Is the Era of Microsoft Coming to a Close?

[Coreyea]

With Windows market share slipping in response to the rising popularity of Android, OSX, Chrome OS, and Linux systems; Xbox One struggling to keep up with the PS4 in terms of sales, even after a considerable price drop; and the recent destruction of several projects, divisions, and positions at Microsoft, resulting in thousands of people being laid off by the company, are we witnessing the slow and painful death of Microsoft?

No, most computers use Windows. The Xbox One is a piece of shit, their ruling reign over the consoles has ended, and their phones are also pieces of garbage but they'll always remain number 1 in computers.

[Olivaero]

It's more that the era of the desktop is coming to a close. Or at least desktop dominance. Microsoft has poorly adapted to the mobile market or rather Apple adapted betterand Windows didn't get a competeing OS out their fast enough for it to be adopted by the phone manufacturers so you have Android and Apple being dominant instead. Microsoft will still do well out of PC gamers even today not many people want to get the hang f a linux distro if they don't have to. If I was to watch a company that might knock Microsoft out of the Desktop market It'd be Occulus they are excellently positioned to make a VR centred OS and I'm pretty confident VR is going to do very well in Desktop PC gaming.

Occulus is owned by Facebook now. I don't want a Facebook OS that spies on my every move. No thanks.

A Facebook OS would be made by Facebook an Occulus OS is made by Occulus... It's super simple stuff. The people who are working for could very well just tell facebook to fuck off and go and form their own company if they feel undue pressure from up high, it's staffed by immensely talented people who are pretty widely respected in the industry. If anything I'd say facebook need occulus and the personnel that work there not the other way around, and further more Facebook need Occulus to keep an unsullied reputation which means no massive overreach by facebook .

[The Nihilistic view]

Microsoft has struggled to sell many copies of Windows 8, so you're in the minority. Source

So you link to a source that shows a minute drop in market share, leaving microsoft OS family as whole still holding 56% of the entire market versus everyone else...

So you link to Microsoft in full beast mode to show how its failing?

What he is showing that even after 2 years the uptake of Windows 8 is poor. Once people who use older systems get new PCs they might switch to other operating systems.

[Scyobayrynn]

Occulus is owned by Facebook now. I don't want a Facebook OS that spies on my every move. No thanks.

A Facebook OS would be made by Facebook an Occulus OS is made by Occulus... It's super simple stuff. The people who are working for could very well just tell facebook to fuck off and go and form their own company if they feel undue pressure from up high, it's staffed by immensely talented people who are pretty widely respected in the industry. If anything I'd say facebook need occulus and the personnel that work there not the other way around, and further more Facebook need Occulus to keep an unsullied reputation which means no massive overreach by facebook .

Oculus was bought by Facebook for 2 billion dollars, they(facebook) OWN the technology.They own the software, and they can afford to put an army of developers in the position of every single individual Oculus member should they suddenly decide that selling out was a bad idea. But lets be clear, they decided to sell to Facebook in the first place, knowing full the kind of entity they were giving themselves over too.

So no, Facebook doesnt need Oculus, they could smash Oculus for fun and laugh it off. Facebook is a 200 Billion dollar company-- Billion.
Oculus is a novelty.

[Saiwania]

Microsoft has struggled to sell many copies of Windows 8, so you're in the minority. Source

The extent of the rejection of Windows 8 is a bit of an exaggeration, around half of all Windows users liked it while the other half hated it. I think Microsoft can only go up with Windows 10 and not down if the focus is not on new design experiments, but on addressing any shortcomings Windows 8 has. We shouldn't forget that Windows 7 is based upon Vista and just because Vista was poorly received doesn't mean that 7 which came after didn't become popular as a suitable replacement for XP.

[Scyobayrynn]

So you link to a source that shows a minute drop in market share, leaving microsoft OS family as whole still holding 56% of the entire market versus everyone else...

So you link to Microsoft in full beast mode to show how its failing?

What he is showing that even after 2 years the uptake of Windows 8 is poor. Once people who use older systems get new PCs they might switch to other operating systems.

Right, because that happened every other time it was predicted.

Oh no, it didnt.

What happened is Microsoft along with its contract partners spammed pre-fab machines to the masses-- sorry but those Wlamart computers are going to have Windows 8,
So when all the masses buy new machines to replace their old ones the vast majority will run out and grap a cheap ready to go out of the box machine.

And please dont tell me about building your PS, because we all know the VAST majority of casual users which make the majority of owners, use pre-made pre-loaded machines.

And without fail those machines have whatever Microsoft wants them to have.

[Belmaria]

If windows was the sole product of Microsoft then yes.
However your list barely scratches the surface of Microsoft products.
Not to mention the millions of Microsoft dependent people because of Hardware and Software they already and wont be replacing for years.

Microsoft Corporation

Trademark Assets
343 Industries - Video game developer, successor to Bungie Studios
Bing
Microsoft
Windows including Windows XP, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows Vista, Windows 7
Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS)
DirectX - Windows library for audio, user input, and 2D/3D graphics (software)
Xbox - Game Console
Microsoft Office System and Microsoft Works
Microsoft Windows Server or Windows Server 2003
MSN TV - Digital Cable TV Topbox
Microsoft SLPS - Software Licensing and Protection Services
Virtual PC - PC virtualization software acquired from Connectix
Microsoft SQL Server - Database server
Microsoft Exchange Server - Email / groupware server
Microsoft Biztalk Server - Middleware
Microsoft Host Integration Server - Middleware
Microsoft SharePoint - Collaboration Software
Microsoft SideWinder - digital game controllers
Microsoft Business Solutions - A collection of CRM, ERP, and BPM tools
MSN - an Internet service provider
Minecraft - A sandbox indie video game made by the Mojang company and bought by Microsoft
Microsoft Word (now Microsoft Office Word) - A word processor
Microsoft Zune - a digital music player
Nokia - a phone company
Skype - a free two way communication using camera and messaging and phone calls

Microsoft Diversified Investment over the last 20 years-- or who they have their claws into
Since 1994, Microsoft has invested in about 140 companies worldwide,[1] including:

@Home Solutions (1999) [2]
Accel Partners (1998) [3]
Akamai Technologies Inc. (1999) [4]
Ameranth (2000) [5]
American City Business Journals (2001) [6]
Amicore (2001) [7]
Apple Inc (1997) [8]
Ardent Communications Inc. (2000) [9]
Asia Global Crossing Ltd. (1999) [10]
AT&T Corporation (1999)
Audible (1999, 2001)
Avanade (2000)
Avid Technology (1998)
Banyan Systems (1999)
BayStar Capital (2003)
Best Buy (1999)
Big Huge Games (2000)
Borland (1999)
Black Entertainment Television (BET) (1996)
Blackboard Inc. (2001)
Blixer (Italy, 2000)
BroadBand Office Inc (2000)
Bungie (Buyout: 2000; Separation: 2007)
CareerBuilder (1999)
Chyron Corporation (2000)
CMG Plc (UK, 1996)
CMGI Inc (1998)
Comcast Corporation (1997)
Commerce One Inc (2001)
Commtouch Software Inc (1999)
CommVault Systems Inc (2000)
CompUSA Inc (2000)
Concentric Network Corporation (1999)
ContentGuard (2000)
Corel Corporation (Canada, 2000)
Corio Inc (2000)
CPA2Biz (2001)
CSI, Inc (2000)
Data Return LLC (1999)
Dialogic (1999)
Digital Anvil (1997)
Digital Entertainment Network (DEN) (1999)
Digital Equipment Corporation (1995)
Digital Island (2000)
Digital Sound Corporation (1997)
DiscoverMusic.com (1999)
DreamWorks SKG (1995)
DSL.net Inc (1999)
eFusion (1997)
eLabor (2000)
Encompys (2001)
ENDFORCE Inc (2002)
Entex (1996)
Equinix Inc (1999)
Evoke Software Corp (2000)
Expedia.com (1999)
Extreme Logic (2001)
FaceBook (2007)
FairMarket Inc (1999)
First Data Corporation (1997)
FutureLink Corporation (2000)
General Magic (1998)
GigaMedia Ltd (Taiwan, 1999)
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (Israel, 2000)
Groove Networks Inc (2001)
Helicon Publishing Group PLC (UK, 1996)
Hitachi Ltd (Japan, 2000)
HomeAdvisor Technologies (2000)
Hutchison Global Crossing Ltd (Hong Kong) (2000)
i-Deal (2001)
Immersion Corporation (2003)
Individual Inc (1995)
Infolibria Inc (2001)
Interland, Inc (2000)
Interliant (2000)
Intertainer (2000)
ITRAN Communications Ltd (Israel, 2000)
Jato Communications (2000)
Keen.com (1999)
Korea Thrunet Co. Ltd (1999)
KT Corporation (Korea) (2001)
Lernout & Hauspie (Belgium, 1997)
MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems (Malaysia, 2000)
MediaWave Inc (UK, 2001)
MyPlant.com (2000)
Navitel Communications Inc (1997)
NBC Television Network (1995)
Net Serviços de Comunicação S.A. (Brazil, 1999)
Nextel Communications Inc (1999)
NorthPoint Communications Group Inc (1999)
Novell, Inc (2006)
NTL Inc (UK, 1999)
OpenPort (1998)
Plural Inc (2000)
Pluto Technologies (Norway, 1998)
Portugal Telecom, SGPS, S.A. (1999)
Proginet Corporation (1996)- sold c. 2002
Qwest Communications (1998)
Radiant Systems (2000)
RadioShack Corporation (1999)
RealNames (2000)
RealNetworks (1997)
Reciprocal Inc (1999)
Reservation Works LLC (1998)
Rhythms NetConnections Inc (1999)
Road Runner (1998)
Rogers Communications (Canada) (1999)
SCO Group (2003)[citation needed]
SeaChange International (2000)
Sendo Holdings PLC (UK, 2001)
SingleTrac Entertainment Technologies (1996)
SkyTel (1996)
Skype (2011)
SMART LLC (Mexico, 2001)
SRS Labs (2000)
Stamps.com Inc (1997)
Tandem (1996)
TCI International Inc[disambiguation needed] (1994)
Telecom New Zealand (2001)
Telewest Group Inc 22.9% (2000 [11] - 2003[12])
Grupo Televisa, S.A. — A Mexican television company
Teligent Inc (1999)
Telmex (Mexico, 1999)
ThingWorld.com (1999)
Ticketmaster (1999)
TITUS Communications (Japan, 2000)
TRADOS Incorporated (1997)
Tut Systems Inc (1998)
UGC Europe (1999)
UnitedGlobalCom Inc (1999)
Usinternetworking Inc (2000)
USWeb (1999)
UUNET (1995, Divested)
Vanstar(1995)
VDOnet (1996)
VenturCom (2000)
VeriSign (1996)
VerticalNet (2000)
Wang (1995)
WebMD (1999)
Wildfire Communications, Inc. (1997)
Wink Communications (1999)
WirelessKnowledge (1998)
Yam Digital Technology (Taiwan, 2000)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_me ... _Microsoft < too big to list even in a spoiler



Five years ago was also the end of the Microsoft era http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/07/27/ ... ft-empire/

IN 2007 the end of Microsoft was cried in the hall of the interwebs when Dell announced it was realising a series of Desk tops and Laptops that would run on Ubuntu, you know Ubuntu was going to replace windows... How is that little coup coming along?



John Heilemann in 2001 famously wrote the book "Pride Before the Fall: The Trials of Bill Gates and the End of the Microsoft Era" ... yeah.



http://www.justice.gov/atr/cases/f3800/msjudgex.htm < 2001


So, no I seriously doubt this is the end of Microsoft. Its been the end of microsoft so many times in the last decade it seems more like people making predictions hoping they will be the one who gets lucky.

Let's address each asset one by one, then.

1. 343 games are mostly limited to their Xbox platform, which hasn't been selling well. At all.
2. Bing, the least popular search engine in the world. Besides Ask.
3. Windows sales are doing poorly.
4. DOS? Really? Because when I think of a popular item Microsoft is selling at this point, I think of DOS. 10/10 mate.
5. DirectX? Try OpenGL. Most games support it now, and it's cross-platform, unlike DirectX.
6. Xbox sales are down tremendously. Even with a reduced price, they are struggling to keep up with the PS4.
7. Microsoft Office is doing fairly well, although it is getting sharp competition from Google Docs, especially in education.
8. Windows Server is not nearly as popular as Solaris, BSD, or Linux.
9. MSN TV? I thought that died, like the Zune, a long time ago...
10. SLPS is a fairly decent IP service, but it has a limited platform.
11. Virtual PC? Their market share with Virtual PC pales in comparison to Virtual Box and VMWare market share.
12. Microsoft SQL isn't nearly as popular as PHP, which has more cross platform support.
13. Exchange is slowly dying off as the market becomes more competitive. Many companies, now, even use cloud email services to save money.
14. Biztalk? Not a popular product at all.
15. Host Integration is, once again, platform-specific, and therefore relies upon Windows sales, which have been stagnant lately.
16. SharePoint? It relies upon Windows Server sales, which have been even weaker than Windows desktop sales.
17. SideWinder? A game pad? Not a large market at all, and even so, Microsoft has poor market share.
18. The MS business suite is a strong product, I will concede.
19. MSN? Really? Does that even warrant a response?
20. Minecraft is another strong product, as long as Microsoft doesn't screw it up.
21. Microsoft Office was already cited above. So this is nothing more than filler to make your list look larger. Good job.
22. Zune is dead. I mentioned it before in this post. No need to re-iterate.
23. Nokia is so desperate, they are marketing Android phones now. It's quite funny, actually.
24. Skype is another strong product.

So, out of this whole list of assets, the only strong products we see are Skype, MS Office, and MS Business. Three out of 24. This is such a great company.

[United Regions of Verona]

Ew microsoft

the only good things it churned out were Microsoft word and windows 7 and xp

[Scyobayrynn]

Microsoft has struggled to sell many copies of Windows 8, so you're in the minority. Source

The extent of the rejection of Windows 8 is a bit of an exaggeration, around half of all Windows users liked it while the other half hated it. I think Microsoft can only go up with Windows 10 and not down if the focus is not on new design experiments, but on addressing any shortcomings Windows 8 has. We shouldn't forget that Windows 7 is based upon Vista and just because Vista was poorly received doesn't mean that 7 which came after didn't become popular as a suitable replacement for XP.

Exactly, Vista was hated, and slated to be the "Death of Microsoft" then came 7 and it was the greatest thing ever...

Seriously how do people not recognize this over and over again.


These dire prophesies about companies that can afford to buy and sell nations. Some off issue knocking them down a few percentage points on a solitary product... Lear2Business

Microsoft valued at 340 billion dollars, stock is UP... UP Had 22 billion in PROFITS last year.

http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/msft/stock ... lldown=off < Stock history... no Microsoft is not in any danger.

[Belmaria]

The extent of the rejection of Windows 8 is a bit of an exaggeration, around half of all Windows users liked it while the other half hated it. I think Microsoft can only go up with Windows 10 and not down if the focus is not on new design experiments, but on addressing any shortcomings Windows 8 has. We shouldn't forget that Windows 7 is based upon Vista and just because Vista was poorly received doesn't mean that 7 which came after didn't become popular as a suitable replacement for XP.

Exactly, Vista was hated, and slated to be the "Death of Microsoft" then came 7 and it was the greatest thing ever...

Seriously how do people not recognize this over and over again.


These dire prophesies about companies that can afford to buy and sell nations. Some off issue knocking them down a few percentage points on a solitary product... Lear2Business

Microsoft valued at 340 billion dollars, stock is UP... UP Had 22 billion in PROFITS last year.

http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/msft/stock ... lldown=off < Stock history... no Microsoft is not in any danger.

But their profits are dwindling. As people continue to be disappointed by one bad product after another, they are progressively moving out of Microsoft's walled garden, and into other environments instead. This will have a lasting effect on their market share.

[The Nihilistic view]

Microsoft has struggled to sell many copies of Windows 8, so you're in the minority. Source

The extent of the rejection of Windows 8 is a bit of an exaggeration, around half of all Windows users liked it while the other half hated it. I think Microsoft can only go up with Windows 10 and not down if the focus is not on new design experiments, but on addressing any shortcomings Windows 8 has. We shouldn't forget that Windows 7 is based upon Vista and just because Vista was poorly received doesn't mean that 7 which came after didn't become popular as a suitable replacement for XP.

Creating a product that half of your customer base hate is a bad move. The difference between Vista and Windows 8 is fundamental. Vista was hated purely because it worked badly, it had so many problems. Not because of the concept. Windows 8 is hated mostly because PC users don't like it as a concept. If Windows 10 looks and feels is like Windows 8 then it will be hated on just as much.

[Belmaria]

More articles to think about:

Forbes Weighs In
Forbes Doubles Down
Market Share Stalled for Windows 8
$1 Billion Loss for Xbox One
The BBC Weighs In
CNET Weighs in Too

[Stormwind-City]

The extent of the rejection of Windows 8 is a bit of an exaggeration, around half of all Windows users liked it while the other half hated it. I think Microsoft can only go up with Windows 10 and not down if the focus is not on new design experiments, but on addressing any shortcomings Windows 8 has. We shouldn't forget that Windows 7 is based upon Vista and just because Vista was poorly received doesn't mean that 7 which came after didn't become popular as a suitable replacement for XP.

Creating a product that half of your customer base hate is a bad move. The difference between Vista and Windows 8 is fundamental. Vista was hated purely because it worked badly, it had so many problems. Not because of the concept. Windows 8 is hated mostly because PC users don't like it as a concept. If Windows 10 looks and feels is like Windows 8 then it will be hated on just as much.

Good thing W10 isn't like W8 at all.

[Olivaero]

A Facebook OS would be made by Facebook an Occulus OS is made by Occulus... It's super simple stuff. The people who are working for could very well just tell facebook to fuck off and go and form their own company if they feel undue pressure from up high, it's staffed by immensely talented people who are pretty widely respected in the industry. If anything I'd say facebook need occulus and the personnel that work there not the other way around, and further more Facebook need Occulus to keep an unsullied reputation which means no massive overreach by facebook .

Oculus was bought by Facebook for 2 billion dollars, they(facebook) OWN the technology.They own the software, and they can afford to put an army of developers in the position of every single individual Oculus member should they suddenly decide that selling out was a bad idea. But lets be clear, they decided to sell to Facebook in the first place, knowing full the kind of entity they were giving themselves over too.

So no, Facebook doesnt need Oculus, they could smash Oculus for fun and laugh it off. Facebook is a 200 Billion dollar company-- Billion.
Oculus is a novelty.

The people who work for occulus are what makes occulus such a valuable asset, there have been plenty of shitty VR start up ideas and a few with a big name behind them over the years, Occulus is only worth 2 billion because of the people who work there and the buzz they've created, they all quit and Facebook has some valuable tech on their hands sure but they don't have the know how to expand on it. The people who work for occulus can work on VR related projects anywhere now that the genies out of the bottle and they're still experts in the field.

[Belmaria]

Creating a product that half of your customer base hate is a bad move. The difference between Vista and Windows 8 is fundamental. Vista was hated purely because it worked badly, it had so many problems. Not because of the concept. Windows 8 is hated mostly because PC users don't like it as a concept. If Windows 10 looks and feels is like Windows 8 then it will be hated on just as much.

Good thing W10 isn't like W8 at all.

Except it is. It still uses the tiles interface in the start menu, it still integrates the mobile thought process into a desktop OS, and it still restricts users into a walled garden. 10/10.

[Belmaria]

Oculus was bought by Facebook for 2 billion dollars, they(facebook) OWN the technology.They own the software, and they can afford to put an army of developers in the position of every single individual Oculus member should they suddenly decide that selling out was a bad idea. But lets be clear, they decided to sell to Facebook in the first place, knowing full the kind of entity they were giving themselves over too.

So no, Facebook doesnt need Oculus, they could smash Oculus for fun and laugh it off. Facebook is a 200 Billion dollar company-- Billion.
Oculus is a novelty.

The people who work for occulus are what makes occulus such a valuable asset, there have been plenty of shitty VR start up ideas and a few with a big name behind them over the years, Occulus is only worth 2 billion because of the people who work there and the buzz they've created, they all quit and Facebook has some valuable tech on their hands sure but they don't have the know how to expand on it. The people who work for occulus can work on VR related projects anywhere now that the genies out of the bottle and they're still experts in the field.

Stop thread jacking please.

[The Confederacy of Nationalism]

With Windows market share slipping in response to the rising popularity of Android, OSX, Chrome OS, and Linux systems; Xbox One struggling to keep up with the PS4 in terms of sales, even after a considerable price drop; and the recent destruction of several projects, divisions, and positions at Microsoft, resulting in thousands of people being laid off by the company, are we witnessing the slow and painful death of Microsoft?

That's ridiculous, if Microsoft ever gets close to going bankrupt, it'll be bailed out.

[Belmaria]

With Windows market share slipping in response to the rising popularity of Android, OSX, Chrome OS, and Linux systems; Xbox One struggling to keep up with the PS4 in terms of sales, even after a considerable price drop; and the recent destruction of several projects, divisions, and positions at Microsoft, resulting in thousands of people being laid off by the company, are we witnessing the slow and painful death of Microsoft?

That's ridiculous, if Microsoft ever gets close to going bankrupt, it'll be bailed out.

Unless the cause for its bankruptcy is lack of market share, in which case, the only people who would call for a bailout would be the fanboys.

[The Confederacy of Nationalism]

That's ridiculous, if Microsoft ever gets close to going bankrupt, it'll be bailed out.

Unless the cause for its bankruptcy is lack of market share, in which case, the only people who would call for a bailout would be the fanboys.

Well, that will never happen, considering that the vast majority of software is only compatible with windows. MacOS is somewhat exclusive, macs are expensive, and linux has compatibility issues with just about everything, there are few drivers for linux, and the community made ones are usually buggy as shit. Wine isn't perfect either, so I do not foresee microsoft losing any significant amount of market share.

[Stormwind-City]

Good thing W10 isn't like W8 at all.

Except it is. It still uses the tiles interface in the start menu, it still integrates the mobile thought process into a desktop OS, and it still restricts users into a walled garden. 10/10.

From the extremely early technical preview, w10 is greatly different than w8, even with those similarities. And restricting users into a walled garden? I garuntee most users find the garden quite capable to fill their needs.

[Olivaero]

The people who work for occulus are what makes occulus such a valuable asset, there have been plenty of shitty VR start up ideas and a few with a big name behind them over the years, Occulus is only worth 2 billion because of the people who work there and the buzz they've created, they all quit and Facebook has some valuable tech on their hands sure but they don't have the know how to expand on it. The people who work for occulus can work on VR related projects anywhere now that the genies out of the bottle and they're still experts in the field.

Stop thread jacking please.

... your the one that started this line of conversation? my initial comment only mentioned occulus in relation to how it would potential disrupt the main market for windows that was still undoubtably dominant, the PC gaming market.

[The Confederacy of Nationalism]

Except it is. It still uses the tiles interface in the start menu, it still integrates the mobile thought process into a desktop OS, and it still restricts users into a walled garden. 10/10.

From the extremely early technical preview, w10 is greatly different than w8, even with those similarities. And restricting users into a walled garden? I garuntee most users find the garden quite capable to fill their needs.

I still use windows XP

[Belmaria]

Except it is. It still uses the tiles interface in the start menu, it still integrates the mobile thought process into a desktop OS, and it still restricts users into a walled garden. 10/10.

From the extremely early technical preview, w10 is greatly different than w8, even with those similarities. And restricting users into a walled garden? I garuntee most users find the garden quite capable to fill their needs.

So, basically what you're saying is "Windows users live under tyranny, but it's really good tyranny."

[Anollasia]

No, not really.

[Chestaan]

I for one would be happy to see Microsoft's dominance die. But really all that's happening is that PCs and laptops are becoming less important relative to mobile platforms.