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The beginning of the next-generation of Microsoft

Tgdaily writes:

When I was briefed on Microsoft Equipt a few days ago, I couldn't help but take this in context with Bill Gates' departure and reflect on the post-Gates Microsoft. For much of Microsoft's history, the company has been known primarily for two very successful products - Windows and Office. Sometimes this connection has been less than positive. Back in 2000, I had a conversation with back then new Microsoft president Steve Ballmer and was fascinated that he believed that the market would eventually move to a subscription model. With Equipt, Microsoft takes its biggest step in this direction and it makes me wonder whether Windows will, or should, someday follow.

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tgdaily.com

Agent-X - contributor
Published: 549 days 18 hours ago | News | Industry News

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Agent-X - 549 days 21 hours ago

1 -

what are Microsoft gonna do without bill

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Ghoul - 549 days 17 hours ago

1.1 -

the same as before

its not like bill was the only caretaker of ms business and decisions.

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GutZ31 - 549 days 17 hours ago

1.2 -

Bill was though, the one that made sure at least the major "Fu#k ups" got taken care of before being released.
Then again, not many people were listening to Bill after about 3 years.

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BLUR111 - 549 days 12 hours ago

1.3 -

bill gates just sat there and collected his money

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Infernus - 549 days 4 hours ago

1.4 - I can assure you...

Bill did not just sit there and collect his money. Having watched a documentary on the BBC about him and his success at MS it is very clear how much of an influence he had at the company.

He would go into meetings with programmers of the latest OS, was quite harsh knowing what he wanted to achieve and tended to put people in their place.

He has apparantely been hot-headed in the past, shouting in meetings and having a huge influence on were MS was heading.

Without Bill I see MS going onto a kind of autopilot, continuing what they're doing at the moment with Vista and the 360 and the development of the next Xbox but also pushing Surface and their other developments out there. I don't think MS will be as ruthless in the industry as it was with Bill there, monopolising the software market and dominating software and OS sales with Office and Windows.

Some of the things he pushed for in the past were downright cruel to other companies but that's business I suppose, MS wouldn't be where it is today without Bill Gates, but MS won't fail without him.

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The Anti-Fanboy - 549 days 14 hours ago

2 - Microsoft stopped being about Bill Gates decades ago

Shareholders and committies make the calls not Bill, that is bottom line. Once Microsoft became a publicly owned (atleast by the top 5 percent in the country), the company answers to them, NOT Bill Gates. At best he was just the spokesmen to America and the World. He gave the appearence that it was a company founded by a regular citizen, that make the American dream.

Bill Gates departure is nothing more than a shift in the public image. In fact, Microsoft's only claim to fame is the obvious monopoly the have over the PC market; having windows standard on all PC desktops sold at stores over the past 20 years, virtually shutting out all other software developers. Microsoft is slowly coming apart due to the internet; google's dominance, endless piracy (due to bloated costs of their software), less than stellar gaming division, and the advent of new browser/OS software and last but not least Apple computers making headway in personal computers.

I for one wanted Bill Gates out years ago and the MS monopoly dismanted and allow more smaller businesses a shot at the PC market place, well it's now happening. Sometimes late is better than never.

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Capt CHAOS - 549 days 11 hours ago

2.1 - am i reading this on n4g??

an intelligent comment.

agreed.

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thehitman - 549 days 10 hours ago

2.2 -

yea but its not MS fault that they have a monopoly. Their main competition Apple only allows their O/S with their machines which created MS monopoly you cant blame them for something they didnt take but was given.

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Armyless - 549 days 8 hours ago

2.3 - @hitman

huh?

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butterfinger - 549 days 7 hours ago

2.4 - @ the Hitman

You can't blame Apple for not allowing their OS on other hardware, but that didn't cause MS's monopoly. MS was way more aggressive than Apple back in the day, but recently Dell has been in talks with Apple to include some Dell's with Mac OSX installed. That could be interesting.

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Infernus - 549 days 3 hours ago

2.5 - Hitman...

It was MS's fault they had a monopoly, it was Bill Gate's fault if you want me to name names. He demanded that PC manufacturers used his software and actually made deals for exclusivity of it, meaning both Office and Windows were then out into the public eye without any real competition. He orchestrated that, it had nothing to do with Apple, just MS's ruthless business strategy which landed them in court a few times and some heft bills too.

Apple have always been there, but the real problem for MS was the internet. So consumed by their software sales they got slightly left behind as the Internet took off, they're playing catchup, tried to get a deal with Yahoo to compete with Google and have constantly been trying to get a strong foothold in the online market. Live had been their only true success there, and Sony has actually started making a serious dent in that with PSN and the soon to be released Home.

MS have always dominated the PC software market, monopolised it and have pushed for that, now they're in a bit of trouble as the Internet is where the real money is these days and MS are trying to get a foot in the door.

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Freayr - 549 days 9 hours ago

3 - @thehitman

Yes i agree with you, If the Mac OS were more widely pushed back in the day, it could have been a very different story. But they didn't. Microsoft got very lucky, and they'll only suffer in the public eye because of Bill's departure, decision's will continue to be the same.

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EL MAESTRO - 549 days 2 hours ago

4 - Agree on many things

I agree with a lot of the comments on how theyre in trouble with some competitors (apple). But sony is not a competitor in any of this, except the counsel gaming division. They dont built OS, they use linux base OS for theyre PS3. Xbox i think did pretty damn well goin against the monster that PS brand is in gaming. They went from nothing to actually being a real competitor and for them to be ahead of sony till now (may not last forever)is a pretty good accomplishment. And now just as people look to apple as a good alternative people are looking at xbox as one too. If there is no competition companies stop putting theyre best out.

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LinuxGuru - 548 days 18 hours ago

5 -

I hate apple's resistance towards allowing other hardware to run their OS.

It's really quite a shame. If the Apple OS was open-system already, then the Unix/Linux camp would have made HUGE strides in the market by now. People's eyes would be opened to whole other worlds that exist beyond the big and shiny Microsoft.

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The Gamer Zone is for members who want a more friendly and civilized discussion. This section is heavily moderated by the N4G staff, so leave your fanboyism at the door please. Members who are unable to behave in a mature and respectful manner will be temporarily or permanently restricted from posting in the Gamer Zone. Using words such as Xbots and Sony droids, or other words from the console war vocabulary, is strictly prohibited in this Zone.
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Showing: 1 - 22 of 22 Comments

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Agent-X - 549 days 20 hours ago

1 -

lets see if Microsoft can still do good without bill

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juuken - 549 days 17 hours ago

2 -

...*yawn*

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DavidMacDougall - 549 days 13 hours ago

2.1 -

2nd that

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Carbide7 - 549 days 13 hours ago

2.2 -

I 3rd that

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BLUR111 - 549 days 12 hours ago

2.3 -

Juuken sucked king kaz c0ck that.

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DavidMacDougall - 549 days 12 hours ago

2.4 -

The reason i stay clear of XBOXLIVE ^^^

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juuken - 549 days 12 hours ago

2.5 -

*yawn*

BLUR fails at insulting me, considering he was sucking MS's c*ck since day one.

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BLUR111 - 549 days 12 hours ago

2.6 -

edit** JUST WANTED TO SEE HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE YOU TO REPLY. and all juuken can do is talk sh-t plus xbox live is full of differnt ppl, psn is nothing but wackos on mic mods

shut the fu*k up like you really play games juuken you're all ways on this gay fanboy site being a hypocrite. it's flooded with ps3 fanboys cause they have nothing better to do

PAIN by that avatar you use I would give it a good guess you might be a 9 year old girl seriously ... is the all yall can do to dis live is to brag cuz psn is free lol thats why it sucks oh yeah and 2.40 FAILED - what a shame you bums!

spam a microsoft article wow sooo lame why don't you all buy a ps3 and play the damn thing.

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Pain - 549 days 12 hours ago

2.7 - Ahaha blur what a Xbot.

nothing better to do then prove your xbot intelligence with lame kid insults...have fun in HighSchool...if u survive....

il take the mic mods on PSN anyday then the Racist homophobic Gun crazy tweenys on pay to play live.

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juuken - 549 days 12 hours ago

2.8 -

...Uh, what was that BLUR? I fell asleep again...so I didn't quite hear you.

..Um..right, you're still failing.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....

BLUR, I do own a PS3. I have no reason to lie about that at all. You're just mad that the PS3 is kicking ass lately. 2.4 was merely a minor setback because it only affected a few people. It's just that sites like kotaku love to blow things completely out of proportion.

Once again, your 360 had the same damn issue as well so what the hell are you talking about? All consoles have their ups and downs. Just because I defend the PS3, doesn't mean I think it's so perfect that nothing could go wrong.

Calm yourself there.

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DavidMacDougall - 549 days 12 hours ago

2.9 -

2nd that lol

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BLUR111 - 549 days 12 hours ago

2.10 -

I OWN A PS3 AND XBOX 360 I'M NOT A XBOT I'M NOT A FANBOY I just hate you and others that has ruined this gamesite.

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juuken - 549 days 12 hours ago

2.11 -

BLUR, you're not a fanboy?

Then why are you constantly dissing the PS3? At least I have a reason why I have some dislike for the 360.

You never have ANYTHING good to say about the PS3. The few things I could say that are good about the 360 is the fact that it has a few games I want, the online service is good, and it has a healthy selection of games. The few things I could say bad about it is the fact that it has disk scratching issues, the RROD is still a problem, and games shouldn't be on multiple disks IF it's a next gen console.

The PS3 is not without it's faults either but it's come a long way.

If you did own both consoles, you wouldn't be attacking Sony like that. I'm not saying you should kiss their asses either but you would treat ALL consoles equally.

And...you fail once more.

You sound like a little whiny brat trying to win a shouting match. I'm not even shouting at you...I'm just amused by your attitude.

Ah, and it says in your profile that MGS4 won't even come close to Gears of War 2.

Is that so?

Because as far as I can tell, Gears of War 2 doesn't look any different to me.

edit: Bzone, I WAS going to get a 360 and I'm still contemplating it. In fact, I may end up getting both the Wii and the 360 eventually. The problem with BLUR is that even when there is good PS3 news, he seemingly bashes it to oblivion. If I owned a PS3 and heard something remotely good about the PS3, I would be happy. If I heard something remotely good about the 360, I would say something good about it. For instance, I did point out that I liked the Dark Knight design for the 360-it was nice.

And let BLUR defend himself. I don't see why you have to jump to his rescue.

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Bzone24 - 549 days 11 hours ago

2.12 -

Blur wouldn't be attacking the ps3 if he owned it? Why not? You were given a ticket to attack the 360 at every turn just because you were supposedly going to buy one. So if he owns one that gives him more right to attack than a person that just says they are going to buy a console just for some justification to trash it.

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Bzone24 - 549 days 11 hours ago

2.13 -

"edit: Bzone, I WAS going to get a 360 and I'm still contemplating it. In fact, I may end up getting both the Wii and the 360 eventually. The problem with BLUR is that even when there is good PS3 news, he seemingly bashes it to oblivion. If I owned a PS3 and heard something remotely good about the PS3, I would be happy. If I heard something remotely good about the 360, I would say something good about it. For instance, I did point out that I liked the Dark Knight design for the 360-it was nice.

And let BLUR defend himself. I don't see why you have to jump to his rescue. "

If you owned a PS3, so you don't even own a ps3?

Also Blur is out of bubbles, can't defend himself in this topic anymore.

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juuken - 549 days 10 hours ago

2.14 -

Bzone...it seems to me that 360 owners don't want to admit that the 360 does have it's faults so I would rather leave this conversation as it is. I didn't know BLUR ran out of bubbles so I suppose you had to defend him either way. I'm a PS3 owner and even I can admit that the PS3 has some faults as well. But I don't allow it to cloud my judgment of owning one.

This conversation is over.

Goodday.

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Bill Gates - 549 days 12 hours ago

3 -

Now that I'm retiring, I'll have more time to play my PS3 that Kutaragi sent me. Thanks buddy, and I'm with you Ken, CliffyBNutJob is swanky.....AHHAHAHHAHAA

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Ali_The_Brit - 549 days 11 hours ago

4 -

who cares?

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DFresh - 549 days 11 hours ago

5 -

Microsoft is about Business programs for corporations not entertainment.
Zune = fail
HD DVD = fail
360 = good but not great
Vista = fail
etc.
Microsoft's profit from the 360 is so small compared to what they make off of programs like Excel, Power Point, Word, etc.
As you can see in 2008 the 360 has nothing going because MS is saying that they don't care that their moving in a different path to make profit for different products.

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Bzone24 - 549 days 10 hours ago

5.1 -

Remind us all of what sony has profited on the ps3. Would it be a $3 billion loss so far?

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6 jif86 | 549 days 10 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show

7 zapass | 549 days 7 hours ago - User only got 1 bubble - Show

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