Comments on: How Microsoft will compete with 'free'

Jean-Louis Gass?e explains how Microsoft's future business model will borrow from both Apple and Google.

[wawadave]

MS reinvents the DUMB Terminal! lol

This cloud computing is all about making personal computers obsolete. And giving people a useless propriety peace of junk that will only run their programs and nothing else.
You think vista is useless far far worse it yet to come!!!

[Kwasiowusu]

How does Microsoft compete with "free"?
Well Microsoft has been competing with "free" and winning for the pver 20 years.. Linux was out before even Windows NT came out, and yet Linux has close to zero market share on desktops.
Like Scott McNeally one said, Linux is free like the gift of a puppy is free.
When someone gives you a puppy as a present, you know you are in for years, of food bills, medical bills, dog walker bills, etc etc. Ends up costing you a fortune. Same with Linux.
This so-called "free" propaganda from the open source crazies, needs to be debunked.

[Penguinisto]

Err, Kwasi, you've got yourself mixed-up again.

Linux was mostly a hobbyist OS and stayed that way in development until roughly 2000 or so. That happens when there's no marketing budget.

Also, if MSFT is "winning", then why is it losing marketshare in the server room to Linux, and on home desktops/laptops to Apple (which incidentally has the open-source Darwin as OSX' core)? If MSFT is "winning" then why did it get stomped flat in the mobile space --in less than 8 months, no less-- by the iPhone (again, with an open-source cored OSX)?

[MrMaximus]

Actually, Google gets their servers from a major brand manufacturer.

[wolivere]

Microsoft starting converting hotmail to NT4 in 2000, then moved it to server 2000 and last I heard was now on 2003.

World of Warcraft last I heard was an MS/Oracle platform

[cephalis]

Mr. Gassee is in over his head. He should have talked to someone up to date on Linux. Another issue is trust. Whenever MS had an opportunity to gouge the user, they have taken it. I trust the many developers of Linux more than I do MS. Look at the trend curves; how much has Linux improved in the last 5 years compared with MS Windows. No way is MS going to win this one, by going head-to-head. Their real talent lies in their legal department.

[victor_sf]

"Imagine a Google netbook."

Scary stuff! Having all my applications controlled by Google? Thanks, but no thanks! Last week Google completely screwed up the iGoogle homepage without prior warning to users. Now, do I want to wake up, having to write an important document or a spreadsheet and find out that google has "improved" the Word Processor and Spreadsheet apps? No.

[bharris999]

The real issue here is the public's attitude toward Microsoft. It continues to deteriorate largely due to Microsoft arrogance. I know that I find fewer bugs in free software than I do in MS software. It appears that they are so busy patting themselves on the back for their "feature rich" products that they don't notice that in many ways their products are not very good. Documentation is not directed to those who don't know but toward those that already know. I never use MS documentation anymore because it is worthless. How many versions of Word and Excel have we seen with just marginal improvements? How many windows bugs are still there after 13 years? How many new bugs have been introduced with Vista? Until MS starts really getting back in touch with people as they did in the early 90's and stops creating a new "payday" every 3 or so years that produces changes that are of little or no value to the average user, they will continue to lose and eventually cease to be a player