The End of Windows

Strarechery ^ | April 2, 2018 | By Ben Thompson

[Swordmaker]

The story of Windows’ decline is relatively straightforward and a classic case of disruption:

• The Internet dramatically reduced application lock-in
• PCs became “good enough”, elongating the upgrade cycle
• Smartphones first addressed needs the PC couldn’t, then over time started taking over PC functionality directly

What is more interesting, though, is the story of Windows’ decline in Redmond, culminating with last week’s reorganization that, for the first time since 1980, left the company without a division devoted to personal computer operating systems (Windows was split, with the core engineering group placed under Azure, and the rest of the organization effectively under Office 365; there will still be Windows releases, but it is no longer a standalone business). Such a move didn’t seem possible a mere five years ago, when, in the context of another reorganization, former-CEO Steve Ballmer wrote a memo insisting that Windows was the future (emphasis mine):

In the critical choice today of digital ecosystems, Microsoft has an unmatched advantage in work and productivity experiences, and has a unique ability to drive unified services for everything from tasks and documents to entertainment, games and communications. I am convinced that by deploying our smart-cloud assets across a range of devices, we can make Windows devices once again the devices to own. Other companies provide strong experiences, but in their own way they are each fragmented and limited. Microsoft is best positioned to take advantage of the power of one, and bring it to our over 1 billion users.<

That memo prompted me to write a post entitled Services, Not Devices that argued that Ballmer’s strategic priorities were exactly backwards: Microsoft’s services should be businesses in their own right, not Windows’ differentiators. . .

[Carriage Hill]

[BlueLancer]

When my stepson was getting ready to deploy with his unit, my wife and I bought him a new laptop computer so that he could use it to livechat and keep in contact with his wife.

Before giving it to him at his farewell party, we took it out of the box and replaced it with an Etch-a-Sketch, resealed the box, and wrapped it up all nicely.

When he unwrapped it, he was thrilled to see the box and opened it quickly. The look on his face was priceless when, after opening the several boxes inside, he pulled out the Etch-a-Sketch. Straight-faced, I outlined to him the simplicity of design of his new "computer", ending with showing him how to reboot it by turning it upside down and shaking it.

Then we gave him the real computer ...

[Ingtar]

Moving to same kind of subscription based service that Office has become.

[dayglored]

The End of Windows? ... PING!

You can find all the Windows Ping list threads with FR search: just search on keyword "windowspinglist".

Thanks to Swordmaker for the ping!

[Sirius Lee]

Bring back VAX/VMS! I hate all of you. And get off my lawn.

[killermosquito]

Excel will keep Windows alive for a long time.

Shortly after Balmer left I immediately bought as many shares of MS as I could afford knowing that it would rise. I’m happy it has doubled. WHY OH WHY DIDN’T I DUMP MY GE STOCK?!?!

[miliantnutcase]

Part of the problem with Microsoft that I am first hand witness to, is their divisions have very poor communication with each other. The Windows OS and server teams don’t always communicate changes to teams that say run their enterprise solutions such as SCOM and SCCM. It’s really sad at times.

[Noumenon]

Linux - Linux Mint in particular - ftw.

[Alas Babylon!]

This claim has been consistently made since the mid 1990s.

Sure, the world is evolving, but so is Microsoft.

Apple has won the device (not desktop or server) war, but the business world is really Microsoft’s focus.

Is there still a future for a desktop? Yes, but businesses want cheaper devices than Apple sells.

And despite the end users (a totally different group than the business world) here that hate the cloud, for a business that make their money using the Internet, why would the cloud be an issue? They’re already on it, making a profit.

[SamAdams76]

Smartphones are still just toys.

Not exactly. Depends on how you utilize them.

I run a field operation and we get almost everything done through apps on smartphones. Open, work and close tickets. Submit and approve expenses. Scheduling. Setting up conference calls. List goes on and on.

The only real drawbacks is the screen size, ability to input data and battery life. But eventually we will be wirelessly connecting to full size monitors and keyboards, using the smartphone as the "computer". As for batteries, very soon, batteries will be "wirelessly" charged just by walking around an office, home or any other public place that has charging infrastructure.

So battery running out will never be a problem again unless you go way off the beaten path.

The processing power of a typical smartphone is much greater than personal computers were not too long ago.

Eventually all of us will be carrying on our person all the computing power we will ever need. For better or worse, all our data will be in the cloud and we will simply pull it down when we need it.

[SgtHooper]

“Please hang on sir, as I’ll transfer you to our Apple support line.” :-)

[Vaduz]

Smartphones don’t work all the time it depends where your ta no so with PCs so much for smart.

[Windflier]

You can txt and lol and rofl on phones, but you need real estate do to real work.

Truth.

Although we've incorporated smart phones and wireless devices into our business, the PCs still rule the office.

[Wuli]

The search for privacy is real, and as it gets bigger and smarter the cloud will correctly be seen as not where privacy can be obtained (what pays for “cloud” services?, again, you are the product; Microsoft does not have a new paradigm, it is giving in to the current one advanced by Google, Facebook, Amazon, ect.). The disrupting technologies that will give advantage to the movement for privacy will be those taking memory of all kinds to stupendously high levels in stupendously small sizes. Massive memory, on a credit card size device, is what people will take from device to device, whether something that sits at home or something they are “mobile” with.

[RedWing9]

...thing that doesn’t go away and still gives BSODs, creates its own malware, misfires often (Office still crashes on modern hardware after a few days, Outlook still gets corrupted databases after a year or two, etc.) after all these years.

Bullpucky... I have two devices at home that have not seen a BSOD in 3+ years (Win 7 then Win 10), nor has my work laptop (Win 7). Outlook 2016 (@home) has been stable, and Outlook 2013 (@work) is stable; Work instance of outlook has 7 archives attached, some >5GB - the DB limitation was fixed in 2010. Maybe you should upgrade and get off Win98/Office 2003 - LOL /snark

You're just a pissed off MAC user who hates Windows and likely really doesn't ever use the platform ("refuse to use it except in business situations where I can’t, or where it is an entrenched [sic] sever.").

[Crusher138]

I started working with computers in 1983. In 1984 I was a Computer Marketing Manager with Tandy Corp./Radio Shack. They taught me UNIX and the upstart MS-DOS operating system.

By 1987 I was working for a company as sales and IT. I wrote the software the company ran on (until 2006). We had, when I left, 36 workstations and 4 servers. I was a Certified Microsoft Network Administrator and I custom built Windows boxes as a 2nd source of income.

I said all that to point out my deep roots in the Windows world. That being said, I now use Apple products almost exclusively.

Driver issues, security issues, hardware issues...I could handle them all. When someone else was paying for my time, I was good with them.

VMWare Fusion was the gateway drug that got me to buy my first Mac. I hated (and still do) QuickBooks for Mac, but really didn’t want to go with Vista. At the Apple store an employee demonstrated VMFusion running Windows and OSX simultaneously and I was hooked. I could have my cake and eat it too.

Over time we have come to use Windows less and less. We have 10 Macs, in various flavors, and one physical Windows machine (for print production). VMWare Fusion/Windows is only running on 3 of Macs - those that need to run QuickBooks.

We have had ONE hardware failure in ten years. One.

The “maintenance” I have to do on the computers, server and network is next to nothing. There are occasional updates.

All my employees and departments communicate seamlessly between their mobile devices and desktops.

Some days I get nostalgic and want to tinker again with Windows boxes...then I come to my senses.

While some will decry Apple’s “closed ecosystem”, we find it gives us a consistent experience at a much reduced cost (in money and time).

So, goodbye Windows...you were good in your time, but that time has passed, at least for us.

[RideForever]

I miss my Amiga. True pre-emptive OS in the 80’s on a PC. OS2 Warp shared this feature.

[goldbux]

* * *

[itsahoot]

The Hackers are like Willy Sutton.

Willie didn't rob banks with an armed guard contingent as opposed to unguarded bank either.

[itsahoot]

MAC is one world. And after 4 decades they still have not taken over, despite being a superior operating system. (Yes, I agree it is) Why do you think that is?

Taking a wild guess here but...