5 ms·

> When Microsoft executes well, they’re a scary force. They were exceptional under Gates and it looks like they are again. I agree with this. And what I think

> When Microsoft executes well, they’re a scary force. They were exceptional under Gates and it looks like they are again. I agree with this. And what I think is so fascinating is how much they left on the table during this very same time. Steven Sinofsky's Hardcore Software substack is an amazing read[1]. And it really shows how much they got wrong as well as how much they got right. MS is firing on all cylinders. Both the OpenAI partnership and the GitHub acquisition are looking like genius moves right now. Google in particular should be very afraid. [1] Though quite long. Very, very long. But it's well worth reading all of it. There's untold numbers gems in there.

ignoramous 4y ago
> GitHub acquisition are looking like genius moves right now Surprising that AWS didn't compete for its acquisition. They stand to lose a bunch too. That said, except for OS and Browsers, it is all coming together for Microsoft, including their XBox division.
- siva7 4y ago
  Google competed but they weren't willing to pay the price tag. Microsoft understood better how powerful Githubs potential was at the time. Github was likely Microsofts best acquisition in the last two decades.
- DeathArrow 4y ago
  > That said, except for OS and Browsers Windows is not negligible.
LawTalkingGuy 4y ago
I agree that MS is executing well, but why would Google be afraid? There's no AI moat keeping anyone from replicating what MS is doing. They can train on everything on GitHub just like MS can. If anything, this is where they should both be afraid because an upstart with a browser extension could replace them.
- daydream 4y ago
  > I agree that MS is executing well, but why would Google be afraid? There's no AI moat keeping anyone from replicating what MS is doing. It's not an AI moat. It's about business models. If MS takes even a small fraction of Google's search traffic, and/or convert a small fraction of people from Chrome to Edge, it'll hit Google's bottom line at the one place that's a huge majority of their revenue and profits. MS has nothing to lose and Bing GPT4 integration is very good. Flip side, there's no area where Google is significantly threatening MS. Office suites: MS copilot announcements go significantly further than Google (Business Chat). Cloud: Azure's relationship with OpenAI and rapid product expansion could see it gain share. MS is moving very quickly and coordinating across the entire company. Google is moving slowly. And company-wide execution? Well. That has never been their strong suit.
- gkbrk 4y ago
  > An upstart with a browser extension could replace them. Google regularly bans or breaks browser extensions that are inconvenient for their profits. They also control the main app store for Android devices. And for apps installed externally, they have a backdoor to remove any app they want from Android devices that they claim is for malware.

ignoramous 4y ago

> GitHub acquisition are looking like genius moves right now Surprising that AWS didn't compete for its acquisition. They stand to lose a bunch too. That said, except for OS and Browsers, it is all coming together for Microsoft, including their XBox division.

siva7 4y ago
Google competed but they weren't willing to pay the price tag. Microsoft understood better how powerful Githubs potential was at the time. Github was likely Microsofts best acquisition in the last two decades.
DeathArrow 4y ago
> That said, except for OS and Browsers Windows is not negligible.

LawTalkingGuy 4y ago

I agree that MS is executing well, but why would Google be afraid? There's no AI moat keeping anyone from replicating what MS is doing. They can train on everything on GitHub just like MS can. If anything, this is where they should both be afraid because an upstart with a browser extension could replace them.

daydream 4y ago
> I agree that MS is executing well, but why would Google be afraid? There's no AI moat keeping anyone from replicating what MS is doing. It's not an AI moat. It's about business models. If MS takes even a small fraction of Google's search traffic, and/or convert a small fraction of people from Chrome to Edge, it'll hit Google's bottom line at the one place that's a huge majority of their revenue and profits. MS has nothing to lose and Bing GPT4 integration is very good. Flip side, there's no area where Google is significantly threatening MS. Office suites: MS copilot announcements go significantly further than Google (Business Chat). Cloud: Azure's relationship with OpenAI and rapid product expansion could see it gain share. MS is moving very quickly and coordinating across the entire company. Google is moving slowly. And company-wide execution? Well. That has never been their strong suit.
gkbrk 4y ago
> An upstart with a browser extension could replace them. Google regularly bans or breaks browser extensions that are inconvenient for their profits. They also control the main app store for Android devices. And for apps installed externally, they have a backdoor to remove any app they want from Android devices that they claim is for malware.