Would microsoft be so bad if they only stuck to an operating system?

[Merlyn3D]

Let's face it, for the most part, Windows XP is a pretty stable and well rounded OS. It works on a plethora of hardware and can be run for weeks even months without crashing. I gotta give props to MS on making it, despite me personally liking OS X better, Apple software only runs on select hardware, whereas windows must run on just about any card you throw into your computer.

I'm definitely not an MS fanboy, far from it actually, I dual boot between SUSE 9.3 and XP SP2. Windows is just more well rounded for the end user, and while it lacks the inherent programming environment that so great about any *nix OS, it's still easier for the end user to install, uninstall, and configure Windows XP than it is on a linux OS.

I do, however, despise the windows registry and wish MS make everything be written to XML files or .conf files similar to *nix.

Again, not an MS fanboy, hate IE and WMP10, but I think if MS solely focused on the OS things would be better, hell, maybe they'd learn to implement themes as good as windowblinds does.

 

[OulOat]

Office is MS biggest moneymaker

 

[Mday]

depends on how you define operating system.

If it stuck to OS's it woudl not have made as much money. They leveraged windows's dominance into it's current status.

 

[jjzelinski]

F3ck the negetivity of emittered pseudo-nerds, winXP works well enough and I'm fine w/ how much I paid for it.

 

[her209]

Resistance is futile.

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

No, people would still hate them because you aren't cool unless you do.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: OulOat
Office is MS biggest moneymaker

not surprising, since it costs about double what XP does and pretty much everyone needs a copy.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: JustAnAverageGuy
No, people would still hate them because you aren't cool unless you do.

So true!

 

[McCarthy]

I don't remember there being much anger at Microsoft back in the DOS days. You could buy MS-DOS or PC-DOS, and there was at least one other. Then you could run Lotus 1-2-3 on whichever DOS you preferred.

 

[sixone]

They wouldn't be so bad if they'd only do something WELL before moving on to the next thing.

 

[Merlyn3D]

Originally posted by: sixone
They wouldn't be so bad if they'd only do something WELL before moving on to the next thing.

So true...

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: OulOat
Office is MS biggest moneymaker

not surprising, since it costs about double what XP does and pretty much everyone needs a copy.

Well....OpenOffice.org 2.0 is a pretty good replacement.

 

[neutralizer]

Originally posted by: sixone
They wouldn't be so bad if they'd only do something WELL before moving on to the next thing.

No, people still will hate them just because they're such a big company.

 

[Yanagi]

Originally posted by: jjzelinski
F3ck the negetivity of emittered pseudo-nerds, winXP works well enough and I'm fine since I didnt pay for it

Fixed it for ya

 

[Nomada]

MICroSoft has wiTTingly evil yendencies...mmmkay.

 

[Nomada]

I've mostly had much Admiration for MIcroSOft. Why won't they release the Kernel? It is protected by Copyright. Their is soooo much Spywaere embedded in all Platforms that the Practice should be considered Illegal> But Who's really spying....?(my2cents)

 

[Chode Messiah]

microsoft feels that some no name programmer will take their OS and tweak it and sell it for millions

 

[Turkish]

Microsoft > *

Nerds bash them because they don't have the skills, education and experience to work for such a great company.

 

[UncleWai]

When I grow up, I want to work in Microsoft









as a janitor.

 

[BurnItDwn]

ehhh .... microsoft is OK. They are the best for personal PCs and general usage, as well as multimedia, and compatibillity.

However it's terrible for servers and development.

 

[Geekbabe]

Originally posted by: OulOat
Office is MS biggest moneymaker

Yeap, and it has brought standardization to the business community.

 

[So]

I'm no MS fan (far from it), but MS's office pie really doesn't directly affect the development of windows...WMP is a pretty well rounded media player (not my choice, but it's IMHO, no worse than iTunes), MSN messenger is also not integrated...I always uninstall windows messenger...IE is really MS's only blunder, and it's a pretty good browser that is plagues by poor secuity settings, activex and low-level hooks into the OS. Really, IE is MS's only problem.

 

[loic2003]

Great for games.

 

[Slugbait]

To steer everyone back to the original question, "Would MS be so bad if they only stuck to an operating system", the answer would be...worse.

In the early days, MS made their mark with development tools. These tools were regularly praised for being just a little better and easier to use than the competition. Today, those tools are the Gold Standard. Take them away, and software releases would take longer and cost more because of a mish-mash of other tools that aren't quite as good, thus resulting in longer development times...costs which would be passed on to the consumer.

Before and during the MS-DOS days, MS wrote some rather popular applications. I believe their first one was a spreadsheet program for the Apple platform. Even today, MS has more current software titles for the Mac than any other software company. Take those away, and even moving to the Intel platform wouldn't be enough to save Apple.

No, MS didn't invent the mouse. But they were the first to introduce them for the IBM-clones, and at the bargain price of $195. Before that happened, most people said, "Who the hell needs a mouse?" MS continued making "firsts", including the scroll wheel and the optical mouse. Their hardware division did much with other devices as well.

There is so much more to MS than Office, IE and the OS. So the question should not be "Would MS be so bad..."

The question should be "Would we be so bad off if MS only stuck to an operating system?"

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
ehhh .... microsoft is OK. They are the best for personal PCs and general usage, as well as multimedia, and compatibillity.

However it's terrible for servers and development.

Yep, Windows Server 2k3 is just terrible. And what about that piece of crap SQL Server. Oh, and let's not forget Visual Studio.
:roll:

 

[Kadarin]

Yes, Microsoft would be just as bad. They are all about extending and breaking open standards so that their stuff purposely does not interoperate with competitors.