3 ms·

>Each time I think they've changed, they make it clear that they haven't They've been acting evil like this for 40 years now; what makes you think they're ever

>Each time I think they've changed, they make it clear that they haven't They've been acting evil like this for 40 years now; what makes you think they're ever going to change?

erikpukinskis 9y ago
I remember the old times, and am quick to remind of what they did to Netscape, Samba, et al. But to answer your question... New blood, and fear. Gates is gone, and Ballmer was humiliated by the iPhone. Management now has to be in constant fear of ceding more ground in the consumer space. And they know that as consumer goes, so goes business... 20 years later. Many of Microsoft's recent moves are heartening. Supporting Mono officially. Implementing web standards quickly. Backing off this signed app stuff in Win10. MS has never had as much commercial pressure as they have now. They can't afford to alienate their niche supporters they way they could when they were the de facto everything. That gave me hope. Of course old habits die hard, but I don't think it's impossible for a company to evolve. IBM did. Apple did.
- vezycash 9y ago
  You're right about fear. People who don't admit their fear, do something to mask the fear. MS is masking their fear of being ridiculed for ugliness by focusing unduly on design. The result has been "form over function." And now, MS pays lip service to productivity. They also focus intently on security to avoid being ridiculed for unsecure software (viruses, bugs, crashes compared to Mac and linux). The result? Closed Windows Phone and Windows Apps which unfortunately doomed both; and forced updates with intrusive data collection. Last but most important, MS's is as fast as a tortoise compared to Google, Apple, Amazon... They can't seem to make up their minds on features, app and OS design - hence the multiple reboots of Music turned Groove; Universal apps/Metro apps/UWP; Wp7,8,8.1,10->?, skype/message app, Metro skype and now UWP skype. For a company which built itself on compatibility, the constant change in direction is death by a thousand cuts.

>Each time I think they've changed, they make it clear that they haven't They've been acting evil like this for 40 years now; what makes you think they're ever going to change?

erikpukinskis 9y ago

I remember the old times, and am quick to remind of what they did to Netscape, Samba, et al. But to answer your question... New blood, and fear. Gates is gone, and Ballmer was humiliated by the iPhone. Management now has to be in constant fear of ceding more ground in the consumer space. And they know that as consumer goes, so goes business... 20 years later. Many of Microsoft's recent moves are heartening. Supporting Mono officially. Implementing web standards quickly. Backing off this signed app stuff in Win10. MS has never had as much commercial pressure as they have now. They can't afford to alienate their niche supporters they way they could when they were the de facto everything. That gave me hope. Of course old habits die hard, but I don't think it's impossible for a company to evolve. IBM did. Apple did.

vezycash 9y ago
You're right about fear. People who don't admit their fear, do something to mask the fear. MS is masking their fear of being ridiculed for ugliness by focusing unduly on design. The result has been "form over function." And now, MS pays lip service to productivity. They also focus intently on security to avoid being ridiculed for unsecure software (viruses, bugs, crashes compared to Mac and linux). The result? Closed Windows Phone and Windows Apps which unfortunately doomed both; and forced updates with intrusive data collection. Last but most important, MS's is as fast as a tortoise compared to Google, Apple, Amazon... They can't seem to make up their minds on features, app and OS design - hence the multiple reboots of Music turned Groove; Universal apps/Metro apps/UWP; Wp7,8,8.1,10->?, skype/message app, Metro skype and now UWP skype. For a company which built itself on compatibility, the constant change in direction is death by a thousand cuts.