Has Microsoft's Time Come and Gone? (Trees And Things)

JimmyHavok: office 2007

Wed, 6 Feb 2008 22:20:29 EST

Office 2007's new user interface is awful, terrible, horrible, disastrous;

Two people told me the same thing on Saturday. Apparently it takes the "helpfulness" of Office 2000 to a whole new level of hellishness.

ckm: Microsoft's Time Has Not Come and Gone

Sun, 3 Feb 2008 16:50:38 EST

First, a couple of disclaimers:

My company has been doing Open Source strategy for most of MSFTs competitors for the last 7 years
MSFT is also one of our largest customers
All this is my own opini

zyxwvutsr: Re: Microsoft is done.

Sun, 3 Feb 2008 14:31:55 EST

Did you ever try SUSE? I must've tried it 5 or 6 years ago and it worked pretty well out of the box, on a homemade PC at that

No, never tried SUSE. I tried a few versions of Red Hat, then Fedora, ubuntu (Edgy, Fiesty, and Gus

port1080: Re: Microsoft is done.

Sun, 3 Feb 2008 14:30:29 EST

SuSe has gone downhill somewhat since they got purchased by Novell. They made some weird patent deals with Microsoft that kind of freaked a lot of people out, and they really seem to be focusing more on the commercial / business market than on the persona

Shotgun Stockton: Re: Microsoft is done.

Sun, 3 Feb 2008 12:10:16 EST

Did you ever try SUSE? I must've tried it 5 or 6 years ago and it worked pretty well out of the box, on a homemade PC at that.

permazorch: Re: too late to snap up cheap Yahoo stock

Sat, 2 Feb 2008 08:45:11 EST

Is that really that bad?
For me, yes.

I cannot do justice to the sheer hatred I have for Yahoo. From ratting out Chinese dissidents to ripping me off, personally (in conjunction with AT&T and Cingular), they've managed to work their way t

jwb: Re: too late to snap up cheap Yahoo stock

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 12:07:59 EST

Heck yeah, management matters. The lesson we learn from Yahoo! should be that you ought not to hire some closeted Scientologist from Hollywood to run a legitimate business.

wetkarma: Re: interesting comments -- misunderstanding MSFT

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 10:55:13 EST

The idea of regulatory constraints preventing Microsoft from buying Yahoo! or any other company is an interesting one. I'm sure some of the regulators would want to do it, but given the dominance of google in the marketplace - I don't see how the deal woul

zyxwvutsr: Re: too late to snap up cheap Yahoo stock

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 10:35:02 EST

There is already integration between Vista and Flickr.

port1080: Re: too late to snap up cheap Yahoo stock

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 10:27:42 EST

one of the first things Yahoo did was to force everyone who had been using Flickr to sign up for a Yahoo account in order to keep using it.

Is that really that bad? If all MS does is make people sign up for Passport and otherwise leaves the Y

zyxwvutsr: Re: too late to snap up cheap Yahoo stock

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 10:21:17 EST

Flickr was the market leader when Yahoo bought them. And one of the first things Yahoo did was to force everyone who had been using Flickr to sign up for a Yahoo account in order to keep using it. Fuck Yahoo, I say.

port1080: Re: interesting comments -- misunderstanding MSFT

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 10:19:59 EST

Another interesting problem that Microsoft might have is that it will become a victim of its own success (and unsavory history). The DOJ is already "interesting in looking

port1080: Re: interesting comments -- misunderstanding MSFT

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 09:49:20 EST

Microsoft is no longer constrained to software for the micro-pc; it is a potential service behemoth with a cash position that is the envy of every other company in the world (except perhaps Google).

My question, though (particularly relevant c

Minos: Re: Think opposite

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 09:44:54 EST

port1080: Re: too late to snap up cheap Yahoo stock

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 09:41:04 EST

I think the way they have designed their respective websites indicates that Microsoft and Yahoo are screwed up in the same way.

If we're superficially just talking about Yahoo.com, then I agree with you. However, for as badly as Ya

zyxwvutsr: Re: too late to snap up cheap Yahoo stock

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 09:21:24 EST

By all rights Yahoo! should have been where Google is now. However lack of vision, lack of execution, and a general lack of understanding the internet...I see this all the time in the finance industry where banking websites show insufficien

zyxwvutsr: Re: Microsoft Bets it All on Ribbons

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 09:09:39 EST

...I'll give you three guesses as to whether their promises to license it will hold up over time
The answer is "yes." I don't need my other two guesses.
First of all, the license is very straightforward: it grants a perpet

wetkarma: Re: too late to snap up cheap Yahoo stock

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 07:35:13 EST
The (potential) takeout of Yahoo! shows that management matters. By all rights Yahoo! should have been where Google is now. However lack of vision, lack of execution, and a general lack of understanding the internet by the senior business managers translat

zyxwvutsr: Re: too late to snap up cheap Yahoo stock

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 06:53:58 EST
Buy Yahoo?! That's unpossible!

wetkarma: interesting comments -- misunderstanding MSFT

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 06:32:30 EST
The comments people have made seem to focus on Microsoft - purveyor of Windows OS/desktop monopoly holder extraordinaire, rather than Microsoft - a company with so many billion dollars in cash that it could buy several S&P 500 companies without impacti

Coelacanth: Re: Microsoft Bets it All on Ribbons

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 04:31:27 EST
Absolutely no other Windows apps use the "ribbon" interface.
MindManager Pro 7 does. And since my Large Corporation has not adopted office 2007 yet, it confused the crap put of me for a while. But since Word's menus have gotten so co

shane: Re: Let the OS war commence!

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 00:04:08 EST
I hate some parts of its interface, but I tend to hate the interface of most software I use.
I think this has something to do with using linux.

skeeter1: Re: Let the OS war commence!

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:46:46 EST
" I've done my time with Linux system admin, and it's kind of fun when you get things working, but I ain't doing that without pay anymore."
I, too, spent many years working on a bunch of systems, from RSTS-E to VMS to AIX, and every small compute

profwhat: Re: Microsoft Bets it All on Ribbons

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:58:14 EST
Absolutely no other Windows apps use the "ribbon" interface. How does creating an entirely new paradigm of user interaction help people learn to use your software? There are poor souls out there who pay real money to take a course on how to "le

profwhat: Re: Let the OS war commence!

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:39:17 EST
Just buy Linux pre-installed. And Open Office is not that bad. I have used it as my main word processor for two years now, and I have not encountered the problems you described. I hate some parts of its interface, but I tend to hate the i

profwhat: Re: Let the OS war commence!

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:24:47 EST
Yes, Microsoft will lock you in, too. Any OS will. So, the smartest people use an operating system that's free.

PenitenziAgite: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:15:19 EST
Wow. That sucks. I recently bought an HP notebook with dual AMD Turions, nVidia graphics and a Broadcom wireless, and everything worked right away. I have had so few problems with Vista, I start wondering what all these people are talking

delete me: Re: Let the OS war commence!

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:57:41 EST
So here is my theory on Mac users: Smart enough to avoid Windows, but too dumb to use Linux.
If you have all three, like me, then what? :)
Personally, I'd also like to have a computer running MVS 5, but I'd have no place to put it.

Degee: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:09:31 EST
No, because almost no one has any interest in making old computers run.
I realize you didn't imply anything different, but I just want to point out that people whose needs are served by the old hardware (and can't afford the new stuff) would love

zyxwvutsr: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:52:20 EST

The notion that Windows has better hardware support is not backed by any facts in evidence
I have no idea why your installation of Vista won't detect your hardware and offer to look for a driver.
As to your "evidence," it

jwb: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:29:58 EST
On the contrary, I've used every version of Windows since 3.0 including every version of Windows NT, 95/98, 2000, XP, and Vista. They are all remarkably malformed.
My current desktop PC contains state-of-the-art equipment from Intel, including Int

DEMachina: Re: A few thoughts...

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:26:38 EST
I remember reading a short story somewhere about what would happen if the government could google mine everything about you.
The scenario mentioned above (the wired house) would bring security concerns to a whole new level. God help you if you get

zyxwvutsr: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:53:23 EST

Windows requires third-party drivers
By "third-party drivers" do you mean only that the drivers are not written by Microsoft?

In the Microsoft model, Windows installs (if you're lucky) and boots into a hideo

zyxwvutsr: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:43:36 EST

Is Windows failing because of its poor hardware support?
No, because almost no one has any interest in making old computers run.

It is always amazing to me that people will complain about the "bad hardware s

shane: Yes.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:07:08 EST
Yes, that's right.

jwb: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:54:21 EST
"No, unless you count c. 1996 SVGA and NIC cards."
That, or currently-shipping. Linux supported AHCI for almost a year before Windows bothered to pick it up, and Linux supported UHCI before the hardware even existed. Linux supports my smart

keta: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:30:46 EST
You live on Cortes? One of the most magnificent No, unless you count c. 1996 SVGA and NIC cards.
"Windows Vista cannot be installed on my desktop computer because it believes the CDROM is the first hard drive. Is Windows

jwb: Re: Has Microsoft's Time Come and Gone?

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:24:03 EST
There is an equivalent of this for the Mac: "repair permissions".

keta: Re: Our Accelerated Age

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:15:07 EST
This piece was published in Harper's a few years ago, and in it writer/philosopher Mark Kingwell argues that we're hard-wired for speed:
Where, then, are we going in our fa

jwb: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:11:32 EST
Linux supports vastly more hardware than either Windows or Mac OS X. My Bluetooth keyboard doesn't work right with Windows. When I put the machine to sleep, the keyboard never works again until I reboot. And the rest of the Bluetooth stac

PenitenziAgite: Re: memory

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:09:37 EST
I'm not having issues, I just don't understand why it's the biggest memory hog I have running.

shane: memory

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:51:10 EST
I've never noticed memory issues on my systems - I have 2GB of ram though. You are right, iTunes shouldn't use so much memory, maybe they needed someplace to hide their drm? :)

zyxwvutsr: Re: How to fix Vista

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:36:52 EST

Annoy her it does, but that's not the purpose
Not its primary purpose. I understand.

As for the sidebar, mine takes 13MB
I'll have to have another look. Mine was taking, like, 200MB. (

thefadd: Re: A few thoughts...

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:30:37 EST
First there's the matter of crashing, bugs, updates and network security. It's one thing when you're computer doesn't work. It's another when you can't prepare dinner or get into your house because your network's down. But then of course, once all those ac

Lou: Re: Easier solution

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:28:12 EST
Pimp my OS? Sounds like a new show for the Discovery Channel.

brownjava: Re: Let the OS war commence!

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:24:02 EST
While it's somewhat true that Apple is a "benevolent dictatorship," you can say pretty much the same for Microsoft too. Sure you have some choice in where you get your hardware, but your day to day experience with the machine is roughly the same whet

DEMachina: Re: Microsoft Bets it All on Ribbons

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:20:54 EST
Seconded. I've never liked Word at all until 2007, which convinced me based on the UI and the improved autocorrect (it actually works with you rather than against you now).
I didn't find there to be much of a learning curve for the new UI.

DEMachina: Re: A few thoughts...

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:13:40 EST
...the nightmare of living in such a place is another matter entirely.
That was my first thought. I can see it now, User Access Control on my fridge, content protection on my front door (HD-DVD? You don't have HDCP anywhere in your ho

PenitenziAgite: Re: Think opposite

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:10:00 EST
I don't understand iTunes complaints - I think it is amazing and works perfectly. Bloat? Where?
It takes up a big chunk of memory. I run a Postgresql database on my machine, and it uses much less memory. For the life of me, I ca

joshv: Re: How to fix Vista

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:57:48 EST
Annoy her it does, but that's not the purpose. She tends not to have the finely tuned malware radar that I have. I like when UAC causes the following sentence to be heard - "Honey, why can't I install MegaBux Poker from sd2-34x.mypokerspace.ru?

thefadd: Re: Our Accelerated Age

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:55:21 EST
On a very general level, I often question the whole "what have you done for me lately" mentality. From sports to politics to movies to business to daily life, I see so many people making definitive proclamations simply on what happened yesterday. Is it a m

thefadd: Re: Come on

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:54:25 EST
If you installed a tiny memory monitoring program, 98 seriously rocked the house. It was still supported in just about all programs until maybe 2 years ago with like directx 9 or 10. On the other hand, nothing will blunt the pain of ME.

1fastdog: iTunes is overrated

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:47:42 EST
I don't understand iTunes complaints - I think it is amazing and works perfectly. Bloat? Where?
iTunes is a 44 meg download - pretty large just to listen to MP3s. Honestly, I find it to be a mediocre player. I use it cuz I've got a 1g

zyxwvutsr: Re: How to fix Vista

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:39:22 EST
The Vista widgets looked nice, but they were terrible memory hogs and I disabled them just on principle.
I do think making UAC worse just to annoy your wife is pretty funny, though.

DEMachina: Re: Think opposite

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:37:05 EST
My MacBook has handled being dropped pretty well: I've dropped into onto asphalt at least once, and I'm 6'4", so it had a ways down, and all I did was scrape up the aluminum shell. Other than that it runs as well as it did before.

zyxwvutsr: Re: Easier solution

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:34:34 EST
Fine. Where I wrote "fix" above, cross it out and change it to "pimp."

DEMachina: Re: Let the OS war commence!

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:34:06 EST
I really, really, really want to like Linux, but just can't get there. I always have a horrible time installing it or getting it up and running. The last time I tried was with Ubuntu (6.10, IIRC), and the upgrade to 7, after downloading all nig

zyxwvutsr: Re: Come on

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:30:46 EST

My understanding was that we were talking about software that is actually shipped included with the operating system
It's trivially easy to get Open Office or Star Office for Windows. I don't see much value in bundling.

joshv: Re: How to fix Vista

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:48:03 EST
Huh, I did none of those things (well, my machined didn't come with anything preinstalled) and it works just fine. I actually amped up UAC to require a password (this keeps my wife from installing stuff without me knowing). Vista widgets are qu

port1080: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:48:27 EST
All evidence points to laptops being the big growth area for new computers
Agreed - however, I think Ubuntu's future is cannibalizing sales from Windows on low-end desktop PCs (at least, at first). I think that if anyone is going to hurt Wind

Lou: Re: Easier solution

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:46:34 EST
Well, your original premise was how to fix Vista...not make it a nicer ride. If I buy a car with air conditioning or a moon/sun/flickering light from Vesta roof, I am enhancing the vehicle...not fixing it.

zyxwvutsr: Re: Easier solution

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:43:46 EST
No, it's more like paying the extra money to get a dodge caravan with air conditioning and a moon roof. Sure, you can go the cheap route and roll your windows down, but it's just not as nice.

port1080: Re: Come on

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:43:08 EST
What office and productivity software? Open Office is available for Windows, and it's free. Abiword is available for Windows. Even KOffice is available for Windows, though I'm not sure how complete or stable it is at the moment.
My understandi

zyxwvutsr: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:41:39 EST

That's probably the one glaring weakness that I can see, particularly when we're talking about running Linux on a laptop
All evidence points to laptops being the big growth area for new computers. Wireless support is a glarin

zyxwvutsr: Re: Come on

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:31:19 EST

Well, #1 is probably office and productivity software
What office and productivity software? Open Office is available for Windows, and it's free. Abiword is available for Windows. Even KOffice is available for Windows,

Lou: Easier solution

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:29:59 EST
You'll be left with something that looks more or less like Windows XP and functions more or less like Windows XP. Problem solved.
Or, you can do what I will do shortly...just buy a computer that has XP instead of Vista.
Problem solved.
I go

zyxwvutsr: Re: How to fix Vista

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:17:30 EST
Here's how you fix Vista:

Pay the extra money to get a machine with Vista Home Premium.

Before doing anything else, uninstall all the bundled free-trial software. Start with anything with the name "Norton." Also be sure to get rid of any

shane: Re: Let the OS war commence!

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:15:48 EST
So here is my theory on Mac users: Smart enough to avoid Windows, but too dumb to use Linux.
Of course I use all 3. It's been years since I tried X but at the time I didn't see any windows managers that I liked. They are probabl

shane: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:08:33 EST
50% market share would mean prices come down a lot. Also, there are people around here who have gotten osx running on non-mac hardware. It was buggy but it can be done, so I wouldn't be surprised to see mac clones follow one day in the next few

port1080: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:45:17 EST
Average computer users are not turned on by having to understand VGA mode settings in order to boot a GUI
I've never had a problem getting Ubuntu 7.10 to install in graphical mode (and I've installed it on everything from an old Celeron 366 wi

port1080: Re: Come on

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:33:17 EST
what free software is available on Linux, but not on Windows, that the average user cares about?
Well, #1 is probably office and productivity software. Microsoft will never bundle office software with Windows, because they'd be undercutting o

zyxwvutsr: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:10:37 EST

I think Ubuntu is far more likely to take the step to being the new mass-market OS...
Not unless they start taking hardware support more seriously. Average computer users are not turned on by having to understand VGA m

zyxwvutsr: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:02:11 EST

Power management that works
What are you comparing the Mac to? My experience was that power management in Windows was fine in Windows 2000, and has only gotten better. Vista has a new "sleep" mode that is a hybrid betwe

zyxwvutsr: Re: Come on

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:47:07 EST
Windows 98 leaked memory live a sieve. No problem if you reboot regularly, of course, and I think in 1998 not too many people left their machines running 24x7.

zyxwvutsr: Re: Come on

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:45:05 EST

Ubuntu is very, very close to the point where grandma can use it ...It's true that Linux is still lacking in polished software for a lot of applications, but on the other hand, almost everything that's available is completely free

zyxwvutsr: Microsoft Bets it All on Ribbons

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:39:33 EST

For those who have not yet had the displeasure, Office 2007's new user interface is awful, terrible, horrible, disastrous; I have to hit F1 and type in the name of the old Office command in order to figure out where the new ones are

port1080: Re: Come on

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:58:24 EST
Have you forgotten the exquisite suckiness of Windows 98?
I didn't think 98 was all that bad (especially 98SE - although maybe the fact that they had to release a "Second Edition" kind of proves your point). ME, however was completely awful

port1080: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:52:44 EST
Buy your macbook for $1249, use it for 3 years, sell it for $600.
If Mac market share moves into the 50% plus range, do you think that resale value will hold up? I doubt it. A big part of the resale value is the artificial scarcity produced

port1080: Re: A few thoughts...

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:42:57 EST
You are aware of the existence of the Windows Mobile platform aren't you? It has about 6% of the smartphone market. Not terribly impressive, it puts them in about 3rd place in the market, but it's not like Microsoft is ignoring the potential of this m

joshv: Re: Has Microsoft's Time Come and Gone?

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:14:12 EST
A registry cleaners - using the placebo effect to milk money from the unwitting masses.

joshv: Re: Come on

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:09:29 EST
Oh come on, Windows NT 4 was out in 1996 - it was rock solid and its hardware requirements weren't really all that much higher than Windows 95/98. I ran it as my desktop OS for many years. Unfortunately we had to wait for Windows 2000 for consu

joshv: Re: A few thoughts...

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:03:08 EST
You are aware of the existence of the Windows Mobile platform aren't you? It has about 6% of the smartphone market. Not terribly impressive, it puts them in about 3rd place in the market, but it's not like Microsoft is ignoring the potential of

Coelacanth: Re: Let the OS war commence!

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 07:55:18 EST
Much of what you say is true, but I disagree with your conclusions. I've written code for 25 years, mostly on Unix variants or VMS, run a self-owned business based on Linux servers, etc. My work computers are a Windows laptop and a Linux workst

profwhat: Let the OS war commence!

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 07:03:45 EST
So here is my theory on Mac users: Smart enough to avoid Windows, but too dumb to use Linux.
There is something offputting about this emphasis on how everything in a Mac "just works." Everything works because it was made by one company; ever

profwhat: Re: Come on

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 06:49:51 EST
Windows (and Linux) retain the advantage in freedom of choice and hardware price. Suppose you want to run Mac OS X on a subnotebook. Sorry, you're screwed until Steve Jobs decides to make one. And when the MacBook Air comes out and you ar

delete me: Re: Think opposite

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:43:09 EST
Under the "Open With" dialogue, there's a checkmark for "Always open with". Which works intermittently.
As for iTunes, I don't see why I need a second copy of my mp3s stored on my computer, and access to a store I don't use unless someone buys me anoth

shane: Re: Think opposite

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:20:22 EST
Don't drop your mac! Ouch, I've seen a few that were dropped, even just off a table. It doesn't work out well. The iBook line has weak hinges that will break when dropped. MacBooks I'm not sure about yet - I don't think I've seen an

shane: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:11:45 EST
Considering that you can sell a 3 year old mac for 1/2 the price you paid for it, the price difference isn't that much. Buy your macbook for $1249, use it for 3 years, sell it for $600. It didn't cost you more than a buggy windows laptop, and i

skeeter1: Re: Has Microsoft's Time Come and Gone?

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:01:01 EST
Well, Vista works, but it's no picnic.
I inadvertently had to get a new laptop when the screen on my old one died. Being a couple of years old, it wasn't worth repairing. So, I went to OfficeMax and got a new H-P dv6000, which came with Vist

delete me: Think opposite

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:00:31 EST
I just bought a Macbook, and learning how to use it has been fun and frustrating. My other two machines are an Ubuntu box and an XP Media Center. Having to use the squiggle key instead of the CTRL key to find, cut, paste, etc. has slown me down. The singul

Degee: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:24:04 EST
I think Ubuntu is far more likely to take the step to being the new mass-market OS
I hope not. No more built-in security from being a marginal target.

port1080: Re: Microsoft is done.

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:16:58 EST
Apple will rule the day
I wouldn't go quite the far....the one thing that Apple has always had going against it (and I'm not sure if it's on purpose, to keep its rep as a boutique/designer computer company, or what) is price. The Mac Minis ar

shane: Microsoft is done.

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 23:56:17 EST
I say yes, they are toast.
I run a computer shop on Cortes Island and before that have done computer repairs for large businesses. I currently 'sell macs and fix pcs'. After using solely PC or command line linux for years, I've switched to t

port1080: Re: Come on

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 23:47:02 EST
At no point in its history was Windows ever the best available operating system.
Best is somewhat subjective, but I'd say it was certainly the best affordable, easy to use operating system for most of its existence. Let's look at the situati

profwhat: Come on

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:28:24 EST
Microsoft now only exhibits a clear lead in one category - office software
Look, the Vista misstep aside, no one is going to deny that Microsoft has a gigantic lead in desktop operating systems.
The fact that Leopard is better than Vista doesn

keta: Our Accelerated Age

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:11:02 EST
Reading this solid w/u made me reflect how very far we've come in such a very short time vis a vis technology. But with these exponential advancements have come astronomical expectations for how companies - technology companies especially, it seems -

thefadd: Re: A few thoughts...

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:55:57 EST
I don't see Xbox ever becoming a cash cow for them...the console market is simply too tight and finicky. Sony has the same resources as Microsoft to fund their ventures and Nintendo is a very nimble, focussed competitor so they to see both of them go away

port1080: A few thoughts...

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:26:08 EST
I think that the biggest threat to Microsoft is probably hand-held devices / Internet appliances. A full featured operating system is only really necessary for a power-user or above level computer user. Most people who are just doing simple wor

thefadd: Re: Has Microsoft's Time Come and Gone?

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 19:16:34 EST
Microsoft's power came from its singular focus on software when most were still tinkering with the hardware of the pc. A company like IBM has remade itself many times over the years and kept on ticking. Microsoft has yet to face any such test but this is c