Next Microsoft CEO faces big challenges, tough choices

[Abe]

A poor uptake just means Win7 must still be perfectly fine for most... That does not mean Win8 is a disaster. There is nothing wrong with the OS.

It does when it comes to profits going forward. There needs to be compelling reasons for people to upgrade. That alone makes Windows 8 a disaster. The whole start menu debacle made it a lot worse for MS than it should have been.

 

[Abe]

Poor uptake of Windows 8?

Most reports I can find put it at 5% of the market already... thats not too shabby for an OS that is only a year old.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/arti...idens_even_as_new_OS_gains_share?pageNumber=1



That looks pretty dismal to me. Vista was 5% after 5 months and we all know how much of a failure that was.

 

[backstreetboy]

A poor uptake just means Win7 must still be perfectly fine for most... That does not mean Win8 is a disaster. There is nothing wrong with the OS.

Not according to MS:

Jon DeVaan, the corporate vice president for Windows Development at Microsoft has mentioned that Windows 8.1 will have a “fighting chance” of being as reliable as Windows 7 “in some areas.”

 

[cerebus]

http://allthingsd.com/20130823/steve-ballmer-just-made-769-million/

Here’s one metric by which Ballmer will be judged harshly. On the last day of 1999, the day before he took over as CEO, Microsoft’s market capitalization was $600 billion. On the day before he announced his intention to retire, it was less than $270 billion.

He's made money but he's destroyed value to do so. And he's left Microsoft in a terrible market position in the future, trying to make mobile work.

 

[genetic]

Especially when there is something wrong with it.

Ok then, tell us what's wrong with it.

 

[Maverick Jester]

Ok then, tell us what's wrong with it.

There are a plethora of articles out there which state what is wrong with Windows 8. You still haven't answered the initial question posed to you, of why Microsoft are releasing Windows 8.1 if there is nothing wrong with 8 in the first place.

Answering questions with more questions doesn't really prove anything.

 

[genetic]

There are a plethora of articles out there which state what is wrong with Windows 8. You still haven't answered the initial question posed to you, of why Microsoft are releasing Windows 8.1 if there is nothing wrong with 8 in the first place.

Answering questions with more questions doesn't really prove anything.

Windows 8.1 releases new enhancements and some new features. There are no fundamental changes to the operating system.

By the sounds of your reasoning, they released 8.1 because win8 was 'broken'.

Please tell me why every other single software developer releases updates? Is it because something is wrong with other software packages?

 

[AlphaJohn]

Scrap the Win code base and start fresh from a FreeBSD core

Windows NT borrowed heavily on BSD, in fact the entire TCP network stack came from BSD.

I would not say going backwards would be good way to spend R&D $$$'s, a better selution for me would be to make a clear split between Desktop/tablet, Keep ModernUI on tablets and give desktops the ability to run ModernUI apps in a Window, you know like modernmix is doing.

As for the new CEO, I recon they will have to hire from outside as Steve made sure nobody could replace him.

Windows 8.1 releases new enhancements and some new features. There are no fundamental changes to the operating system.

By the sounds of your reasoning, they released 8.1 because win8 was 'broken'.

Please tell me why every other single software developer releases updates? Is it because something is wrong with other software packages?

Not so sure about that claim. I am running 8.1 for some time now and I can tell you that I still struggle to find crap in Windows 8, and simple things like finding a bloody control panel.