Although Microsoft provides most innovative product and most useful product, Price tag of the products are not Geo targeted, It is offering same price for all the users around the world and many use pirated softwares and cannot update the critical patches... But recently thanks to the open source community who offers most the good quality softwares for absolutely free... and looks awesome... So on seeing the growth of Open source softwares especially Linux operating system.Steve Ballmer recently commented "MS new competitor is Linux and not Apple" Have your say about this?
Microsoft is been the No.1 and they'll continue to remain. Bill will find new ways to rake in profits..
I totally agree with Steve Ballmer's comment. More & more people these days moving towards linux. even though from our chilhood we were taught to use windows, we never really had options or alternatives for windows, but i guess things are changing now, because people are now very well aware of OS these days.
Yes since we are taught to use windows in childhood .. we are still sticking to use windows and now a days kids are very tech enthusiast and they never hesitate to discover the features of new OS like Linux and open solaris and this might be the reason for the growth of Linux..
It surely did take the plane off the ground and we consumers did pay a hefty sum for that. But is it not hight time, it stopped collecting astronomical royalties and made it a lot more cheaper to increase its spread? It is so sad that some good people have to showcase their talent free, for such giants to wake up! Regards, RightMan
Yes if MS reduced the price tag say $20 all over the world every individual will hold the original license and not a pirated one... and this would have boomed the sale of MS operating system when compared to what is happening now.
Because they're on top now doesn't mean they will always be. Doesn't mean they will always be on top. It'll likely be of a much lesser quality and even less secure.
Microsoft is not REALLY afraid of open source. They are afraid of losing their monopoly on computers, (they lost the internet) MS is slowly being defeated in the browser wars, as FireFox (open source) is destroying IE. Every Cooperation is afraid of open source to a certain extent. The best thing Microsoft can do is further improve by investing money in the field of researching. Microsoft still has a strong grip on the OS field for several reasons. - Drivers (I am pretty sure some are just for the Windows only) - Advertising (Lets face it, we do not see Linux Advertisements) The real concern for Microsoft is Google, as they lost their last major chance when they did not obtain Yahoo. Lets face facts here. YouTube is owned by Google. Google Adsense is a monster... MySpace (Signed a Deal with Google), Digg (ect..) Google Search Engine is more popular then MSN They also entered the phone service world (G1) and Google Earth has just finished mapping out Mars... The only failure was Google Chrome, which many of its features were great, but many were just fail. (Exploits and recording information)
In my opinion, open source will always have it's niche and Windows will have it's niche. Of course Microsoft is scared, they're a commercial company who's main goal is to make money from you. It's like one store selling umbrellas and another store beside it giving away umbrellas, only the free umbrellas come in one colour, look boring but do what you want them to do. Commercial software will always have that pizzaz open source doesn't have. Open source is effective at creating and mimicking functionality of commercial software applications, but when it comes to interface, open source software is stuck in the early 90s still.
A few things from posts above: 1) Microsoft has never innovated anything. They either copied others or bought the company. 2) Microsoft never had the internet to lose. The internet is dominated by Unix and the variants. Linux Desktop/Compiz To the contrary, much of commercial software runs on the shoulders of open source. While your comment about the interface being stuck in the 90s, this is by design. Most open source is from Unix and its variants where programs are made for programmers and maximum flexibility comes from the command line. GUI interfaces are for novices and small projects. Once one gets really good at something, point/click only gets in the way and restricts what you can do. So the Unix philosophy is to make programs work well, and work with other programs, and the GUI comes last. This provides for that enormous flexibility you will never see in Windows.
Reasons why Linux is still not a big threat to Microsoft- - Most of games/applications are still developed for Windows platform. Major audio programs and what not works only on Windows and this is not going to change for a long time. - Usability is important. While Linux has come a long way in terms of user friendlyness and ease of use it still has to work hard on that aspect. - Confusion. If a consumer wants to get Linux he would have 10000 options. With Windows there is only one! - For people Computer means Windows, internet means IE, Photo editing means Photoshop, video editing means Windows Movie maker, setting it would be very difficult to change this analogy. For years to come. - Esteem factor, sometimes people buy an expensive/paid product because of the notion that if they pay the product they get better value and u know...
Yes. If you want real work done, you have to go elsewhere. I don't know about the audio programs but, when I worked in the film industry, all the professional tools ran on Unix. I know many migrated to Windows but, last I heard, the good stuff is still on Unix. Are you talking about usability or user friendliness? 'nix is far, far more usable than Windows could ever hope to be. The flexibility and modularity of 'nix, the whole Unix philosophy, puts Windows to shame. But if you are a novice, or non-technical user, Windows is more appropriate since it's more dumbed down and limits your ability to screw things up. Like I said above. Flexibility vs limiting your abilities. That's true for the average user. Professionals get much more for 'nix. For $200 you can get much better esteem with a hooker.
I'm surprised that some of the comments. Microsoft was revolutionizing technology while you guys (me included) were in diapers. Microsoft is has niche market and they do great what they are good at.
Not me but Microsoft did not revolutionize anything. All they did was take existing technology and make it easier for everyday people to use.
microsoft will continue to innovate, but open source is getting more and more popular. instead of buying office, i went with openoffice!