The theoretical extinction of Microsoft

[toaster Assassin]

If Microsoft were to "magically" disappear what would be your future OS?

Hi just read this article on Reuters.com and it is very interesting. Apparently the future of Microsoft depends on the success of the Windows 8 OS. An OS thay has the interface of a smart-phone, incorporates face-recognition( like a smart-phone) and has a more in-depth authentication feature.
To be honest I really think that if their future depends on Windows 8 then they are f*****. Windows 8 is (to me) a phone OS not a computer OS.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/ ... 6220120308

This is not new, but it is annoying.

Anyway, so if Microsoft were to "magically" disappear what would you do? (And where would you go?)
I am currently writing to you from a pure Linux run laptop, so my choice is obvious. (My Gaming pc though is Windows)

[Blxz]

Its pure crap. but if it isn't and the company is really that bad up then they have failed. If things are going south for microsoft its only because they have dominated the market for far too long and moved away from their consumer base.

But to be honest, I think this guy is pulling statistics that are not relevant in order to drive up some hype. Of course smartphones are selling faster than pc's. The smartphone is new and people are buying them. Most people already have a PC of some sort. People buying PC's are replacing old ones. The stats are not relevant. I own 3 PC's and they all use windows, one XP, one Vista (piece of shit operating system) and one Windows 7. I currently own zero smartphones.

I might consider buying a smartphone in the future, but there is no way I would use it for things that my PC can do. However if Microsoft makes my PC exactly like a smartphone then I won't buy their new Operating system, i will get a smartphone instead. And if I do get a smartphone I hate to be the one to break it to them but I'll probably go with an apple product. So instead, get your shit in order and create usable operating systems. Windows 7 was good but its still a pain in the arse for many things. Fix this, make it easier to use and stop making it tell me what it thinks I want to do, I KNOW what i want to do, let me do it.

/rant

[toaster Assassin]

I grew up on windows from DOS till 7, I really think that they lost their roots. Even if today's market is different then the 90S, it is not reason to make a s*** product. In the US their OS cost around $150-$300, yet their useful features are becoming less and less.

[henkalv]

I would probably migrate to ubuntu. The reasons why I have yet to do so is that I do not know if it would run my games and because it would take a bit of time simply learning the system (or so I have heard)

[Kamos]

It's not hard at all to use Ubuntu unless you're trying to use advanced features and even that's not so tough. I might go with Linux Mint personally though as with most variations of Linux I'd have to migrate the shell back to an older version of GNOME. Not a fan of the latest GNOME or Unity.

I'll probably just keep on trucking with Windows 7 and Linux Mint.

[gusmil]

If microsoft were to disapear, well that would suck because I used them all mah life, but if it come to it, it was probably because they got to old and youngsters overtook them.

[1337]

windows 8 comes with the smartphone look, but you can turn that back to the oldfashioned theme that we all know, so it's not a huge gamble in that aspect.

I like free bsd (for everything that is coding and the like), but still use my win xp for most common things (games, video and such)

[Mattk50]

windows 8 comes with the smartphone look, but you can turn that back to the oldfashioned theme that we all know, so it's not a huge gamble in that aspect.

I like free bsd (for everything that is coding and the like), but still use my win xp for most common things (games, video and such)

didnt they make some changes to the desktop win 8 too? like... removing the windows button and start menu

[1337]

Thats what I'm talking about. The new style is called metro style and it's useful on tablets smart-phones etc. ... and they are going to use it on the desktop pc too.

But on your pc you'll be able to change the theme back to the normal "xp-vista-seven" look (with taskbar and icons and windows) if you are afraid of the new metro look...

Also if you decide to keep the metro look, the taskbar is actually only hidden on the left, if you move there with your mouse, the taskbar pops up.

So if you look beyond the strange new look, the question that I'm asking myself is: is it worth buying it? I'm still using xp and it rocks, only problem i can guess are less updates and limited to directx 9 or 10 effects. So if you have win7, why would you buy win8?

[vurt]

I'll most likely buy Windows 8, just bought the new Wacom Intuos 5 Touch, gonna be great with Windows 8's interface i hope.

But it's the same thing everytime a new OS is released, initially a lot of whining, but eventually most people will start using it and instead post about how much better it is and start dissing everyone who hasnt upgraded . Been a PC user since the DOS days and it's been the same ever since lol

If Windows would disappear i would have to start using OSX i guess.. The most important thing for me is to have access to Photoshop, Cubase and at least one pro 3D program.

[ArcaneSaint]

If Microsoft would suddenly and magically disappear, I'd probably still keeping using my copy of Windows 7* and wait until either it becomes clear what OS game developers migrate to and move on to that one**. Or, if because of a lack or security updates it's no longer possible to run Win7 and still go on the internet without getting swamped by viruses, move on to whatever Unix-based OS is the most popular by then (seeing as how most programs will be made to fit the "mainstream" Operating Systems it makes sense to move to one of them).

But honestly, I do hope Microsoft's future doesn't depend entirely on Windows 8, because to be honest, this whole Metro-interface thing, touch-screen interface for mouse-and-keyboard PCs? I don't really see that working out so well for them, unless they're planning to abandon the PC-market altogether (or maybe they're gonna give us free touch-tablets with every copy of Windows 8 ). And Microsoft, one of the biggest players in the field, going bankrupt would severely upset the entire industry. And nobody's waiting for an Apple monopoly, knowing how much their products cost already...


*I still prefer windows XP to windows 7, but I had to upgrade in order to get Deus Ex: HR to run without crashing.

**If I had to guess, I'd guess they'd probably move to Mac OS X, Apple's marketing department would make sure of that

[toaster Assassin]

XP was one of the best OSs, but I also like Debian Linux (Until it crapped out).

I noticed that the article above does not actually mention how profitable the X-box is to Microsoft. (hmmm...not good enough I guess(Even though PCs are better machines)). As for the rival(Apple), well their GDP is larger than Poland and several other countries so yeah Microsoft must be sweating.

ArcaneSaint said: (or maybe they're gonna give us free touch-tablets with every copy of Windows 8 )

Also, Is that a (side-note) I see good sir!

[brad1995]

Welcome back ArcaneSaint !!

[txfirefighter]

i miss 98SE then win 2000

[toaster Assassin]

I miss the 90s-era computer days. Win 98 (With DOS console) (Lucas arts adventure games and Command and conquer (and doing various bad things on roller-coaster tycoon)).