Microsoft is Admitting That It Has No Viable Business Model, Starting to Experiment
Microsoft's proprietary spyware with ads cannot really compete with Calligra and LibreOffice, but this publisher is paid by Microsoft (ads), so it does not tell readers about those options
Also new: Does Microsoft think Windows users will start paying for Notepad? (Signs of desperation, resorting to hype)
The other day we showed longtime Microsoft boosters fuming at Microsoft for shoving ads everywhere in Windows, noting that Microsoft lacks a business model and admits a lack of it. Now it also cancels data centre leases (more on that in the latest Daily Links). It merits a separate article, one that mentions previous such observations [1, 2]. Microsoft shoving ads, "hey hi" gimmicks and DRM into everything (they even call screenloggers "AI" now!) will only alienate users, but Microsoft is truly desperate for some sort of future. It lacks one, as people noted just hours ago in IRC. Microsoft is basically in financial trouble and it's not as rich as people are led to imagine/assume. It used to have real "cash cows", but that's offset by endless losses in markets that Microsoft was never able to penetrate. Remember Skype?
Regarding one dying cash cow, Windows, nothing can stop its international decline. This decline is a lot faster in poor countries. We can now see Windows falling to 15% in Congo (or about 50% in desktops/laptops; we wrote about this last year and in 2023 as well) and it's similar in most of Africa.
What about the other cash cow, Office? Well, Mark Hachman, who typically publishes Microsoft puff pieces (hardly surprises anyone as Microsoft as an advertiser pays the salaries of the people in that site), now complains: "It all feels like Microsoft acknowledging that free alternatives to Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 exist, but Microsoft would like to hook you (or for you to stay hooked) on the traditional Office apps instead."
It is not "another free version of Office" because it comes "with ads". You pay with your time and lack of attention. "Calligra and LibreOffice yet to be named there," an associate says, "both must be cutting into what's left of Microsoft's bottom line."
It's quite revealing that Microsoft is running low on revenue sources (it tries to sell or rent things "for life", i.e. until Microsoft no longer exists; WordPress and YMCA tried similar schemes, probably akin to selling land on Mars).
Don't believe Microsoft and Microsoft-friendly (or sponsored [1, 2]) publishers.
Do not believe Wall Street either.
We already know Microsoft fakes the numbers, i.e. it defrauds shareholders [1, 2]. █