Posted on 05/28/2003 8:35:42 PM PDT by az4vlad
It's really quite simple. If "techie" companies like Linux really want to bring down Microsoft's monopoly, they need to quit putting most of their energy into making "cool" software and focus on the four factors necessary to compete at Microsoft's level.
Lawsuits by the government and competitors against Microsoft have failed to break down Microsoft’s monopoly within the software industry. This has just reinforced the free market argument that the real way to beat Microsoft is through competition. Unfortunately, most of Microsoft’s most promising competitors have failed to do the four things necessary to beat Microsoft – sell easier to use products, at a cheaper price, using mass simple advertising, and address compatibility issues adequately. Microsoft can be beaten because it fails badly in one of these three categories, cheaper prices, and it is increasingly beginning to fail in the area of compatibility as it attempts to force its own standards on the industry.
Companies should look to AOL, the leader in Internet service, as a role model for taking on Microsoft. AOL successfully beat out Microsoft’s MSN for the top spot in internet access, with currently around 27% of the market in the U.S. and over 15% of the world market. AOL stays at the top by providing fairly cheaply the easiest-to-use Internet service along with easy-to-understand marketing and compatibility with Microsoft’s operating systems and other popular products.
Microsoft’s primary dominance is in its operating systems. What most software companies forget is that most consumers are overwhelmed by computer technology and the fast pace of ever-changing technology. While nifty little gadgets like Linux’s “menstrual calendar” – which comes bundled with some variations of Linux - may seem cool to techies, they make the Linux operating system appear more confusing and complex to the average consumer. Furthermore, this program in particular is offensive to women. Windowmaker, a desktop theme program that also is included with various versions of Linux, includes a picture of a nude woman as a desktop background. There are already enough compatibility problems between non-Microsoft operating systems and standard software products to scare most consumers away. Why scare them off even more? Furthermore, these types of programs are unacceptable in the workplace. Linux needs to clean up its act before it can become a serious player in the business world.
Nevertheless, open-source software such as Linux is preferable to proprietary software because it allows for optimal innovation, and makes it less likely that one company will dominate the market. Microsoft’s stinginess with making its products compatible with competitors’ products protects its dominance, but a smart competitor could use this to its advantage. Until that smart competitor figures out how to do this, incompatibility issues pose a huge barrier for open-source. Since most businesses and consumers are still using Microsoft products, open source software needs to be compatible with Microsoft’s products, at least for now.
Sourceforge.net offers thousands of open source products that are compatible on many platforms. However, most consumers aren’t interested in any products other than the most basic – operating system, email, web browser, and office applications. If companies truly want to be competitive with Microsoft, they need to focus on these essential products that the masses of consumers need, not obscure gimmicky programs. If a few software companies stopped their thrust towards creating obscure programs, they could focus more time and energy on improving compatibility issues with the primary core of products that most consumers are interested in. Open Office is showing promise as a true competitor to Microsoft’s Office suite. It is freely downloadable or it can be bought cheaply from Sun Microsystems as Star Office, and it is compatible with Microsoft’s software – it can read Microsoft’s .doc documents, which is a crucial area of compatibility.
Taking on Microsoft, however, primarily requires beating it at its core – operating systems. Linux, the open source operating system that is free for users and inexpensive for businesses, is touted as Microsoft’s most serious competitor. Linux has made some inroads into the server side, and currently holds around 15% of the server operating system market. However, Microsoft’s new .Net systems are already becoming extremely popular, and in the desktop operating systems arena, Microsoft systems still account for more than 90 percent of all sales. Linux’ share of the desktop market is currently at 2 percent, and is expected by some not to grow over 5 percent by 2006. Linux has made some progress with its “Lindows,” which is an easy to use version of Linux that looks and acts like Microsoft’s Windows, and is sold bundled with PCs sold at Wal-Mart starting at $199. Lindows, however, after a promising start, backpedaled on compatibility, retracting its promise to make Lindows compatible with all Windows programs.
Fortunately, a lot of software compatibility issues are going away on their own as Internet technology changes. Commonly used applications are migrating to the web instead of being sold as standalone programs. There are a few leading versions of Linux that have made their way into businesses and regular consumers’ desktops. Last year, the German government signed a contract with Linux SuSE, through the UnitedLinux group, to put Linux on computers at all levels of government. Numerous large companies have begun using Linux both as server software and on desktops.
It may not be glamorous to compete with Microsoft, but if software companies are serious about beating Microsoft, they are going to have to focus on the four key factors and drop the techie mystique. Only after they have beaten Microsoft, and have revenues to spare, should they consider promoting offbeat and often questionable programs of poor taste.
Rachel Alexander is an attorney for a software company in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Companies should look to AOL, the leader in Internet service, as a role model for taking on Microsoft. ... AOL stays at the top by providing fairly cheaply ...
Clueless. Totally clueless
Doesn't even understand the basics.
Have I laid it on thick enough? Or should I grab a shovel?
Linux is completely cleaning MS' clock when it comes to server based applications. Only a durn fool would tie themselves to MS' .Net initiative.
ETHER <---???
Hey, I swiped your "white" font color stuff. See below:
Formatting your hard drive. Please hold - Just kidding:)
What is this clueless, pollyannic tripe? Microsoft didn't get to the top of the heap by competition...it got to the top of the heap by short-selling, buying out and gutting the competition!
The author of that piece of rubbish really needs to do better research.
-Jay
Linux is not a company.
It is an operating system published under the GNU open source license.
Nobody owns Linux. Anybody can burn CDs of the latest release of their favorite Linux distribution and sell them.
But since you can download Linux for free you have to sell them pretty cheap.
Grabbing the snow shovel...
... sell easier to use products, at a cheaper price, using mass simple advertising, and address compatibility issues adequately. ...
Microsoft products aren't easy to use. Have you ever tried navigating the weird, confusing and changing menus of microsoft software when you are trying to accomplish anything beyond the most basic of things?
Cheaper price - waaaay back in the day, before they'd driven their competition into the ground by subsidizing their money-losing and clunky office software with the OS cash cow, microsoft was really price-competitive with their 'competitive upgrades and other such gimickry. Now that most of their effective competition has been either bought out or driven to the fringes they aren't so competitive any more price-wise. Why? Because when you a monopolist, you don't have to be.
Marketing - microsoft has the premire marketing agency on the planet. They could sell ice to eskimoes and make them think they got a bargain in the process. They have in the past - and continue in the present - to market VaporWare that was, as its primary purpose, nothing but FUD to keep corporations waiting until the next big product release, and at the same time, not commit to a competitors product because of the huge promises being made by microsoft personnel.
I fully expect to see similar issues with the next format for documents to come out of microsoft. As usual, their marketing department is spreading its usual misinformation and lies. It is claimed by microsoft, that word docs will be an open XML format. Well, this would appear to be true until you actually look at things. Only the 'professional' (i.e. obscenely expensive) version of msOffice will produce this new 'open' format. Then, when you look yet closer at the situation, you discover that the xml format they are using is completely useless to anyone but microsoft from a compatability standpoint because they not releasing their schema! For those of you unfamiliar with XML stuff, if they don't release the schema for the format, it might as well be an encrypted document as far as formatting information is concerned. I've ranted enough on this, so I'll stop.
I just really do not understand why people are still willing to do business with the company after its proven and consistand disregard for its customers.
If MS continues on with their Palladium and DRM schemes, they're going to beat themselves. They're in fantasyland if they believe people will be flocking to that idea. It's the best argument for Linux I can think of.
Or did/were until a reinstall of Mandrake 9.1 smashed the master boot record. So much for dual booting ...
I purchased Office XP for $99. It seemed pretty cheap to me. Windows XP came on my computer. Also, apparently, cheap. Perhaps this lawyer defines "cheap" differently? You never can tell with lawyers...
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