Remember back in the day when there was talk of breaking Microsoft up into three separate companies? Well I’m beginning to wonder if that would have actually helped Microsoft and been a good thing for technology as a whole.
I’m a Microsoft fan boy and I’ll defend just about anything they do now days, mainly because I genuinely believe that they’ve learnt a lot from the past mistakes. In saying that I do feel that the current state of the company is fundamentally flawed. The Microsoft of 2005 is a big fat star destroyer floating though space, and while powerful, is not really suited to taking out the rebels. Windows releases are years apart and by mid way through its life cycle it seems to look a thousand years behind most of its rivals.
Companies like Google and Apple on the other hand are the x-wings and millennium falcons of the IT world; quickly and effective making their way from one place to another, changing the universe and destroying the empire. These guys (Google in particular) seem to produce software significantly faster, cheaper (aka free), utilising less resources, and providing better integration than Microsoft’s software. Microsoft seems to have become reactive rather than proactive, if it were a political party the polls wouldn’t be looking good.
So what’s going on? Are they going to change? Are they thinking the same thing as the rest of us or are they blind to it? Well I think these questions point out one of their fundamental problems; Microsoft is too closed off and, for lack of a better word, too formal. I mean take Google for example, when they launched Google earth it’s download buttons read “I’m good. Download GoogleEarth.exe” “I’m pretty sure I’m good. Download GoogleEarth.exe” “I’m feeling lucky. Download GoogleEarth.exe”. It’s only a small difference but stuff like this makes them likable. When was the last time you downloaded something from Microsoft and you felt you liked the people you were downloading from? Or for that matter even felt like you were downloading from actual people?
So apart from acting more human and less borg/faceless corporate what else does this fan boy think they could do? Well how about making windows more modular. Why is it windows has to be this all powerful install that comes out once every blue moon? Why not have different modules upgradeable? Like Linux, and to a lesser extent the MacOS do? Why not make things more integrated? I was baffled to see that Windows Vista is to have centralised RSS data built right into the OS (a great idea), but simple things like a centralised address book avalible to all apps still doesn’t exist! I can’t be the only one frustrated at having to change contact details in all the different apps I use. The sad thing is this is just one example in 1000 and is very fundamental.
So maybe these things would have happened if the break up proposed in 2000 did take place. Maybe being too big is holding them back becuase they have to many people trying to do to much all at once. I can only hope things change for the better soon before it slowly but surely takes a turn for the worst. Is a break up the solution? Maybe not, but something gotta give.