No one!!!!!!!!!!!! There is no competitor of MS. Any service which is doing well on any field of IT MS purchases that and grow faster than any other BANNER. MS making its foolish ideas better with othe's ideas.
Maybe Google with Andriod. One day we will have better android as windows 8 is developing for tablets and mobile.
Typical foolish, ignorant post by a DP'er who thinks Microsoft runs everything and isn't aware that, except for the desktop and games, Microsoft is a minor or non-existent player.
microsoft have SQL Server, Visual Studio, Skype, Windows Phones, Bing and the MSN, Xbox, acquired 150 companies and has 3094 patents
They are a major player when it comes to enterprise software and office software . I know you hate them with utmost passion but the Redmond giant does some pretty good work lately . If Adobe Systems would put in their back into it like MS sometimes does Flash would be alive and well on mobile OSes . Google had their shot at Microsoft about 4 years ago , but Google's main product stagnates from a customer's point of view . Google seems to be more interested in anal probing rather then improving the user experience . It pains me to say this but in 2001 Google was a much better corporation .
iow, the desktop, as I said. Otherwise, they hardly exist anywhere else but games. Maybe not. Flash requires a lot of processing power. That's actually a funny line but this probing is for improving the user experience and people shouldn't fight it or worry about it so much. Knowing what you want and what you like improves your search results. It never hinders it.
Oh? The internet virtually runs on Unix/BSD/Linux. So does your router. And your phone. And your DVR. And just about everything else you use.
Ya but desktops and laptops are the only devices that get things done . Tablets are still years away from being anything decent . Also the anal probing only serves to increase their advertising revenue . Google Chrome being the pinnacle of probing . I like it how after you run it it tries to stay in the RAM and talk to the home servers . TBH they already know more then anyone about me , all it's missing is a real name and a face but that's missing only because I'm very security aware . Google knows more about people then the CIA does and that's freaking scary . Also the search results are quite crappy just as usual . The Internet runs 64% on Linux/BSD and 36% on Windows . So the people you really really really love have a saying in that market as well .
A large financial institution, which is an indirect customer of mine, ordered 5000 iPads for their field reps this past year. Well, of course. Google sells advertising based on the number of users of search. Better search, more users, more advertising revenue. It never did that before unless something has changed I don't know about. I'll have to check but, no, I dont' think it does. Google does not know anything about you that you didn't tell them or post online. They don't know your paygrade, your government ID number, where you work, unless you posted this somewhere. If you did, then every search engine and marketer knows this even without Google's help. Google also does not care about connecting information it has about you directly to you except as it aids your search results or presents you with advertising targeted at you, and others like you, of similar interests. All that is good for you. Searching for clothing will not give you results for women's underwear, assuming you are male. Knowing your location means you can use Google Maps to help you with driving and walking directions and finding products and services close to you. The day Google starts using anything they know about you for evil purposes is the day Google starts rapidly going out of business. The articles I've been reading lately state the opposite. The only complaint I hear is they wish they would be less cluttered with advertising, like the old days, but that's how they make money so that will never happen. 36% sounds high to me. Last I saw, it was 23%. I DO know that the number of IIS users has dropped significantly over the past year. But the majority of that is owned by 3 or 4 companies. Facebook and Microsoft are two but I've forgotten the others.
Oh? How many Google Android OS phones do you see compared to Windows phones? How many Android OS tablets do you see compared to Windows tablets?
There was a time that there is no competitor for Microsoft. But Now Google is giving a huge competition in the arena.
5 years from now Apple will beat them. The sales of PC is decreasing already and most PCs are powered by MS operating systems.