In a word, Windows 7 means "everything" for Microsoft's future. We can all talk about the insane number of SharePoint licenses sold, how well Windows Server 2008 has been put together, Bing's surprising rise in the search market, and exciting moves by Microsoft into Online Services for hosted Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint and Office Web Online. But the bottom line is if Windows 7 flops, it's a steep slippery slope to the bottom for Redmond, with lots of competitors from Google to Apple ready to further sling grease on the skids for Microsoft's fall. Everything. That's how much is riding on Windows 7 for Microsoft.
The Windows 7 beta and RTM versions have been stellar and have turned back many who soured on Microsoft because of Vista, at least enough to see Windows 7 in a positive light. Microsoft haters aside of course, as they'll never see anything good come out of Redmond. But even Windows 7's positive aura that's been glowing since early this year hasn't staved off people moving to Apple Macs, evidenced by Apple's tremendous record earnings and record for Macs sold.
But even if Windows 7 is wildly successful, it won't allow Microsoft to let up on their move to the cloud with Microsoft Online services and Windows Azure. Microsoft has already faltered there on two fronts because of the Danger data loss, and from own personal experience, the cancellation of the Live Framework Technical Preview, a sort of Live Mesh for applications. I thought there was a lot of promise for Live Framework but apparently Microsoft doesn't. And if we look at Windows Mobile, Microsoft's not only failed, they've shown utter incompetence by rolling over and handing the mobile market over to Apple, Blackberry and Google. And the Windows Live services still have yet to prove themselves.
SharePoint's going gangbusters. Windows Server 2008 is very solid. Hyper-V has been well accepted and holds its own relatively well. Office 2010 won't blow you away but the Technical Preview is sold, and the Office Web Online offering holds promise.
Microsoft is far from being out of the woods yet. A huge Windows 7 success could turn the momentum for Microsoft. And a lack luster success or falter by Windows 7 will bring out calls of Microsoft's pending doom and prove critics like Gartner right.
Like this? Here are some of Mitchell's recent posts.
- 5 Of The Coolest Things You Should Check Out In Windows 7 Today
- SharePoint - Your Next (Current) Business App Platform
- Revo Uninstaller - A Better Way To Uninstall Windows Software
- Remote Desktop To Windows From Your iPhone"
- If The Cloud Were Really The Cloud Then Outages Would Be Rare
Recent Podcasts:
- Chris Bryant, Microsoft, Office Web Apps – Microsoft’s Nail in Google Apps' Coffin?
- Sam Ramji, CodePlex Foundation
- T.A. McCann, Gist. If You Like Xobni, You'll Love Gist
- Dux Raymond Sy, Innovative-E, Are you doing what it takes to succeed at implementing SharePoint?
- Sarah Haase. Guiding SharePoint Users To Success at BestBuy.com
Mitchell's book recommendations:
SharePoint 2007 Disaster Recovery Guide
Pro Hyper-V: Expert's Voice in Virtualization
Beginning SharePoint 2007 Administration: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
Beginning SharePoint 2007: Building Team Solutions with MOSS 2007
Also visit Mitchell's other blogs and podcasts:
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Data loss from BPOS not that bad
Actually, the data loss issues from Microsoft Online Services, particularly in the BPOS Suite is considerably lower than what most enterprise organizations can boast. The uptime is also financially backed, so there is a lot of benefit to being in the Microsoft cloud, in spite of the data loss fears.
Choice is good, not bad.
You make it sound as if you only want one software company controlling the IT world. Be careful what you wish for. I prefer to live in a world where many software companies each offer great software for their niche. So what if Microsoft can't compete with Google in search or Apple in the mobile OS realm, MS does a great job at building a PC-OS that integrates well with many pieces of hardware. Would you want to buy your sneakers, jeans, shirts, socks, et cetera, all from the same manufacture?
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