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Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

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Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#171

Post by deaddodo »

Isamu wrote: post #50

>Google’s demotion is undoubtedly only temporary. I think so, the revenue trend for Google is too strong. Google passed Msft in revenue in FY2016 I believe. But the public perception around Google has taken some hits, and Microsoft has reformed its public image. >Still, this is big news for Microsoft who has shifted focus under the leadership of CEO Satya Nadella Hope so, I've been bullish on Nadella.

The surface line is the first time I looked at a PC and went: "OK, that's a cohesive computing unit". Like, overall I've always been a Windows/Linux/FreeBSD guy, and despite hardware being very power, there's never really been slick, cohesive option excepting the occasional HP Envy, Thinkpad X1 Carbon, Dell XPS 15, etc.

The entire Surface line (hardware wise, RT was a software fluke) has been slick though, IMO.

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#172

Post by shmed »

justicezyx wrote: post #170
shmed wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main point from an investor perspective is that if anything happens to the "ads market" landscape, Google as a whole will be greatly affected. For example, new legislation surrounding targeted advertising or use of personal identifiable information for marketing purpose could have a major impact on Google. And those are not some far fetch and unlikely scenario. Some government are eager to put some rules and barr…

Sure. But you can apply the same logic to Windows (desktop + server) + office. Eg, Chinese government can decide tomorrow that they mandate all government PCs run Linux. And that wont distinguish between Office or OS. As I already suggested, I am not disputing Google's reliance on Ads, but the pie chart is not convincing because of far more reasons than Ads.

You are right, and that's why diversity of revenue is a good thing. If tomorrow Office and Windows drop revenue by half, Microsoft as a whole wont drop revenue by half, and I guess that's the main point the pie chart is making.

But I also agree with you that the Pie Chart might not be completely accurate and might be oversimplifying the situation, but I think there's no denying Microsoft is one of the most diversified tech company out there in term of revenue.

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#173

Post by deaddodo »

oprah2018 wrote: post #125
bfe wrote: post #65

I've really come to admire Satya Nadella as a great CEO.

To really get my respect he needs to kill off ads in the Windows start menu and the pervasive Cortana surveillance. To really, REALLY get my respect: I would like to see Microsoft be a pure, best-practice software company. Do GREAT things independently of Windows. Make native Mac applications that are truly great. Make a better Mac application than Apple can. Make better iOS apps. Be a champion of Linux. and so on. S…

Haha. Really?

Microsoft actually ports their software to Mac, using native APIs and idiomatic software design, for the platform:

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Business/Microsoft-Office-2011....

Meanwhile, Apple brings the exact same software as is on macOS to Windows, with no thought to integration:

https://www.windowscentral.com/sites/wpcentral.com/files/sty...

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#174

Post by andyidsinga »

I find this inline with my own positive vs negative views of microsoft over time.

I spent a good part of my early career in the 90s building products on windows and both fearing and admiring microsoft - but mostly fearing and hedging my skills on linux.

In the 00's microsoft seemed almost like a non-player and their products mostly legacy.

But since windows 10 and my recent experience building on Azure I've been pleasantly surprised and find my view of them back on the positive side.

I'm particularly impressed with Azure -- a few years ago I wouldn't have thought they could have created a competent alternative to AWS ..and here they are.

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#175

Post by hi41 »

s3r3nity wrote: post #94
Analemma_ wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN in general has an info bubble problem, where it looks to them like Microsoft is dying because trendy Bay Area startups all use Slack and Google Docs. But in the rest of the industry, Microsoft is huge and, if anything, getting stronger over time and not weaker. Microsoft products that HN has never even heard of, like Dynamics and Host Integration Server, still make billions in revenue.

As a die-hard Excel lover ("you can pry it from my dead hands!") and recent convert to Msft Teams, I agree with you 100%.

Could you please elaborate the features in Excel you have come to love.

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#176

Post by is_true »

oculusthrift wrote: post #64
is_true wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in touch with lots of accountants and they wouldn't change Excel for anything.

the truth is students and small companies just use google because it’s free for them. this dijesng apply to mega corps

The biggest public university (free) in my country gives office 365 for free to it's students.

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#177

Post by dwoot »

lalos wrote: post #114

As a long term investor, I'm worried with Google. All the bills are paid by ad revenue, a single horse. Then there is this bubble of claims that they have the best engineers and work environment yet this has not produced any other business equivalent to the ad business. Then they have a reputation of creating awesome tools that then get killed in years, enterprise customers don't like this unpredictability. Microsoft…

Interesting. Did you glance at the latest Google I/O? There are a ton of things on the horizon that will continue to keep Google very relevant and generate money. For one, I'd like to point out Waymo. Autonomous transport seems like a pretty big business. From my perspective, Google has the lead in AI right now and it shows in all the products that they're beginning to push out.

A lot of engineers work on ads teams. I heard it once before, but search is Google's core. Without search, their ad-serving isn't very profitable. Everything else is a moat around it - Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Chrome. Most media companies are built around the advertising model.

I can't say that you're wrong. Enterprise software does generate a lot of revenue and Microsoft does support it fairly well. Microsoft has also had some wins as of late.

A lot of Google's revenue comes from ads, but I wouldn't label it a "single horse". It's really a stable of horses if you're counting YouTube #2 most visited site and the other revenues its generating from it's G Suite, people paying for Drive, cloud services, etc.

I may be blinded by my bias toward Google products, but it's also crazy that I don't use a single Microsoft product at the moment -- I don't boot my old PC with Windows. I don't own an X-Box. I don't own a Surface. I don't use Word or any of the Office software anymore. I don't use Azure or VS Code as my editor as a software engineer. However, I do know a lot of .NET developers.

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#178

Post by kamaal »

dwoot wrote: post #177
lalos wrote: post #114

As a long term investor, I'm worried with Google. All the bills are paid by ad revenue, a single horse. Then there is this bubble of claims that they have the best engineers and work environment yet this has not produced any other business equivalent to the ad business. Then they have a reputation of creating awesome tools that then get killed in years, enterprise customers don't like this unpredictability. Microsoft…

Interesting. Did you glance at the latest Google I/O? There are a ton of things on the horizon that will continue to keep Google very relevant and generate money. For one, I'd like to point out Waymo. Autonomous transport seems like a pretty big business. From my perspective, Google has the lead in AI right now and it shows in all the products that they're beginning to push out. A lot of engineers work on ads teams.…

>>Enterprise software does generate a lot of revenue

Enterprise is just the tip of the iceberg.

Almost anybody who can't afford to buy Apple's expensive products(Which is like everybody) has to buy Microsoft.

Also with the latest hardware goof ups, the top end customers could be soon going to Microsoft.

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#179

Post by ice3 »

Nokinside wrote: post #132
bfe wrote: post #65

I've really come to admire Satya Nadella as a great CEO.

Two large changes for better in Microsoft: 1. 2006 Bill Gates stepped down as a Chief Software Architect 2. 2014 Satya Nadella became CEO after Ballmer. Gates was good CEO but he was not a good Chief Architect. He had the knowledge, the intelligence and skills, but he had no ability to do good high-level choices. Chief Architect needs to know when to sacrifice in details to get the whole slightly better. Microsoft is…

>Microsoft is not known for innovation

Can't really agree on this point. Microsoft has historically done a lot of research and innovation, what they weren't really good is making a product out of that and bringing it to market.

Re: Microsoft is now worth more than Alphabet

#180

Post by KyeRussell »

deaddodo wrote: post #173
oprah2018 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To really get my respect he needs to kill off ads in the Windows start menu and the pervasive Cortana surveillance. To really, REALLY get my respect: I would like to see Microsoft be a pure, best-practice software company. Do GREAT things independently of Windows. Make native Mac applications that are truly great. Make a better Mac application than Apple can. Make better iOS apps. Be a champion of Linux. and so on. S…

Haha. Really? Microsoft actually ports their software to Mac, using native APIs and idiomatic software design, for the platform: http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Business/Microsoft-Office-2011.... Meanwhile, Apple brings the exact same software as is on macOS to Windows, with no thought to integration: https://www.windowscentral.com/sites/wpcentral.com/files/sty...

I wasn’t aware that this was an old school Apple vs Microsoft debate. But alas.

I don’t know if you’ve actually used the latest Office for Mac. It’s better than the older versions, but it’s still obvious that MS isn’t fully proficient in macOS development. For starters, the interface doesn’t respect the scaling settings on my 5K iMac. I’d expect that sort of shoddy UI from Steam or something.

The fact that iTunes for Windows is trash doesn’t change this fact at all, so I don’t knkw what you’re getting at.

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