Microsoft’s “Uncool for Mac Users” commercial six years ago gained them notoriety they didn’t want. Rather than appreciating the company’s self-mocking humor, the tech industry laughed and ridiculed the software giant. Many criticized their shallow basis of what urges people to buy, and what’s the purpose of such a self-deprecating advertisement.
It brought up a good point that benefitted the biggest tech company in the world. But only in hindsight, for only the keenest observers may have noticed it at the time. They have the most widely used operating system and software in the world. What they didn’t have, however, is the appealing hardware to accompany their creations. Most of the company’s software is still running on bulky monitors and dirty-white CPUs at the time.
Solving Present IT Needs
Where Microsoft usually gets it right is addressing the current needs. Their range of products has grown from their OS and Office to myriad of business-related programs. Some of them are hosted Microsoft Project server, SharePoint and Exchange. Their release of Windows 10 also gave regular users access to formerly exclusive products.
Microsoft’s new CEO, Satya Nadella, represents the company’s new diverse approach. It’s not that Bill Gates was holding the company down, but as its founder, MS is bound to abide by him as long as he’s there. Maybe, that’s why investors asked him to step down a few years ago.
One Bird, Five Stones
The Seattle tech titan’s brilliance in software accompanies their often-failed ventures in hardware. Unlike Apple, they produce little amount of their own computers and haven’t broken into the music industry. To this day, the only success they had in hardware is the Xbox. Thanks to its massive cult following, the console remains to be one of their biggest successes.
Their other hardware undertaking didn’t pan out as the Xbox did. Zune was to be the iPod’s main competition. Their partnership with Nokia gave their lagging mobile software life. The Surface is still trying to land on its feet, despite its 2012 release.
It’s hard to define where Microsoft will be in a few years. Maybe they’ll break through the hardware brick wall, or they would abandon it to pursue a software-exclusive future. One thing is sure though, and that’s they will always release products that make people and organizations’ lives easier.