Microsoft's Real Problem: Steve Jobs

As Microsoft (MSFT) continues to waste time and resources figuring out how to win a sideline game it has already lost--Internet media--its shareholders have bigger things to worry about. Namely, the future of the Windows and Office cash cows.

It has been so long since Microsoft had anything real to worry about in these businesses that it's easy to take their perpetual domination for granted. Don't.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[nogimmicks]

Steve Ballmer single handedly destroyed Microsoft. Vista is such a failure. It has nothing to do with Jobs.
Similarities: Steve Ballmer did to Microsoft what Michael Ovitz did to Disney.

[wordvarc]

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This MacBook I'm using cost 30% more than a Windows based notebook with similar features.

But there is no comparison with Apples elegant soft and hardware design. The Macbook is easier and more fun to use. You don't have to be an expert in computing to ferret out a good system and supports. All the Apple gear works together.
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[OhComeOnNow]

Once again - a misleading headline. Read the article and it says just the opposite.

[DRaymond]

Since a great many Apples dual-boot windows and have some form of Microsoft Office there is little difference to Microsoft.

Who should be worried are HP, Dell, etc. They simply have not been able to crack Apple's cachet for the most stylish, hippest, computers, Look at the computers you see on TV shows. If all you knew was TV you would presume that Macs were essentially the only computer company (although you can bet that every time that glowy apple logo on the back of the laptop appears on screen -- notice how it is always positioned to be prominent -- a check is written in Cupertino).

Microsoft's main competition comes from open source and the 'cloud computing'. Both are serious challenges but both also have their own challenges to worry about.

Open Source computing by its nature is chaotic. What's the flavor of the Month? Ubuntu? Red Hat? The battles are fun and interesting to those involved but corporate end-user computing prefers stability, even at a price.

Cloud computing has trived in an era of low-cost bandwidth that resulted from overaggressive overbuilding at the dawn of the 'information superhighway' craze. When ISPs start to feel that they need to put meters on bandwith usage or an overextended internet has lag/outages the cloud might not have such a silver lining after all. And do realize that with Google Docs/mail./etc. you are never more than one National Security Letter away from the government knowing absolutely everything.

[ike39]

Microsoft wants a whole lot of money for software that is now available for free on the web. Only large businesses can afford to have an on site technician to fix all the problems that come up with MS software. The rest of us just want to get the work done.

[dana94591]

I wanted to buy a new PC laptop but I see that Microsoft has Vista on all of them. This is crazy! After reading the reviews on Vista when it was released, and since, I wouldn't buy anything with this on it!!

[wordvarc]

MacBook!

[WatchIt]

I stocked up on a couple of XP licenses. Vista? Ptooie. I also use OpenOffice on my PC and NeoOffice on my Mac. I have an agreement with my co-workers to permanently save docs as Word 2000/XP.

Works for me. I don't need new features I will never use. I DO need the features that work for me in my relatively low-tech document environment.

For many, Word is still a fancy TYPEWRITER. Many people still center titles with spaces.

[wordvarc]

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Good work Watchit,

You've done your homework!

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[goldenshaman]

Microsoft's real problem is a lack of imagination.

Everything they sell was invented by someone else.

They are a mature company in a mature business (PC's).

Most people are not buying Vista.

[wordvarc]

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Microsoft's forcing Vista on us greatly influenced many to shift to Apple. Even the newest Apple Operating systems work with the oldest Mac systems. And the elegant software and hardware designs are more fun and easier to use.
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[suntzu]

A leading edge of the gradual...not seismic, but gradual...shift to Apple is in the smaller colleges throughout the US. Apple is gaining on Windows-based PC's as the computer of choice for collegians. At Wesleyan for example, where my son goes, right now 60% of students use Apple laptops, and the campus computer store expects that number to reach 80% in a few years. One area where Windows-based systems still rule on campus is games. But with Bootcamp, buyers of the new Intel based Apples can now play their favorite Windows-based games.

Long term, until Apple changes/liberalizes its pricing, marketing, and servicing policies, I do not see it making threatening gains on the PC makers. Dell's biggest worry is HP not Apple.

[Godfearing]

In a time of the Iraq-Afghanstan Wars, consumer economic uncertainty, and the
U. S. National Debt reaching $10 trillion, MICHAEL W. HODGES' detailed
'ECONOMIC REPORT" is a must read by all free thinking Americans looking
for financial gtrends facing the United States. The complete report can be found
at:

http://mwhodges.home.att.net/

[ccpostman]

I was going to buy the new release of Office for the Mac, until I read the reviews. I don't know what they are doing in Redmond? I heard people are leaving. Many are near retirement age up there.

I still use the free Unix based NeoOffice on the Mac for Excel files and some writing. Has some nice features that are better than MS Office. The best part is it's FREE!

http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php

[OgreDaddy]

Microsoft is great for business, well it's good for keeping people employed at least.
You know all those Microsoft Certifiable IT "professionals" needed so desperately to keep Windows O.S. vulnerabilities from infesting all the corporate employee's computers as they surf and shop online on company time.

Little do they know or understand that all Apple Computers can run Windows, OS X or Lynux
providing the greatest flexibility and security imaginable.

What very few IT "professionals" are willing to admit is that
IF... the company purchased Apple desktops and laptops for their employees, they could greatly reduce their IT staffing expenses,
freeing up considerable hardware acquisition dollars for new state of the art computer systems.

How many new computers could you buy for the one time annual cost of the average IT administrator?

They could still run dedicated Windows or Lynux applications via secure VPN networks on their Windows partition, but greatly reduce the risk of malware infestations running all online applications on their OS X partition.

I've run both OS X and Windows now for over ten years and have never once had an issue
with malware on my Macs. There is virtually no maintenance downtime, where the Windows
box always needs attention.

My three daughters have used computers in both platforms since they were tall enough to reach the keyboard. They all have MacBooks now and would never ever go back to a Windows P/C

[taikan]

Apple, with its high-priced computers, is unlikely to pose a significant threat to MS. Cloud computing may pose such a threat, but without significant investment in telecommunications infrastructure in the United States, most of the population will lack the high bandwidth connections necessary to make it work. The real threat to MS, and also to Apple in the long run, will be coming from Linux and the open software movement.

[Paul]

Surprisingly, something like 80% of US households have a broadband connection.

Network-based applications, open-source software, unlimited wireless networks, mobilee PCs - these are the future.

Big desktop boxes running buggy software are the past.

[starfire426]

Buy a Mac and you'll never go back (to a PC, that is). Have to use a puny little PC at work, but at home, I'm the multimedia DIVA...with my MAC. Love it!!!!

[LetsGetDumbAmerica]

It's funny. I've had 10 years of terrible experiences with expensive Apples. I switched to PC (HP and others) with AMD processors in 2004 and haven't looked back since. Believe it or not- I've had about 80-90% less problems (viruses, crashes, freezing) switching to pc from apple running XP and XP 64.

I know you'll disagree but I've found in general that Apple can make good products but it's real selling point is plain hype. But apparently HYPE pays pretty well:)

[ProgressiveBum]

Ive known for a couple of years that M$ is having problems, it is just a matter of time. Win Vista had been delayed several times, and viable office suites were being developed, most notably OpenOffice. I switched to various Linux distros, to see which would work best for my needs. Live cd images can be downloaded for free and burnt to cd. For my purposes, I installed OpenOffice and Evolution (which is virtually equivalent to M$ Outlook), and a plugin is available that works flawlessly with Exchange servers. The beauty is that Linux is not susceptible to viruses and you don't need to run anti-malware software in the background, so you use fewer resources (applications run faster). Linux is also more stable than Windows could ever hope to be.
M$ is in serious need of an alternative cash cow, hence the bid for Yahoo. By the time they release a viable successor to XP their market share will have shrunk dramatically, and fewer customers will feel compelled to "upgrade" to another version of Windows. The option of cloud computing will keep Office sales much lower than they would have been otherwise.

[Paul]

I have OpenOffice portable on my thumb drive. I can run it anywhere.

[wordvarc]

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OpenOffice is great program.

Compatible with all and better running with more support than MS word on a Mac.

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[dexxjones]

microsoft's REAL problem is that it cares more about kissing the arse of other corporations than it does about its customers. vista is a nightmare for this reason. overly presumptuous software which is increasingly bloated and slow and driving its customers mad with nag prompts and limits designed to pretend to help security. microsoft is today's ibm.

apple's software is not much better. quicktime- crapware for the ages- practically takes over the computer with running nonsense.

i'm investigating linux. i will never ever use vista. i have seven computers.