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What is Microsoft smoking?

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Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#71

Post by jiggy2011 »

rednukleus wrote: post #60
jiggy2011 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But a large chunk of the really compelling Windows Server applications are about management of Windows desktop.

> If you are running OS X desktops, why bother with it? If you are one of the small minority of people running OS X in a business environment then of course Microsoft's vertical integration is less useful. But well over 90% of business desktops/laptops are Windows based, so Microsoft has an attractive model for many businesses.

Yah, but that's kind of my point. They are spreading themselves thin because their business model is all based around vertical integration.

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#72

Post by fhd2 »

joelthelion wrote: post #62

If you don't want to depend on the arbitrary decisions of Microsoft anymore, the Linux ecosystem welcomes you and your developments :) You won't find Visual Studio, but I think everybody agrees Linux is a fine dev environment. And if someone makes a controversial change, a fork almost always happens, which is simply impossible in the Microsoft world.

I'm pretty sure the author of Irrlicht 3D is aware of Linux being a viable alternative.

I guess the thing is, Visual Studio is actually quite a good C++ IDE. The best one out there, as far as I'm concerned. I'm not a big fan of IDEs, but if you're into that stuff...

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#73

Post by baby »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #46

Everyone on reddit seems to be up in arms about used game sales, as in the ability to trade in a box + disk. But really, this will likely be the last generation of consoles to support a physical disk. I imagine that by the end of this "round" of consoles 60%+ of game sales for these consoles will be digital downloads. What do use game sales look like in a digital marketplace? If you allow gamers to freely transfer li…

One of the guy introducing "The Crew" at the E3 told one journalist : "you have an iPad? How does it feel whan you don't have WIFI or 3G for it? It feels empty and dead right? I believe consoles are becoming about online now and in a few years you'll understand what I meant here".

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#74

Post by adventured »

Microsoft has a long history of putting out terrible products, improving them with the subsequent version or two, finally putting out a good product, and then promptly turning around and screwing everything up.

I think they have an amplified version of the 'need to be the underdog to do good work' syndrome. Once they finally climb that hill, they become their own worst enemy every time.

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#76

Post by SamColes »

archivator wrote: post #56
venomsnake wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft had all the cards to win the device war. But they forgot what made them win the PC war. They tried to emulate apple while forgetting that people that bought into apple ideology already had apple. If the W8 arm was unlocked it would have been a big winner. WP7 just needed fast moving instead of stagnation and they almost got everything right with the original xbox and X360 in the beginning. But I am moving a…

Slightly offtopic but can you point me to a description of said font issues? My Android Studio (IDEA) fonts seem fine (on latest Kubuntu and Fedora w/ KDE).

IDEA-57233 Editor font antialising/appearance problems on Linux http://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IDEA-57233

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#77

Post by bromagosa »

I'm going to rant big time, and I expect downvotes, but this is my true opinion, has always been and will always be, so I see no reason to not write it down here.

I don't think Microsoft ever cared at all about customers or products. Microsoft has been making money out of patents and white-gloved mobbing for ever, not out of customer happiness. Probably around 90% percent of what they earn in OS licenses comes from preinstalled laptops and desktops, where the user doesn't even have the choice to reject paying for them because they gently mobbed all manufacturers into shipping with their crapware installed, so they don't even need to care about making a great product, just one that's good enough and works most of the times.

I've paid for at least 5 Windows licenses that I never, not even for a split second, have used. First thing I do when I get a laptop is install Debian on it. I have NEVER even seen the Windows logo come up in any of my PCs, yet I've still had to pay their mob tax. No matter how much you fight with the clerk or how many emails you send to the manufacturer. They can't do anything. It all comes from above. The hardware and the software are a unit. It's a bundle, you can't separate it.

Xbox one sucks, alright. So did all Windowses from 1.0 till 3.1, Windows 95, Windows Me (especially), Windows Vista, and uncountable other terrible decisions that, somehow, didn't manage to sink the company. I don't think yet another awful product will even manage to make a notch to their massive fortune.

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#78

Post by DanBC »

venomsnake wrote: post #61
jacques_chester wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is probably an incredibly incomplete list. You've actually hit Microsoft's five business units. In order of revenue: Business Division (ie, Office): $24B Windows & Windows Live: $18.8B Server & Tools: $18.7B Entertainment & Devices: $9.5B Online Services: $3B. With the exception of Online Services, each of these business units alone is doing enough revenue to qualify for inclusion on the Fortune 500 list. Ente…

The speed with which one technological company can fall is amazing as history has shown time and time again. According to joel spolsky Excel 4 made lotus 1-2-3 obsolete virtually overnight and that was the beginning of the end for them. The fact that MS is strong now means nothing in the long and even midterm. The total share of world computing that Microsoft controls now is lower than in the 90s. They have trouble g…

> Excel 4 made lotus 1-2-3 obsolete virtually overnight

Isn't that the benefit of being "spread thin" though? Xboxone might die but at least they have the other stuff.

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#79

Post by nigelsampson »

vacri wrote: post #15

Mandatory internet connection while programming Windows Store apps? This one beggars belief. What happened to 'developers developers developers'? At least with the online requirement for gamers, there's a certain interal logic to it (however crazy and wrong) but there seems to be no sense in making it harder for developers to create content for you.

This one is certainly not true as a developer who spends his day job building Windows Store apps.

You will need an internet connection to acquire a developer license once every thirty days but that takes about two minutes and that's about it.

Re: What is Microsoft smoking?

#80

Post by lloeki »

jacques_chester wrote: post #40
AlexanderDhoore wrote: post #23

Microsoft Is Spread Too Thin. That's it. That is the reason most of their products are half-assed. They have database systems. Server, desktop, and tablet/phone operating systems. Web, desktop, mobile development environments, all in multiple languages. They have their IaaS and PaaS offerings. They have end user services like Skydrive and Outlook. Then there is everything Office. And games, both PC and Xbox. Also, Bi…

> This is probably an incredibly incomplete list. You've actually hit Microsoft's five business units. In order of revenue: Business Division (ie, Office): $24B Windows & Windows Live: $18.8B Server & Tools: $18.7B Entertainment & Devices: $9.5B Online Services: $3B. With the exception of Online Services, each of these business units alone is doing enough revenue to qualify for inclusion on the Fortune 500 list. Ente…

> I would love -- love! -- to be spread so thin.

I think the argument is that thinness is evaluated by a width/height ratio so while it sure is heighty, taken globally it lacks so much focus that the width dwarfs the height. Besides, given the sheer size of it, it's really hard to get a good perspective.

By comparison, Apple is incredibly focused and generates more revenue while still being way less 'everywhere'. Looking at it that way, it seems Microsoft is aiming for a long tail effect.

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