Get Off Microsoft

What will change the landscape and make it possible for larger numbers of users, especially corporate users, to overcome Microsoft inertia? I’m tracking the development of software as a service, smartphones that don’t do Windows and don’t need to, Apple’s OS X that may some day run Windows XP apps, and Linux on the desktop, which is growing fast in overseas markets.

More Windows users are switching to Macs because their Windows PCs are out of date. People have finally figured out (after about a decade of it being true) that there is no penalty in switching from Windows to the Mac.

The Microsoft brand is getting pummeled overseas, in the music industry, and in the server market. Can you even estimate how much good will has been lost? Gates and Ballmer must get indigestion every morning as they scan the headlines on their pocket PCs.

Microsoft has lots to worry about and can’t point fingers at iPhone security while living in the glass house of Windows Mobile. This explains why the Gartner analysts that adhere to Microsoft’s way of thinking took the first propaganda shot against the iPhone, calling it unfit for business due to lack of security measures.

If Apple’s OS X ever became seriously vulnerable to a virus or worm in the wild, as Windows is routinely vulnerable to, it would create press headlines way, way beyond what you see now.

Windows XP users — have you recently been “unable to complete genuine Windows validation”? You may be a pirate — or at least Microsoft thinks you might be.

Microsoft Windows Vista has arrived… People who want to upgrade from Windows XP to Vista to improve security are in for a sticker shock. Only Windows Vista Ultimate — the most expensive edition — offers the maximum level of protection. Will the less expensive editions offer enough protection?

The “Storm Worm” has spread all over the world, affecting more home Windows XP computers than business computers due to the fact that most businesses block attachments to emails.

Microsoft Vista includes Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology that acts as an enforcer with regard to protected content: it will shut down worldwide any equipment connected to Vista that is suspected of enabling a breach of content protection, and disable playback of anything that smells of protected content on equipment not sanctioned by Microsoft.

With Ozzie and Mundie at the helm, Microsoft is not likely to make its transition — from Office and Windows revenue streams to services — very quickly. While heaping praise on Ozzie for at least having a truly innovative past, let’s not forget that Mundie, and ultimately Ballmer, will remain “the voice of reason” in Redmond.