Microsoft is great! Giving credit when due.
In response to Avinash’s post, I want to add my views.
Microsoft is great because:
Cheap PC and Windows Operating Systems
The effect of the Microsoft monopoly has quite some benefits to the consumers. When almost every desktop computers running Windows, this has helped to standardize the PC hardware and software industry. Before Microsoft, there would be dozens of operating systems, dozens of PC hardware and dozens of standards. Microsoft has helped the hardware and software industry more than anyone else. The open specifications supported by Microsoft have helped a new line of business. We now have motherboard makers like Asus, Gigabyte, Abit, MSI… You will never have an OEM Apple computer. Apple is a hardware company and makes money selling hip hardware. On the other hand, Microsoft is a software company and you will always find a Windows PC cheaper than an Apple PC. Software companies that have benefited from Windows are numerous. Any consumer software runs on Windows. The software companies have streamlined their development costs and know that they only have to focus on Windows. Windows XP was great. Windows Vista will be greater. I no longer have BSOD since XP. The BSOD is often related to bad drivers or bad hardware. It’s a thing of the past. The hardware are now certified by MS to work properly with Windows.
Office Productivity Software
I still maintain that Excel is a damn good software. It is robust and has some powerful statistics functions like pivot tables. Powerpoint has become the defacto presentation software. Word 2007 is quite an overhaul (with new format and interface). With the web and e-mail, I no longer need a word processor. If I ever need one, I use the free OpenOffice which does the job for me. In a corporate environment, workgroup software like Exchange/Outlook helps being productive. It is more than e-mail. It is about the collaborative tools such as calendaring and project management.
Xbox360
In the new generation of gaming console, there are only Xbox360 and PS3. Sony has dropped the ball regarding PS3 and their production difficulties. And Blu-ray is doomed, just like beta max videocassette. Xbox360 and PS3 are similar in terms of graphics performance. However, Microsoft has one year advance on Sony and has more consoles on the market. The game developers will focus on Xbox360 and the PS3 will remain the second choice. The Xbox story shows the determination of Microsoft to enter and conquer a market even without leverage. (it is not the case like Internet Explorer leveraging on Windows).
I do not necessarily agree with Microsoft and their often mob-like tactics. But I have more respect for Bill Gates than for Larry Ellison or Steve Jobs. I’ve said it. In the past 25 years, Microsoft is the major mover and shaker in the so-called computer industry. Now, Google is next in line to become the new Microsoft which for me is a badge of honour.
Hans said,
January 27, 2007 @ 2:00 am
Yeah M$ does a good job but I would say they could do better:
how about decreasing their price on their software packages so that the overall “Original” software bought from M$ does not exceed the price of the PC itself. I think that would be the case in Mauritius with an original copy of Windo$ exceeding Rs 4000.
In the bureau suite section, I think it should have favoured interoperability with other software like Openoffice or packages. Sometimes moving things around go really weird when it’s not from M$ stuff to M$ stuff.
As for the Xbox/360 line, that’s a thumbs up since M$ has done a great job on that. I own a XBOX meself and with all the stuffs you can do on that, it’s more like a little PC box compared to PS 2 at that time which didn’t offer a bit of enhancement apart in the graphics part.
Nice article. Thanks for sharing your views.
Avinash Meetoo said,
January 27, 2007 @ 3:43 am
In April last year, I even wrote a poem à la gloire de Bill Gates for having given us cheap PCs (check the comments)
But that’s it. I don’t need Windows nor other Microsoft software and hardware. And this is my personal choice…
And with Balmer now “managing” everything, Microsoft will do more and more blunders like the ones I described. And what can I say: manze pistas, gété
Stéphane Lee said,
January 27, 2007 @ 7:49 am
The license is priced for the European/North American markets which is very reasonable for them. I agree that the price is steep for developing countries. Microsoft will be releasing a version for developing countries only that will be cheaper but somewhat limited. For developing countries, they should not pay the full retail price. They can save the money and go with an open source solution: Linux/OpenOffice/Firefox. In almost all cases, it is enough for their needs.
Eddy Young said,
January 27, 2007 @ 9:24 am
There will be cheap versions of Vista made specifically for developing countries, but of course, users will want more and resort to pirating the better version.
Anyway, I thought Microsoft-bashing was a pasttime long gone by
Eddy Young said,
January 27, 2007 @ 9:36 am
I commented on Avinash’s entry again.
Khalil A. said,
January 27, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
I have to agree with Stephane - at least, I agree with him for the first two parts. They really did a revolution, there’s no way denying this (now Google is doing another revolution) and the Excel thing was a milestone. Who would have thought that a database software would get so popular. It’s used everywhere, now.
As for the Xbox, I’m not a gamer so I’m out of this one.
Michael Muryn said,
February 23, 2007 @ 1:50 pm
You hurt the Nintendo fanboy in me by excluding the Wii. Even if I am not a very active gamer since quite sometime and that I don’t own the Wii, an XBOX 360 or PS3… I thought the Wii had quite a good popularity and success (from what I read of it), independently of the success of the other consoles or knowing the real number.
I still see Nintendo as a big player in the current and next generation videogames console. And maybe their technical specs are not as impressive (?), but their current innovation is and will probably influence the future of gaming. I don’t really mind what kind of processor is my videogames console (or even computer), what I want is good software/games, good interface (i.e. controller) and that the machine can support everything. If the CPU is mega-fast but not used to its full capacity, it won’t really change a thing in reality.
Aside from that, I agree that even if people often try to tag Microsoft as “evil”, they have done a lot of great thing that a lot of us have benefited. I have always defended Microsoft with that in mind when people have done easy comments.
It is easy to critics someone or something that does a lot of thing (great and bad), you will always find something to critic. But like you say, let’s give credit when it is due, and Microsoft deserves it!