3 ms·

It's worth considering the different markets here. Raymond Chen [0] posted this in 2006 - "On the importance of backwards compatibility for large corporations"

It's worth considering the different markets here. Raymond Chen [0] posted this in 2006 - "On the importance of backwards compatibility for large corporations" [1] > Representatives from the IT department of a major worldwide corporation came to Redmond and took time out of their busy schedule to give a talk on how their operations are set up. I was phenomenally impressed. These people know their stuff. Definitely a world-class operation. One of the tidbits of information they shared with us is some numbers about the programs they have to support. Their operations division is responsible for 9,000 different install scripts for their employees around the world. > That was not a typo. > Nine thousand. > This highlighted for me the fact that backwards compatibility is crucial for adoption in the corporate world. Do the math. Suppose they could install, test and debug ten programs each business day, in my opinion, a very optimistic estimate. Even at that rate, it would take them three years to get through all their scripts. This isn’t a company that bought some software ten years ago and don’t have the source code. They have the source code for all of their scripts. They have people who understand how the scripts work. They are not just on the ball; they are all over the ball. And even then, it would take them three years to go through and check (and possibly fix) each one. > Oh, did I mention that four hundred of those programs are 16-bit? 16-bit. Ten years after Windows 95 came out. [0] A great source of backwards compatibility stories. [1] https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20061106-01/?p=29123#mainContent https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20061106-01/?p=29...

scarface74 7y ago
Well seeing how Microsoft’s profits have increased compare to Apple’s, which was the better idea? Selling to consumers or businesses? And MS’s recent successes have had nothing to do with Windows. MS’s growth has come from o365 being available everywhere and Azure - where most of the VMs are in fact Linux not Windows. Not to mention that .Net for Windows and all of the related technology (WinForms, WPF, etc) are in maintenance mode while MS concentrates on cross platform .Net Core. Microsoft is doing the same thing with Windows that SJ said he would do with the Mac “milk it for all it’s worth and move on to the next big thing”. MS is running away from Windows as it’s cash cow quickly.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
tonyedgecombe 7y ago
I’ve always thought Windows was compromised for consumers because of the need to support this sort of enterprise. In some ways it opened up the opportunity for Apple to makes its comeback.

scarface74 7y ago

Well seeing how Microsoft’s profits have increased compare to Apple’s, which was the better idea? Selling to consumers or businesses? And MS’s recent successes have had nothing to do with Windows. MS’s growth has come from o365 being available everywhere and Azure - where most of the VMs are in fact Linux not Windows. Not to mention that .Net for Windows and all of the related technology (WinForms, WPF, etc) are in maintenance mode while MS concentrates on cross platform .Net Core. Microsoft is doing the same thing with Windows that SJ said he would do with the Mac “milk it for all it’s worth and move on to the next big thing”. MS is running away from Windows as it’s cash cow quickly.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

tonyedgecombe 7y ago

I’ve always thought Windows was compromised for consumers because of the need to support this sort of enterprise. In some ways it opened up the opportunity for Apple to makes its comeback.