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Worries That Microsoft Is Too Tricky to Manage

nytimes.com

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Re: Worries That Microsoft Is Too Tricky to Manage

#31

Post by altero »

bad_user wrote: post #27
fauigerzigerk wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are valid reasons for doing that There always are, but it's a question of priorities. VAT handling is optional for small businesses in most European countries and it has nothing to do with device capabilities or types of software. Tell me a reason that is valid for desktop software but not for other types of store apps, a reason that is valid for some device capabilities but not others! They are creating unne…

> Registering as a sole trader usually means that you have to pay minimum social security contributions even if you make a loss ... in most other European countries it's between 200 and 300 Euros per month That's true, unfortunately, although these social contributions means you get access to healthcare, which is always nice to have even when starting out. A minimum of 200 EUR seems too much though, are you sure? In…

You also lose unemployment support and other benefits. Very usual for someone who is changing career path. In my country loss would be around 1100 euro per month. Bit expensive for 'privilege' of experimenting with some stupid OS.

Re: Worries That Microsoft Is Too Tricky to Manage

#32

Post by RyanZAG »

Encosia wrote: post #15
nazgulnarsil wrote: post #2

It's worrying for MS that for all the major divisions shown in that image, I've never once thought of or used them in relation to each other. MS has no unifying experience to build on in consumer consciousness.

That may be true for your average HN user, but Microsoft products generally work pretty darn well with other Microsoft products. There are always exceptions, but as someone who works with small businesses often, I don't see any obvious silo'ing in how they use products from those different divisions in their real-world work. Cross-quadrant dynamic synergies where the rubber meets the road and pivots, off the top of m…

Hold on, are you saying the big integration effort between the different Microsoft products is the ability to search with Bing inside random applications and devices? Come on, this is not something any consumer would ever see as a value add. This is a waste of resources, nothing more.

Integration is only integration if it adds value. No wonder Microsoft is dieing if this is the kind of thing they are wasting time on instead of useful features. Who would ever want to search with Bing from their xbox?!

The awful Microsoft Accounts just gives consumers one new and popular question to ask: how do I turn off Microsoft Accounts? That's literally the most asked question in regards to that piece of terrible functionality.

Come on anybody at Microsoft reading this, get rid of people like this and focus on giving consumers something they actually want. You might be able to turn this around if you act quickly.

Re: Worries That Microsoft Is Too Tricky to Manage

#33

Post by vetinari »

bad_user wrote: post #27
fauigerzigerk wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are valid reasons for doing that There always are, but it's a question of priorities. VAT handling is optional for small businesses in most European countries and it has nothing to do with device capabilities or types of software. Tell me a reason that is valid for desktop software but not for other types of store apps, a reason that is valid for some device capabilities but not others! They are creating unne…

> Registering as a sole trader usually means that you have to pay minimum social security contributions even if you make a loss ... in most other European countries it's between 200 and 300 Euros per month That's true, unfortunately, although these social contributions means you get access to healthcare, which is always nice to have even when starting out. A minimum of 200 EUR seems too much though, are you sure? In…

Slovakia - minimum is 185 EUR/month (130 for social insurance, 55 for health insurance).

Re: Worries That Microsoft Is Too Tricky to Manage

#34

Post by mherdeg »

Wow, the "Mini-Microsoft" blog is now nearly a decade old! Interesting that it doesn't get called out in the Times article, except implicitly by name in the paragraph at "A list of missed opportunities and disappointing investments at the company in the past decade in areas like smartphones, tablets and Internet search have led to the belief that a more focused, nimble collection of mini-Microsofts could respond more effectively to the never-ending flow of disruptive technologies nibbling at its foundations." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini-Microsoft)

Re: Worries That Microsoft Is Too Tricky to Manage

#35

Post by DominikR »

MichaelGG wrote: post #28
FigBug wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my MSDN Account there are 38 versions of Window 8 and 12 of Window 8 Enterprise.

You're counting N and KN versions, 32+64 bit, checked/debug? Or what exactly? I'm sure Apple has SKUs for other countries, where they need different power adapters. The core Windows licensing is down to 4 now, right? 2 on desktop, 2 on server. SQL Server on the other hand...

Why is there even a distinction between 32 and 64 bit versions? Why does a customer have to know anything about it?

Maybe just to f* customers which:

a) bought the wrong one and now have to buy another one, because conveniently, they can't just return it. (at least in Europe that's the case)

b) want to upgrade their hardware at some point in the future from 32 to 64 bit, without having to buy the exact same software again

Re: Worries That Microsoft Is Too Tricky to Manage

#36

Post by pedalpete »

runn1ng wrote: post #7
pedalpete wrote: post #3

Why is this a worry for Microsoft, but not Google and Apple? This isn't really tackled until the last sentence of the article, and even then, they say that Google and Apple are more focused. Is that correct? or do Google and Apple just have one larger profit maker with many smaller profit-makers or loss-leaders?

As a matter of fact, yes. Apple has a very few products and is quite famous for that. Google is focused on selling ads. Yes, it has a lot of other products, but in the end, most of them are about selling ads (and getting more information about the user, so they can sell ads better). What is Microsoft focused on?

Apple makes phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, media player (apple TV), keyboards, mice, touchpads, itunes music, itunes movies & tv, app store, a collection of retail stores, headphones, wifi routers, iOS, OSX, Objective-C, iCloud and a medium selection of software titles including FinalCut, X-code and Works.

They are FOCUSED on iOS, OSX, phones, tablets, laptops and the app stores.

I think when you start listing out everything that Apple has, it isn't that much less than Microsoft. On top of the things that Apple makes, Microsoft has SQL Server, Exchange, Azure, Skype, Sharepoint, Bing, X-Box, Kinect, and a bunch more software titles.

Microsoft isn't focused on a single product as much as industry verticals. They are focused on Enterprise customers with a lot of their tools, Gamers with X-Box and are growing (or trying to grow) in the consumer space where they haven't been as successful over the last few years.

Re: Worries That Microsoft Is Too Tricky to Manage

#37

Post by xradionut »

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #16

I think things will become much much worse for Microsoft before they get better. I'm afraid they will lose small and medium size enterprises and ISVs because their licensing structure has become so complex, overpriced and antiquated that a new generation of customers will refuse to deal with them. In the past there was piracy as a way to lower the barriers to entry. Today, piracy has become dangerous for small compan…

"I think things will become much much worse for Microsoft before they get better. I'm afraid they will lose small and medium size enterprises and ISVs because their licensing structure has become so complex, overpriced and antiquated that a new generation of customers will refuse to deal with them."

They have cranked prices up, killed TechNet and other stupid things to try push the medium sized clients to Azure. Licenses cost are killing some of our smaller clients to the point they are asking us to find alternatives to Microsoft even if it is a SaaS that isn't Azure. When clients start talking about OSS alternatives instead of Microsoft, you can be damn sure Redmond has "jumped the shark" in their eyes. And even with BizSpark, you are fucked if you are an independent developer.

Re: Worries That Microsoft Is Too Tricky to Manage

#38

Post by nhebb »

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #16

I think things will become much much worse for Microsoft before they get better. I'm afraid they will lose small and medium size enterprises and ISVs because their licensing structure has become so complex, overpriced and antiquated that a new generation of customers will refuse to deal with them. In the past there was piracy as a way to lower the barriers to entry. Today, piracy has become dangerous for small compan…

Also, this item from the Company Account bullet list:

> Requires additional verification through Symantec

Symantec owns Verisign, and what this means is that you need a Versign authenticode certificate for code signing. Verisign code-signing certs (not to be confused with SSL certs) run ~$500 / yr, and Microsoft does not accept programs signed with less expensive Comodo certs into the Windows Store. Seems like they're doing their damnedest to drive small indie developers away from their desktop platform.

Re: Worries That Microsoft Is Too Tricky to Manage

#39

Post by ams6110 »

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #16

I think things will become much much worse for Microsoft before they get better. I'm afraid they will lose small and medium size enterprises and ISVs because their licensing structure has become so complex, overpriced and antiquated that a new generation of customers will refuse to deal with them. In the past there was piracy as a way to lower the barriers to entry. Today, piracy has become dangerous for small compan…

Microsoft should open-source Windows and sell enterprise support, creating a CentOS/RHEL sort of analogue. They no longer have any competitive advantage in the basic OS and desktop/window management functions. This would simplify licensing issues at the desktop, and will help keep small/startup companies on the platform without them having to resort to piracy.

They can still sell enterprise add-ons to facilitate management (e.g. centralized identity management, pushing security policy, software and updates to hundreds of desktops), and this would free their other products (SQL Server, Active Directory, Exchange, Office, etc.) to compete on more than just the Windows platform.

Re: Worries That Microsoft Is Too Tricky to Manage

#40

Post by netcan »

One thing that doesn't seem to come through in all these pundit articles and internet discussions is how fantastically successful MS are.

They've survived several paradigms over decades in a business where most didn't. Most years (including the last few) they make more money than the year before. They have a bunch of very big businesses that make big money. Compare that to Google. Google do lots of cool things: self driving cars, webmail. glass, android. Cool stuff. Still, almost all their money comes from search/adwords/adsense.

They have lots of faults. I really dislike Windows. But, they have a lot of good traits too that others should emulate. A big one is stubborn survivey-ness. Just because an MS thing is still lame 2 years after it was launched doesn't mean it won't make it. They can stick at lame products until they make them decent.

Bottom line I guess is that MS are survivors. I expect them to survive.

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