The End of Windows

Strarechery ^ | April 2, 2018 | By Ben Thompson

[Swordmaker]

The story of Windows’ decline is relatively straightforward and a classic case of disruption:

• The Internet dramatically reduced application lock-in
• PCs became “good enough”, elongating the upgrade cycle
• Smartphones first addressed needs the PC couldn’t, then over time started taking over PC functionality directly

What is more interesting, though, is the story of Windows’ decline in Redmond, culminating with last week’s reorganization that, for the first time since 1980, left the company without a division devoted to personal computer operating systems (Windows was split, with the core engineering group placed under Azure, and the rest of the organization effectively under Office 365; there will still be Windows releases, but it is no longer a standalone business). Such a move didn’t seem possible a mere five years ago, when, in the context of another reorganization, former-CEO Steve Ballmer wrote a memo insisting that Windows was the future (emphasis mine):

In the critical choice today of digital ecosystems, Microsoft has an unmatched advantage in work and productivity experiences, and has a unique ability to drive unified services for everything from tasks and documents to entertainment, games and communications. I am convinced that by deploying our smart-cloud assets across a range of devices, we can make Windows devices once again the devices to own. Other companies provide strong experiences, but in their own way they are each fragmented and limited. Microsoft is best positioned to take advantage of the power of one, and bring it to our over 1 billion users.<

That memo prompted me to write a post entitled Services, Not Devices that argued that Ballmer’s strategic priorities were exactly backwards: Microsoft’s services should be businesses in their own right, not Windows’ differentiators. . .

[Swordmaker]

As of last week, Microsoft no longer has a "Windows Division" dedicated to developing and promoting the Windows Operating System for PCs. Part of that responsibility has been transferred to the Microsoft Azure Cloud Division, and another part has been transferred to the Microsoft Office 365 Division. How the OS will fare under this divided development approach is anyone’s guess. . . But there it is, the end of Windows in favor of computing as a service.

[Swordmaker]

The end of Windows? Ping for your lists.

[lefty-lie-spy]

I foresaw this coming in 1995 when I had to put those damned PCs together, and every since then when Windows still requires drivers made in Taiwan that still don’t work. I’ve always hated Windows and refuse to use it except in business situations where I can’t, or where it is an entrenched sever. Mac is the perfect work, play, development platform hands down - and right out of the box - and Windows is just, ugh...that thing that doesn’t go away and still gives BSODs, creates its own malware, misfires often (Office still crashes on modern hardware after a few days, Outlook still gets corrupted databases after a year or two, etc.) after all these years.

[fieldmarshaldj]

What’s gonna happen to all those poor con artists in India that won’t be able to claim they’re from “Microsoft Vindows” to run their scams ? Will anyone think of the con artists ?

[wmileo]

I talked to a IT guy who builds and fixes PCs. While he has more than just a working knowledge of MACs, he still thinks PCs are a better platform. He said that if the number of MACs was comparable to PCs they would get hacked just like PCs. The Hackers are like Willy Sutton. They hack where the money is.

I have a 2011 Dell Inspiron17R (in WORKGROUP), Windows 10 x64 build 16299, 2.0 GHertz Intel Core i7-2630QM 64 kilobyte primary memory cache 256 kilobyte secondary memory cache 6144 kilobyte tertiary memory cache 64-bit ready Multi-core (4 total) Hyper-threaded (8 total) .

I will be in the marked for a new Platform in about 2 years. Do you really think that MAC is the answer?

[wmileo]

"Will anyone think of the con artists ?"

Tell them to move to Nigeria and use email like the rest of the miscreants.

[Bobalu]

I am very accustomed to using windows but Linux is OK and so are Macs.

Everyone will be just fine :-)

Stay calm....

[who_would_fardels_bear]

When they have glasses that can simulate a large screen and a virtual keyboard like the one in Johnny Mnemonic then I'll stop buying PCs.

You can txt and lol and rofl on phones, but you need real estate do to real work.

[McGruff]

[TonyM]

The title “The End of Windows” had me scared for a moment. I did not know what government workers would have to sit and stare out of all day.

[Hardastarboard]

Exactly. Smartphones are still just toys. And I for one don’t want “computing as a service”. I want to buy and own the device / operating system, paying for it just ONCE, not on a monthly / yearly basis to support some giant corporation’s revenue stream.

[IndispensableDestiny]

Windows 10 is hell bent on collecting your information and sending it to Redmond. Even after setting up group policies and disabling “features” it persists. You have to get the Enterprise edition to fully stop it, but then updates can bring it back.

[PA-RIVER]

I five Lenovo lap taps in the house. One issued from work. The two new ones are yogas, purchased a year ago, running Windows. Great laptops.

[MayflowerMadam]

“but you need real estate do to real work.”

Thank you! That’s why I even prefer desktops to laptops — I still consider laptops as toys. I have one now because I got a good deal on it, but it’s docked in a replicator with a regular keyboard plugged in via USB. Laptop keyboards are not for production work, having to rely on Fn dual-purpose keys.

Windows 10 also seemed toy-ish. It’s like Microsoft forgot that some users are serious and not just there to play games. I donated mine to Hubby for his astronmoy, and bought a Win 7 for myself.

[PA-RIVER]

The first Lenovo is about 10 years old, upgraded from Vista to Windows 7. It’s slow. But the other four are fast. The new yogas are great. Solid state drives, no spinning drives. I have seen too many issues with spinning drives.

[SunkenCiv]

This is an epic change. Of course, having seen a $179 Chromebook at the warehouse club (sold out; back-ordered; when they restock, the price will be $199), it’s not all that difficult to spot some possible reasons. The popularity of the Surface (and it not be cheap) would seem to mitigate in favor of continue OS development, but the big income stream in recent years has been subscription Office 365.

[SunkenCiv]

Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer dancing - Windows 95 launch - YouTube

[trebb]

If I wasn’t so lazy, I’d go with one of the LINUX flavors - they are becoming a lot more user friendly but i hate the thought of needing to do command-line when something didn’t go as advertised...

[ShadowAce]

Try a Live CD for testing purposes and see if it works like you want it to.

If it doesn't, then no harm, no foul. It won't touch your installed Windows at all.

[FroggyTheGremlim]

I hate Windows.

I've always hated Windows.

I preferred OS/2, which the biased media poo-poohed, but was (still is) vastly superior to any version of Windows.

IBM executive poltroons were afraid to stand up to Microsoft and the biased media so they betrayed their loyal OS/2 users and developers and dumped their support.

Serenity Systems took over OS/2 and released eComStation based on the system, which has now evolved into Arca Noae.

So OS/2 still lives, the Workplace Shell is still superior to any version of Windows, and I still use it.