R.I.P. Windows?

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
This guy is trying to make the case that, since Microsoft bought Nokia’s smartphone division, the company has killed Windows.

Windows is dead. Let’s all salute it—pour out a glass for it, burn a CD for it, reboot your PC one last time. Windows had a good run. For a time, it powered the world. But that era is over. It was killed by the unlikeliest of collaborations—Microsoft’s ancient enemies working over decades, in concert: Steve Jobs, Linus Torvalds, and most of all, two guys named Larry and Sergey.
 
Will it be buried next to the PC or will it join it in true Mark Twain Walking Dead fashion with the rumors of its death being greatly exaggerated :D
 
Same variation of the same story were heard for some time, code is a commodity and you can't make money selling code. The difference is that instead of the word Linux substitute Android. True at a superficial. Supporting code on the scale of complexity of Windows is anything but a commodity. That said cheap throw away devices that are lucky to get an update from the manufacturer before being replaced my this weeks model is obviously something that works well in the mobile industry and having cheap code to run on it is fine since the whole thing will never really be well supported.

That said I can see a Microsoft adopting different models for different devices if they can offset the loss of licensing costs with services. Thus the idea of becoming a devices and services company that relies far less on direct software licensing sales.
 
I wouldn't put windows out in the street just yet. But it does make a case for their push into mobile integration strategy should have been done sooner.

I wonder if had Bill Gates stuck around running the company, if he would have been able to move them toward mobile much faster instead of dicking around with milk the desktop strategy like Balmer did.
 
I wouldn't put windows out in the street just yet. But it does make a case for their push into mobile integration strategy should have been done sooner.

I wonder if had Bill Gates stuck around running the company, if he would have been able to move them toward mobile much faster instead of dicking around with milk the desktop strategy like Balmer did.

My history of the company is fuzzy, but didn't Windows CE happen under Gates' reign?
 
My history of the company is fuzzy, but didn't Windows CE happen under Gates' reign?

Hah, maybe I have nostalgia goggles on, but wasn't windows CE just windows95 for moble devices, or was it NT based. I'm not saying it was great, but I do miss the simple UI of windows 95/2000
 
I laugh at those dumb articles. Oh noes, Android is teh win on computing platforms. Because phone is teh new PC. :rolleyes:

Handhelds and tablets certainly are eating into consumer spaces, and are also becoming more ubiquitous as smartphones become feature rich at lower price points. There is certainly overlap between Android/iOS and PC ownership in developed countries, and cheap data plans are killing growth of PCs in less developed countries. That's certainly bad news for consumer desktop and laptop sales, but it makes not a lick of difference for the large majority of PC sales: business.
 
Windows is not going anywhere anytime soon. This guy is another idiot that thinks Microsoft lives in the consumer market. Yes it is a good chunk of there money, but the majority of the corporate world lives on Windows. Yes there is some Linux in there too so don't wig out on that comment.

That fact is, yes the Desktop era is over and it is not from Windows 8 or any other stupid as reason that people come up with. It is over due to 90% of the people in the world do not need or ever really did need a PC. Tablets can fulfill most users needs which isn't much and they have no reason to purchase a new PC when $199 tablet does everything they require. Plus most PC purchased in the last 3 years still function perfectly fine and there is no benefit to replace something that is still fulfilling it needs.

Is the PC going to go away? Hell no because the people that need the full power of the PC will always use a PC. There will always bee a DIY market and people needing highend Workstations, but I do not see the many OEM's staying in the PC game much longer.
 
Windows is not going anywhere anytime soon. This guy is another idiot that thinks Microsoft lives in the consumer market. Yes it is a good chunk of there money, but the majority of the corporate world lives on Windows. Yes there is some Linux in there too so don't wig out on that comment.

That fact is, yes the Desktop era is over and it is not from Windows 8 or any other stupid as reason that people come up with. It is over due to 90% of the people in the world do not need or ever really did need a PC. Tablets can fulfill most users needs which isn't much and they have no reason to purchase a new PC when $199 tablet does everything they require. Plus most PC purchased in the last 3 years still function perfectly fine and there is no benefit to replace something that is still fulfilling it needs.

Is the PC going to go away? Hell no because the people that need the full power of the PC will always use a PC. There will always bee a DIY market and people needing highend Workstations, but I do not see the many OEM's staying in the PC game much longer.

The suppliers and OEMs in the PC world also have a vested interest in keeping it alive since the mobile market may have higher volumes but is a fraction of the revenue and profits in the PC market (PCs make five times the revenue of mobile even with their reduced volumes) ... the worst that happens to PCs is they become an Enterprise and Enthusiast device ... the best is that within a few years they come up with some killer feature (holograms, digital houses, etc) that benefit from the power of a fully fledged workstation/server/PC ;)
 
Ok, I may not support Microsoft of Windows and would love nothing more than to see their downfall... but this is by far the stupidest article I've ever read. :eek:
 
So no more windows, no more software and no more games stuff... What exactly will they make then?

Apple making the iPhone didn't make them stop anything else, and this isn't going to change Microsoft
 
So what? Since when are we supposed to be loyal to pieces of code or company logos anyway?

IMO Windows is fine and dandy and once they figure out how to correctly implement it as a mobile OS it will have many more years left of use. From what I understand it a lot of the old Windows code has been deprecated anyways and replaced with newer subsystems so it's not even the same OS it was back in the DOS days. The networking code for example.

People who don't know the history or engineering behind a piece of software or hardware should not pretend to have informed opinions about it. A lot of us who have been around long enough can smell the bullshit miles and miles away.
 
You guys do realize that under Ballmer MS lost 50% of its market value. MS power is waining but its far from being dead. It will take a lot of years before Windows can be officially called dead.
 
I could see him saying the desktop is dead, but Windows Phone 8 = Windows.

So ummm, Windows here, or Windows there, its still the same egg laying goose.

The benefit on the mobile side is app markets and skimming off those sales left and
right. Not able to do that on anything else that they release, Office and Windows are essentially
buy once, dead end profit lines
 
You guys do realize that under Ballmer MS lost 50% of its market value. MS power is waining but its far from being dead. It will take a lot of years before Windows can be officially called dead.

Also under Ballmer Microsoft's revenues tripled and its profits nearly tripled. If Microsoft's next CEO were to remain at the company for 13 years, he or she would need to see annual revenue of around $230 billion and net income of around $75 billion to match Ballmer's financial performance. $75 billion is close to twice Exxon's current profits and is equal to Microsoft's total annual revenue today. Completely mind boggling numbers.

Ballmer's and Microsoft's failures are well noted in the media these days. But what tends to go unnoticed is the tremendous success they still have in their core areas. People have been writing their epitaph for years now and they have grown ever single year except one. We'll see what comes of the new leadership and the Nokia phone acquisition but if Microsoft gets ignored by its competitors at this point in time it might not serve those competitors well.
 
Mr. Manjoo is a closet MAC addict who's cell phone woody has cost him some common sense.
 
I think Windows being dead is about as likely as that author correctly using commas next time. What a difficult read that was.
 
I wouldn't put windows out in the street just yet. But it does make a case for their push into mobile integration strategy should have been done sooner.

I wonder if had Bill Gates stuck around running the company, if he would have been able to move them toward mobile much faster instead of dicking around with milk the desktop strategy like Balmer did.

He did stick around, in the background. He has been the dark figure sitting in the large chair in the unlit corner of the room with every major decision. Ballmer was the day to day guy while Bill was more of a guiding hand, nodding or shaking his head no depending on his patience and indulgence that day.
 
I could see him saying the desktop is dead, but Windows Phone 8 = Windows.

So ummm, Windows here, or Windows there, its still the same egg laying goose.

The benefit on the mobile side is app markets and skimming off those sales left and
right. Not able to do that on anything else that they release, Office and Windows are essentially buy once, dead end profit lines

Incorrect. They rake in billions in annual ELA (enterprise license agreement) renewals. There was a long game MS used to understand - it is what made Gates the richest human on the planet. And believing they'd succeed if they simply threw a billion here and a billion there into copying Apple's business model is gaining them zero and losing them time.
 
Incorrect. They rake in billions in annual ELA (enterprise license agreement) renewals. There was a long game MS used to understand - it is what made Gates the richest human on the planet. And believing they'd succeed if they simply threw a billion here and a billion there into copying Apple's business model is gaining them zero and losing them time.

I always find this point interesting. Some like you will say that Microsoft is copying Apple. Other Windows 8 opponents on the other hand will say that Microsoft should copy Apple and have a separate tablet and desktop OS. Obviously Microsoft is copying elements of Apple but Windows 8, hate it or love it, has no true analog at this time.
 
Windows Phone may die, but Windows still looks to be soldiering on for awhile longer.
 
Hah, maybe I have nostalgia goggles on, but wasn't windows CE just windows95 for moble devices, or was it NT based. I'm not saying it was great, but I do miss the simple UI of windows 95/2000
The Dreamcast ran on WindowsCE...
 
You guys do realize that under Ballmer MS lost 50% of its market value. MS power is waining but its far from being dead. It will take a lot of years before Windows can be officially called dead.


and do you realize that was after dot com burst... MS was gonna lose that kind of valuation regardless as to who was at helm. Ballmer has done a lot right. But on the other hand CEOs are paid to take the blame as well as the accolades :)


But indeed, I do not understand why this one person's contrarian view gets highlighted...
 
What will businesses use after Windows 7? I doubt many will go with 8 for anything besides special installs, but after 7 gets old enough, they will be looking for a replacement. I'd hope Microsoft is smart enough to have an operating system dedicated to workstation/creative production/business use.
 
His primary thesis was that the idea that made the Windows strategy so wildly profitable is dead: licensing fees and broad adoption across multiple vendors. This is actually a reasonable claim.

Microsoft is adopting Apple's strategy since Google has sucked the profit out of licensing a mobile OS.

It's just the evolution of the market.

Microsoft and Windows are likely anything but dead. Microsoft has huge cash reserves and, given their track record, they should still be taken seriously even if their market share is dwindling.
 
Only thing more poorly written than Windows is Flash, both should blindly die now.

Poorly written? as compared to what?

It so poorly written that most major companies are completely dependent on it.
 
The guy is right, but very wrong in how it'll happen. Firstly, it won't be Android or smart phones that topple Windows. I mean people are pissed off about Windows 8 for tablet like features, so why would Android suddenly kill it?

Firstly it's two things that'll kill Windows, and that's ARM and Linux. Cause when you say Windows, you really mean WinTel. It won't be necessarily Android that'll kill of Windows, but free OS's. Combine that with the super cheap ARM chips and you'll have a winning combo that'll kill off Windows. Wouldn't count x86 out yet though.

Keep in mind that people will use laptops and desktops for years to come, and they won't run Android. It'll be Linux something, but whether it be Ubuntu, ChromeOS, or something else is yet to be seen.

Windows will take a long time to die off. Lets say that UberOS is released that does everything you need, and totally free, and all the nerds switch over to it. Problem is that so many people are uncomfortable with change, and the Windows software library is so massive, that a good number of people will continue to use Windows for nearly 10 more years. It'll take that long before we look at Windows like we look at 56k modems and AOL.
 
Ever tried to do actual work on a mobile device? It's a goddamn trainwreck. PCs aren't going anywhere, at least not in the business world. Sure, there are some home users whose needs are so basic they can get by with just an iPad, but those people probably never needed a PC in the first place.
 
From what I understand it a lot of the old Windows code has been deprecated anyways and replaced with newer subsystems so it's not even the same OS it was back in the DOS days.

Does anyone ever wonder what happened to the 640K Base memory??? :confused:

We need a VH1 Where Are They Now documentory for that little bastard of a devil.
 
Back
Top