Discussion on:

Microsoft could be the

Do you think Microsoft will grow market share in the tablet and phone markets in 2012?

I tried the developer release on a test PC, and absolutely hated the setup. Now if it were only on a touch device then I am OK with it, and would probably use it. But they are going to need to build on the Win7 platform a little more before I will think about using it on a normal PC. I am one of those XP holdouts that converted to 7 not all that long ago.

Tablets: Good chance if it can itegrate into business with typical MS software - ARM support for MSOffice is a must

Smartphones: Kinda doubt it. They need to drop the MS moniker and replace it with something that doesn't scream "WINDOWS" to really have a chance.

Just MHO.....

What does it mean to most people if Microsoft makes a "comeback"? Or that Apple is currently a market cap leader?

It is a good thing that there isn't just one way above all others any longer.

How do you think they would test the Internet?

I think that you could measure the voltage across those phone lines and come up with zero every time!Do you really think that the phone company gets two wires from everybody in your city?

MS has failed to realize the fact, virtualization is going to take the golden cow of requiring a 'Windows OS' out of the picture.

When people finally realize, apps can be separated from a virus prone OS and run on another platform the MS empire will have to redesign their concepts.

VMware host servers are now a tiny footprint compared to the esx host OS.

Google Chrome netbooks have 1.6 million lines of code, Linux distro's can fit on a ISO image and run from disk and Windows is 50-60 MILLION lines of code full of who knows what.

END users can run a Linux distro who have NEVER used a computer and they do not have problems. I set my mom up about 8 years ago with Red Hat 8.0 (I think it was 8.) and she did stuff on it I never would have dreamed she figured out. Linux distro's do not run as administrator, do not need hundreds of dollars worth of AV and spyware utilities, mega-bucks MS Office. The flow of money required for a Windows shop or even for grandma's is just STUPID.

We eradicated Windows desktop OSes as much as possible, the problems dropped dramatically and the MONEY savings is HUGE. End users do not need MS Office to create a (.doc) and/or (.xls) files. It is a HUGE waste of money and money going down a rat hole.

The MONEY SAVED is put in infrastructure, network routers/switches/blade_centers/sans and hire NON-Windows Systems people and implement a secure Open_Systems design that can withstand the public Internet without having mega-buck hardware firewalls to hide behind.

No thanks, they can rehash Windows NT until oblivion it is still a REBOOT, REBOOT and problem plagued platform and the desktop will always be a nightmare as well.

That would be "Apple's walled garden" not "Apples walled garden"

I think Microsoft is also doing well in the business environment.
MS is consolidating and expanding its presence in the enterprise market. SQL Server 2012 is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2012. With the performance problems of Oracle as a company and the rising of SQL Server as an enterprise database plus Business Intelligence Development Studio as a Swiss army knife for business intelligence, MS is cementing its presence in the business arena.

Got to go.The EULA police are here.

Windows Phone is the ONLY smartphone that Skype do NOT run on. It NEVER manages to get it onto the Windows phones as an alternative. You can verify this at: http://www.skype.com/intl/en/get-skype/on-your-mobile/

In fact, Windows Phone is the ONLY smartphone that do NOT even sync with local Outlook as well.

Turning Windows 8 user interface into a phone/tablet interface is a huge mistake. It restrict multi-tasking of multiple windows.

really Microsoft grow your ability in market through iphone as well as smart phone.

I am not emotionally attached to MS or Apple, but while MS takes 93 seconds (at best) to connect its synapses and play a stupid tune at startup as opposed to Apple's 1 second- it will always be my OS of least choice - regardless of what or whom MS buys/decisions it makes.

These kind of articles are starting to look like directly sponsored from Microsoft itself. It wasn't very hard to guess who would be writing this "The year of Microsoft's comeback" article. I'm seriously considering to unsubscribe, this is pure rubbish.

Debbie is simply writing objectively from a non-Microsoft-hating/bashing point of view and expressing her professional opinion; you can take it or leave it but it's rather childish of you to throw a little temper-tantrum here simply because you happen to disagree with what she has to say.
What makes your "informed" opinion any more valid than hers?

That's funny.

Hi Folks!

You might think Microsoft and Apple are in the business to help the corporate world but this is not totally helping some of us with third party broadcast automation and management applications who are struggling with platform incompatibility issues. I am not convince and do not think Windows 8 will be a fit for my environnement. I could see a fit for the tablet appliance same as Apple.

The challenge in hunting grouse is to know about where they are sitting before they jump up and fly off. Dogs are useful in this process. If you don't have one, you rely on your own senses, and they are primitive compared to the lowly dog. They are also unproductive. The grouse is flushed, flies off, and is gone BEFORE the hunter realizes he was standing right there, unaware. Two seconds isn't enough to react, position, aim, lead, discharge a shotgun.

Likewise, the grouse has flown off, IMO, vis a vis Microsoft. They know they are in the woods, they are armed, but they have no dog. Where the grouse was is not relevant once it has flown off.

I have no ax to grind with MS. Apple is simply in the flow right now. Luck, leadership, intent, whatever.... Apple has it, MS doesn't. I like Win7, but am only adopting it because I got a free computer and a free OS. I'm moving all my legacy stuff (engineering software and project files) to virtual hard drives, virtual machines, and the land of No Upgrades. I just spent a few grand on Apple stuff. I'll work through some adjustment headaches, adopt new paradigms, and won't look back. Won't be enticed back.

Wanna talk about the year of something, perhaps talk about the year folks abandon MS for good, as I am doing after 25 years. This is a serious issue. I have a huge base of tools and experience under that number, and it's unavailable to both MS, and to the my personal contacts who count on my opinion and the examples I set. I'm not rosy about MS prospects and can see them in the Sony/Samsung/Nokia/RIM huddle more than in the Apple side in 5 years.

( I am long AAPL. )

My problem with Microsoft is that I just can't trust them anymore.
First, 10 years of VB expertise made redundant.
Then the same with Silverlight.
Now Windows itself?
It takes a long time to become good at something.
It takes a really long time to become really good at something.
I used to be really good.
Now I'm average and just can't get enthusiastic about putting in the long hours it takes to master something which I know will be made redundant by a political decision at Redmond.
I see Windows 8 as another Vista so I have no enthusiasm for that.
I used to eagerly await the next release of MS technology, now I fear it.
I know I am not alone.
Thanks MS, its was fun - but not anymore.

I have spent the better part of my holiday time-off repairing Windows XP and Windows 7 PCs infected with the Antivirus 2012/TDSS rootkit malware, for my customers, friends and relatives. As the virus writers adjust to the increased security offered by Windows 7, it's starting to crash just as often as XP does. The PC is an old, tired hardware/software system that IBM developed over 30 years ago. Its had a long successful run, but now it needs to be retired. Steve Balmer also needs to be retired. MS needs to hire some fresh blood and do a total rewrite of Windows NT, from the first byte on up.

I figure just on my own PC, that I probably waste 50% of my productive computing time constantly applying an endless stream of security updates and fixing the constant minor, but annoying problems that Windows seems to be plagued with and now constantly updating secondary programs that act as virus magnets. Frankly I am sick and tired of it. I have better things to do with my time.

Windows 8 just looks like another repeat of Vista. Trying to force a bloated desktop OS on to a smart phone is just plain insane! They are two different distinct markets. Windows 8 at the prices/margins MS is used to getting, won't stand a chance on smart phones. Apple practically gives iOS away for free on their iPhones. The profit is in the hardware. Same goes for Google Android.

Windows 7 has to be the most over-rated OS on the planet. It has lousy backwards compatibility with Windows XP peer-peer networking. Does not communicate well with Linux SAMBA boxes. The Explorer file manager gets worse with each new release. No longer indicates network shares. They took out the sight lines. Thank G-d for after-market programs Explorer++. Network file transfers are slower under Win7 than WinXP. Win7 64-bit won't install from an IDE DVD drive, because MS left out the 16-64-bit CD-ROM.SYS driver. Any idea how many 64-bit boxes still have that setup? That issue was found in the betas of Win7, but MS never bothered to fix it. The solution turns out to be simple, use a USB drive, but It's stupid stuff like this that drives me up the wall with MS operating systems. It's no wonder Apple and now Google are walking all over the PC-guy.

Whoops got to go, another Adobe Flash update needs to be installed. . .

several fundamental cornerstones in the plan are glaringly absent.
Case in point...
Who really cares what MS is doing with a smartphone? Has the third party application development and its successful integration into the iphone and android phones been completely missed by the brains at MS?
So they are building a new tablet-centric OS. Apparently, this is some bold and adventurous light-bulb-flash thought with the MS people? Again, poll the ipad purchasers as to what in fact inspired or finally weighted their decision toward making their purchase of the apple vision of a tablet. Its my bet that the 3rd party apps, their creativity, cost and abundant variety weighed heavy on their decision to fork out the money for their ipads.
Honestly, how can this get by MS?

With Jobs gone, Apple's slide back to #2 would be predictable.

"The acquisition of Skype earlier this year is timed right ??? at a period when many are abandoning their landlines and dissatisfied with their cell phone carriers. The time is ripe for an explosion in Internet-based calling..."

You're kidding, right? This is "Old News", 5 to 10 years out of date. "Abandoning their landlines" happened years ago. It might be a slice of market share that helps MS nudge Apple out of the top spot, but it's "catch-up" not progress.

And it's convenient that you completely ignore the 2011 debacles of Windows-8.

"Comeback Kid"? Maybe.
But I think it's more likely by default than by determination or dedication.

Microsoft has had tables for years, but could never get people to pay the extra cost. Apple comes out and says we need tables and the sheep say yes "I must buy".

I keep waiting for the lawsuits for health problems from the iPhones, iTables and their clones. Every computer user knows about all the problems; eye strain from small screens, neck problems from looking at the screen at the wrong height and of course carpal tunnel from typing?