4 ms·

I couldn't be happier with Windows 10. I actually went out and bought a windows phone and ditched my iPhone. I might be crazy, but I feel like this is the rig

I couldn't be happier with Windows 10. I actually went out and bought a windows phone and ditched my iPhone. I might be crazy, but I feel like this is the right direction of the company. They also realized that no one is going to pay for software so they need to make revenue via advertising and premium features.

Silhouette 11y ago
They also realized that no one is going to pay for software so they need to make revenue via advertising and premium features. The last few decades of Microsoft's trading history would seem to disagree. This is why their new strategy seems so odd to me. They seemed to have a solid business model, whose main downside was that as people bought PCs less often they wouldn't sell as many copies of Windows preinstalled on new machines. They could have compensated by moving to a subscription model for very long term support, which is something they have generally always done much better than anyone else in the field. They could have used their combined back office/front office/mobile capabilities -- a combination of strengths almost unique in the industry -- to push a more business/professional/power user friendly alternative to just shoving everything into the cloud and reducing software to lightweight apps that are a shadow of what traditional desktop applications have been. Instead, they seem to be trying to out-Google Google and out-Apple Apple. It's almost like they've given up and now they just dreaming of maybe, one day, being able to take on the awesome development capabilities of those three guys eating Ramen in a parent's basement as they crank out yet another small business app in a couple of months and charge a $19.99/mo subscription for it. I think plenty of people will pay for good software. I just don't think Microsoft thinks those people are its market any more, and that's sad.
- scholia 11y ago
  Windows 10 doesn't introduce a new strategy and doesn't involve a new business model. Microsoft is simply offering a free upgrade to earlier paid-for versions, partly to reduce market fragmentation and partly to try to create a market for new Windows Runtime apps distributed from the Windows Store. Windows Runtime apps and the Windows Store were introduced with Windows 8. However, we now have "Universal" apps that are meant to run on smartphones, tablets, 2-in-1s, laptops, desktops etc, and the Xbox One games console.
  - Silhouette 11y ago
    I wasn't referring only to Windows 10 with the "new strategy" comments. Microsoft have been pushing away from traditional server/workstation software towards more on-line services, consumption over creation, and mysterious cloudy things for the past few years, with Windows 8 and Office 365 for example, as well as purely cloud-based services like OneDrive. But Windows 10 seems to be the betting-the-farm move on the OS side, with a degree of permanent connectivity and reliance on remote services for some of its basic operations that is new, and a degree of compulsory updating and privacy intrusion that is also far beyond any previous Windows version. Nothing about this seems like something I want as a user, but in this discussion my point is that very little about it seems like something I'd want if I were Microsoft either. It's playing away from their strengths and proven successes, and into the two fields (on-line services and mobile) where they have consistently lagged behind and had their lunch eaten by other big players.
    - scholia 11y ago
      Yes, you're right: Microsoft has been pushing into "mysterious cloudy things for the past few years, with Windows 8 and Office 365". Windows 10 isn't fundamentally different from Windows 8 in that regard: the only new thing is Cortana, which came from Windows Phone, and which is optional. Apple and Google haven't crossed this river yet because they don't offer versions of Siri or Google Now to PC users. It's playing away from their strengths and proven successes, and into the two fields (on-line services and mobile) where they have consistently lagged behind and had their lunch eaten by other big players. Nadella says "Mobile first, cloud first" because that's where the market is going. So far it's doing well with Azure (which is second to AWS) and Office 365 (which is overtaking or has overtaken Google). Both Outlook.com and OneDrive work well. Microsoft also has a couple of dozen apps on both Android and iOS, which makes it more cross-platform than either Apple or Google. Sure, it has a very long way to go. On the other hand, it has a strong cross-platform strategy with very clear goals. It also has a track-record for coming from behind and beating incumbents (albeit not recently, unless you count Xbox). reliance on remote services for some of its basic operations that is new, and a degree of compulsory updating It has run Windows Update for a long time. The only real difference is that Windows Update now delivers both patches and improved features, instead of just patches. This is a bit ahead of the competition (what's innovation for?) but smartphone users are familiar with having apps updated automatically on a regular basis. It happens almost daily on my Android phone. We're talking about the consumer branch of Windows 10 here, and most consumers don't want to look after their PCs, even if they had the skills, which they don't. Otherwise, re the hysteria about "privacy intrusion" see http://www.zdnet.com/article/no-microsoft-is-not-spying-on-you-with-windows-10/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/no-microsoft-is-not-spying-on-y... PS Wish I could give you an extra upvote for correct use of English in "the past few years". ;-)
jackmaney 11y ago
> They also realized that no one is going to pay for software so they need to make revenue via advertising and premium features. They might want to have a word with JetBrains or Adobe, then...

Silhouette 11y ago

They also realized that no one is going to pay for software so they need to make revenue via advertising and premium features. The last few decades of Microsoft's trading history would seem to disagree. This is why their new strategy seems so odd to me. They seemed to have a solid business model, whose main downside was that as people bought PCs less often they wouldn't sell as many copies of Windows preinstalled on new machines. They could have compensated by moving to a subscription model for very long term support, which is something they have generally always done much better than anyone else in the field. They could have used their combined back office/front office/mobile capabilities -- a combination of strengths almost unique in the industry -- to push a more business/professional/power user friendly alternative to just shoving everything into the cloud and reducing software to lightweight apps that are a shadow of what traditional desktop applications have been. Instead, they seem to be trying to out-Google Google and out-Apple Apple. It's almost like they've given up and now they just dreaming of maybe, one day, being able to take on the awesome development capabilities of those three guys eating Ramen in a parent's basement as they crank out yet another small business app in a couple of months and charge a $19.99/mo subscription for it. I think plenty of people will pay for good software. I just don't think Microsoft thinks those people are its market any more, and that's sad.

scholia 11y ago
Windows 10 doesn't introduce a new strategy and doesn't involve a new business model. Microsoft is simply offering a free upgrade to earlier paid-for versions, partly to reduce market fragmentation and partly to try to create a market for new Windows Runtime apps distributed from the Windows Store. Windows Runtime apps and the Windows Store were introduced with Windows 8. However, we now have "Universal" apps that are meant to run on smartphones, tablets, 2-in-1s, laptops, desktops etc, and the Xbox One games console.
- Silhouette 11y ago
  I wasn't referring only to Windows 10 with the "new strategy" comments. Microsoft have been pushing away from traditional server/workstation software towards more on-line services, consumption over creation, and mysterious cloudy things for the past few years, with Windows 8 and Office 365 for example, as well as purely cloud-based services like OneDrive. But Windows 10 seems to be the betting-the-farm move on the OS side, with a degree of permanent connectivity and reliance on remote services for some of its basic operations that is new, and a degree of compulsory updating and privacy intrusion that is also far beyond any previous Windows version. Nothing about this seems like something I want as a user, but in this discussion my point is that very little about it seems like something I'd want if I were Microsoft either. It's playing away from their strengths and proven successes, and into the two fields (on-line services and mobile) where they have consistently lagged behind and had their lunch eaten by other big players.
  - scholia 11y ago
    Yes, you're right: Microsoft has been pushing into "mysterious cloudy things for the past few years, with Windows 8 and Office 365". Windows 10 isn't fundamentally different from Windows 8 in that regard: the only new thing is Cortana, which came from Windows Phone, and which is optional. Apple and Google haven't crossed this river yet because they don't offer versions of Siri or Google Now to PC users. It's playing away from their strengths and proven successes, and into the two fields (on-line services and mobile) where they have consistently lagged behind and had their lunch eaten by other big players. Nadella says "Mobile first, cloud first" because that's where the market is going. So far it's doing well with Azure (which is second to AWS) and Office 365 (which is overtaking or has overtaken Google). Both Outlook.com and OneDrive work well. Microsoft also has a couple of dozen apps on both Android and iOS, which makes it more cross-platform than either Apple or Google. Sure, it has a very long way to go. On the other hand, it has a strong cross-platform strategy with very clear goals. It also has a track-record for coming from behind and beating incumbents (albeit not recently, unless you count Xbox). reliance on remote services for some of its basic operations that is new, and a degree of compulsory updating It has run Windows Update for a long time. The only real difference is that Windows Update now delivers both patches and improved features, instead of just patches. This is a bit ahead of the competition (what's innovation for?) but smartphone users are familiar with having apps updated automatically on a regular basis. It happens almost daily on my Android phone. We're talking about the consumer branch of Windows 10 here, and most consumers don't want to look after their PCs, even if they had the skills, which they don't. Otherwise, re the hysteria about "privacy intrusion" see http://www.zdnet.com/article/no-microsoft-is-not-spying-on-you-with-windows-10/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/no-microsoft-is-not-spying-on-y... PS Wish I could give you an extra upvote for correct use of English in "the past few years". ;-)

jackmaney 11y ago

> They also realized that no one is going to pay for software so they need to make revenue via advertising and premium features. They might want to have a word with JetBrains or Adobe, then...