“Early this month, Neil Holloway, president of Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), said that in six months Microsoft’s search engine ‘will be more relevant’ to the consumer than Google’s. It is no coincidence that Holloway used the word “relevant.” In high tech more than in any other industry, if your technology has been bypassed by the newer and better, you’re dead. Maintaining your relevancy is Job One. And for years, it has been Microsoft’s Achilles’ heel,” Ephraim Schwartz writes for InfoWorld. Now, “we have the sad spectacle of Microsoft announcing Microsoft Live — once again late to the table — as if it were suddenly going to own the SaaS (software as a service) space when it didn’t even have a ‘relevant’ product to accompany its announcement.”
“…There is a lot of history and significance behind Holloway’s statement. But for me, it was an unfortunate boast that just highlights how far behind Microsoft really is. Yes, Google’s search engine is a high-profile target for competitors, but Google has moved well beyond being the best search engine on the block. Google established that beachhead several years ago. It is now busy leveraging it by making inroads into the enterprise (with the Google Search Appliance) and even more directly onto the desktop (with Google Desktop),” Schwartz writes. “Google is looking for fiber-optics engineers. Why? Perhaps, some say, because they will soon be offering streaming applications over the Internet. Choose your operating system and the apps you want to use, and Google will stream them to you directly. The point is, Microsoft’s boast that it will have a better search engine in six months sounds like too little, too late. Microsoft looks like a drowning man, flailing around in a huge ocean, desperately trying to find land. We are witnessing the end of an era. I’m not sure that any one company will ever hold sway over an industry the way Microsoft did, but I am sure that the enterprise has far more options now that it ever has — and will be increasingly inclined to use them.”
Full article here.
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Yup. Microsoft is trying to make itself more relevant.
Microsoft was late to the game with the GUI, they were late to realize the Internet revolution, they were late to realize the digital music revolution, they still haven’t figured out security, and now they’re late again.
Someone please explain to me again how a company that is consistently late to market with second-rate quality products maintains a 90% market share in desktop operating systems and office software?
I just don’t get it.
blucaso.
I’ll take a shot
– They recognized that there was an opportunity to work with multiple hardware vendor and to license them their OS. (Arguably Apple’s biggest mistake)
– They got lucky in their legal batte against Apple over the OS UI.
– They made some very good acquisitions
– They haven’t had the senior management flops that Apple has had.
– They were the first to really leverage the power of a biz suite that included spreadsheet, word processing, presentations, and a desktop database
– Obscene marketing resources
– MS managed to leverage its dominance on the desktop to squeeze out other software companies (Netcape for example – although they were found liable over this by courts but it didn’t matter by then)
– They really went after developers specially biz application developers and catered to them. By doing so they have forever locked the biz software market. (Apple was never able to do this)
– They have established local world wide presence.
– They hire very talented people and pay them very well.
Notice that there wasn’t much innovation in the above.
Let’s get one thing straight, Microsoft has never been an innovator they’ve been a follower. Google and Apple are innovators and where they go Microsoft follows. However, business and most consumers don’t give a damn about this and will go with the majority. That’s just life. Is Microsoft finished…hell no. They’ve got a long way to go to lose a 90 percent market share. I’m just waiting to see the reaction to Vista. Let’s revisit the whole Microsoft debate in a year’s time.
I’m just waiting to see the reaction to Vista. Let’s revisit the whole Microsoft debate in a year’s time.
And this, friends, is how Microsoft maintains its grip on the industry, by keeping everyone waiting for whatever they’ve got coming out “any year now” and reserving their judgment until then. They’ve been playing this game with the press and their customers as long as they’ve been in business.
“Software X is great, has all the features I could ask for and then some, is available now, and is lightyears ahead of what Microsoft is selling…but let’s wait another year or two to see what Microsoft’s got in the pipeline before we make a decision. They’ve said it’s really going to be cool.”
I once had a friend named Sarah, who after finishing her residency in opthalmology, showed up at a wedding wearing an incredible dress and done up to the ‘nines’…..everyone commented how beautifull she looked— her reply: ‘Money Helps!’
An so it goes for Microsoft (M$), who after Gates actually once admitted they blew it by not thinking email would be important, went out an bought Hotmail.com for $400,000,000+
And the worst part is, it was likely a steal.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a happy ‘kool-aid’ drinker and writing this message on my 8th Mac and 9th Apple including the ][e, but M$ has enough resourses and money to succeed without innovation or much luck.
It would take an entire paradym shift of the operating systems to destroy the windows monopoly, and no one know when, where or even what that will be………
j.m.
blucaso:
MS cannot afford to innovate. They sell on stability and security (as strange as that may seem) (our systems behave as they always have, we are here and will always be here).
They cannot take chances on new technology. They cannot afford to develop new ways of doing things and take the chance that their corporate customers will not like what they bring to the table. If it is too different from status quo there is a distinct chance that the cutomers will take their business elsewhere.
They let others develop new things and test the waters. If the new developments “take off” and the customers asks for it they either buy the technology or make a copy.
MS is completely dependent on other firms to take the chances.
Windoze does not have 90% installed base. SPA estimated Mac installed base at 16% in 1994 or early 95. Linux and other OS’s have at least some share of the pie too.
M$ has bad karma. The average person hates them.
For decades IBM dominated the computer business. Things change, and even 800 lbs gorillas fall off the top of the hill.
M$’s days are numbered.
Rainy Day
I think, if you go outside of Tech Circles… i.e. in the real world… People don’t hate Microsoft at all. They just use windows to browse the web, or send email, or write a document etc…..
The average person uses windows, and accepts it, does not hate it, and if anything, loves it and would love Vista more.
It’s only MAC & Linux people that think the world hates Microsoft
I think, that regarding how people view Microsoft and Windows… they see it as a necessary evil. They know it has faults, they know it crashes and that there are either better or more suited OSes, but they put up with MS. Why? Well, ask why some people stay in a relationship when one partner has been cheating, or (a better analogy) the relationship has gone ‘stale’.
An aside: I operate an iMac G5, latest version of OS X. Why has my system fan constantly revved higher since I started typing this?
“Microsoft was late to the game with the GUI, they were late to realize the Internet revolution, they were late to realize the digital music revolution, they still haven’t figured out security, and now they’re late again.
Someone please explain to me again how a company that is consistently late to market with second-rate quality products maintains a 90% market share in desktop operating systems and office software?
I just don’t get it.”
Leverage. I always said their market share was never about best product.
Blucaso: Answer, Monopoly and People behave like blind sheep.
Billy Ash,
That’s not entirely true. Most people use Windows because they have nothing else to use ( at work) or they think there is nothing else to use or use it because “everyone else uses it.”
And also people use Windows because it comes pre-loaded in some cheap box they bought.
When folks talk to me about their PC, first thing they say is how dirt cheap they bought it, second thing they mention is how many applications they can run (though most people use less than half a dozen regularly) and the third thing they go on and on about is the problems they have with their precious cheap boxes.
When I analyze what they say it’s a user-related issue or Windows-related issue.
Most Windows take to the Mac OS very easily and love it that they don’t have to hassle the headaches that comes with Windows.
Now the real Mac Haters…I find that they are snotty, know-it-all IT people who like to get in a loud pissing contest and they don’t know squat about Macs.
But for God’s sake people, if you absolutely have to run Windows or if you don’t have good sense enough to switch to a Mac, at least buy a quality machine.
Unfortunately your man on the street doesn’t hate Microsoft. In many ways they’re too stupid to even realise that things can and should be better.
I asked someone recently who was getting a new pc if they’d considered a mac, they said no because they’d used their neighbours’ once and didn’t like it because they couldn’t figure out how to print a webpage! From that they wrote off Mac’s completely.
Forget that printing on OS X is essentially the same as windows; File > Print, click the printer icon or use a system wide keyboard shortcut etc , even forgetting all that I find it mind boggling that because of one perceived difference or difficulty someone would rule out something new entirely. Of course windows could then change how you do a certain thing with Vista and they’d just take it as natural progression, an annoyance but get used to it.
This is the battle other vendors face against Microsoft, by and large people get into a rut and don’t like change, no matter how small the change or how much easier it could be for them – and it seems worse with computers.
Billy Ash,
You are half right. Most people don’t hate Microsucks, but they also don’t love them – they are just ambivalent. Like John says above me, “people behave like blind sheep”. It’s only the true thinkers who realize how horrible Winblows is, especially given that it is 2006. People should expect and demand more from an OS that looks and acts like it’s 1996.
Cubert
You are right… In fact, I would go further
If we can put a man on the moon, why can’t we have an OS that doesn’t crash?
Seriously, however. You guys living in this MAC world really don’t understand… I honestly think that when MS market Vista, with billions of dollars, and release Office 2006. They are going to sniff away every hint of publicity that Apple had from the Intel switchover.
I mean, as much as I can admit that Apple are cooler and more stable, and better. They just aren’t convincing the ‘normal’ people out there…. And MS are doing their best to make sure that everyone thinks that Vista is the only way forward. Apple don’t seem to be able to get the message across that OSX is the way forward.
In conclusion. Maybe MS aren’t so obsolete after all?
Billy Ash said, “It’s only MAC & Linux people that think the world hates Microsoft.”
That is not right. There are plenty of Windows home users who do not want to be IT managers. They are fed up with cleaning up after viruses and spyware on a daily basis and know by word of mouth about the stability of the Mac and Linux. If Apple actually knew how to use advertising to attract the vast hoards of those Windows users interested only in Internet/email/word processing/family photos/music/shopping they could sell tens of millions of Mac minis. That is what I would buy my wife, except that we need a mobile Mac for travel. We are waiting for the new iBook replacements — the Mac Books — to become available and in the field for a few months to shake out the problems.
As clearly evidenced here, both Apple and Microsoft consumers tend to blend personal ideals and angst with debates over technological superiority and economical return. There are few things as baffling or as difficult to quantify as the relationships between capital expenditure for material possessions and personal happiness, satisfaction, and contentment.
The price:performance ratio (objective); and value, familiarity, aesthetic appeal, and expectation of future benefits (subjective) are only five things that drive or influence individual consumer behavior, industrial design, and corporate identity. Did Apple want to define itself as the company to advance personal empowerment (i.e. the 1984 commercial) for ideological, technological, or economical reasons, or a combination of all three? If the 1984 commercial defines the cultural perspective, vision, and/or motivation for Apple, what then defines Microsoft? Why do some people buy the newest release as soon as possible while others will wait 6 months or even 5 years?
I realize that shop class may be an anachronism of my generation; however, my instructor made it clear that a poor craftsman blames his tools for shoddy work. However, he also made it clear that the astute craftsman also uses the best tools available for the work to do.
I don’t want all the unwashed population to switch to Mac. We’re doing just fine with 16 million users.
Let them wallow in their crapulance that is Windows XP and later this year Service Pack 3 is being released – under the guise of Vista.
Billy Ash,
You are so right about Apple not getting its product message across. I’ve fussed and fumed for years that Apple just doesn’t get it when it comes to advertising.
Dell “gets it,” Gateway “gets it” and so does Microsoft. Heck…to see their ads you’d think that Dell, Gateway, Microsoft and others was the best and all that there ever is.
It wouldn’t be hard to do as an effective marketing campaign as the above mentioned, and with a little extra effort, do them one better.
Apple makes great products, but seems not to care or doesn’t understand that good marketing drives sales.
What I’ve noticed about Apple’s TV and print ads is that they are “artsy-fartsy,” high brow ads that tell nothing about the product or why someone should consider buying something from Apple on their next computer-related purchase.
I’ve got a CD with some pretty good Apple ads from the late 80s and early 90s that are pretty good for the time period, light years ahead of what’s out now.
I for one feel if Apple marketed its computers and OS on par Dell and Microsoft that Apple’s market share increase a lot.
I’ve had lots of people say to me that Apple’s products are so good, why don’t they advertise like Dell or Microsoft, or why can’t they buy Macs at Wal-Mart?
In the background of Mac/Windows discussions like this, it’s obvious that something is changing out there. People are discovering OS X through word of mouth, and it isn’t necessary anymore for the average computer user to be absolutely digusted with their crash & virus experience to notice that alternatives exist, with many of them actually going for it. Many Windows users are hearing positive things about Macs from friends they respect, and switchers are a growing segment. The numbers show it.
Apple’s grassroots strategy of focusing on product quality and user experience is finally paying off, and paying off big, as consumer interest reaches critical mass. This effect is escalating, but if Vista also improves the user experience, and improves it enough, it could herd in the fleeing Windows users and possibly prevent a future evacuation of the platform.
However, it’s not likely that Vista will be good enough to do this. Remember, there are two pulls on consumers in this space, product quality and product hype. Apple rules one and Microsoft rules the other. I’m saying that computer users are becoming more receptive to quality and less receptive to hype. Things are moving Apple’s way because there is a very large and widening gap between the two and hype is being revealed for what it is.
If Vista can deliver the quality to match its hype then M$ can get more mileage out of their empty hype in the future. But I don’t think their marketing blinders, or even their corporate culture, will allow it.
Boy oh boy oh boy are Microsoft going to be spending some cash to start correcting this one!
Expect to see the MS PR department out in force on the forums and handouts left right and centre to journos – or other accolytes like Enderle – to write this one up differently.
Apple is showing its tail lights to MS and others and they’re choking on the fumes!
JEG is right. MS has really ascended to their current status in a vacuum of competition. Apple really never was a competitor in many respects because Apple has never been about commodity and MS saw an opportunity to deliver to a wider audience by making their product available through more vendors. Thus they esatblished a very wide footprint.
The down side to not having a competitor is that it means innovation and high standards of quality are not there as a survival strategy. More importantly, innovation, real innovation not MS’s definition of it, has never been part of their company culture whereas it is built into the DNA at Apple.
They now are trying to change that in the face of some real competition now, and what you are seeing is a company too large to change directions. They just don’t have it built into their culture and I dont think they ever will.
Vista will be a turning point and a wake up call in many ways.
The majority of average PC users I come in contact with are very frustrated with their computer, unreliable, awkward software, difficult to analyze problems and recover from them, and on and on. Repair services are also disappointing experiences for average PC users.
A friend who keeps a fleet of 200+ Windows PCs afloat in a corporate environment curses them and Microsoft. He spends his work day immersed in diagonosing problems on MS based machines but he is equally aware that their marketing and promotions dept (which uses Macs) just hums along without need for his intervention.
Apple does not do a good job of getting their features, advantages and benefits across to the average consumer but TV ads are incredibly expensive and Apple has been battling back from the brink of distruction. Hopefully they’ve just been building momentum and will burst the dam with an ad blitz for average people.
Apple is creating a groundswell of consumer awareness with the iPod. They also have quality stores where users can go and have a positive Mac experience (unlike going to CompUSA where very little is working and virtually nobody knows anything about Macs). Lousy retail representation has been killing Apple for years.
Apple products are notoriously high priced at the point of sale. Average consumers don’t give a crap about total cost of ownership, they want something cheap NOW. Apple has answered this with new computer hardware that lowers the barrior to entry. Will average consumers notice?
The PC industry is in a state of confusion. The old MegaHz myth is crumbling. It’s confusing looking at new PCs because you can’t tell which is best based on clock speed anymore. Product numbering schemes are all over the place.
Flashy enclosures with glowing blue lights and high-style monitors are two of the biggest factors affecting average consumer purchase decisions. How big of a pile of stuff can you get for the least amount of money? Yea, that’s a good criteria for making PC purchase, NOT.
Security and reliability will be the only two factors that Vista can offer to attact the average PC user into an upgrade. Other than that, consumers will be looking at the enclosure style, how big the hardware pile is and whether it can entertain them. It’s that last feature that gives Apple a huge momentum advantage. Where Vista must focus on security and reliability (boring), Apple is positioned to deliver entertainment.
“We are witnessing the end of an era. I’m not sure that any one company will ever hold sway over an industry the way Microsoft did, but I am sure that the enterprise has far more options now that it ever has — and will be increasingly inclined to use them.”
Oh man I hope this writer is correct. The whole planet needs to move beyond MS, especially their OS, and personally, I hope that no single software manufacturer ever does hold sway over the world like MS has, not even Apple. Diversity in the market place is the only thing that ensures both quality and affordability to the end consumer, period.