Hi,

I dunno know but why ppl still buy microsoft products.

1. They are *very* highly priced.

2. Lots of bugs (why did i even borther to mention this ?)

3. New versions are nothing but just few changes thrown here and there.......

What kind of power Microsoft hold over the market even after such bad products and reputation....

Does anyone know their secret - or has any idea whats going on behind the curtian ?

I am jealous of Bills wealth - I could have some of it though

Bye.

MS is doing great because of a couple of reasons:

- People are familiar with MS products. As MS 'allowed' ppl to use pirated copies of their Software, everybody used the products and got familiar with it. Companies prefer software ppl are familiar with it, since it'll save them hugh amounts of money and time to educate co-workers
- MS' interface is easy to understand and well developed. Although many ppl (like me) don't really like it, because of the "childness-level", MS did a lot of research and developed an interface that ppl without much experience can handle
- About 99% of the commercial software is released only on Windows. Some serious apps are also available for the Mac but that's it.

Your points:
1. I explained that one very well I guess
2. That's MS' own fault. There are too few developers working on Windows.
3. That's 50% true.... take XP for example: it's an update of 2k, nothing more..... a little less (performance) perhaps

As you probably noticed, I'm not much of a MS fan. It's that I have to use MS products, otherwise I think I would be using Linux the most. I got 6 systems running here. There are 4 on Linux, and 4 on Windows (2 are dualboots)....

His secret is Monopoly, if you wrote a word application for Linux or any other OS, you would limit your prospective clients by 99%.

He makes his money from corporations, who write the purchases off for tax purposes (see Da_Taxman for more info here), Hence 1000 PCs = 1000 Copies of windows XXX @ 300$ a pop = $$$$

i was just starting to wonder about your maths ability, then i read between the brackets

I'm not that stupid... even after some Jack Daniels

ever read the anti-microsoft websites? they propose that a lot of the reason microsoft does so well is because of backwards INcompatibility, and bloat, which causes consumers to continually be upgrading their machines in order to deal with the new requirements. name 5 features in the office xp version of word that werent there in 98, that you honestly need.........i cant think of one :P

I don't know about that. I'm sure there have been tons of improvements. For instance, did they have that great little paperclip guy back in '98?

Yes, the irritating little prick popped up on my version of Word97 today while I was typing a letter.

MS: We can understand your worries about "Clippie". Referring to article 52312 from the MicroSoft Knowlegd base, we'd advice you to upgrade to Word 2002. This product offers a huge amount of functionality and can be tuned to turn the assistant off.

No really.... there's no Clippie left in Word 2k2

Clippy is still in EVERY Office package , however .. it's default turned off now..

i was wondering if they are using some secret message or some weird stuff in their logos

i have heard of songs that when played backwards reveal some message of some sort...

you should read the stuff about the hidden files of every internet site you ever visited.....glad they dropped that policy

There is a rumor in Tokyo that Microsoft will buy Sega. I read it here at http://www.kbench.com/news/?no=16825 and it quotes "Jiji Press news service" whatever it is.

It could be true.

Microsoft never creates new technologies , they just buy or steal from other companies.

If anyone gets in their way they just buy him.

According to my viewpoint, it sounds like a smart business decision. Nothing more, nothing less. Was Microsoft morally wrong to "buy or steal" people and technologies from Xerox and DEC? Did Microsoft really have had to develop its own keyboards and mice? I don't think there are that many technology-oriented companies in the world that are as creative as Microsoft.

Bill Gates is a smart bussinesman but he just doesn't leave room for other companies to expand and create something new.

You can't have progress with only one company avaliable and dominant.

That would be disastrous it would be like a 4th Reich.

Being smart does not mean leaving room for competitors in a dynamic and evolving business environment. I know Bill Gates and Microsoft have been working hard to stay competitive and ahead of the others and that is also good for progress. What is not good is to blame the winner without trying hard (themselves.)

What about a 4th Reich? Is this about popularist politics or something?

I agree that Microsoft's Windows and Office products are a bit too expensive but then Chinese and Indians can pay a lot less than North Americans and Europeans so even that point will mean very little in the real world. Can Microsoft afford to charge $2 for its Windows XP Professional?

I don't think we'd ever need a 4th Reich because the 3rd was so darn good on it's own....Anyways. (BTW, I'm not a NAZI..I'm joking).


Microsoft gets all kinds of royalties for things also...Not just the windows operating system, right? Probably MS has invested part of their earnings on other projects outside the computer field to make the stock more stable in case of bad times...Most companies do this, but I'm not sure offhand where MS has its invesments stashed at. Anyone? Anyone?

I am pretty sure that the contents of the portfolio of Microsoft will not be easily found. Think about it. If for example Microsoft makes it public that it invests in a certain stock, that stock will sky rocket initially but then would plummet due to the bubble effect. If the stock starts plummeting, people will sell MS stock because they know that it invested in that. Thus MS stock also plummets. If they keep it more or less secret, they could buy and sell the stock at will without having the public scrutinize its actions for possible monetary gains or losses.