Microsoft has a number of ideas, which it is sharing with its hardware and software partners, as to how to ratchet up Windows desktop revenues by billions per year.
Is the Windows Market Saturated? Microsoft Says No
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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most PC users only bother upgrading windows when they get a new OEM PC. MS needs to add features to their OS to get people to upgrade… stability does not sell anymore because XP is stable and 98 was “stable enough”
actually, those “new features” are not that attractive. No need to upgrade at all.
The solution is pretty easy: Stop selling windows and start renting it.
most PC users only bother upgrading windows when they get a new OEM PC
That was point. They want to get people to purchase PC’s more frequently. Like MS needs more money…
I know people who still use Win98 – it does what they need it to do
I know people who still use Win2k – it does what they need it to do
I know people who still stick to XP when longhorn comes out because XP does what they need it to do.
In short: innovate and they will come – more of the same means they wont spend the dough on the OS
By compiling a fatter kernel and adding more useless services in the coming service pack.
You’ll need to buy a new PC just to do what you’re currently doing…
BTW. anyone knows what does that User Mode Driver do in XP SP2?
Over time more and more patches,fixes,SP’s and other crap pollute the OS.Nothing beats a fresh release.
The solution is pretty easy: Stop selling windows and start renting it.
Think about it, that’s what RedHat and Sun are both doing — subscription based software.
The other thing to consider I think for small businesses is to seriously look at the thin clients. I’m not even talking X and Linux, but even if you’re a windows shop — consider getting an XP server with Win Terminals.
The beauty of this is you still get the Windows experience (for good or ill) (as long as you’re not playing Half-Life, but Solitaire works! :-)), but your clients are effectively immortal.
Those solid state, no moving part Win Terminals are cheap and last forever. As long as you can flash them to keep them up to date with RDP, you end up having a sunk hardware cost for your client machines. Need more power? Get a bigger server, or another server. You still have to pay your windows licenses, your office licenses, and such, but you’d have to do that anyway with client PCs.
You save on infrastructure and admin costs also.
What do you suppose Microsoft should say against that? Yes, we don’t need any more revenue!
/hates the idea of renting software. It’s all YOUR fault for stealing software all those years.
Keep buying our stock!
Microsoft believes of the 75 million small businesses throughout the world, only 50 million have PCs. And these small businesses tend to wait five years before upgrading their PCs, Poole said. If Microsoft could find a way to get these customers to see their Windows machines as key to improving productivity, they could grow this business substantially, Poole said.
Ok try and convince a business that has just completed a multi year expensive transition process from the NT 4.0 Domain model to the Active directory structure to yet again migrate to something that may or may not migrate easily. Even with 20 Microsoft techs onsite trying to help. Good luck on drumming up business in that arena within hte next 5 years.
Renting Windows will never work, because customers don’t want to give up their software after a “default” on the rent.
Solaris and Linux are being licensed properly, where everyone gets an infinite right-to-use license for free, and Sun, Red Hat, et. al. make money off of annual support contracts. This is where Solaris and Linux come up with a huge price advantage in the long run–buy support only where you need it.
Anyone else notice that the codename for the “protype mini-Tablet/eBook hybrid system” displayed by Bill Gates is “Haiku”? Now how do you suppose they came up with that name? Hmmm. Let me think… Sounds very familiar… 😉
“The solution is pretty easy: Stop selling windows and start renting it.”
EXACTLY! M$ would love for everyone to pay their monthly Utility bill, to M$ of course. The XBox is the Trojan horse here. I can see it now… hmmm, all you guys have an XBox, would you like to use it as a computer? Hmmm, here’s some software… at $19.95/mo.
Just a prediction
Jb
I think Windows was Saturated as of Windows 2000. XP is a minor upgrade and Longhorn doesn’t look much better.
Microsoft needs to reinvent themselves. They need to toss all the marketing iterations of OLE and all the other technologies they keep tweaking and repackaging and just start over, in my opinion.
They named it after the form of Japanese poetry with 3 lines of verse and 5,7,5 syllables respectively per line. It is reasonably popular especially among “geeks”, which is probably where you’ve heard of it before. Don’t think too hard, you might hurt yourself
Ok, lets see a show of hands.
How many of you out there are still using Win95 and 98?
Hmmm, ok a bit under 50%
Ok, how many of the rest of you who are using W2k or WinXP have a couple of perfectly good Win95 or 98 computers gathering dust in your garage, attic, and or kids bedroom?
Hmmmm, most of you.
Ok, now that we’ve established that you have no more room in your house, garage, attic, and kids bedroom, how many of you are going to buy Microsoft’s next PC innovation, the “Orifice PC”?
Ohhhhh, not too many I see.
See, theres plenty of room left in the Windows market.
When it comes installed by default on 90% of the computers sold I would say so.
I think the problem is more than MS Operating systems have been going up in price (DOS->Win95->WinXP Pro), while the hardware has been going down in price (entry level system now only costs 350 Euros including monitor, while XP Home costs 100 Euros)
As of now the Microsoft OS can be the single most expensive component of a PC. You can argue that OS costs RND, but Intel, AMD, Ati, nV and the rest also don’t use benevolent mediums to channel knowledge for free from other dimensions, not to mention much larger market/number of shipped PCs compared to mid 90’s.
So IHVs are probably not happy with MS adding substantial cost to PCs (and other devices) and eating into their margins.
This is probably just a PR move to console IHVs operating on razor thin margins with cutthroat competition looking up to MS who can afford fat margins and product delays.
I believe Anynonmouse was referring to the Haiku OS, an open source recreation of the BeOS operating system. If MS did this on purpose, it is at best tacky.
In general, you are correct. It’s pretty easy to spec out a decent PC for around $600. Adding Microsoft to the equation can easily add 20% or more. Adding Solaris/Linux, OpenOffice.org, Firefox, etc. adds 0%. In the long term, people are going to find it easier and easier to go the Solaris/Linux route (I sure did).
Think about it, due to the on going delays and cutbacks in Longhorn, manufacturers and 3rd party developers are starting to realize that the Windows market is beginning to stagnate. If MS doesn’t do something they will look elsewhere for business (read not Windows). This will be the demise of MS’s monopoly. So you do what they are doing… distract the audience, make them waste their time until you can put something new on the table, and hopefully, if you’ve created enough of a distraction, the manufacturers and developers will not notice other competitors beating MS to the punch (Think Apple).
“eyond the advertising side, Microsoft already is working to expand its presence in the less-PC-saturated developing-country markets via its Windows XP Starter Edition SKUs. And it also has been stepping up its focus on small businesses, not just in the Windows group, but in other Microsoft business units as well.”
he he…the starter edition is a BIG JOKE….! wonder when will ms realize that? did someone said slow brains?
So much for total cost of ownership. This shows how hard it is to serve one’s wallet (and shareholders) and users at the same time.
This are all predictions, so not a lot can be said about it.
Rubbish. OEM cost of Windows is ~$35-50.
Tom surely you remember that OEM licenses are not the same that you would be getting if you purchase a full retail version, much the same as purchasing OEM hardware (Say, a CPU) has many restrictions that you don’t have to deal with when you go retail. Check the following link for information on Microsoft licensing.
http://www.networkclue.com/os/Windows/licensing/index.php
Don’t give people the idea that OEM is just as good as retail. It almost always is if you know what you’re doing and getting into, but there are still gotchas to consider because they do exist.