Microsoft: The Next 10 Years

It�s hard to believe a world without Microsoft. I can hear 10 million Microsoft haters stating, �not having Microsoft would be great!� but the truth is that Mircrosoft is such a part of our technological ecosystem that it would be hell if the technology company suddenly did not exist. Prior to diving head first into the MS world, I was a complete Apple geek. I worked for Apple, used Macs at home and only wrote about Macintosh on my tech blog. To be completely honest, I thought Microsoft only made an operating system and some server applications. After selling, configuring and maintaining Microsoft products for two years, I just can�t imagine what it would be like if this company was no longer around.

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For the Mac geeks reading this; perhaps I should lend some education about the big M and their huge product offerings. They make Windows and currently sell Windows xp and Vista. The Windows operating system extends to server class OSes as well from Server 2003, Small Business Server, DataCenter, Enterprise, Storage and more are all different versions of the Server suite of operating systems. Microsoft also develops the most popular suite of productivity software, most popular database engine (SQL) and is in the top 3 for point of sale software with RMS.Microsoft also develops hardware in the form of keyboards, mice, The Xbox and Zune portable media player. Microsoft is the publisher of hundreds of video games and various other software for Mac and Windows. Their Internet browser is number 1 in market share and their special version of Windows for mobile phones is quickly gaining market share over traditional Palm and BlackBerry devices.

That last paragraph lacked proper formating and broke many writing laws but there�s no simple way to put Microsoft�s most popular software suite in writing. Either way, let�s begin by looking to the future. Microsoft could stop innovating tomorrow and it would take 10 years for people to stop using their software. If SQL Server 2005, Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Windows Vista were the last version of each piece of software, Microsoft would continue to sell licenses of these products for another decade. IT moves slowly. Switching to new platforms costs a lot of money. You have to train IT staff, train employees and sometimes buy new hardware to support a different application or operating system.

Simply put, for the next decade, Microsoft will save billions because they won�t need R&D; or marketing costs. They�ll just keep a sales team and technical support staff and keep downsizing each year until extinction. Since we know that Microsoft can potentially last another decade, they don�t have too much pressure to truly innovate and create compelling software for their customers. Microsoft is planning on releasing the Microsoft Server 2008 system (5 years after their last major release), Windows Vista is out of the door (6 years after the release of Windows XP) and everything else has seen updates every 18 months. Zune 2.0 is about to come out, Windows Mobile 6 is still brand new and Office 2007 sales are in line with expectations.

I honestly feel that Microsoft could continue enhancing and improving their current products with no need to simplify. When your market share in the desktop OS market is above 90%, there is a demand for 7 different versions. 200 million people buying Windows and they don�t need every feature that is offered in the �Ultimate� edition and for some people, paying $149 for Vista Home Basic is all they need. Just like the iPod has different versions and price ranges, Microsoft has done this for Windows Server, Windows Client and the Office Suite. On a personal note, I have began hating on those that make fun of Microsoft for having so many different versions of Vista. My technology advice for clients has usually been to buy what they can afford if they have no idea what feature does what and choice is great for consumers. If Motorola can make different models of their phones and Apple can brand different iPods then Microsoft can sell multiple versions of Vista and not be made out to be the bad guy.

Microsoft�s sales may continue to be great over the next ten years but one thing that always affects the stock price is the company�s outlook from the press. The only evil that will keep Microsoft down is the negative attention they get and every competitor is constantly trying to keep Microsoft down. When Google was trying to crush Windows Live search, they publicly called Microsoft�s choice for making that the default home page a part of MS�s monopoly. When Symantec didn�t like how Microsoft was implementing the Kernal and User Access Control in Vista they spent months trying to expose every flaw about the operating system in an attempt to make Windows Vista look less secure and, in turn, sell more copies of Symantec security software.

Each time a report comes out regarding Microsoft�s product issues, their stock feels it. It�s never a huge hit but every point affects their huge market capita and Bill Gates loses 10 million bucks. From monopoly claims, dying Xboxes, low sales of Zune players and slow adoption of Windows Vista; every negative item has an affect and that�s the one thing that will hurt Microsoft over the next ten years.

Well done Adam, on a great read! Your report is an interesting one, and I hope other's take note.

Again, great job!

In retrospect, I did lose track of what I was aiming with on this article. i'll try to write something a little more on topic next time.

Honestly, I just wanted to illustrate to the Mac community that Microsoft has way too much income from various sectors to go away any time soon. Even without Windows, the death of Microsoft is a long way off.

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