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The author didn't characterize his position accurately. He meant "Windows Server", not "Windows Desktop". Similar to how IBM sold off it's laptop business to Le
by mbesto 9y ago
The author didn't characterize his position accurately. He meant "Windows Server", not "Windows Desktop". Similar to how IBM sold off it's laptop business to Lenovo, the strategy is basically saying that "We're a business services company, there's no growth left in the end-user ecosystem anymore, because all of that growth is in mobile, which we suck at, so let's just double down on what we are growing at: cloud services and office productivity services".
That Windows we all know, both desktop and server side, is not dead. The economics on the server side are diminishing (20~30 year outlook) and Microsoft won't be around if they don't do something about it now.
IMHO it's a very smart strategy, people just didn't understand what Ben was saying because he didn't articulate it correctly (which I do find with his content, but it's less often the case)
- ynniv 9y agoIf that's true, yes, Windows Server has been irrelevant for some time. It wouldn't explain the remapping of Office, though.
- mbesto 9y agoOffice is Office365 rebranded - which just means the lock-in is a monthly subscription instead of a license. The lock-in is further exploited because email is the cornerstone of any business productivity suite and it'll be hosted on Azure now (which is a huge lock-in to their ecosystem).
- majewsky 9y ago> Windows Server has been irrelevant for some time. Most definitely not. There are a ton of Microsoft Certified Somethings that will refuse to administrate Linux servers unless their life depends on it. Source: I work at SAP's internal cloud unit. We have to support Windows VMs (begrudgingly, if I may say), even for payloads that could run on Linux.
- mixmastamyk 9y agoInflexible workers will be separated from their jobs eventually, its just a matter of time.
- majewsky 9y agoWhat makes you think that? Those inflexible workers are also those who make the purchasing decisions. A shop full of Windows admins will not switch to Linux unless forced to (and vice versa).
- mixmastamyk 9y agoAnd many will eventually be outsourced. In fact, systems administration as a profession is on the downswing due to the cloud. This site itself is largely focused on "disrupting" inefficiency with automation.
- vetinari 9y agoNot only due to cloud; even if you have local bunch of immutable OS instances like CoreOS or RHEL atomic running containers, you don't need a big staff babysitting server OSes.
- mixmastamyk 9y agoYes, conflated cloud and containers in my head when writing that comment.