

The Re-birth of Microsoft - rfreytag
http://startupdispatch.com/opinion/the-re-birth-of-microsoft/#more-448

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Adrock
I don't see this happening for a number of reasons already mentioned, but one
that nobody is talking about is that Microsoft has long lost its cachet as
_the place_ for new college grads.

I graduated from CMU 10 years ago and almost 20% of the graduating CS majors
went to Microsoft. People were excited to go work on things like the .NET CLR,
Avalon/WPF, and big bets on web services in unexplored spaces.

I'm no longer at Microsoft and I'm interviewing a ton of people from top
schools for internships and full-time positions. I ask every one of them where
else they are looking and the list is always Google, Facebook, Amazon, and
occassionally Apple. Anyone who wants to work on an underdog project is
thinking about joining a startup, where they see they see the opportunity to
innovate/disrupt without beurocracy and the potential to actually reap the
financial benefits of success.

Without the talent, I don't see Microsoft owning the next decade.

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molmalo
This is a pretty optimistic view. Kinect is great. Granted. Windows 7 is
great. Granted. Windows Phone 7 is great. I haven't one, but I'll just say
Granted. But from there, to say _it will erase all traces of Android’s
inconsequential existence on this plane_. Whoaa!! That's a LOT. Manufacturers
choose Android, because they can personalize it and differentiate from the
competition. Carriers privilege android, because they want to control what's
done with the devices, and ask for changes to the manufacturers. They don't
want to change that for now, even if they still have to pay Microsoft for
Android's patents.

That's something that Microsoft still has to solve.

And of course, Windows 8... that OS may define Microsoft's future entirely.
Will it be a success? I don't know. I hope so, but we'll have to wait. If they
manage to impose it as THE real alternative to Apple's tablets (displacing
Android from this position at least in this form factor), Microsoft will
really show its back on track.

And of course, while the article presents Google as _a hyperactive fat kid in
a pastry shop_ who _simply doesn’t know what to focus on_ , Microsoft is
struggling in the same way: Remember Bing, they are still trying to figure out
how to make people use it. Buying Skype (let's hope they can figure out how to
use it better than Ebay). Partnering with Nokia, because the other
manufacturers practically ignored them.

I repeat, I REALLY hope that Microsoft gets back on track. It would be great
for everyone of us! More competition, more advances! But we have to wait a few
key months before we can say something like this.

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mooism2
The line that really grated for me was

> _You can count on Microsoft to ensure all your favorite PC software will be
> backwards-compatible with the Windows 8 tablet._

And, well, no we can't. Windows ARM tablets will be for new-style Metro apps
only, and even if you can run a traditional Windows application on a Windows
x86 tablet, there's no reason to think it will be a good UX, given the
difference in form-factor.

I think Microsoft is getting back on track, and I agree that's a good thing.
But the article is over-enthusiastic about it.

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alexeiz
Rebirth of Microsoft is certainly not happening as talented developers and
managers are leaving Microsoft and being replaced by mediocre people. This is
obvious once you see that the number of innovative products that Microsoft
produces is shrinking with every year. But Microsoft has a lot of money. It'll
allow them to stay afloat for a while. They are going to become a company like
IBM - big, but largely irrelevant.

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latch
The article says Microsoft will succeed because Windows Phone 7 will destroy
Android and Windows 8 will power non-shitty tablets running all our favorite
apps.

Some of the basis for this? Kinect is great. IE is "trouncing" the competition
and Windows 7 is the best OS "barring any Apple offering."

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ricefield
Lots of hyperbole and even more subjectivity. If you're going to make the
claim that 2012 and onwards is going to be MSFTs, at least cite some numbers,
don't just gush your love and enthusiasm for their products.

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mvikramaditya
I would like to know how much the Author was paid to write this?

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jopt
Use question marks like this:

I would like to know how much the author was paid to write this.

How much was the author paid to write this?

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mvikramaditya
Sigh. You find Grammar Nazis everywhere nowadays. And yes you are right. My
mistake.

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pandres
"That is not dead which can eternal lie."

