Oh Microsoft, Where Are You?

Has Microsoft seen its days of glory? Check out the stats and links below.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats – Operating System Market Share

1. http://gs.statcounter.com
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems
3. http://www.w3counter.com/globalstats.php

All of which point to the fact that Microsoft is steadily loosing its iron grip over the windows operating system and internet explorer. Their past phenonmenal success was contributed largely by the company’s ability to capitalize in the personal computing era during the early 90’s with more than 90% of personal computers running Windows. Where are we now 20 years later? The once personal computing has morphed into now a web and app centric social network culture. No longer are people computing on just one device, people are using multiple internet capable devices to interact and communicate via the internet. In recent years, Microsoft and their products have done very little in furthering the experiences on the web nor the development of social networking. Quite frankly, Microsoft is still stuck on the personal computing era.

Where is the innovation and drive that Microsoft once had 20 years ago? Windows Vista is no doubt in my mind a failure while its replacement Windows 7 is lukewarm in consumer adaptation at best. The HP slate (Apple iPad equlavent) that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer presented during CES 2010 slated to launch with Windows 7 has been canned (read about it here) due to unsatisfactory performance of the operating system. Instead, the device will have either Google Chrome OS or Palm WebOS running. How about another reality check, the Kin mobile phones supposedly a Windows Mobile 7 preview? Again a failure at making a come back to reality; what we are seeing today is once a bejeweled tech giant turned into a monolithic dinosaur.

I can’t say for sure what Microsoft needs to do, but it needs a profitable business plan to reinvent itself in the social network era. More importantly, Microsoft needs to deliver what the people want. The evolution should start at the core of the company, the operating system or lack of. Less is more, adding more features or options will not solve the problem this time. Don’t just give discounts to the major OEMs to license the software, give that directly to the single license users either in a form of a free upgrade or free usage rights. Make money elsewhere like many other web companies do. Go open source with Internet Explorer, let the world talents make the best of the products to come. Microsoft may still have a shoot at the future if it can presuade the public that it cares. That it cares to make something better for the good of the people not just the stock holders. Long live Microsoft and take care in the many many years to come.