In Case You Don't Appreciate How Fast The 'Windows Monopoly' Is Getting Destroyed...

Business Insider ^ | 07/17/2013 | Henry Blodget

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In the late 1990s, a single technology company became so unfathomably rich and powerful--and so hellbent on dominating not just its own industry but a massive and rapidly growing new one--that the U.S. government dragged the company into court and threatened to break it up over anti-trust violations. The case was settled, and the company, Microsoft, agreed to play nicer.

But it turned out that the world had nothing to worry about. As often happens in the technology industry, what has really destroyed Microsoft's choke hold on the global personal computing market over the past 15 years hasn't been a legal threat but a market shift.

Just when it looked like Microsoft's vision of the PC as the center of the tech world would lead to the creation of the world's first trillion-dollar company, the Internet came along.

And it washed over the PC industry like a tidal wave swallowing a pond.

In terms of market value, Microsoft's loss of power has long been visible: The stock is still trading at about half the level it hit at the peak of the tech boom 13 years ago. The effects on the actual PC industry fundamentals have taken longer to develop, but they are also now crystal clear.

Microsoft's "Windows monopoly" hasn't been so much destroyed as rendered irrelevant. Thanks to the explosion of Internet-based cloud computing and smartphones, tablets, and other mobile gadgets, the once all-powerful platform of the desktop operating system has now been reduced to little more than a device driver. As long as your gadget can connect to the Internet and run some apps, it doesn't matter what operating system you use.

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[Red in Blue PA]

When is the last time you heard people talk about Microsoft?

[CedarDave]

For your tech PING list.

[SeekAndFind]

[E. Pluribus Unum]

In the late 1990s, a single technology company became so unfathomably rich and powerful--and so hellbent on dominating not just its own industry but a massive and rapidly growing new one--that the U.S. government dragged the company into court and threatened to break it up over anti-trust violations.

That's not at all what happened.

What happened was Bill Gates wasn't making political donations, and the Democrats dragged him in by the short hairs and taught him the error of his ways.

Now the Democrats are the happy recipients of Bill's beneficence, and all his anti-trust problems have gone away.

[SeekAndFind]

[OneWingedShark]

I did last month.
What's really sad is the direction MS has been going, more towards trendy/looks-good than usable; it's been going that way for a while and if I had to pinpoint a spot I'd say it was the redesign of MS Word[/Office] with that stupid big globe-menu. [The ribbon interface itself is basically just a tabset with the appropriate UI control-elements; nothing really new there, but that big circle is ugly and nonintuitive.]

[Carriage Hill]

When the crappy/lousy/POS Win-8 OS joke came out.

[molson209]

Ah , Windows 8 works great

[Nervous Tick]

>> When is the last time you heard people talk about Microsoft?

Does “@#$%^&* Windows! %$^&* &^%$#** Microsoft “programmers”! %$#@^&*!!!!” count?

[EternalVigilance]

Exactly right. I was going to say exactly that, but you saved me the trouble.

[ShadowAce]

[VanDeKoik]

Android is now a full OS?

The Microsoft haters are really losing it. Next thing you know they will count IPod touches as PCs.

[VanDeKoik]

Now.

Yesterday.

Tomorrow.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

What is your definition of an OS? Of a “full” OS? Just curious.

[Resolute Conservative]

I just ripped them in a email over their UI presentation on their forums. I have been designing Windows desktop/webpage apps for over 20 years and their “new” style really sucks. They released a technology (WPF) that can do wonders when you use it, but instead they op for this sissified, bland metro look. It is ugly.

[dangerdoc]

Is android not a full OS?

[OneWingedShark]

I just ripped them in a email over their UI presentation on their forums. I have been designing Windows desktop/webpage apps for over 20 years and their “new” style really sucks. They released a technology (WPF) that can do wonders when you use it, but instead they op for this sissified, bland metro look. It is ugly.

Very much agreed.