The fall of Microsoft
linkinpark875
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Windows 8 seems to get bad press and they have upset people with Xbox One which is too big and doesn't support pre owned games. Windows phone is still the forgotten brand behind Android and Apple.
Is this Windows M.E and Dreamcast all over again? Can Microsoft come back with the next generation of Windows?
Is this Windows M.E and Dreamcast all over again? Can Microsoft come back with the next generation of Windows?
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True.
Also interested to hear what peoples views on Windows 8 are? I hear the titles concept isn't popular.
Given the work they put into making Windows 7 decent after Vista I wonder why they never kept it going a bit longer like XP?
This suggests that the people at Microsoft definitely aren't getting any brighter...
http://kotaku.com/so-the-xbox-one-reveal-screwed-up-a-lot-of-peoples-kin-509179256
http://www.tgdaily.com/hardware-brief/70202-windows-surface-tablets-are-a-flop
They called it Xbox One cause they just took 359 steps backwards.
Microsoft scored a blinder with Windows 7, it was great after the huge cloggy mess that was Vista, or Fista as we called it as that was what it did to a reasonable PC.
Windows 8 has been designed to be youthful and snappy, but sadly it has come across as clunky and useless unless you have a touch screen, and even then why bother ?
8 does have the old fashioned desktop hidden away in the background but so much processing power is wasted on this clunky interface that it is not really that funny or snappy either.
Microsofts terrible offerings of the last decade have made many places reluctant to move away from XP and in many large sectors it is still the operating system of choice despite 'warnings' from M$ that they are going to drop support or may already have done by now.
They are going to have to dig deep into their R&D squad and come up with something good/stable and suitable for client machines soon or people are going to start switching to alternatives in droves as they have with tablet PC's
Phone wise M$ may as well pull out as again Apple and Android have the market sewn up along to an extent with BB
then we have the consoles - sigh
The 360 was an alright machine, Xbox live was great but as you had to pay for it people abandoned the machine in droves and moved over to Playstation.
I generally buy all 3 gens (Xbox,Nintys offering and PS?) I have all of them rolling back over the years and I had the last 3 (360,Wii and PS3).
I wont be buying another Nintendo as they sadly turned a gaming machine franchise into playschool time for toddlers, The Wii is my last Nintendo as I no longer wear nappies.
Xbox 360 wasnt too bad to be fair, Forza kicked GT5's ass, Halo started to get a bit long in the tooth and a host of cross platform titles arrived that a lot of the time were better on the PS3, though the online experience was allegedly better for the likes of COD on the Xbox - I say allegedly because I have had no problems playing any of the COD games on my PS3 either off or online.
This new generation though may be the end of my gaming career that spans back to the Atari 2600.
Sony have a hard on for community,social,togetherness - stuff that Sony I want to drive cars really fast, Kill loads of people brutally in GTA and get headshots in COD. I don't want to 'make friends' with the 13 year olds playing against me thanks - my surname isnt saville.
Microsoft have released a Ferguson Videostar, its nice to see it again and I wonder where I put the tape in, they are also going to make us pay continually for second hand titles in another great move to shoot yourself further in the foot.
Forza will again no doubt be great but do I want to pay probably £400 or there abouts to play one game, and then again to play it online ? - I don't think so.
I think to be honest its 'game over'
It shows to me a company that aren't thinking things through properly at all.
Money money money . How much does one company want ?
I don't think I want to invest what is likely to be 399 , in a machine that you have to keep pumping cash into .
Microsoft's director of programming, Larry Hryb, admitted there had been some "confusion" around the policy.
No kidding there pal
He added that gamers could bring their games to a friends' house to play without paying a fee - but only if the game's owner is signed in to the Xbox Live account with which it is registered.
If the player wanted to lend the game to that friend, a fee would be required in order to play the title on a different Xbox Live profile.
Never has a single statement killed a company so badly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KbWgUO-Rqcw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KOxdMQhDMIU#!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyD1VlQdj2s
Xbox One - This isn't a fully blown games console like before, its a living room technology which can play games. The market has been going this way for a while, and I suspect that unless Sony do something drastic they will be left behind. Microsoft have already announced that there is going to be a method of selling used games, but haven't specified what it is. So playing second hand games will be possible, just not the way we are used to.
Windows Phone 8 - Still a new operating system, and it has its flaws, but its still a good system. Look how long it took Android to gain in the mobile operating system market...and look at it now.
Windows 8 might have been designed to be "youthful and snappy" but unfortunately for them their core market, business, doesn't want "youthful and snappy" it wants "productive" and Windows XP and Windows 7 gives them that.
The reason XP is still the OS of choice amongst business sectors is because it was the OS available at the time most companies started to roll our PCs and Laptops to their employees. Because of that many of their applications were written for XP and before they move OS they need to make sure their applications work on the new OS, never a quick process! The company I work for, for example, is only just moving to Windows 7 now.
As for home users, we've got a four year old laptop running Windows 7 and for what we need a laptop for it is perfect, so why bother getting a new one until the one we have dies? The PC/Laptop market is pretty much saturated so it can only go one way, down. But for many things, such as photo editing a tablet isn't adequate so there will be a market for PCs and laptops for some time to come.
A lot of companies are shipping PCs and Laptops pre-loaded with Windows 8 plus a Windows 7 disc. Microsoft will claim them as Windows 8 sales but in reality those sales will not always translate to actual users because many people will use the Windows 7 disc provided.
I'm pretty unimpressed by the One but you do realise MS - just like Sony and Nintendo - are a business? Their primary concern is to make money, of course they are greedy. All MS need to do is put out the next COD player and watch the money roll in.
Its the same with office. I find the new "ribbon" in programs like MS excel far more clunky and is much slower to use.
Instead of having all of your icons on one (or more) toolbar - you now have to navigate through tabs to find them.
Also - something as simple as not being to undock the "shapes" toolbar and have it float over your workspace makes a huge difference when designing flow diagrams.
Yes it may be prettier and "modern" - but pretty and modern don't necessarily equate with increased productivity (which is what businesses are interested in).
I can't help thinking that them going down the Apple route of controlling everything will be a disaster. People put up with Apple's control because the product is so damn good or the person is a devoted Apple fan. I don't think Microsoft have that kind of devoted following. The games better be good!
Thats the thing - what works on a table doesn't necessarily work on a desktop/laptop etc.
Trying to force desktop users to use a navigation system that was clearly designed for tablet users is just silly and will inevitably lead to frustration - especially when Windows 8 does contain a traditional windows desktop anyway.
Thankfully - it appears that the windows 8.1 update (due later this year) may allow you to set the desktop as the default.
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/windows-blue-update-to-build-on-and-improve-windows-8-1131737
I wonder how that will sit with the people who were glad MS did away with it as the default option and called anyone who complained "lazy and stupid"!
They argue it will all move to download next generation anyway. Or will it? People still like discs.
I agree with that. I've bought quite a few of the Arcade titles from XBOX Live. I won't buy the full release games from there because they're expensive, even for older titles, and much cheaper to buy them even new from retailers.
I suppose people get used to what they get used to, and trying to usher in a cultural change is difficult.