Bungled Mobile Bet Will Be Ballmer's Swan Song 300
snydeq writes "'If Windows 8 and the Surface tablet flop, you'll see a shareholder revolt that will send Steve Ballmer packing by this time next year,' writes InfoWorld's Bill Snyder. 'First it was the netbook, then it was the Ultrabook. Microsoft, Intel, and the PC makers keep looking for a way to convince buyers they don't need an iPad or Android tablet. Neither initiative gained much traction, so Microsoft bet big on Windows 8 and the Surface. ... Maybe we're wrong, and buyers will decide that the new OS and the Microsoft's first serious venture into hardware are what they want. It would be a huge boost for the industry if it happens, but I'm not optimistic. ... There's been a string of bad quarters, and the stock has been frozen for nine years. At some point — I think we're getting really close — investors are going to demand a shakeup. When they do, it's going to be good-bye, Ballmer."
I like my netbook. (Score:5, Interesting)
It came with Windows 7 Starter though I've never actually used it. I upgraded the 1GB factory RAM to 2 GB. It runs Kubuntu like a dream, I replaced the factory HDD with an SSD and I have it booting Chromium from power button to login prompt in 26 seconds.
Why I really like it?
It fits in a small backpack. It's no problem carrying it when I bike, unlike a larger laptop, it's got awesome battery life and I've had two major bike crashes where I got pretty descent injuries (chainline failures at bad times, both of them) with the thing in my backpack and it's still working perfectly today. Best initial $250 I ever spent on a computer and the upgrades I put in were totally worth it.
I don't use it for much more than web browsing, it's not a work horse, but it does web browsing like a champ, and I have done some very minor Gimp edits and some other things on it too.
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Agreed. I'm on my second since the form factor really took off, and I'll happily replace it with #3 when this one reaches the end of its life.
And ditto with Linux (my current one is running vanilla Ubuntu- Unity is pretty decent for the form factor. Although considering its heritage as Ubuntu Netbook Remix, that's not a huge surprise).
Tablets just aren't laptops, however hard you squint at them. And big "proper laptops" (desktop replacements, like the one I use for work) just aren't portable enough. For a g
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This. For the price, you can't beat 'em. I've had my EeePC for 3 years now and have been picking them up for friends and customers on ebay for up to $200 (new, unused, 1 year old, etc.). My favorites to bid on are the people who get them for free at a convention or whatever but never use it and it just sits in the closet until they realize, "Oh yeah, I can probably sell that."
I can do everything on my EeePC that
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I have 2. My personal is an ancient Acer ZG5 with 8GB slow SSD running Kubuntu, works like a charm. My work one is an ASUS T101MT (laptop/tablet hybrid) running Win7 Pro (too many contracting companies send windows-only tools) Also works like a charm - with system protection and indexing off, a large class 10 SD card for readyboost, mydefrag and ntregopt run after any updates, and NO bloatware installed .
As far as I'm concerned, the netbook is a very nice form factor for mobile use, I use it for longer tas
Netbooks are too good (Score:2)
I've been using my eeepc now for over 2 years and it is my full time work & play machine. It does everything I need - it runs apache and mysql for dev, plays vids with vlc, runs browsers with a silly number of tabs open (and loads of other apps), I plug in a big screen and spread my desktop across the two screens and I connect a small mouse.. it runs ubuntu netbook remix (10.04) and gets a reboot once every couple of months if it's lucky.
I can't see myself needing any other computer these days as long a
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... I've had two major bike crashes where I got pretty descent injuries (chainline failures at bad times, both of them) with the thing in my backpack and it's still working perfectly today.
What is a "chainline failure"? I own a bike. I've even been hit by a car (ruining my backpack because I couldn't get the blood washed out). I've used google (and I got your post as like the 5th result -- I did not know they'd gotten so "real time"). But I don't know what you mean. Am I overthinking this and your chain broke or came off, or is this something else that can kill me I didn't even know I had to worry about?
BTW, my netbook didn't get crash tested like yours, but a bag of coffee beans I'd just pur
Re:I like my netbook. (Score:4, Insightful)
I would love to have an Ultrabook also, so I could do serious work on the road. Probably wouldn't use it much since I use surf on the netbook and do my serious work on my desktop, but an Ultrabook has it's place for certain work.
Still - removing Windows would be my first task.
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I have an ultrabook as well, and I have a feeling my next machine will be as well. Tablets are only 'okay' for browsing, laptops are a bit big. An ultrabook is just the right balance of everything. If people start making them with higher resolution displays, I'll be even happier.
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I haven't personally actually used it on a touchscreen yet, but from the videos and such that I've seen of KDE on a touchscreen, it looks like a pretty good deal on a touchscreen, if you use the more touch oriented interfaces in it. I have played with them on my non-touch screen and they're nice, but I can tell they are more practical for use on a touchscreen than with a mouse, as much as they do still handle the mouse very well. And I do know that KDE keeps getting better with their touchscreen interface,
Small and cool misses the point though (Score:5, Insightful)
How many people with a tablet and a PC will sit down and use the tablet for word processing or an spreadsheet? This is the biggest opening for a competitor to jump into the desktop OS market I've ever seen. And for the people who think hand held toys like tablets "are a paradigm shift" then explain to me how that correlates with the number of dual or triple display setups that are being rolled out?
(Ask Oracle how the mas shift to thin computing is working for them!)
The boat has been missed. Let's see if they notice.
Hell Hath No Fury Like a Shareholder Scorned (Score:5, Interesting)
The other thing is that I sort of sympathize with Ballmer. Sure, Windows 8 and Surface have flaws. Even when Microsoft does something right like the Kinect, we're upset that those open drivers aren't released on day one. And being a lowly software developer with zero stock in Microsoft (okay, I don't really track my 401k funds down to the stock), I sort of have to ask shareholders a big question: If you want to oust Ballmer over Windows 8 and Surface tablet, why didn't you simply sell all your shares and even short the stock when they debuted? I mean, hindsight is 20/20 and shareholders get to play this game where they read the SEC reports on these things, then they get to sit there watching and then if these products fail they basically go on a litigation witch hunt on whoever made these decisions. But if Windows 8 and the Surface tablet are huge hits? Well, you'll never hear a peep from those shareholders. They likely either quietly cash out or demand more growth (thus delaying pending litigation).
I can understand shareholders suing over actual gross negligence or actual shady accounting and misreporting to the SEC. But it should be the SEC who decides which company to sue over that. Look, if you've got shares in Microsoft and it's painfully obvious that Windows 8 and the Surface Tablet are gonna flop then what in the hell are you doing holding onto those shares? Microsoft should decide internally if it's Ballmer's time to go, not some shareholder with their eye on the prize and little knowledge of technology. I don't like to defend Ballmer and he very well may have conceived these things himself and pushed them through development and production -- but wouldn't the people on the inside [microsoft.com] know that it's time for him to step down after that?
I'm pretty sure what happened here was Ballmer said, "What's the best thing we got? Okay, we're going with that." If it was Steve Jobs style micromanaging that forced these products through and the board of directors has no clout against Ballmer then the shareholders might have a place here. I just don't see that right now.
Also I feel like there's a lot of potential explanations for this guy's complaints:
But the really telling number was in the Windows Division, with revenue of $3.24 billion, down a frightening 33 percent from the same period last year.
So Microsoft releases the first stable version of Windows 7 on February 22 of 2011 and a year later you're calling a 1/3 drop in Windows sales "frightening"? Perhaps they were just coming down from everyone's move to Windows 7? I mean you (hopefully) only need to buy that once for your machine.
This author claims to be "putting his neck on the line" with this prediction but all I see are a lot of questions that want you to believe what he's saying will happen without him ever actually saying that Microsoft's mobile will flop and Steve Ballmer will then be ousted. To back that up he goes on with further questions surrounding earnings reports. God I've wasted too much time on this post already considering how insipid the original article is.
Re:Hell Hath No Fury Like a Shareholder Scorned (Score:5, Insightful)
So Microsoft releases the first stable version of Windows 7 on February 22 of 2011 and a year later you're calling a 1/3 drop in Windows sales "frightening"? Perhaps they were just coming down from everyone's move to Windows 7? I mean you (hopefully) only need to buy that once for your machine.
When revenue in just about all divisions drop to near 2006 levels, you've got a problem.
http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-microsoft-income-by-segment-2012-10 [businessinsider.com]
Serious Cherry Picking of Dates There Jimmy (Score:5, Insightful)
So Microsoft releases the first stable version of Windows 7 on February 22 of 2011 and a year later you're calling a 1/3 drop in Windows sales "frightening"? Perhaps they were just coming down from everyone's move to Windows 7? I mean you (hopefully) only need to buy that once for your machine.
When revenue in just about all divisions drop to near 2006 levels, you've got a problem.
http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-microsoft-income-by-segment-2012-10 [businessinsider.com]
Uh, we're also at the same levels were were in March of 2010 and March of 2011. Mind explaining why he wasn't ousted then? Or why you skipped those dates and went all the way back to 2006 before the recession? Yeah, everyone was riding high before the recession ... we know ...
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March '10/'11 were both about half a billion higher than Sept '12. There is also a downturn every March due to the way MS does it's books so comparing Sept to March isn't useful. Comparing Sept '06 to '12 we see that revenues for the Windows division sit around 3.5 billion. In six years he managed to grow the revenue 0%. Office and Server tools have seen steady growth, but all of Balmer's babies (online services, mobile/windows revamps, etc) have all flat lined. Where he's largely kept his paws off is
Bad Performance? (Score:5, Insightful)
Where's the bad performance? Anyone looked at the stock market? The tech sector OVERALL is at -22% since 2003 (9 years ago). MS is BEATING THE INDUSTRY, lol. Sure, APPLE is way up, but if you discount that one stock MS is actually pretty much the best performer around. I mean I'm sure you can find smaller plays that are of course MUCH MUCH better, or Apple, but I hardly think that the shareholders at MS have any big reason to complain currently. They MAY feel uneasy about the strategic direction of the company, but the notion that stock performance is going to get Balmer tossed is probably not even close to realistic. Truthfully stock holders don't generally think a lot about strategic considerations either, sadly. If they did a LOT of CEOs would be out of jobs...
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22% decline in profits compared to a year ago is not good. This is what investors look like. These are the numbers that will drag a stock price down. It doesn't m
Re:Bad Performance? (Score:4, Funny)
I think I found your secret message:
OVERALL MS BEATING THE INDUSTRY APPLE MUCH MUCH MAY LOT CEO
limp encyclopedic hero ate oval bagels thus tantrum, yum
Was I right?
Or was it simpler? APPLE BEATING MS OVERALL. MUCH INDUSTRY. CEO MAY LOT... no wait.. that isn't making much sense, I think I got it the first time.
Seriously though. what's with the CAPITALIZING RANDOM words? it MAY BE.. no it is.. VERY ANNOYING.
Add Windows 8 phone (Score:2)
Another gamble ups the anti.
Pun parse fail (Score:3)
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And "auntie" is his mother's sister.
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and an ant, he carried a leaf all the way home
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Q: What's worse than ants in your pants?
A: Uncles.
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I bet you're fun at parties...
Tablets were a response to netbooks (Score:4, Insightful)
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Exactly. (Score:2)
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Re:Tablets were a response to netbooks (Score:5, Insightful)
" So the MS tablet was more expensive and more cumbersome and did not do more than a laptop did. It was no wonder it was a flop."
The tablet failed under MS because they saw it as just another platform for "Windows Everywhere". Because it ran Windows and Windows applications it needed an expensive Intel processor, RAM, storage, fans, and so on. Add it all up, and MS's "vision" of a table was a big, heavy, clunky device with 3 hours of battery life.
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Correction: hardware manufacturers' vision of a tablet was a big, heavy, clunky devices with 3 hours of battery life.
Now Microsoft is creating their own tablet, and HW manufacturers are complaining that MS is competing with them.
MS's fundamental strategies were wrong... but they're the same strategies which nearly killed Apple in the early 90s. Things change.
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correction: hardware manufacturers' vision of a tablet was a big, heavy, clunky devices with 3 hours of battery life.Now Microsoft is creating their own tablet, and HW manufacturers are complaining that MS is competing with them.
Correction. OEM Hardware manufactures had...and still don't have any control over Microsoft software. So when you look at the parts you missed from original post "Windows and Windows applications it needed an expensive Intel processor, RAM, storage, fans, and so on", you corrected nothing. Lets face it windows wasn't designed for ARM with a large capacitive touch screen. That is Microsoft fault...nobody else.
Now it is the fault of the hardware manufactures for being so under Microsoft's thumb. They couldn't
Tablet-pc's were not the same as modern tablets (Score:2)
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What you are saying is untrue (Score:2)
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Er? Tablets existed long before netbooks
Did they? I still have a netbook I bought in 1999. 133 MHz Pentium, 96M RAM, 3.2G hard drive. Same physical size as an Asus EEE. Came with Windows 98. Can barely run Firefox 3.6.
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Actually, not true. Apple started work on tablets long before there were Netbooks (and before the iPhone.) The MacBook Air is Apple's response to Netbooks.
However, there is certainly a bit of serendipity (at least) about the timing of the iPad introduction with respect to the push by PC hardware makers for NetBooks. What both NetBooks and tablets revealed is substantial consumer discontent with conventional (mostly Windows) laptops for many uses.
On another topic I cited the 'horns effect' - the opposite o
Wrong. Jobs' speech introducing the iPad (Score:4, Informative)
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Depends on when you want to start the clock: Product Development or Product Introduction? I see your point from a introduction/marketing perspective, but I also suspect that Apple would have introduced the iPad when it did (because it was ready) even without the "threat" from Netbooks.
You are right about that (Score:4, Interesting)
Good riddance (Score:2, Insightful)
when he eventually goes, it will be the best thing ever to happen to the computer industry.
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I hate to see him leave. Having Ballmer drag Microsoft into the toilet is a good thing. If they got someone new who could revitalize MS then they go back to crushing innovation under their heel. Failure at Microsoft is good for the computer industry.
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Larry Ellison, one of my favorite people. I hold him up as a shining example of the ultimate blend of sinister and arrogant of all time. One of my favorite jokes ever is the one where the question is "What's the difference between God and Larry Ellison?" and the answer is "God doesn't think he's Larry Ellison." It's old but I still like it.
Why the F... don't the bring back the courier? (Score:3)
They could have sold a few million of those things, everyone was raving about it, and then they killed it stone dead. Even though it had a MS badge on it, I was willing to give it a go.
I have a feeling that Steve Balmer is out of touch, or maybe I am, I don't know.
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Bill Gates killed the Courier because it had no email ?! "Gates' response by explaining that Microsoft makes billions from Exchange, and so a product with no e-mail is a problem - a machine that doesn't do e-mail isn't going to help shift Exchange licenses."
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2011/11/killing-courier-the-right-decision-maybe-not-the-right-reasons/ [arstechnica.com]
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20128013-75/the-inside-story-of-how-microsoft-killed-its-courier-tablet/ [cnet.com]
Microsoft has no vision - they
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Totally agree. It's the first tablet I was excited about, and the first really breakout, high-concept product from Microsoft I think...I've ever seen. But I guess it couldn't survive in a company culture that's built on enterprise profits. Bill had an Apple-esque product on his hand and he didn't get it. But that was the classic difference between Steve and him.
Netbooks (Score:5, Insightful)
Discontinued (Score:3)
Re:Discontinued (Score:4, Interesting)
So now what's recommended for people who want to run PC applications that aren't very demanding of CPU speed on a device that fits in a messenger bag? Or are there so few people in that situation that they're an edge case not worth serving?
Every time I saw a netbook it was when someone handed it to me, asking me to make it faster. I told them it was a netbook and that it wasn't built to be fast, and that there was little I could do. I then asked them why they got it and they said that they wanted a cheap laptop. So you have a generation of consumers who bought a netbook, realized that they didn't have patience for it, and now will make sure they will get a laptop that they don't need to be patient with.
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if you want to buy a sub 300 bucks netbook, buy one.
major manufacturers still have them in stores(you can buy roughly the same thing from ~10+ different brands).
Wrong. (Score:5, Informative)
ASUS and their peers copied the idea about 10 years after the first netbook and started a new boom of cheap latop-like mobile computers.
Netbooks were started by ASUS and their peers as an 'appliance' laptop- They were Linux based and only cost a few hundred bucks. Microsoft didn't try to get into it until it was posing as a threat to Windows!
Let me fix that for you:
Netbooks were started by PSION as an 'appliance' laptop- They were EPOC based and only cost a few hundred bucks AND had 40 hrs of battery uptime. Microsoft did get into it with the last Edition WindowsCE, because PSION thought it would be a great Idea to get in bed with MS. PSION standing in the mobile market folded shortly thereafter, just as Nokia is folding now.
A shame actually, the original Netbook [wikipedia.org] was a very good machine with some features we can only dream about even today, 13 years later (like a really awesome keyboard despite the really small size)
EPOC went on to become the awesome Symbian Mobile OS which Nokia dropped after getting in bed with MS. ... What a coincidence.
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Wasn't quiet a netbook, but I loved my Psion Series 5.
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As long as we're in the Wayback Machine... (Score:2)
Don't forget the TRS-80 Model 100 [wikipedia.org] from Radio Shack. :-)
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Netbooks were started by PSION as an 'appliance' laptop
Is there a reason things like the Toshiba Libretto [wikipedia.org] aren't considered netbooks? Besides the fact that they predate widespread adoption of the Internet?
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The part of the story missing is how they got in to that game, and in fact many others. It was not (and traditionally this is true) that Microsoft tried to out-do people with technology, it was that they tried to sue the shit out of competition. This is "still" their primary business model. Advertise, FUD, and lawyers. This old Apple commercial [youtube.com] nailed a fundamental problem with Microsoft.
Look, to be honest it worked for a long time. But eventually, consumers start turning on douche bag companies. It
Who decided it was a flop already? (Score:2)
I don't think Windows 8 is the big flop anti-Microsoft folks are hoping it will be. It's different. But so was Windows 95 when the Start Menu was introduced. My Surface RT and I will be here if you need us.
Re:Who decided it was a flop already? (Score:5, Informative)
4 million Windows 8 "upgrades" in just the first weekend - doesn't count any of the OEM or retail sales, just the online upgrade portal.
Is that a lot!? ...seems like a tiny number to me considering the Desktop maketplace is 1.6Billion last time I looked. Android activates 1.3million users daily, and that's a phone OS. I don't see large queues of people like I do for say the iPhone...or like there used to be for say Windows95.
Lets be honest 4million isn't all that many.
Too late... (Score:5, Insightful)
.
At this point, I doubt if Microsoft's Board of Directors (who are chartered with looking out for shareholder interests) are any less to blame than Mr. Ballmer.
Maybe the shareholders should demand significant fresh blood in Microsoft's Board of Directors, since the BoD has allowed to continue, even fostered, the Ballmer problem far longer than they should have.
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Gamble? (Score:3, Interesting)
The next gen laptop will resemle the Transformer line of Asus. iPad 3 owners look up whenever I unpack my Prime. Imagining this with a 13" screen and an I7 actually makes me happy in the pants.
I wonder how long those go on one charge. The Prime lasts for a day(if you include a humon sleep cycle and the keyboard/battery thing).
Funfact: hoking up a tablet to an LCD projector and controlling the presentation with a PS3 DualShock controller does turn a couple of heads. Especially when "accidently" activating Sonic in the down-time. Everybody likes Sonic.
I think an OS that is also controllable on a touch screen is a smart move. But I won't use that particular feature on my desktop. My arms aren't that long and watching Star Trek does require very little interaction. And there always are the perils of Cat Interference.
maybe they'll "pull a Jobs?" (Score:4, Interesting)
out with the Ballmer, in with the "interim CEO" bill gates? would be interesting to see what he does with the company now that he's become more of a philanthropist. Worked for Apple, and we know how MS loves to ... innovate.
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Apple failing in Mobile, Google not mentioned. (Score:3, Insightful)
I sure there are a whole host of reasons why Ballmer should go, but they are not covered in this irrelevant Apple vs Microsoft pissing contest. Here is the thing Google is winning mobile, yet is mentioned nowhere in the article. Apple are losing there grip on mobile as we speak...the numbers quoted in the article sound impressive, but there market share is shrinking 23.1% to 14.9% for smartphones...and the iPad only occupies 50.4% of the tablet market. Its in trouble, and in context of this article its share price is dropping because of its poor results, ironically the same results quoted in the article. Microsoft do need a compelling mobile offering, but nothing in the article says anything about what is happening in the current Mobile market place.
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Umm... did you see that Apple's stock price is back up after their announcement with China Telecom?
Incidentally, "Google" isn't winning there. Half of the "Android" tablets are Kindles, where Amazon has forked Android, slapped on a new interface, and stripped it of all of Google's apps and Play access.
Well, they can run the same Android apps, which makes the platform as a whole more attractive to developers. So the Kindle Fire's success isn't all bad news for Google.
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Well, and next you're going to tell us that high real estate prices mean that homes are a great value. I think we saw how well that worked out.
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Umm... did you see that Apple's stock price is back up after their announcement with China Telecom?
No I have seen Apples market share drop from a high of 700 to 550 in less than two months. Ironically in the context of this Article Apple have been forced out of China smartphone top 5 Yulong.
Think about it Yulong.
It comes from the anal in analyst (Score:3, Informative)
What does Microsoft have to do with netbooks or ultrabooks? Netbooks were Intel's initiative to create a secondary computer for consumption only that would be too weak to run Windows (Vista at the time). The fact that almost all of them ended up running Windows was bonus for Microsoft, and Intel's loss. Tablets (iPad and Android) are intended for the same purpose. Ultrabooks are Intel's initiative to reduce their dependency on Apple for the high-end laptop market. Neither of these was started by Microsoft, although Microsoft has clearly benefitted from both. So I don't know where he's coming from with this.
He's on better ground with the claim that if Windows 8 and Surface fail Balmer will be in trouble. At least these are both clearly Microsoft's doing. But how could Window 8 fail? It's pretty much guaranteed at least Vista levels of success, which is to say a marketing failure but a sales success. And considering that most enterprises are currently moving to Windows 7 and Windows 8 won't be in their normal upgrade cycle a lack of enterprise sales won't be considered failure by itself. It's pretty much impossible for Balmer to get serious pain from a single release of Windows. Surface is easier to measure failure on. Microsoft has clearly invested lots of money in designing and producing it, so if there are very few sales there will be a substantial loss. Still, the sales projections aren't huge, so it seems likely that they will be met. Surface has limited distribution, likely due to limited production. If sales are really bad then production will slow down and distribution will increase, which would help to minimize losses. And I'm ignoring the fact that reviews for both have been generally positive. Outside of places like Slashdot the reception has been mixed, but more positive than negative. Which makes complete failure seem unlikely. Unless people stop buying PCs and buy iPads instead Balmer seems pretty secure in his position for now.
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+1 informative.
Netbooks originally ran Linux. Putting Windows on them came later when people saw that they were selling but people wanted Windows.
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Windows 8 can fail in the tablet and phone markets. Nobody really expects the PC version to do worse than Vista (or be as popular as 7).
But if Surface fails and Nokia continues to fail? They'll have pissed off all these people with Metro on the desktop for nothing. I doubt Ballmer can survive that, as the market REALLY wants to see MS move into those areas.
Needed: $229-$399 TOUCH Win8 Laptops (Score:2)
The Windows 8 touchscreen laptops are cool - check one out hands-on if you haven't - but are way overpriced (like Ultrabooks), making it a no-brainer for most to turn to the cheaper tablets. Add touchscreens to those $229-$399 Win 8 laptops, and people will IMHO think twice about going with a less-functional tablet! Selling crippled hardware is what did in the Netbooks - hopefully MS won't repeat this mistake with Win8.
Balmer is the problem at MS ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Steve Balmer is the Rahm Emanuel of High Tech: He has no respect for the people who put him and his company where they are.
His customers have long since noticed. They are forced to use MS products because there are no other practical choices in the marketplace, and Balmer disrespects them even while he takes their money. This has now become a serious problem for Microsoft -- as a company it enjoys no good will from its customers. Without customer good will, MS products don't get the attention and consideration they might deserve, from customers, who have been forced to use MS Windows and MS Office and pay unrealistic prices for the dubious privilege.
Balmer also has no respect for his employees. He plays projects, managers and products off against each other until his best employees leave. This creates stress, consumes time, costs money and consistently produces compromised, mediocre products that are often outdated on their FCS date. MS talent drain has always been unmanageable, even when employment conditions favored MS.
Without happy customers, without happy employees, and without the sense to correct these two negative business issues, MS is pretty much doomed.
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Oh come on there are plenty. Dozens of perfectly practical choices in the Linux market and OS X. So that statement is entirely false.
People have felt locked into Microsoft products, and Apple products. You have to look at the years of arguments going on why Linux is failing to gain massive market-share. The answer was always the same...Microsoft. We have seen Linux succeed in the Mobile market place because Microsoft don't have a grip in that market.
Calling Apple a viable Alternative is false. It was never in the game, and always danced to a different [and profitable] tune, but viable for the majority never.
Windows 8 is SOOOOOOOOO good. (Score:5, Funny)
Windows 8 is very nice. The only problem is how underdeveloped and closed, the currently developed apps are, including microsofts own. Windows 8 Apps need to be full featured and well thought out. Right now, the app store isnt even good.
There is work to do still, but the OS is incredibly good. All that is needed is for Microsoft to comit to good idea it has, and work on the apps and app store to show people how good it can be.
Right now, its not even a competitor to Apple. The apps are bad mostly, the store is a joke compared to itunes very well organized store. The store itself lacks features.
Microsoft has R&D'd great ideas over the years and never got behind them fully. I hope this isnt just another microsoft zune. This is a great idea, with a great OS behind it. IF MS lets this slip away into boring like the media player, zune, etc... well MS will find itself with a new leader, as it should.
It's clear that MS has great programmers and tech... they just need the direction of say a Steve Jobs....
Re:Windows 8 is SOOOOOOOOO good. (Score:5, Insightful)
Windows 8 is a pretty mixed bag. Parts of it are good, parts of it are mediocre, and parts of it are lousy. The problem with this is that it doesn't average out; it's the parts that users get stuck on again and again that determine the overall experience. Consistently mediocre would be better than this.
Part of what makes it such a mixed bag is the way in which old software constantly rears its ugly (and I mean ugly!) head, when you least expect it. That's really confusing.
Microsoft's bad karma, meticulously built over decades, also comes back to haunt them: developers just expect getting screwed again. Maybe Microsoft will copy their wildly successful product, Maybe Microsoft will just drop some important API or technology leaving their product stranded. Maybe Microsoft will just decide next year to give up on Surface altogether and clone Google Glass instead. No matter what, developers pretty much know they are going to get screwed.
50% great tech just isn't enough.
"...but I'm not pessimistic." (Score:2)
FTFY
Clint Eastwood says... (Score:3)
In corporate America ... the chair throws you! ;-) (Score:2)
Shakeup? (Score:2)
Don't count on it. There's a reason Microsoft chose NASDAQ and stayed off NYSE many years ago. Differing requirements for shareholder rights as a condition of listing was one of them. Insider control is very strong at MSFT.
Ballmer is invincible (Score:2)
Ballmer is near invincible, so long as the MSFT stock continues to not-decline.I don't think anyone has the guts to actually show him the door when the stock isn't plummeting. Sure, maybe the stock will plummet if Surface flops, but somehow I doubt it.
Prediction (Score:3)
Windows 8 and Windows mobile/tablet efforts will fail horribly. There is nothing "business" about these things and therefore they can't effectively tie them in with their Windows+AD+Office network of offerings. That's the only strategy that works for Microsoft and they should keep doing it. They are, instead, changing direction, chasing after a market they don't fully understand with things people don't exactly want.
ballmer needs to go (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Is this really a market leader? (Score:4, Insightful)
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So that students can convert their free Server 2012 license (from Dreamspark) into a usable, full-blown desktop OS?
It's what I've done, and I sure am glad Microsoft keeps leaving that ability in their server OS, no matter how incongruous it might seem at first glance.
Re:Is this really a market leader? (Score:5, Interesting)
understand that you're coming from a position of ignorance and frankly, it shows!
Windows may not be as good as the alternatives in many respects, but its not totally useless. It has a very capable shell - Powershell, you can install all manner of IDEs without the monstrosity that is visual studio (yeah, it has bloated a lot), but there's code:blocks, eclipse, qt's suite, intel's compiler even. It can display folders with preview pictures - in many different styles, like Large icons, medium or small icons, or tiles etc.
So... if you're going to give it a go, you have to give it a proper chance. Your post is like a Windows user installing Linux and complaining there's no way to map network drive letters.
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You're complaining Visual Studio is bloated and them recommend Eclipse?
I just install a minimal install of VS with most options turned off and the thing's just fine. It's also lightning quick, unlike Eclipse's lumbering demeanor, and its UI is a lot more flexible than Eclipse's.
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I recently built a Windows PC because I knew I'd have to do it eventually for gaming
I don't think you noticed their is a revolution in gaming, and Microsoft is not part of it. Cross Platform games is where the money is.
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MS should have spent resources making 7 viable
That's what W8 is. Tablets require a better development stack to abstract out different hardwares, a touch-friendly interface (you're much-hated tiles), and stripped down internals. Isn't that basically what W8 is?
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I'm much hated tiles...?
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Zune was nice hardware and a great service that was just too late to the market. Surface is great hardware that works really well with Win8. It's not yet too late as tablets will be around for quite a while. So the analogy to Zune just doesn't work.
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I've been using Windows 8 for a few days now, and it's pretty much Windows 7 with a tablet like interface and a desktop interface. I actually like it. I can have icons for programs I use in the metro ui, or I can just click on the destop button, and have a desktop. Would you care to explain what is awful about W8? Just curious what you are seeing, that I'm not?
I'm running W8 on a lenovo Ideapad, it's quite zippy, but I expect that from an i5 and 6 gigs for ram? No I didn't purchase it, it was bought fo
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And most people I know are itching to ditch their iPads for a Surface device.
No they are not. People are pretty happy with their android tablets. The surface is an expensive netbook replacement.
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I like Windows 8, but I don't know anyone who's ever heard of a Surface tablet, much less wants to ditch their iPad for one.
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That you, Steve?
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For example one of my neighbors is a well regarded author ... she's still using office 2003 and will not switch to a newer version because she just can't tolerate the tool ribbon and she says most authors whom she knows feel the same way
this is my problem with Office and the whole Microsoft monoculture... not that she refuses to upgrade - frankly, progress happens, UIs change, whatever. No, my problem is that she's using Word at all as if there were no other word processors in existence.
For an author, I'd r
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Everyone I have talked to who has been forced to use the ribbon has eventually concluded that it is indeed a better interface than the old toolbar/menu combo. The only ones I know who still complain about the ribbon are the ones who never gave it a real chance. Also, 9 out of 10 statistics are made up on the spot.
The repair install went away because it frequently broke programs. Every time I tried to do a repair install I just wasted my time when a full reinstall would have actually left me with a working s
Re:So Many Mis-Steps (Score:4, Insightful)
Everyone I have talked to who has been forced to use the ribbon has eventually concluded that it is indeed a better interface than the old toolbar/menu combo. The only ones I know who still complain about the ribbon are the ones who never gave it a real chance
You know a different crowd than I, then. I know a lot of people who use the ribbon on a daily basis, and have for quite a long time. They've all given it a real chance. I'd say that 8 or 9 out of ten of them think it's a barely-acceptable horrorshow.
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Windows Server already is command-line only, but you can still install the GUI as an option..... which every Windows admin will.
the thing to bing for (haha, only kidding - google for) is Windows Server Core. Here's a beginners guide [microsoft.com] to it, so you can now install Windows Server on underpowered hardware, like that old dual-core i3 you were thinking of chucking out :)
One thing to note that i found really interesting is this : There is no support for managed code. so don't expect it to be a GUI-less version of
Re:So Many Mis-Steps (Score:5, Insightful)
And I've heard (maybe this is just a rumor) that the next version of Windows server is not going to have a GUI interface and will be completely command line driven; what sysadmin wants to sit there typing command after command into a Dos prompt.
Uh... most sysadmins do that all day on Linux. That is, people whose title is "sysadmin" (implying a big-league system), not "IT guy" (implying a small-medium business) pretty much use Linux for servers, and they manage just fine.
I seem to remember that the GUI would be an option, not unavailable, but even if it were unavailable a server is not something you administer at the console. It's something you manage remotely, and even if you need a GUI (which is fine for the smaller companies), RDP is a stupid way to do that compared to a desktop console.
However, not requiring a GUI means that everything is controllable by command line which is a MASSIVE boon for anybody doing serious administration, because it means everything is scriptable and repeatable.
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It's not just the command line that is great, it's also text based configuration files...
You can edit them with your tool of choice, copy them around at will, back them up into a revision control system and do diffs on them to see exactly who changed what and when, and most configuration files support a form of comments which are often invaluable. Windows is still severely lacking in this regard.
Speaking of command line, does windows come with an ssh server now so you can actually use the command line remot
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And I've heard (maybe this is just a rumor) that the next version of Windows server is not going to have a GUI interface and will be completely command line driven; what sysadmin wants to sit there typing command after command into a Dos prompt.
A Linux sysadmin.