Posted on 02/27/2009 11:43:31 AM PST by webschooner
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer knows not to blink.
On the desktop front, Microsoft is not discounting the approximately 1 percent market share gain Apple has garnered in the past year, bolstering its position as the No. 4 player in operating systems behind Linux, said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, during a midyear update with analysts Tuesday.
"We're very focused on both Apple as a competitor and Linux as a competitor," Ballmer said.
And concerns regarding Google's open-source mobile operating system Android are not far behind.
"I think the dynamics with Linux is changing somewhat," Ballmer said. "I assume we'll see Android-based, Linux-based laptops, in addition to phones, and we'll see Google more and more as a competitor in the desktop operating system business than we ever have before."
Last month, for example, a report surfaced that raised the question of whether the Android operating system had recently been successfully ported over to a Netbook.
"The seams between what is a phone operating system and a PC operating system will change, so we have ramped our investment in the client operating system," Ballmer said.
And on the mobile operating system front, Windows Mobile ranks third, with Apple's iPhone fourth and Google's Android currently a blip on the radar, but nonetheless a concern for the Redmond giant, Ballmer said.
"The truth of the matter is all the consumer market mojo is with Apple and to a lesser extent BlackBerry. And yet, the real market momentum with operators and the real market momentum with device manufacturers seems to primarily be with Windows Mobile and Android," Ballmer said.
He added he sees competition in the mobile arena occurring on two fronts: one is selling mobile-related software independently from the hardware, which may explain the software giant's reported interest in launching a Windows Mobile online applications store. The other front is a combination of software, hardware, and services bundled together, similar to Apple's iPhone or Research In Motion's popular BlackBerry.
Here is the solution, Steve: just build better products.
tech ping
My TV (Panasonic) runs Linux.
Think about that for a moment. For all the talk about which computer operating system is better, we forget that the biggest growth area for operating systems are in things we don’t even think of as computers.
TVs, radios, cell phones, GPS, voting machines, DVD players, automobiles, medical devices. Just about any electronic device has the potential to be a “smart” device, which requires an OS.
Linux is really positioned well for this segment of the market. Which is why I think in the long run you’ll see it become dominant in anything that isn’t a personal computer.
I wholeheartedly agree. I own the G1, the first mobile phone with the open-source Linus-based Android OS. It's an awesome system, with a multitude of both free and pay applications available for it. Android has been a great success, and is coming out on many additional phones and other devices from many varied carriers, worldwide, in 2009. It will also be migrating to netbooks, and I think from there, the logical jump will be to desktops.
There is a guy who has gotten Mono (Microsoft for the Linux platform) to compile and run under Android, so Microsoft .NET Mobile Apps will run under Android. So .NET apps will run under Android, Mirosoft has got to wake up and get behind Mono
http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page
Well Mr.Ballmer, keep trying to force crap like Vista on us and your OS will by in last place.
Sincerely,
One Ticked Off Vista User
Cheap home routers. Linux powered this revolution so that millions of copies of Linux had been sold by the mid 2000s, and only the geeks knew about it. It was, and might still be, the largest use of Linux by the average consumer.
Seriously, there is only one (1) Android product on the market currently, and one (1) more being released now in Europe. Despite the endless hype so far the Android product has been a disaster for Google.
Incorrect. Android was only released on the first device on Oct 22, 2008, only 4 months ago. There are a number of devices with Android hitting the market in 2009.
The Android OS has been anything but a “disaster” for Google. Your statement is laughable and uninformed.
Here’s a worldwide chart for you from Q3 2008 that shows Linux with a measly 5.1% marketshare, which that 1 Android model with disapointing sales hasn’t changed. Looks like your opinion is the one that’s “laughable and uninformed”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone
Market share for OS isn't a true measure of success comparison. Also, everybody knows MS keeps a close watch on other companies. They clone EVERYTHING.
You can think whatever you like about the subject, Windoze fanboy, I am indifferent. It won’t change the fact that time will find the Android OS (barely out 4 months now) to be a major player in the smartphone market, and it will migrate to other devices.
Wrong again, of course. While I do have 3 smartphones, none are based on Windows. My main one runs the Palm O/S, but I also have an iPhone as a backup, and a Blackberry from work, and I prefer all 3 over the Windows devices I've tested.
It won’t change the fact that time will find the Android OS (barely out 4 months now) to be a major player in the smartphone market, and it will migrate to other devices.
It better, considering how much Google has invested. But most manufacturers have completely shunned it so far, and Linux overall has been a flop in the cellphone market, especially in the US.
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