Windows Bubble

Summary: Microsoft's dreams of an operating system return to haunt innocent news readers who instead of being told about innovation in Linux-powered platforms get told about vapourware and shown mere mockups

THE market share of Microsoft in what qualifies as "desktop" keeps falling as new form factors get introduced. Wayne's "Microsoft Death Watch" is now focused on the "Tablet Wars", which Linux is expected to win based on some recent analyses (it was the same with phones, even though it took time). "Take the Cell Phone market for example," writes Wayne, "Microsoft was an early Cell phone OS supplier, but they’ve never managed to supply more than a small fraction of market, and their current phone OS, WP7, appears to be selling slowly. Or consider the game console market. Last night I had to drive to our local big box pharmacy, and was surprised to see that they had the XBox-360 on the shelf. This particular chain is famous for selling overstocks at reduced prices, and guess where they had the XBox-360? Where they keep the overstocks."

Wayne continues: "Porting Windows to ARM is going to be a nightmare for Microsoft. They are already three to four years behind Apple and Google in operating system development, since it appears that the Windows Phone 7 code base is going become an orphan."

"As the world embraces smaller and more efficient devices, Microsoft's margins and Microsoft's Windows market share will probably continue to fall."Glyn Moody cites "Microsoft Said to Plan Windows Release for Tablets in 2012", adding: "truth to tell, tab a tad tardy..."

It is part of that old Vista 8 vapourware tactic, which now involves more mockups and ridiculous bubbles like the ribbon -- perhaps change for the sake of giving the illusion of change with added value [1, 2]. Microsoft's efforts to reduce Windows weight/scale continue after endless delays (2009 is named as a year when Microsoft started planning this) and real progress is nowhere in sight. To quote:

Microsoft won't release a version of the Windows operating system geared for tablet computers until late 2012, according to a report published Friday.

"Another nail in the WinTablet coffin," wrote Michael Singer in Twitter regarding this report. As the world embraces smaller and more efficient devices, Microsoft's margins and Microsoft's Windows market share will probably continue to fall. ⬆