|
|
 |
Friday
March 19, 2010 Since 1922 |
Microsoft's Problems
By Aaron Barbee
Contributor Published March 1, 2009 I’m worried about Microsoft. They took a huge hit with Windows Vista and are now rushing out Windows 7 ahead of schedule. From the looks of it, Windows 7 is only slightly better than Vista and Windows XP appears to still be the operating system of choice.
All this is compounded by the fact that Bill Gates is now officially gone from Microsoft, and there are a ton of competitors and wanna-be’s nipping at their heels (and making some very nice alternative products either free or very cheap).
The Windows 7 testers are accusing Microsoft of not listening to their concerns and comments about the new operating system and they’re pretty open about it. In reading the information posted by the testers and Microsoft to get both sides of the story, it appears to me that Microsoft wants to make sure that the new Windows fixes the known issues that will affect a large majority of the users rather than what the testers report because of the short timeframe to release. Either way, just read what I said last year about buying Vista and apply it to Windows 7. Don’t be the first to get it; you don’t want to be a guinea pig.
There are some products out there that are giving Microsoft a run for its money, and if the end users knew about them, Microsoft would be out of business real quick. I’m talking about specifically a free alternative to Microsoft Office called Open Office. You can download it at www.openoffice.org. It’s free, it’s legal, and it’s designed to look and work like Microsoft Office’s Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You can read Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents and even create them. Give it a shot if you’re tired of paying $400-$500 for Microsoft’s Office. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Another nail in Microsoft’s coffin is the fact that Dell is offering computers with a free alternative to Windows; it’s called Ubuntu Linux. Yeah, most users won’t like it because there’s a learning curve involved, but it’s no different than learning Vista.
I like Microsoft and their products, but I think that all these factors, and more, are going to make things very uncomfortable for Microsoft. I think in five to 10 years Microsoft will either be out of business or very different than they are today.
Check out my web site www.TexasComputerGuru.com for supplemental information and previous articles as well.
Aaron Barbee owns Texas Computer Guru, a local computer services company for on-site business and residential needs. He can be contacted at 281-628-5099. E-mail questions for Aaron to sunnews(at)baytownsun.com.
Contributor Published March 1, 2009 I’m worried about Microsoft. They took a huge hit with Windows Vista and are now rushing out Windows 7 ahead of schedule. From the looks of it, Windows 7 is only slightly better than Vista and Windows XP appears to still be the operating system of choice.
All this is compounded by the fact that Bill Gates is now officially gone from Microsoft, and there are a ton of competitors and wanna-be’s nipping at their heels (and making some very nice alternative products either free or very cheap).
The Windows 7 testers are accusing Microsoft of not listening to their concerns and comments about the new operating system and they’re pretty open about it. In reading the information posted by the testers and Microsoft to get both sides of the story, it appears to me that Microsoft wants to make sure that the new Windows fixes the known issues that will affect a large majority of the users rather than what the testers report because of the short timeframe to release. Either way, just read what I said last year about buying Vista and apply it to Windows 7. Don’t be the first to get it; you don’t want to be a guinea pig.
There are some products out there that are giving Microsoft a run for its money, and if the end users knew about them, Microsoft would be out of business real quick. I’m talking about specifically a free alternative to Microsoft Office called Open Office. You can download it at www.openoffice.org. It’s free, it’s legal, and it’s designed to look and work like Microsoft Office’s Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You can read Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents and even create them. Give it a shot if you’re tired of paying $400-$500 for Microsoft’s Office. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Another nail in Microsoft’s coffin is the fact that Dell is offering computers with a free alternative to Windows; it’s called Ubuntu Linux. Yeah, most users won’t like it because there’s a learning curve involved, but it’s no different than learning Vista.
I like Microsoft and their products, but I think that all these factors, and more, are going to make things very uncomfortable for Microsoft. I think in five to 10 years Microsoft will either be out of business or very different than they are today.
Check out my web site www.TexasComputerGuru.com for supplemental information and previous articles as well.
Aaron Barbee owns Texas Computer Guru, a local computer services company for on-site business and residential needs. He can be contacted at 281-628-5099. E-mail questions for Aaron to sunnews(at)baytownsun.com.