An editorial from Intenet Week’s Mitch Wagner responds to several reader emails he’s received lately from people convinced that Microsoft’s dominance of the software industry is evermore. He disagrees, citing many examples of upstart products and protocols challenging and displacing the established player, even Microsoft itself.
That’s really bogus…
Wow, so microsoft lost some markets and has some competitors ? great. But nobody claimed that Microsoft is the only remaining software company and that it 0wn3d the industry… only that it was close to that situation, and that its current position makes it really easy.
Having a monopole on desktop operating system basically let microsoft kills any threat on the desktop. You could see for example the ongoing MSN messenger vs ICQ vs AIM …
Of course microsoft has only a monopole on the desktop, not a monopole on the entire software industry. But on the desktop, you CAN NOT compete with microsoft, because they will use Windows to push their own solutions like MSN messenger. That’s the definition of an abuse of a monopolistic position on Desktop OS and Office tools…
And on others fields, yes, you could compete with microsoft. It’s just really hard because they use the incredible amount of money they earn on the desktop side to finance their others operations (example, the xbox sold for a loss)
Microsoft is not an unbeatable foe.
The trick is to get the government to lay off of both sides. Let not the government get involved in Microsoft’s favor or in their competition’s favor.
Then, the best competitor will win. Abominations like the BSA exist only because of government that is not kept within exact limitations. Thanks a lot, Dems and Reps, we appreciate your efforts to “help” us.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/ts20030627.shtml
As anti-microsoft as I am, Dr. Sowell makes some excellent points. Libertarians like him always do.
All they have to do is bundle something with their OS for a few years and all competition dies
How about bundling stability?
IE is a sucky browser, I never use it accep when pages require it.
All they have to do is bundle something with their OS for a few years and all competition dies
Not so. If this were the case, why are there commercial text editors that exist when Notepad is available? What about Real Player/Quicktime? Also, Winamp and the myrad of instant messengers?
How about bundling stability?
Stability is relative – been running WinXP for over a year and it hasn’t crashed yet. Wish I could say the same for Linux. (But again, this is a relative thing – depends on if the OS was set up and used properly in the first place. And since I know how to do neither yet with Linux, it’s rather fragile for me.)
IE is a sucky browser, I never use it accep when pages require it.
Agreed
Look like Microsoft is trying to continue to kick people in the ass because there are enough people out there that want to get kicked. In a way I think that they should kick those people in the ass because they deserve it, including homeland security.
On the other hand, there is a growing number of open source users who have discovered a real platform and who would never use Microsoft technology because they don’t want to continue to get kicked in the ass.
Commercial text editors exist because Notepad isn’t intended to compete with them.
Apple and Real have been losing massive ground over the past few years. Ditto on Winamp.
MSN has been gaining massive ground in Instant Messaging. Enough that they’ve gone from supporting things like Trillian to charging them money to interoperate.
Almost every example in the article shows that you can NOT compete with Microsoft. Even the “optimistic” conclusion is horrible: that maybe Mozilla will force Microsoft to improve Internet Explorer a bit and then Microsoft’s innovation will again cease. If that’s optimism, then I’d sure hate to meet a pessimist!
This guy seems to think that competition is, starting a company that innovates, so that MS can copy what they did, bundle it and eventually put that company out of business, because “it’s not like we lost access to the gains Microsoft had already made”.
WTF?
Articles from real players are better for your health.
http://software.ericsink.com/Choose_Your_Competition.html
Here’s what you need to compete with micro$oft:-
1- Desktop which does not look and fell like windows, but easy to install and use.
2- Office which runs on that desktop, designed for that desktop not windows.
3- Linux standard.
4-Schools and kids to get involved at early age.
5- Use and support hardware which is designed to run linux. why pay for a win modem if it only runs windows. and why pay for windows pre-loaded.
6- Ask your work ,school, liberary…etc if you have a choice other than windows.
Don’t be fooled by anyone who makes such a claim, as Microsoft does not compete. They intimidate, they litigate, they lobby against those that oppose them, and they silently assimilate the hard work of others into their own, without ever giving back.
The people claiming this are making the wrong argument, that we can compete with an organization that does not know the meaning of the word. A far better claim, is that Microsoft cannot compete against the Free Software, and Open Source communities.
Throwing your wieght around is not a form of competition, it is an attempt to maintain control.
This guys article is a good read, excellent things he points out:
“The reality is, in today’s world you don’t challenge Microsoft. Most users are just going to take what Microsoft gives them because they don’t know any better.” – Tom Calhoun, GIS manager at Charlotte Storm Water Services
Alex116 bus makes good points too:
>4-Schools and kids to get involved at early age.
>6- Ask your work ,school, liberary…etc if you have a choice other than windows.
Schools are the key to the desktop debate. What todays kids use while they grow and learn, they will demand when they join the IT workforce. When they take over that workforce and move into managment / executive control they will move the industry players to the OS they want.
And increasingly schools are turning to OSS and Linux to save on licensing costs. Yay schools! You go with your bad self…and Yay expensive proprietary software, you go with your bad self. My worst nightmare for a Linux built future is MS and the other proprietaries waking up and flat out _giving_ their code away to schools everywhere.
If you want to see Linux use widespeard in 5 – 10 years and some real competition for the proprietary set do everything you can to promote Linux / OSS at your kids school! (I’m trying to convert a local middle school from XP and Office to Linux / open office.) And dont tell MS or the other companies this wisdom, this gem is our “secret” 🙂
> Abominations like the BSA
Tell it like it is brother…and while you’re at it, where can I sign up to get rid of these money wasting shmucks! Amen.
Sorry but I have to disagree with you. Greater education might make them *know* there are choices. But there is zero chance of a kid that has just graduated being able to “demand” what OS they use unless they are truely exeptional, and but that I’m thinking Steven Hawkins inteligence. Everyone else will simply have to use what the companies already have, which is Windows. If this aurgument where true then Mac’s would have a much higher market share given it’s relativly high use in schools, as would Arcamedes as it was designed for educational use (and both are better OS’s than Windows).
Microsoft is dominant on the desktop, and will remain so, because of the monopoly that they where originally givern by IBM and the fact that they simply don’t care about the law.
You CAN compete againts Microsoft, no one said anything about winning.
Mitch Wagner is completely clueless.
You can NOT compete with Microsoft. Why? Because no one else has the gargantuan pile of cash and monopoly that they do. If they take an interest in your particular niche or business, your are bent over, screwed, dead, forked, etc. The only companies that can hope to compete with them will end up bankrupt simply because Microsoft can outlast them pissing away money – look at the X Box.
Actually it was last night i asked him,
meh: dear lord is possible to compete against microsoft?
and the lord answered: here in heaven we all use windows.
the angels loathe using the cli in linux so we passed our systems on to Satan and his followers.