If you were CEO of Microsoft...

General Discussion (off topic) Anything and everyt
#1

Microsoft is in a very interesting position right now, to put it nicely. The press is smacking Vista down with every chance they get, and PC vendors are doing their best to promote Windows XP. Even though I myself have no real big issues with Vista, there are things I would change about the entire Windows product lineup, price schemes, and versions are only the beginning.

So I have a question for everyone, if you were CEO of Microsoft, how would you turn the company around?

If I were the CEO, with Microsoft’s current marketshare I would look at Windows as a platform, not an operating system, because Windows itself does almost nothing, the way I see it, it is a platform where other software companies build on it with their own products. Looking at it this way I would make the platform free of charge. Meaning yes, you could get Windows free! I would then charge software companies a fee for every software release they have on that platform (i.e. Company X releases Product X for Windows they pay me a fee of $XXX, then they pay me an annual fee of $XX to keep the software for the Windows platform, keep in mind, this would only be for commercial companies, so private developers could develop for free, also this would not include Hardware Drivers as they are needed by the system to run correctly).

For the server side, I would have one version of Windows Server which would be sold as it is now (The same idea would go for Windows Mobile). And then I would keep Office the way it is now, but with a lower price tag to encourage users to upgrade, and to help regain the small market share we lost to openoffice, Lotus symphony, etc… and to help keep our market dominance.

As for Windows Live, I would drop the Live Search services, which were trying to compete with Google, and focus that money on enhancements to our other systems (Server, Windows Client Platform, Xbox, Mobile)

So people may think I’m crazy, but I’m curious as to what others would do in Ballmer’s position

#2

I would launch a new version of OS after Vista!

Plus: I would put all Comodo products as a default to all MS products to help serve the world better! :slight_smile:

Melih

#3

Of course, we would never release products which aren’t secure, would we ;D

#4

If I were the CEO of Microsoft, I would immediately sell all my Microsoft stocks, and enjoy my pension ;D But that is probbably not what you want to hear :wink:

Greetz, Red.

#5

Well, I guess selling stocks would turn the company around, not in the way I’d hoped though… lol ;D

#6

If I were the CEO off Microsoft…

I would get rid off Microsoft OS, Buy Apple OS & Then we no longer have to deal with viruses & spyware!

I would also make Microsoft Office Apple OS compatible, & all other windows apps! I would buy the best programmers in the world!!!

Okay thats enough lol

Josh

#7

IMHO the most advantageous decision to end users would be an open and free standard.
Royalties are an undeniable burden on development and final costs.

Creating a platform like XBOX will rise software costs and almost prevent opensource development.
A great deal of MS fortune is due to MS privileged position in the OS market and their long practiced philosophy “embrace and extend”

They faced two lawsuits for this (bundling Internet explorer and Windows Media Player).
IE crippled the browser market and put Netscape out of business. IE was very innovative at the beginning but soon after it gained marketshare became a unprecedented drag.
WMP succeed in the attempt to impose a new media standard. Something difficult to achieve without MS marketshare.

Apple OSX is also an example of an embrace and extend philosophy. Mac OSX is based on BSD, a microkernel Unix. The costs of Apple innovations are paid in hardware as MacOS is explicitely licensed only for Apple branded machines.

#8

Personally i think the ceo should be looking at his/her core revenue stream,evaluating what parts it are still applicable in todays fast changing technology market and making sure resources are ploughed into making what the end buyer wants.But which customer. This brings up other questions such as where is microsoft going in the next 10 years.They say they like to make operating system changes on a major/minor cycle(where does Vista fall?).Everyone(myself included) from governments to major corporations likes to take a pop at microsoft,but why? Would modern day computing be like it is know if werent for windows.When you consider the amount of variables that have to be taken into account it is a somewhat daunting task.
Outsourceing could be one way to achieve this.
Microsoft designs it`s next operating system and then allows other companies(under license) access to development and resource code.This way the burden could be shared around with systems designed for differant situations instead of you get everything but only use bits.
One things for sure,it aint gonna be a smooth and easy ride.

#9

I’d do just like Rednose, ;D since this isn’t really my vocation.

You have just described what an operating system must be, IMHO.

About the “embrace and extend” issue, I know this is unpopular, but I disagree. Every company or every party in general should IMO have every right to offer their products. The governments’ attitude towards MS, especially the European Union’s, amounts in my opinion to flagrant robbery. The notion that MS has “too much power” makes me laugh when it comes from governments, whose “services” can’t be opted out, unlike MS’s.

MS’s elevated position wouldn’t prevent its demise if its services weren’t satisfactory any longer. People who don’t like their products should really stop using them, nobody’s forcing them, they keep complaining about the OS they keep using.

IBM had an even more dominant position in the past and now their hardware division was sold to a Chinese company and the software one is minor compared to MS, which in the past was a subordinate partner of IBM’s.

MS’s success has a lot to do with what Justin said. Half of MS’s work is for the end customers, but the other half is for the developers, what boosts software developing productivity. ¿Does anyone know why Comodo decided to make its web AV in ActiveX, a very unpopular decission among Comodo’s geek userbase?

#10

This may appear true but IMHO there are other points to consider, I’m really interested in this aspect and we could split this part but I’ll provide a short answer just in case.

Credits due to MS for their feats but IMHO its marketshare was not built only on these. MS marketshare dates back to the rebranded 86-DOS provided on IBM machines and the new desktop-pc market segment.

After that the only crucial point was Windows X.0 adoption. With Windows 3.0 MS built a set of API and had a great number of supporting developers.
Porting an existing application to a new OS posed many more difficulties than updating an app to support the next windows version.

One reason that drive customers choices is the number of existing apps. ( eg. Many years ago saying Apple meant Photoshop. Today the situation is the other way round.)
This was one of the most relevant reason behind OS/2 failure (OS/2 was similiar to windows NT and dates back to Windows 3.0)

Hardware market is more difficult. Once developed software yelds much higher monetary gains besides hardware market is much more competitive and the consumer is more focused on features.
With OSes if there are no apps no one will choose it regardless of the features and robustness.

I guess that activex support still means a 70-80% userbase no catches, the alternative would be Java with a runtime download.

#11
I would get rid off Microsoft OS, Buy Apple OS & Then we no longer have to deal with viruses & spyware!
MacOS is allready under attack.

I would rewrite the whole OS from scratch. Remove the old DOS hangups that still exist. New CPU instruction sets. Greater efficiency, instead of everything multiplying by 5 for no real benefit. A new start is the only way.
Incorporate an emulation engine for current apps. A boot time pre-selectable dual boot option for gamers etc. A request would pop up like… “Insert your prefered secondary OS installation disk now”.

It need not be any real hardship to anyone.

#12

If i was CEO of microsoft I would listen to customers and scrap Vista forever and concentrate on selling Xbox 360

#13

I would buy Nickelodeon and order 25 extra sesons of the cancelled cartoon called Invader Zim and cancel Spongebob. Then I would hire Melih and we would rule the world and punish murderers by forcing them to use Norton on their computer.

#14

That last word reminded of what I would do: go on permanent vacation.