.

I think that you're making Ballmer into more than he is. He's a businessman, and I doubt if he knows ANYTHING about the products his company makes.

[rockface]

Connectedness != openness. Even if they can't buy them out, I expect Microsoft to make a deal with Yahoo to integrate Yahoo's web platform onto the Windows desktop. They already tried to do that with their own "Windows Live", but it's such an awful system that nobody wants to use it. They may also consider purchasing Zoho and offering it as a replacement for Microsoft Works.

I think that you're making Ballmer into more than he is. He's a businessman, and I doubt if he knows ANYTHING about the products his company makes.

I knew what you meant by the term 'connectedness', and the context in which you used it.

'I think that you're making Ballmer into more than he is.' I am sure I could not put Ballmer in a worse light than he does himself by his own words and antics.

'He's a businessman, and I doubt if he knows ANYTHING about the products his company makes.' That my friend is the entire crux of my argument.

Gates and Jobs had an idea of just what their respective companies products and services consisted of. Ballmer has little knowledge of anything more complex than the belief that Microsoft have the god-given right to people's money.

Ballmer's belief that any and all computers sold should have the 'Microsoft Tax' imposed on them is a matter of fact.

If they competed on quality and providing value for money for their customers I would not be so vociferous in my condemnation.

I believe Microsoft are capable of these things, but not with Ballmer in charge. Maybe the shareholders should consider doing the unthinkable and getting rid of him.

[darrelljon]

Most of the 15 suggestions can be summed up as "try and do what FOSS does already".

[cammin]

2. Upgrade continuously, not once every few years.
"Couldn't Microsoft Update evolve from a tedious patching system to a cool way to make Windows, Office, and other applications better on a day-by-day basis?"

It's bad enough software companies keep adding things I don't want, or removing things I liked. But to have that happen automatically from a background update would make it even worse.

5. Make Windows a seamless desktop-Web experience.
Hasn't MS been trying to do this for the better part of a decade? It's why IE is tied into everything, which is one of the problems with Windows.

Reboot Windows
Microsoft already tried this with 2000/XP, they just didn't cut the ties to the older versions like Apple did. They couldn't because they needed the people already locked-in to Windows to keep using it. Apple didn't have that problem so they could get away with it.
This hasn't changed on Microsoft's part, so the reasoning to completely sever the ties and make a completely new OS hasn't changed either.

12. Make the Office file formats indispensable on the Web.
First: *shudder*
Second: Aren't they already trying to do this?

13. Take a studio approach to software.
End result: The average Microsoft-published game is arguably more interesting than the average Microsoft-published productivity application. If the company applied the same system to productivity software, it might unleash an explosion of creativity.

What does that say about Halo, if it's only arguably more interesting than Excel? Maybe they should release a Xbox 360 version of PowerPoint.
I just wanted to make fun of the use of arguably. If MS wants to outsource it's apps or even OS design with a fancy name like 'Studio', fine.

[3rdalbum]

Windows users don't want Microsoft to reinvent itself. They don't want a new operating system that will have x new features.

Microsoft can quite happily exist for the next 15 years by repackaging Windows XP. The small (and growing) number of people who want something different can switch to Linux. There are a huge number of people who hated Vista because it was different, and those are the people who will ensure that Microsoft never loses its industry dominance. Because they will be dominated by their self-imposed lock-in to Windows XP.

[phenest]

Microsoft can quite happily exist for the next 15 years...

Not a chance. MS has lost focus. MS has fingers in a lot of pies. They've infiltrated so many areas of IT and lost a lot of money on the way, and ended up with poor products. The only way MS think they can survive is by buying already established companies. They need to focus on the one product that made them a household name in the first place: Windows. They need to dump/sell everything else except for Windows and Office. Windows needs redeveloping. Apple redeveloped their OS, and was successful. If MS did the same, it would be an instant hit.

[rockface]

Not a chance. MS has lost focus. MS has fingers in a lot of pies. They've infiltrated so many areas of IT and lost a lot of money on the way, and ended up with poor products. The only way MS think they can survive is by buying already established companies. They need to focus on the one product that made them a household name in the first place: Windows. They need to dump/sell everything else except for Windows and Office. Windows needs redeveloping. Apple redeveloped their OS, and was successful. If MS did the same, it would be an instant hit.

'Windows needs redeveloping. Apple redeveloped their OS, and was successful. If MS did the same, it would be an instant hit.'

While I don't disagree with you, Apple where nowhere the size then that Microsoft are now.

To use a quote from Red Dwarf 'You're saying there's some huge damn fish out there, aren't you? Some kind of gigantic, weird, pre-historic leviathan who has porked its entire way through this ocean'. Microsoft being the 'leviathan' and the IT industry the 'ocean'.

Apple are small and nimble at the moment but that may change as they gain popularity. Microsoft, by comparison, are the heavy goods vehicle trying to perform a reverse manoeuvre down a one way street.

I'm just not sure if they can do this. And with the belligerent Ballmer at the wheel of the Microsoft HGV let's hope the entire machine does not Jackknife.

[phenest]

I'm not comparing Apple to MS. I'm merely trying to show that if Apple can take such a big step, so can MS.

[rockface]

I'm not comparing Apple to MS. I'm merely trying to show that if Apple can take such a big step, so can MS.

Not to be pedantic, but by saying if Apple can do it so can Microsoft you are comparing them. But you are absolutely correct about they should focus on their core products (Windows/Office).

[phenest]

I don't think you know the meaning of pedantic or compare. What I was doing is called an example. I could have picked another company in a completely different industry. Here's one:

smart make the smart car. They went into liquidation due to poor sales. Mercedes redesigned the car, and now sales are up.

[rockface]

I don't think you know the meaning of pedantic or compare. What I was doing is called an example. I could have picked another company in a completely different industry. Here's one:

smart make the smart car. They went into liquidation due to poor sales. Mercedes redesigned the car, and now sales are up.

I am well aware of what the words 'pedantic' and 'compare' mean. I am also aware of the context in which they are to be used. Sounds as if what I said you mistook for an insult of some sort. Since neither one of us wants to become the 'grammar nazi' I suggest we leave it there.

Unless you where getting personal...:)

[MaxIBoy]

Good article. I'm also glad to know that the whole Yahoo thing didn't work out. I feel that Google needs a competitor to keep it in check, and I was also worried about Microsoft forcing users to use Yahoo (which is inferior.)


Very insightful, well written, a good read.


I have to disagree with the writer's statement that PDAs and netbooks are the future. I want a big freaking screen, a keyboard that doesn't feel like a table, a real mouse, no overheating problems, good performance, and I want it for less than $500. (off topic, sorry, but I needed to vent.)

[cammin]

smart make the smart car. They went into liquidation due to poor sales. Mercedes redesigned the car, and now sales are up.

They didn't redesign the car, they stopped development of all the different electric and hybrid features and focused on the basic, Four-Two instead of all the other models they wanted.

If you wanted to relate that to Microsoft, it would be like going back to XP.

[Erdaron]

I don't think that the size of MS is necessarily a bad thing, but it's certainly dangerous (and it seems to have been working out very poorly). Pervasiveness of MS can be a brilliant opportunity to deliver amazing products. Unfortunately, it appears MS mostly uses its position to simply protect its position.

I mean, Linux kernel also tries to get into many things, not just desktops and workstations. It's on phones, and PDAs, and GPSs (or at least it's trying).

Turning around the MS ship is certainly possible, I believe, but it would take a lot of guts and will power on the part of the management. But I'm sure inviting Steve Jobs back to Apple was a hard pill to swallow, too.

The most interesting suggestion I think was the last one - for MS to start developing for iPhone. However, this should go further. MS should stop only caring about things that it has got tightly under its control. It has the resources to do amazing feats of engineering and software design, but its extremely aggressive business stance is holding it back. Wouldn't it be weird to see MS develop things for Linux?

Imagine what would happen if it ported MS Office directly to *nix.

These sort of corporate movements are very risky, since they would put relevance of their mainstay products on the line, but they could catapult MS into the future.

I guess all I'm saying, someone's gotta have the cajones to roll the big dice. The world is more exciting when people are taking risks :D.

[CrazyArcher]

IMO they should dump their bloated system and go the AAPL way: take BSD and wrap it into shiny paper. Write compatibility layer for win32 apps.

As or porting MS Office to *nix - it's an awesome idea. In fact, it's one of the main fact that keeps me using Win till now. Office 2007 is the best suite out, too bad it doesn't run under Wine.

The only way they are going to survive is to drop their BS attitude and start competing with others - not choking them instead. MS have tons of money, meaning that they can hire the best developers in the world to get teh job done.

[scottuss]

The problem with any OS that Microsoft create is the fact that Microsoft are so big and powerful, their OS (whatever it may be) will be default on new computers.

In this way, consumers will end up using Microsoft <insert_new_os_name_here> no matter what.

Even based on BSD or any other variation of *nix, this would mean malware writers would target this new OS purely because they know the market share will be huge.

Yes *nix is more secure by design, but how long that could stay true with MS using it as core technology who knows.

PS> Take a look at Apple, market share increases, so do attacks / exploits on OS X