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Windows "Blue"

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40hz:
Regarding some of Softpedia's reported 'rumors'...what are these guys smoking?

"The Redmondians are reportedly planning to make Windows Blue a low-cost or even free operating system, just to make sure all users will make the move to the new OS....-TaoPhoenix (November 28, 2012, 02:02 PM)
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That's simple wishful thinking on Softpedia's part. Free on that scale is not something Microsoft does. Besides, they already made that very move when they turned a complete blind eye towards all the installations using "borrowed" OEM media for Windows95 and Office back in the 90s. Dell's copies of Windows and Office got passed around quicker than a spliff at a Grateful Dead concert back then. That was what established Microsoft as "what got used."

Letting everybody grab a copy for "free" effectively neutered Wordperfect, Lotus, Novell, Netscape, Harvard Graphics, Borland - and just about everyone else who was actual competition. That also prevented BSD and Linux from gaining anything other than a toehold on the desktop. So there's really no need to repeat that market growth strategy again. Now it's time to cash in on it.

The Windows SDK would also be updated to the new release, while Microsoft would encourage developers to create apps for Windows Blue, with a lowered focus on Windows 8.

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I think that's largely wishful thinking too - as borne out by Microsoft's recent announcement ending TechNet software subscriptions.

Microsoft wants big developers who can pay the tariff and play the game Microsoft's way. They're not interested in dealing with 5,000 small developers - no matter how innovative.

Anybody that has a product Microsoft truly wants will wither be sued into submission, sell out to Microsoft - or face a protracted and expensive patent battle. Microsoft could also simply take what it wants and then tell the smaller guy: "Come sue me - and may the man with the deepest pockets win!" That's a strategy that worked wonders for all those Asian knockoff shops.

Nope. It's all been done before with the railroad companies, auto manufacturers, airlines and telcos. It will be done again with software development.

In fact, it already is being done.

Right now I'm waiting to see if Microsoft finally makes good on Ballmer's threats about legal action and finally goes after Linux big time for patent infringement. Considering how Linux really is their only possible competitor for a desktop operating system, now would seem to be the time considering Win8's poor sales record.

Microsoft couldn't even give things away in order to compete. Linux is already free for the taking. Ditto for LibreOffice. And the advantages gained from consumer inertia and corporate FUD paranoia can only continue to serve Redmond for so long...

 :o

Arizona Hot:
Is this article more flame to the fire or does everyone here already know about it(or is it not revelant to the final release)?



A look at the black underbelly of Windows 8.1 'Blue'  Microsoft windows - InfoWorld

Vurbal:
At least Windows Blue is a fitting codename if only because it describes the language most people use after about 30 seconds attempting to use Windows 8. Windows #@&?! would have been impossible to pronounce.

40hz:
Microsoft effectively put the "personal" in personal computing. At least for most people - and businesses.

Now they're trying to take it away.

Lovely...

And to think that people got so mad at Google for shutting down Reader.

So how come these same people aren't screaming bloody murder about something like this?

I really need to stop caring about this stuff. Seriously. I really do,  :-\

Vurbal:
Microsoft wants big developers who can pay the tariff and play the game Microsoft's way. They're not interested in dealing with 5,000 small developers - no matter how innovative.
-40hz (July 02, 2013, 12:12 PM)
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I agree with the rest of your post 1000% but this bit is what pisses me off the most. If not for an army of independent, and mostly unpaid, developers coming up with creative answers to questions Microsoft has never thought to ask Windows would not be what it is today. When it results in an enterprise success like Citrix they create a watered down copy and try to squeeze the original out of the market. When it's something like DivX or ffdshow they rework their existing software in an attempt to make it less useful.

That kind of thinking worked great for railroads and telcos because they controlled scarce resources. Like a lot of other megacorporations Microsoft has convinced themselves they can artificially impose the limitations of the physical world on the virtual one so they can pretend nothing has changed. It won't work any better for them than it has for newspapers, record labels, or TV networks.

It's not surprising. When a game changing technology shift occurs it's the rule rather than the exception. The more successful you are, the harder it is to change your thinking. Some companies change late in the game and at least survive. Some move on into other industries or fade to insignificant companies serving niche markets but refusing to adapt has a 100% failure rate.

To paraphrase a nugget of wisdom from Despair.com, the only common thread uniting all your unhappy customers is you. And to quote myself, if the answer is obvious and simple you probably don't understand the question. Unless and until Microsoft gets new leadership with a completely different mindset the downward spiral isn't going to stop. They still have big enough cash reserves to start over and turn things around. What they don't have is any idea where to go. As soon as 2 or 3 years from now it might be too late.

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