The Microsoft Blues (rant)

[MrWizard6600]

Afternoon gents: This is a rant. I'm not happy.

Does anybody else think Microsoft's on a significant decline?

• I like metro, but windows 8 is baby-with-the-bathwater tech. I've got a longer rant here, but they really did write-off huge portions of legacy code. Microsoft has always leveraged legacy code with modern stuff and new features, a strategy that I'm certain means they have a massive legacy code base that must be tough to keep current, but its always been nice to know that things written for Windows 2000 will play nicely with future versions of windows. Windows 8 is so aggressive in its metro push that they wont even delegate the task of file selection to their tried-and-true Explorer. When you're in a Windows 8 Metro app (namely IE 10 metro) and you need to upload a file, they dump you into a new custom and very poor file browser... you guys have been working on (file) explorer for literally decades why throw all of that away?
• Windows Phone 8 is aweful, it suffers from the same attitude to a much worse degree. Support for all the music you have through your Zune music subscription? Nope. Support for podcasts? Only if you're an American (I am not an American). You have to use their syncing app which is "app preview 3" and crashes all the time. This software isn't even beta. Its not feature complete and its not good. Why did you abandon Zune whole-sale? I understand pushing people off the brand, but the tech was fine.
• Outside of the glaring missing features (which I presume are ranked critical on a TFS system somewhere) windows phone 7 is a way better product. The fit and finish are so much higher. On a number grid in windows phone 7, when you press a number the button subtly floats toward your finger. This might seem minor, but there's polish stuff like this all over the phone. In windows phone 8 that only happens in some cases (what happened to shared code you idiots? That should be a view model in WP8.Core.Extensibility or some such, but you guys really rolled your own for each screen? seriously?)
• I had a laptop come in with all sorts of failing hardware. Yesterday it wouldn't boot. Today I plugged in a new hard drive and installed windows on it. This is more directed at HP than Microsoft. This laptop is just over a year old, and (you guessed it), has a 1 year warranty. I'm fairly certain the motherboards got some bad power regulation on it. All I can do is replace odd looking caps with higher quality ones and hope for the best. HP sold what is clearly a $1200 laptop for $800. The result is that they put parts that super-saturate their thermal dissipation into cheap chassis that flex and fall apart. The end result is a part that dies usually 2 years into use, and abandons the customer to a complete lack of support. This is why the Microsoft experience is so awful right now. This is why people buy Macs.

I really liked Windows 7. I really liked my first programming job which was entirely on the Windows stack (well we dabbled in Mongo which was pretty cool, but it was .net + IIS + Azure) I really liked Fabulous Adventures in Coding. I really liked my windows phone 7.

They've killed all but one of those experiences, and the one they haven't killed is apparently being treated like shit at Microsoft (and IntelliJ is pretty compelling).

I really hope the ousting of Steven Sinovsky puts Microsoft back on the path they were on in 2009.

 

[justin_43]

Microsoft is going in the wrong direction with Windows. All so they can have complete control over their ecosystem like apple. The thing that MS doesn't realize is that the only thing people like about them is the Windows desktop environment. If they try to force us into a Metro-only OS for desktops, like people are speculating, then many will stop using Windows.

Instead of trying to force Metro on desktop users, they should be concentrating on putting Windows 7-like experience on tablets. But they don't see it this way, they see the desktop experience as antiquated, but they are wrong. Power users, enthusiasts, multi-monitor, enterprise, etc... all need a desktop-like OS and will leave MS if they stop offering it. There is room for both mobile OSes and desktop OSes. Why are we going back in time with no proper windows and multi-tasking? So lame. all so they can sell you "apps" Jeez.. And eff apple for starting this BS
/rant

 

[evanb07]

Uh... A new topic.
From the news: COMPARED with IBM, Microsoft is a mere stripling. Founded in 1975, it rose swiftly to dominate the world of personal computing with its Windows operating system and Office suite of word-processing and other productivity tools. But the company is now showing some worrying signs of middle-age fatigue. In particular, it is struggling to find a growth strategy that will enthuse disgruntled shareholders.

 

[Wrench00]

Microsoft Desktop os is going to become irrelevant in the next decade in the consumer market.
Corporate is gone have good lock in. But MS is moving their Server stuff cloud ready any way its like wtf do I need to have a windows os anyway. I can use a non ms os to get services. It seems like no one is driving the company. Ballmar is a giant twat he should be ousted. He is a bean counter not a tech visionary like Bill was.
Windows 8 is an orphan in the corporate sector.
Mobile phone are a giant fail.
Tablets are a giant fail

 

[Dexter007]

I haven't tried Windows 8. I have no desire to try Windows 8. I understand Microsoft's attempt to fit in with the mobile computing boom, but they got in too late. As a system builder and PC gamer the current trend (and foreseeable, unfortunately) in computing is very frustrating. I realize I'm part of a niche group and the niche group I'm a part of is not where the big money is. The fact that the masses keep pushing further away from my niche group I do not see changing anytime soon, if ever at all.

I don't think you can really blame MS for Windows 8. MS as a business has to keep up with current computing trends in order to stay in business. Either that or they need to innovate and be first to market in the next computing trend. Perhaps MS should be blamed instead for lack of innovation and trying to conform to current trends then, rather than being frustrated by Windows 8.

I really hope that PC gaming can stay alive for the foreseeable future. I'm afraid it won't be enough of a reason on its own to keep OS developers producing traditional "desktop" OS's. My personal hell will become a reality if ever there is a day when all gaming is done on consoles and tablets or, heaven forbid, a Mac.

 

[Zefiris]

Microsoft is going in the wrong direction with Windows. All so they can have complete control over their ecosystem like apple. The thing that MS doesn't realize is that the only thing people like about them is the Windows desktop environment. If they try to force us into a Metro-only OS for desktops, like people are speculating, then many will stop using Windows.

Instead of trying to force Metro on desktop users, they should be concentrating on putting Windows 7-like experience on tablets. But they don't see it this way, they see the desktop experience as antiquated, but they are wrong. Power users, enthusiasts, multi-monitor, enterprise, etc... all need a desktop-like OS and will leave MS if they stop offering it. There is room for both mobile OSes and desktop OSes. Why are we going back in time with no proper windows and multi-tasking? So lame. all so they can sell you "apps" Jeez.. And eff apple for starting this BS
/rant

I agree wholeheartedly. Why are they forcing tablet-like experience on desktop consumers? This is the exact opposite of what they should be doing.

 

[PTNL]

(Speaking just on Windows 8 or Surface Pro...)

The "tiles" thing in Windows 8 is cute ( ), and I see benefits for the touch interface if the hardware profile benefits from it. Some of the Metro application demos I've seen highlight the underlying plumbing, which allows simple pub/sub communication between different Metro apps (ie: from different vendors). The result does give a unified and cohesive experience, especially for non-technical folks.

That being said... I don't see power users regularly using the tiles interface, and are going to immediately [Windows + D] before opening up their applications or development/creation tools of choice.


Edit: Another question to ask is, "How much of a user's time is being spent within a web browser?"