For all you Microsoft haters out there...

[Cole Parker]

Seems everyone here has a dislike of Microsoft. This might be an interesting article for you:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/microsoft-capitulation-end-windows-everywhere-benedict-evans

[Merkin]

It's a brave visionary who truly can see the end.

[dude]

Self serving piece by an unpersuasive writer. Bleh

[Rutabaga]

It seems to me as though Microsoft has been thumbing its corporate nose at massive segments of its existing user base while being clueless about the new initiatives it has (somewhat halfheartedly) tried. Windows 8 was a cruel joke, especially on the enormous installed base of Windows 7 users who were perfectly happy (and still are). Microsoft rushed out Windows 8.1 to essentially provide an ability to choose the appearance of Windows 7 again and get rid of all the carnival atmosphere of Windows 8. Meanwhile we see Apple and its iPhone -- which is comically inadequate and clunky as a business tool -- putting Blackberry out of business and establishing itself as a major player in the smartphone/portable world that even Microsoft perceives as the place where the world is moving.

A good friend of mine has a brother who has been working for Microsoft in Redmond for 20+ years. He (the friend) told me that he had remarked to his brother that it must be nice to have such a secure job with a big company. His brother responded that everyone there lives in daily fear of losing their job because of some major reorganization or realignment of the company.

Microsoft products are still important in the enterprise realm -- particularly server technologies. The alternatives are UNIX-based systems or mainframes. That world is not going to go away. But it is clear that Microsoft (through Windows) will never be "everywhere."

R