The Microsoft Mistakes That No One Talks About

There are two mistakes that Microsoft makes, and no one (at least no one that I know) has called them on.

The first mistake is an image problem. The general perception of Microsoft is that they are the Office corporation (that is, the company that produces Microsoft Office). This is the perception of the general public; if you stop a random person on the street and ask him or her what Microsoft produces, you will get the answer "Microsoft Office" (or "Word", "Excel", or possibly "Powerpoint"). This survey does not hold in the Seattle area or with subpopulations of programmers.

This image is a strength and a problem for Microsoft. It's a strength as it keeps Microsoft firmly ensconced in the corporate processing world. Business managers, purchasing managers, and architects know that Microsoft produces the standard products for office work.

It's a weakness in that it limits Microsoft. Apple has a different reputation -- one of the "shiny, spiffy consumer products company". Apple produces the iPhone, the iPod, the iPad, and oh yes the Macbook and a few other things.

Now I know that Microsoft makes lots more than MS Office. Their product line is broad and deep, with Windows, MS-SQL Server, IIS, the Xbox, and even mice and keyboards. But this is not about what I or the typical geek knows. This is about what John Q. Public knows. And he knows Office, and possibly Windows.

The second problem is within Microsoft. This problem is their fixation on Windows. Every product offered by Microsoft is tied to Windows in some way. It runs Windows, if possible. Everywhere you look in their product line is Windows. Windows, Windows, Windows... as far as the eye can see on the web site.

Microsoft's original goal was a PC on every desk and in every home. Some have added the phrase "and all of them running Microsoft software". That's not a bad goal. But I think the goal has changed, and now it is "a PC on every desk and in every home and all of them running Windows".

Windows is a desktop operating system and not suitable for all environments. Microsoft has made a go of it for the Xbox gaming console. It's had limited success with its home media server, phones, and Zune music player. One can argue that the products have failed due to poor marketing and poor design. I argue that the failure is, in part, due to Microsoft's insistence on Windows. Beyond alienating the hard-core Windows-haters, Microsoft is stuck with an architecture from the 1990s that flies poorly in 2010.

So my recommendation to Microsoft is to expand its vision. Go back to the idea of world domination, but drop the infatuation with Windows.