3 ms·

I wonder if PG will update his "Microsoft is dead" prediction. Nadella seems to have resurrected Microsoft. I can't imagine them doing this under Ballmer or Gat

I wonder if PG will update his "Microsoft is dead" prediction. Nadella seems to have resurrected Microsoft. I can't imagine them doing this under Ballmer or Gates.

ktRolster 11y ago
He might modify it to be "Windows is dead." Microsoft has moved on the focusing on the cloud (unsurprising with Nadella). Windows is only ~10% of total revenue. This story has deeper analysis: http://www.computerworld.com/article/3041378/microsoft-windows/microsoft-doesn-t-need-windows-anymore.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/3041378/microsoft-windo...
shimon 11y ago
This is a nice move, but if you think this changes the "Microsoft is dead" statement (not prediction) then you don't appreciate what Microsoft was as compared to what Microsoft is today. In the 1990s, Microsoft was in many tech markets the default winner, with such powerful monopoly influence that large classes of startup idea would not even make sense to consider because Microsoft was just so well set up to kill any threats to their dominance. And quite willing to do so. This is a level of dominance and ferocity that has not been attained by other tech companies since. Companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook have pretty strong dominance powered by their lead in product quality, engineering talent, and brand/network effects, but it doesn't strike fear into people the way Microsoft once did. Plus, there is some balance of power among them. Microsoft now is a participant in this power dynamic. They play in the normal way, by trying to make good products and attract developers and users to their platform. In the 1990s, this would have seemed a pathetic weakness. That Microsoft is still dead.
- msellout 11y ago
  I remember. So, M$FT is dead, long live MSFT?
  - shimon 11y ago
    Past the headline, PG never claimed MSFT would actually die (or even cease to make lots of money). http://www.paulgraham.com/microsoft.html http://www.paulgraham.com/microsoft.html

I wonder if PG will update his "Microsoft is dead" prediction. Nadella seems to have resurrected Microsoft. I can't imagine them doing this under Ballmer or Gates.

ktRolster 11y ago

He might modify it to be "Windows is dead." Microsoft has moved on the focusing on the cloud (unsurprising with Nadella). Windows is only ~10% of total revenue. This story has deeper analysis: http://www.computerworld.com/article/3041378/microsoft-windows/microsoft-doesn-t-need-windows-anymore.html http://www.computerworld.com/article/3041378/microsoft-windo...

shimon 11y ago

This is a nice move, but if you think this changes the "Microsoft is dead" statement (not prediction) then you don't appreciate what Microsoft was as compared to what Microsoft is today. In the 1990s, Microsoft was in many tech markets the default winner, with such powerful monopoly influence that large classes of startup idea would not even make sense to consider because Microsoft was just so well set up to kill any threats to their dominance. And quite willing to do so. This is a level of dominance and ferocity that has not been attained by other tech companies since. Companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook have pretty strong dominance powered by their lead in product quality, engineering talent, and brand/network effects, but it doesn't strike fear into people the way Microsoft once did. Plus, there is some balance of power among them. Microsoft now is a participant in this power dynamic. They play in the normal way, by trying to make good products and attract developers and users to their platform. In the 1990s, this would have seemed a pathetic weakness. That Microsoft is still dead.

msellout 11y ago
I remember. So, M$FT is dead, long live MSFT?
- shimon 11y ago
  Past the headline, PG never claimed MSFT would actually die (or even cease to make lots of money). http://www.paulgraham.com/microsoft.html http://www.paulgraham.com/microsoft.html