5 ms·

>Windows 7 works just fine on our hardware, and it runs the software we need. If it ain't broke, don't let anyone break it, and spend your time on actually usef

>Windows 7 works just fine on our hardware, and it runs the software we need. If it ain't broke, don't let anyone break it, and spend your time on actually useful things. The problem is that it is broken, in a way: it has security vulnerabilities, just like any OS, and if it's connected to the internet has to be patched to protect it. A deprecated OS is not going to get those security updates. Win7 won't be supported forever. Of course, if your Win7 machine is not networked, then this doesn't apply to you and you can run it forever, just like some industrial machines still run MS-DOS. >We're essentially betting that either Nadella and co will have got the boot before Windows 7 support ends and a desperate Microsoft will have significantly reversed course and offered a viable alternative by that time, or someone else will have stepped up to offer serious business software on another platform that we can migrate to by then. Why would Nadella get the boot? Look at their stock price since he's taken over: the company is doing great, much better than under Ballmer. All these actions are good and correct: they make the company more money. Customers may not like them, but too bad. Why should MS care about what its customers want? It's not like they're going to abandon MS and Windows any time soon, so MS is right to screw them over for more profit.

Silhouette 10y ago
A deprecated OS is not going to get those security updates. Win7 won't be supported forever. But Windows 7 isn't deprecated. Microsoft have committed to supporting it until 2020, and their customers will expect them to honour that commitment. That is four years away. In a fast-paced industry like IT, the entire landscape could be different by then. Why would Nadella get the boot? Look at their stock price since he's taken over: the company is doing great, much better than under Ballmer. You and I seem to be looking at very different stock charts. In the one I'm looking at[1], MSFT had pretty respectable growth through 2013-2014 when they were doing a lot of talking about Windows 10 and the new vision, but their stock price looks much less happy since around the start of 2015 as the reality became known. In a few months, if Windows 10 is still far less established than Windows 7 and it becomes undeniable that the campaign to get everyone onto Windows 10 didn't succeed even with literally giving it away and underhand tricks like the one we're talking about, executives like Nadella and Myerson are going to be under a lot of pressure to present a more realistic vision of what happens next and to turn the stock price back to a steady pattern of growth or their positions are going to be under threat. [1] https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=MSFT#symbol=MSFT https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=MSFT#symbol=MSFT Why should MS care about what its customers want? It's not like they're going to abandon MS and Windows any time soon Perhaps not. I suspect they've probably got until about 14 January 2020 before things get really bad. But by that time, anything could have happened. Apple could have started competing more aggressively for desktop/laptop/server markets. Less and less business software could be locally hosted, making a range of different devices that can access web apps more attractive. In more than three years, even a major new player entering the market or a shift in strategy from some other tech giant isn't out of the question. Screwing your customers for profit looks good at the next quarterly earnings call, but not so much two years or five years down the line when your customers and competitors have had time to react.
- serge2k 10y ago
  Maybe they should just drop support for 7 then.
- Grishnakh 10y ago
  >But Windows 7 isn't deprecated. Microsoft have committed to supporting it until 2020, and their customers will expect them to honour that commitment. So what? They can change their mind at any time, and I for one hope they do. What are customers going to do, file a complaint? hahaha >You and I seem to be looking at very different stock charts. I don't know what you're looking at, but the Google chart I'm looking at for 2010-now shows constant growth, starting at about 2012 and really gaining steam in 2013, and continuing until now, albeit with some stumbling in the first half of 2015. Their stock price now is higher than it ever was in 2013-2014, and is in general going up. >Apple could have started competing more aggressively for desktop/laptop/server markets. >...even a major new player entering the market or a shift in strategy from some other tech giant isn't out of the question. Apple's been competing in those markets for decades, and they're still a tiny player. Linux beat them easily in servers. The idea of Apple servers is a joke. And MS servers are locked into many places in enterprises thanks to SharePoint, Exchange, AD, etc. and of course Windows on the desktop. Apple hasn't gotten anywhere on the desktop for businesses, and not much in homes either thanks to their high prices. I don't see that changing; Apple has always had high prices. Linux has been tried on the desktop for decades too (earnestly since around 1998), to little effect. And don't make me remind you about the fate of BeOS. >Screwing your customers for profit looks good at the next quarterly earnings call, but not so much two years or five years down the line when your customers and competitors have had time to react. You seem to be making the classic mistake of thinking MS is a normal company which has to worry about competition. It isn't. The only real threats they have to their business are 1) their old OS versions (which they're dealing with by pushing everyone to Win10 like it or not) and 2) the need for their products being made obsolete by new technology (like tablets). #2 seemed to be a concern for a while but it looks like the tablet market has gotten saturated and that's played out. There's too much stuff you just can't do on a tablet, so while some people can and have gone to all-mobile computing, everyone else is stuck with Windows, and they aren't going to stop using it no matter what. MS might as well take advantage of that as much as they can.

Silhouette 10y ago

A deprecated OS is not going to get those security updates. Win7 won't be supported forever. But Windows 7 isn't deprecated. Microsoft have committed to supporting it until 2020, and their customers will expect them to honour that commitment. That is four years away. In a fast-paced industry like IT, the entire landscape could be different by then. Why would Nadella get the boot? Look at their stock price since he's taken over: the company is doing great, much better than under Ballmer. You and I seem to be looking at very different stock charts. In the one I'm looking at[1], MSFT had pretty respectable growth through 2013-2014 when they were doing a lot of talking about Windows 10 and the new vision, but their stock price looks much less happy since around the start of 2015 as the reality became known. In a few months, if Windows 10 is still far less established than Windows 7 and it becomes undeniable that the campaign to get everyone onto Windows 10 didn't succeed even with literally giving it away and underhand tricks like the one we're talking about, executives like Nadella and Myerson are going to be under a lot of pressure to present a more realistic vision of what happens next and to turn the stock price back to a steady pattern of growth or their positions are going to be under threat. [1] https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=MSFT#symbol=MSFT https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=MSFT#symbol=MSFT Why should MS care about what its customers want? It's not like they're going to abandon MS and Windows any time soon Perhaps not. I suspect they've probably got until about 14 January 2020 before things get really bad. But by that time, anything could have happened. Apple could have started competing more aggressively for desktop/laptop/server markets. Less and less business software could be locally hosted, making a range of different devices that can access web apps more attractive. In more than three years, even a major new player entering the market or a shift in strategy from some other tech giant isn't out of the question. Screwing your customers for profit looks good at the next quarterly earnings call, but not so much two years or five years down the line when your customers and competitors have had time to react.

serge2k 10y ago
Maybe they should just drop support for 7 then.
Grishnakh 10y ago
>But Windows 7 isn't deprecated. Microsoft have committed to supporting it until 2020, and their customers will expect them to honour that commitment. So what? They can change their mind at any time, and I for one hope they do. What are customers going to do, file a complaint? hahaha >You and I seem to be looking at very different stock charts. I don't know what you're looking at, but the Google chart I'm looking at for 2010-now shows constant growth, starting at about 2012 and really gaining steam in 2013, and continuing until now, albeit with some stumbling in the first half of 2015. Their stock price now is higher than it ever was in 2013-2014, and is in general going up. >Apple could have started competing more aggressively for desktop/laptop/server markets. >...even a major new player entering the market or a shift in strategy from some other tech giant isn't out of the question. Apple's been competing in those markets for decades, and they're still a tiny player. Linux beat them easily in servers. The idea of Apple servers is a joke. And MS servers are locked into many places in enterprises thanks to SharePoint, Exchange, AD, etc. and of course Windows on the desktop. Apple hasn't gotten anywhere on the desktop for businesses, and not much in homes either thanks to their high prices. I don't see that changing; Apple has always had high prices. Linux has been tried on the desktop for decades too (earnestly since around 1998), to little effect. And don't make me remind you about the fate of BeOS. >Screwing your customers for profit looks good at the next quarterly earnings call, but not so much two years or five years down the line when your customers and competitors have had time to react. You seem to be making the classic mistake of thinking MS is a normal company which has to worry about competition. It isn't. The only real threats they have to their business are 1) their old OS versions (which they're dealing with by pushing everyone to Win10 like it or not) and 2) the need for their products being made obsolete by new technology (like tablets). #2 seemed to be a concern for a while but it looks like the tablet market has gotten saturated and that's played out. There's too much stuff you just can't do on a tablet, so while some people can and have gone to all-mobile computing, everyone else is stuck with Windows, and they aren't going to stop using it no matter what. MS might as well take advantage of that as much as they can.