One of the big news stories to come out of Build 2015 was the Objective C tools that Microsoft is introducing to welcome iOS developers to Windows 10. This is amazing news, but there’s a small elephant in the room, and that’s Swift. Apple announced this at its WWDC 2014 developer conference, and is the newest way that iOS developers are building apps. But that doesn’t mean Microsoft has forgotten about it. It’s “going there.”
Microsoft’s really going all-in on this.
… for the competition ?
I think I’ve missed nothing.
That’s their *modus operandis* so far.
They give support to open standards and then, they start adding *closed improvements* until the spec is tied to their OS.
They’ve done it for Java, they will do it for Swift.
So, more of *nothing to see, move along*.
It’s almost like you live 14 years in the past.
A lot of Microsoft haters do. Which isn’t very smart, because it means they’re constantly looking for the same old tactics from decades ago.
But despite all the changes in the industry since then, it doesn’t seem to occur to them that their enemy might be smart enough to try different tactics – particularly when the old ones haven’t really been working for them lately. Gates and Ballmer are gone, they’re a distant third place in the mobile market… but people still seem to think they’re stupid enough to keep acting as if nothing has changed.
Edited 2015-05-04 10:08 UTC
About the present actions of Microsoft:
1. Stop blocking open file/document formats and start actively working towards interoperability. People have to be able to use any tool of their choice on THEIR data.
2. Stop astroturfing every tech forum in existence. I want to be able to discuss Linux and other OSs/software, etc. without harassment from MS damage control drones.
3. Lose the control-freak attitude towards competitors. Don’t try to patent-bomb/bleed/cross-license them out of existence.
4. Don’t buy/bribe/pay government customers to keep them locked in. People have a right to use free and open tools on documents written on THEIR taxpayer dollars.
5. Stop manipulating hardware manufacturers. Locked/broken bootloaders, hindering people from trying other operating systems, introducing closed drivers, etc. are dirty ways to compete.
There’s a lot more, but the point is made. Until people see several fundamental changes to the way MS does business… people will have to keep thinking that this current cosying up to the community is egoistically motivated and dangerous, like the “embrace, extend, extinguish” that has been used against people until now.
— Anonymous
Edited 2015-05-04 11:21 UTC
“Until people see fundamental changes”, let’s clarify that:
Until Nth_Man has his very specific pet issues addressed personally by Microsoft, he will continue to complain.
For example, I think a lot of their recent actions can only be described as a fundamental change.
Maybe its not a change in the front on a decade old document format argument, but I’m not convinced anyone is still fighting that battle.
You say “pet issues” like they were little issues (it’s not true) and “personal” (it’s not true, as it has been shown they affect everyone).
> I think a lot of their recent actions can only be described as a fundamental change.
History!
1. Embrace <– you are here. A fundamental change!
2. Extend
3. Extinguish
Yawn.
I think they are personal issues, granted others may share your sentiment. However, what I’ve seen is that you can ask 10 people and potentially get 10 different answers on why Microsoft is in trouble (perceived or otherwise).
It’s only a fundamental change until they’re on top again, and then they’ll go right back to the same old tactics. Note that I’m not picking on Microsoft here… would say the same thing about every other publicly traded, for-profit corporation.
No, you’re not picking on Microsoft. You’re attempting to predict the future.
A future which you (perhaps understandably) arrive at by looking at past actions (With different executives, priorities, and even a different Chief Executive).
And that’s fine..I just believe that there’s a little more to it than just Microsoft trying to pull the wool over our eyes here. Maybe I’m just not as cynical.
I have a friend that feels the same way about Google as you do about Microsoft, and I think he is just as misguided as you are. I’m not saying that Microsoft would screw you over any quicker than Google, Apple et. al.; ANY of them will do it as soon as they think it will make them more money than not doing it. These companies are NOT your friends. If you were on fire, they wouldn’t piss on you to put you out if it hurt their profit margins.
It’s not even about cynicism. Let’s say for a moment that everything people say about Microsoft is true – that they really are pure evil, and will never be anything else.
So why assume that they’re not smart enough to come up with new ways of being evil? The haters can chant “embrace, extend, extinguish” all they like – but then, shouldn’t they be paying close attention to what their enemy is doing today, instead of repeating old mantras from ten or twenty years ago?
Microsoft have now more coherent and credible competition than before, they should walk on eggs before pissing off consumers.
https://xkcd.com/875/
Swift is not an open standard. This is more like a very streamlined migration path.
Not that I necessarily agree with the decision, but EEE this is not.