Microsoft On Innovation
Why a former Microsoft Exec went Mac:
Why are Microsoft products so endlessly frustrating to use? Even techno-geeks like me get annoyed by Windows. Iím tired of spending the first 10 minutes of my day rebooting just so I can get to work. Microsoft Outlook 2003, the latest version of the companyís e-mail and calendar software, hangs for me about once a day, requiring me to restart my PC. I also have a problem with Word 2003: Whenever I bullet a line of text, every line in the document gets a bullet. Asking Windows to shut down is more of a request than a commandóit might, it might not. And recently, Internet Explorer stopped opening for me.I know Iím not alone. If youíre like me, youíve invested in technology to become more efficient and productive but mutter about the many frustrations of the digital lifestyle. Technology is my hobby as well as my job, so I regularly ponder why software giant Microsoft Corp., which has more than $56 billion in cash, hasnít solved more of these problems.
I began using Microsoft products 23 years ago, at age 11, and I worked for Microsoft from 1991 to 1999 as a technology manager. For many years, I was a Microsoft loyalist. While aware of Microsoftís shortcomings, I always believed that the Soft did its best to improve products over time, as it did with Windows XP. But recently, Iíve had a crisis of faith. Perhaps Iíve rebooted Windows one too many times.
Over the past year, my frustration with Windows grew, as did my envy of Appleís cool new products. Finally, last month I went out and bought an Apple Macintosh G5 and began using the new Mac operating system, OS X. It had been years since Iíd used a Macintosh. Until recently, I dismissed those who did as impractical, elitist hipsters, and I mocked the Mac ìswitchî ads on TV.
But in the first five minutes on my new Mac, I was surfing the Internet, sending e-mail, and ripping a CD. OS X has been a breath of badly needed fresh air after Windows.
This made me wonder about Microsoftís willingness to innovate and compete. Why are Microsoft products still so difficult to use and so unreliable? Why is the company improving them so slowly? Is Microsoft losing its competitive edge? Has the company seen its best days?
I wouldn't know. This blog item was written on an eMac, while listening to iTunes.
I have to agree. I've been a telecom analyst for 25+ years, and no other maker of computer systems software would survive with the utter shoddiness of Windows. The larger hardware typically comes with operating systems that rarely fail. You can't afford to lock up a bank's operations.
MS has had decades to simply make their system not crash frequently.
Their approach reminds me of those crappy, see-thru toys that came flooding over from Asia. Visually pretty, but don't work correctly.
Oligonicella at June 3, 2004 6:53 AM
Gates holds a first-look contract for *all* Apple technologies. If they come up with something, he gets the first peek at it. He has an 8-or-9 figure investment in Apple stock. Through his support for the MS Office suite on OSX, he decides whether Apple lives or dies. Whimsically.
Bill's planet: Surrender, Dorothy.
Crid at June 3, 2004 2:47 PM
Finally someone who switched, and validates my feelings for mac. Wahoo!
~T at June 3, 2004 6:40 PM