Strategy Shift In The Air For Microsoft

mrdaveb writes "In the face of a declining market for MS Windows and MS Office, Microsoft's recent statements and acquisitions point to a future in which .NET is a key driver behind a strategy which will see Windows CE devices taking the limelight. This article explores the problems which Microsoft face in maintaining their stranglehold, and their likely route to keeping Windows on top."

New product line

[nizo]

Strategy Shift In The Air For Microsoft

Here is a sneak peek at Microsoft's latest offering: cans of MicrosoftAir(tm). Tired of the same old boring air? With new MicrosoftAir(tm), there is a cornucopia of smells in every butterfly festooned can! Order a case for only $368.00 today!

Note: Microsoft is not responsible if sniffing MicrosoftAir(tm) makes the user more likely to catch a virus. Not compatible with any other kind of air. Due to licensing agreement, once you have used product, you will be never be able to breath regular air again. Void where prohibited by law.

Microsoft Strategy

[ackthpt]

See what everyone else is doing.

Copy it, tying it to your own IP, proprietary architecture and co-opting it to erode better strategies and make it your own.

Bundle it.

???

Fail to Profit!!!

Re:Wear & Tear

[Anne Thwacks]

My local PC dealer says MS Windows wears out and has to be reinstalled every few months.

He says this has been true since windows 1.0, and who an I to query a professional?

Re:Microsoft Strategy

[ackthpt]

Fail to profit? Since when has Microsoft failed to profit? Individual organizations within MS maybe, but not as a whole.

If it weren't for the OS, Office and Server divisions, they'd be dead.

Many companies would have spun divisions like those off and retained some large chunk of stock to profit from as the new entity fought on even ground to survive. That Microsoft has kept each of these divisions under one roof has a lot to say about the shoddy security, bloat and often annoying 'features' in each package.

Re:Wear & Tear

[Anne Thwacks]

Actually some consumers are richer and more stupid than others.

In the real world, many people are still running Win95 because that is what they are used to, and they don't want to run something new.

Many others are not connected to the internet, and live hundreds of miles from a phone socket.

Some parts of the world are not even American (yet).

Re:Wear & Tear

[PMJ2kx]

a lot of people couldn't tell you what got better in office xp over office 2000.

They got rid of that damn paperclip!

Re:Wear & Tear

[ultranova]

God, those old monopoly phones were immortal.

It self-contradicting to talk about immortal things in the past tense ;).

Re:Bill's pet project

[caluml]

Bill is seriously into the handheld device

That sounds like the sort of spam I get.

Re:Wear & Tear

[NanoGator]

"$49 software with an expiry date is software that could've lasted you for life for $49. People resent being treated that way."

*Cough*Valve*Cough*.

Re:Wear & Tear

[Valthonis]

Who knows? Last time I checked, MS was sitting on a cubic blortload of cash, and it's already been documented (try Google) that they regularly shuttle their money around to ventures that are losing money so that they ALWAYS turn a profit in their quarterly reports. Don't take them at face value.