Wow, it’s been a rough couple of weeks for the folks out in Redmond Washington. There’s been so much squawking about Facebook’s privacy issues that you may have missed a couple of rough news items about the wonderful world of Microsoft.
The year started out pretty good for them with the launch of Windows 7. The early response to the new operating system was surprisingly good. And they seemed to move off the shelf pretty quickly. As the follow up to the launch of the latest version of production suite Word it looked like they were on a roll. Well, maybe not.
First of all it seems not everyone is thrilled with Windows 7. For example the folks at HP had been working on a new tablet computer like the iPad that would use the new Microsoft OS. The concept was debuted by the software giant’s CEO Steve Ballmer back in January at a major industry trade show and the products were expected to roll out by mid-summer. That was till HP decided that 7 was a power hog and just wouldn’t work in a tablet type computer. What will they use instead? Probably some Google Chrome based stuff and maybe the operating system used by the Palm devices. HP just bought Palm with those kinds of projects in mind. Since HP is the largest vendor of personal computers in the world that a big hit.
But maybe not as big as this. Microsoft hangs its hat on three primary standards - the Windows operating system, Word and Internet Explorer. And number three there is showing serious signs of weakness. The Internet Explorer web browser has dominated the market like very few other products ever has. Just a few years ago Internet Explorer was the browser choice of nearly 90% of computer users world wide. But the latest surveys show it sliding below 60%. Most experts expect that slide to continue and for IE to lose the overall lead to someone else, like Firefox.
There are lots of reasons for the slide. Some folks just don’t like Microsoft, some prefer the greater flexibility that other browsers offer, some dislike the seemingly constant security breaches in IE (which to be fair is targeted more often BECAUSE it’s the most popular browser out there), some folks just want to be different. At the same time IE stopped being cutting edge a long time ago. If you want the most innovative way to surf the web you are not likely to choose the product out of Redmond.
In the end it may not turn out that bad for Microsoft. HP may discover that it’s a lot harder than they thought to come up with a successful operating system. And getting knocked off their pedestal may just push Internet Explorer to get back into the game. Anything that develops a solid competitor for the iPad and improves my browsing experience is fine with me.
Sometimes bad news might actually turn out to be good news.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
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