Microsoft is probably the most experienced software company in the world. They have been around developing an OS and Major Productivity package as well as serious Enterprise software for almost 40 years now. I can’t think of any company right off hand with that much experience. Apple has been around almost as long but they were never just software focused.
I am just wondering shouldn’t they be better at it than they are? Don’t get me wrong they have covered a lot of ground and I respect that, but are they considered the best? Just curious what people are thinking.
skane2600
<p>I don't think asking if a company is the best at software is a reasonable question. First, because a company is a collection of individuals and the membership of that collection varies over the years. Second, a company like MS has a lot of different software and the quality of that software can vary from product to product. </p><p><br></p><p>Products should always be evaluated on their specific qualities or flaws, not on which company created them or what process was used to develop them. </p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#277040"><em>In reply to wright_is:</em></a></blockquote><p>I don't think legacy implies crap code. Recent versions of iOS have had more critical problems than Windows does. </p><p><br></p><p>It would be foolish for Microsoft to give up their cash cow on the basis of some "newer is always better" ethic. If they threw out Win32 it would make Windows more "modern" in the trivial sense of "more recent" but the claim that such a new Windows would be more secure is just speculation. </p><p><br></p><p>IMO, what Microsoft should have done years ago was make a mobile OS, not called Windows that was 100% legacy free and designed specifically for mobile use without any delusions of "desktophood". Both Apple and Google were wildly succeeded by taking that approach.</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#277220"><em>In reply to Darekmeridian:</em></a></blockquote><p>I think you did ask: "Don’t get me wrong they have covered a lot of ground and I respect that, but are they considered the best?"</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#277226"><em>In reply to hrlngrv:</em></a></blockquote><p>The pre-NT versions of Windows were OK but fragile due to real mode code. In the late 90s early 2000s I was working for a company that used<span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"> cc:Mail </span>for email and most of the company used Windows 98 or Windows ME. My group was working on a project that required NT, so we all were using it in our offices. The terrible cc:Mail would crash everyone's Windows PCs on a regular basis while those of us running NT would just keep working.</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#276916"><em>In reply to hrlngrv:</em></a></blockquote><p>You'd think that a program like Vim would have run out of things to improve decades ago.</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#277297"><em>In reply to jimchamplin:</em></a></blockquote><p>"The day the Vim devs say it’s done is the day the sun goes out."</p><p><br></p><p>Well, we all need something to do in our spare time in lieu of watching grass grow. </p>
RR
<blockquote><a href="#276918"><em>In reply to longhorn:</em></a></blockquote><p>You are mistaken. Nadella is a ruthless businessman. He saves the world because he recognizes that is what important constituents (many of them developers) want him to say. It is passe that in Silicon Valley, they cant simply make a thing, make their money and shut up it has to be because they are saving the world. Don't be evil, etc. I am not necessarily saying the two are incompatible. Maybe you are not in the developer crowd he is targeting with the message, or maybe the message will fall on deaf ears, being that those same developers already answered another siren call, but that is what he is doing. </p>
Bats
<p>This is a very easy question to answer: NO.</p><p><br></p><p>Microsoft Money and Small Business Accounting could not best Quicken and Quickbooks.</p><p><br></p><p>Street and Maps got pummelled by online sources Mapquest and Google Maps</p><p><br></p><p>No one really buys or uses Outlook/Outlook Express or (perhaps) Microsoft Mail on a personal level, but rather opt for the webmail. </p><p><br></p><p>Let's not forget PictureIt, Photodraw (versions 1 and 2) …..failed.</p><p><br></p><p>Remember Frontpage? Or how about those suite of tools? I think they were called Windows Live Tools, like movie maker? Well, I forgot what they were called…..DONE.</p><p><br></p><p>LOL…even Microsoft Onecare…..terrible and could not last.</p><p><br></p><p>There was also Microsoft Games (or something like that)…..GONE due to unpopularity.</p><p><br></p><p>Microsoft just isn't a very good software company (and hardware too).</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#276995"><em>In reply to illuminated:</em></a></blockquote><p>100% failed products? Really? </p><p><br></p><p>If you think it over I suspect you'll be able to figure out how Microsoft made its money without any help from anyone else.</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#277324"><em>In reply to illuminated:</em></a></blockquote><p>OK, got it.</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#276986"><em>In reply to Bats:</em></a></blockquote><p>One can always point to failed products for any company. Like Google in recent years, Microsoft in it's heyday with plenty of cash on hand dipped their toe in a number of categories to see if they could expand there. </p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#277394"><em>In reply to F4IL:</em></a></blockquote><p>Solaris was a Unix clone (with some enhancements), Open/Libre Office started as Star Office by StarDivision, MySQL was created by MySQL AB, and VirtualBox was created by Innotek GmbH. Sun enhanced these products presumably, but didn't invent them. </p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#277464"><em>In reply to F4IL:</em></a></blockquote><p>I think in the context of this discussion stewardship and maintenance aren't really relevant. Better to focus on Sun's real software accomplishments such as Java.</p><p><br></p><p>I don't think Sun played a unique role in whatever quality software has or doesn't have today – just one player among many. Nor do I see a lot of virtue in open sourcing software that that can't be sustained by market demand while holding more profitable software closely. Sun and now Oracle have no problem going to court to protect their intellectual property when profit is on the line.</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#280446"><em>In reply to ErichK:</em></a></blockquote><p>"Hello World" makes even ed look like "driving an 18-wheeler to move groceries"</p>