"The more I think about Microsoft, the more I realise that they are, possibly for the first time, seriously cornered (or surrounded, depending on how you want to see it). A little history will clarify why I think so - and why I think that this might really be the beginning of the end for Microsoft."
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Member since:2005-11-10
I think the article author fails to realise that if Microsoft stopped making money right now, they could coast for the next 50 years on reserves alone.
Microsoft are as strong as ever. If the free software proponents want Linux to increase worldwide usage, then they should be focusing on improving every aspect of the system instead of writing clueless articles about the downfall of Microsoft.
Microsoft are becoming like Apple - Profitably dying for decades! 
Member since:2006-04-21
I think the article author fails to realise that if Microsoft stopped making money right now, they could coast for the next 50 years on reserves alone.
I think the comment author fails to realise that in the technology business, two to four years of not keeping up can be fatal. When Digital was swallowed up by Compaq, it was the biggest corporate buyout in history - and now only people like those who read this site know it ever existed. Obviously that won't happen with Microsoft, but for them, oblivion is only another Vista-like failure or two away.
Microsoft are as strong as ever. If the free software proponents want Linux to increase worldwide usage, then they should be focusing on improving every aspect of the system instead of writing clueless articles about the downfall of Microsoft.
Linux is as strong as ever. If Microsoft proponents want Microsoft to keep up, they should be focussing on getting Microsoft to listen to the customer again instead of writing clueless comments about the invincibility of Microsoft.
Microsoft are becoming like Apple - Profitably dying for decades!
Since when is Apple dying? They nearly died, I'll give you that - but Jobs, OS X, and the iPod made sure they'll be around for quite a while yet.
Member since:2005-07-02
Member since:2006-01-28
Member since:2006-01-03
There are more solutions in the market with free software than there have ever been too, and more are coming.
Linux is already doing great in the server arena, in database, file server, web server applications. It has totally stormed into High Performance Computing: most of the top 100 fastest computers in the world run Linux (and few, if any, run Windows).
Intel's MIDs will run Linux; Windows is too resource greedy and Windows CE sucks for all but the simplest applications. Asus new superinexpensive computers will also run Linux, for the same reasons, and also because Windows is too expensive for such an inexpensive machine. The OLPC will hopefully put millions of computers running Linux in the hands of children all over the world. If not, maybe Intel will with its new cheap laptop computers.
So, it cannot be said that Linux is not growing in the mobile desktop arena.
Motorola is putting Linux inside its newer smartphones, featurephones and even cheap-phones. Palm Treos will soon run Linux too. Nokia is wetting its toes in this area with its web pads. In the far east, Linux is taking the smartphone market by storm. Telephone switches have often been running Carrier Grade Linux for some time now.
Linux is definitely growing VERY fast at all levels of the telephony and communications market.
Sony, LG, Tivo, Philips and many others are putting Linux into all kind of consumer electronic devices, where Microsoft is conspicuously absent. In the embedded industrial market, it is displacing all other operating systems (though Microsoft is doing OK there too -- just not as well).
Linux is achieving critical mass, and its growth is ever faster, locked in a virtuous cycle as it piles up improvements coming its contributors in all of its application markets. OK, it might never conquer the Western Desktop Space, although it will surely gain a lot more share than it currently has. But the world is much larger and diverse than western desktops.
As for Microsoft, sure, they will most likely continue making lots of money. Some of their products are really good, some are good enough, and some are just pulled by Microsoft's titanic traction. But I think it is clear they will have to accomodate a growing competitor in their home turf, and I looks like they will be locked out of immense emerging markets.
By the way, that little thing you do, repeating the "Mr. Writer" bit sure is cunning!
Member since:2005-11-10
Member since:2005-11-15
It is interesting that you posted those numbers. BECAUSE that is the truth of the matter. Look at RedHat a decade later and look at its income stream. PEANUTS! The problem that Open Source people have, and why Open Source will not dominate is because they fail to look at the bottom line.
As much as it costs to get Microsoft, it creates an ecosystem where you can earn money. I know I have tried countless times to make my money with stuff like Open Source, Java, etc. In the end I always end up with Microsoft and making money. At this point and 15 years later I have decided that yes I like Open Source and will use it, but Windows is here to stay whether I like it or not. Heck Windows is not even THAT bad...
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it."I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)"."The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight.""And so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting nestled next to a large screen TV. Indeed, it's adept at running Steam's Big Picture mode, and if your primary objective is to play games in the living room, go ahead and consider the X51 R2 a hybrid game console." This is obviously not the only machine like this - still, these are very valid console alternatives even for those that don't like being hunched over with a cramped WASD-claw. Also, PC gamers among us: could you get away with the $699 model for gaming?From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.
Member since:
2006-01-28
Uhm... could you, Mr. Writer, try to look out from your Linux world just for a sec?
Year after year I read an article like this, and year after year:
MSFT - Mill. of USD
===============
Total Revenue:
2001 - 25,296.00
2002 - 28,365.00
2003 - 32,187.00
2004 - 36,835.00
2005 - 39,788.00
2006 - 44,282.00
Gross Profit:
2001 - 21,841.00
2002 - 22,666.00
2003 - 26,128.00
2004 - 30,239.00
2005 - 33,757.00
2006 - 36,632.00
Analyst preview record Income and Profit for FY2007.
Microsoft has now more solutions in the market than never (just look at the product portfolio) and the true is, Mr. Writer, more and more companies are relaying on those solution, year after year.
Get the facts, Mr. Writer.
David