4 ms·

Are Microsoft actively trying to lose customers? Why would we use this OS when there are open alternatives around?

by flexd 14y ago

da_n 14y ago
The year of the linux desktop?
freehunter 14y ago
For the same reason I have to use Windows at work. Because the corporate world, for the most part, is still Windows. Windows is easy to support, easy to get support for, and very enterprise-oriented. Linux is behind on the "easy to support" front (in Windows, you can tell a user 'click this, then click that. Don't underestimate the need for a clear and consistent GUI), and Mac is still behind on the enterprise-oriented front. Microsoft is the only one going after the enterprise desktop market, even as they're pushing further into the consumer market. This creates a catch-22, where corporations use Windows, so corporate software is written for Windows, and in turn, anyone who uses corporate software has to use Windows. If I send someone a .doc created in LibreOffice and they open it in Word, who knows what will change in the conversion. If part of your company goes open source, the entire company has to as well, for the sake of consistent performance.
- PeterisP 14y ago
  This same reason can stop windows 8 from being adopted. A single, small legacy app that noone wants to maintain can easily delay OS upgrades in the organization for many years - that's why some companies still are on WinXP+IE6. If a single legacy app needs JIT-stuff, then that company will just run Win7 in year 2030 even if it looks like a stone age tool by that time.
  - cooldeal 14y ago
    Windows 8 can run whatever programs Windows 7 can run. We're talking about Windows RT here, which is targeted at portable ARM tablets with high battery life. Your legacy app won't run on ARM anyway.
  - cooldeal 14y ago
    Windows 8 can run whatever programs Windows 7 can run. We're talking about Windows RT here, which is targeted at portable ARM tablets with high battery life. Your legacy app won't run on ARM anyway.
cooldeal 14y ago
>Are Microsoft actively trying to lose customers? Why would we use this OS when there are open alternatives around? Oh,is that why the iPad is such a big failure compared to Android tablets? /s
- huggyface 14y ago
  Oh,is that why the iPad is such a big failure compared to Android tablets? Will Microsoft achieve success by doing all of the same things as Apple? How has that worked out for them thus far? Will that cargo-cult bring them iPad-like success? Apple is doing a pretty good job of being Apple, and Microsoft has done a really bad job trying to be Apple. Microsoft is bringing all of the same disadvantages, but few of the advantages.
- nextparadigms 14y ago
  I don't think Android tablets have mostly failed because Android was open. They failed because they arrived too late in the market, Google didn't focus on 3rd party apps from the beginning, and their solution, Honeycomb, arrived a year later, and it sucked as an OS, with bugs, etc. So in effect iPad had about a 2 years head start.

Are Microsoft actively trying to lose customers? Why would we use this OS when there are open alternatives around?

by flexd 14y ago

Are Microsoft actively trying to lose customers? Why would we use this OS when there are open alternatives around?

da_n 14y ago

The year of the linux desktop?

freehunter 14y ago

For the same reason I have to use Windows at work. Because the corporate world, for the most part, is still Windows. Windows is easy to support, easy to get support for, and very enterprise-oriented. Linux is behind on the "easy to support" front (in Windows, you can tell a user 'click this, then click that. Don't underestimate the need for a clear and consistent GUI), and Mac is still behind on the enterprise-oriented front. Microsoft is the only one going after the enterprise desktop market, even as they're pushing further into the consumer market. This creates a catch-22, where corporations use Windows, so corporate software is written for Windows, and in turn, anyone who uses corporate software has to use Windows. If I send someone a .doc created in LibreOffice and they open it in Word, who knows what will change in the conversion. If part of your company goes open source, the entire company has to as well, for the sake of consistent performance.

PeterisP 14y ago
This same reason can stop windows 8 from being adopted. A single, small legacy app that noone wants to maintain can easily delay OS upgrades in the organization for many years - that's why some companies still are on WinXP+IE6. If a single legacy app needs JIT-stuff, then that company will just run Win7 in year 2030 even if it looks like a stone age tool by that time.
- cooldeal 14y ago
  Windows 8 can run whatever programs Windows 7 can run. We're talking about Windows RT here, which is targeted at portable ARM tablets with high battery life. Your legacy app won't run on ARM anyway.
- cooldeal 14y ago
  Windows 8 can run whatever programs Windows 7 can run. We're talking about Windows RT here, which is targeted at portable ARM tablets with high battery life. Your legacy app won't run on ARM anyway.

cooldeal 14y ago

>Are Microsoft actively trying to lose customers? Why would we use this OS when there are open alternatives around? Oh,is that why the iPad is such a big failure compared to Android tablets? /s

huggyface 14y ago
Oh,is that why the iPad is such a big failure compared to Android tablets? Will Microsoft achieve success by doing all of the same things as Apple? How has that worked out for them thus far? Will that cargo-cult bring them iPad-like success? Apple is doing a pretty good job of being Apple, and Microsoft has done a really bad job trying to be Apple. Microsoft is bringing all of the same disadvantages, but few of the advantages.
nextparadigms 14y ago
I don't think Android tablets have mostly failed because Android was open. They failed because they arrived too late in the market, Google didn't focus on 3rd party apps from the beginning, and their solution, Honeycomb, arrived a year later, and it sucked as an OS, with bugs, etc. So in effect iPad had about a 2 years head start.