MS wants so desperately to be recognized as having great software and great experience. First step:
- Stop allowing OEMs to bundle third-party crapware with Windows OS. This will go a long way to building a better view of Windows. Charge license fee from them to make up the difference. They can afford it. How much profit do you really need?
- Don't change the name, make it better. You'll only confuse the people for whom the big, blue E is the Internet. Yes, I have people I know who think the E is the Internet. (How do they dress themselves in the morning?)
- Incorporate a sandbox in IE to help protect the idiots who are too ignornat to not surf the Internet as administrator. (Better yet, also suggest a non-admin account for daily use during first launch.)
- 90%+ of all malware getting on computers is a direct result of people surfing with admin rights. Once this is taken care of, the dropoff rate for infections is amazing.
Do you actually know someone who prefers using IE to any other browser? No right? Even if they build a perfect product, product perceptions in general need a demarketing process to be changed. Since they are so far away from having a perfect product, having a new brand (that doesn't have a perfect but a decent one) that thrives to get as close as possible to perfection is the best move.
I have to absolutely disagree with him saying that IE "has negative perceptions that no longer represent the product". It has improoved a lot in these last years for sure, but as a part of the web developing community I can say it's the browser that gives the most problems among the major ones.
They still have some major technical stuff to fix, but it's definitely the best move.
- Stop allowing OEMs to bundle third-party crapware with Windows OS. This will go a long way to building a better view of Windows. Charge license fee from them to make up the difference. They can afford it. How much profit do you really need?
- Don't change the name, make it better. You'll only confuse the people for whom the big, blue E is the Internet. Yes, I have people I know who think the E is the Internet. (How do they dress themselves in the morning?)
- Incorporate a sandbox in IE to help protect the idiots who are too ignornat to not surf the Internet as administrator. (Better yet, also suggest a non-admin account for daily use during first launch.)
- 90%+ of all malware getting on computers is a direct result of people surfing with admin rights. Once this is taken care of, the dropoff rate for infections is amazing.