Tech talk, cold comfort.

Microsoft just can't seem to stick to one marketing plan and set of jargon lingo. Could it be related to the fact that they switch computing standards around depending on which way the wind blows? Recently they were the "devices and services company" after being the "software and operating system company", and now they're switching to a new tactic because this month the new terminology sounds sharpened, more appropriate, and the level of nomenclature sophistication increases which draws more interest to a platform that is like a 50 year old inner tube losing air. Or not.

"Nutella made it official that Microsoft is no longer using the "devices and services company" mantra that former CEO Ballmer used to reposition the company in his last year-plus as CEO. Going forward, Microsoft is about productivity and platforms, Nutella said."

http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-ceo-nade ... 000031455/

Oh, well that's great. When was Microsoft not about productivity or platforms? They always were. Even though, let's all admit, Microsoft put out some shitty-ass operating systems which actually took away people's productivity, it wasn't their intention. Ballmer probably wasn't the one who came up with the "devices and services" idea, but serves as the convenient scapegoat to drop the blame on. These stupid articles on ZDNet aren't even worth reading or wasting your time on since they're 100% press releases, although quickly skimming through them may provide a little bit of entertainment from the standpoint of how ridiculous they are and how people take it seriously. Microsoft is a huge ship which is slowly sinking, and all the abrupt and perpetual changes in marketing, management, GUI's, what they're calling their phones this month (Nokia? Lumia?), are indicative that they're scrambling with what to do to keep their dominance in all the sectors they're involved in. The problem is, is that there's nothing they can do to change the fact that Microsoft's destiny is already written on the wall, and a company as big as they currently are cannot accept the fact that more frugal times are ahead. Maybe Nutella should get his head out of his asshole, stop playing with his little marbles while at his desk and playing with what new bullshit name they're going to come up with to fool the public on what to call Microsoft next, and get down to business and start doing business like a company that has a brain behind it.

But let's face it, Nutella is just a figurehead and is just answering to a board. That's the real problem in Microsoft -- the management structure is eroding the hull, and that's just the beginning.

Hey Mr. Nadella: in the midst of the company-wide layoffs, why don't you open up the Windows kernel source as times have now changed, and take the back door out of the app store. NTFS is not on par with EXT4, (lots of disk activity, slow), and dump the registry once and for all. Let's see what MS is capable of putting out there, because right now, Linux is a superior platform.

MasterOne wrote:...is just a figurehead and is just answering to a board. That's the real problem in Microsoft -- the management structure is eroding the hull...

Excellent point and the rest of your post as well. They don't know what they want. They just keep changing the marketing terms on the same old junk they keep churning out. The truth is that they no longer matter. They will be just like I.B.M. 10 years from now.

The problem is that they don't want to see this reality. They should face the reality of the situation and accept it. Only then, can they improve things. Nothing wrong with making great software for productivity but they want to be the biggest baddest hipster on the block at the same time AND on top of that, dictate to you which colors are cool and what kind of theme you should use instead of allowing you to choose your own way.

In short, fucking idiots.

As you may have heard, MS just announced that massive layoffs are under way. Not that anybody losing their job is a good thing, these major layoffs need to happen because it's obvious how many people inside MS need to be shown the door that are not doing anything to give tech people the Windows they want. Apache HTTP Server and nginx are killing IIS. There's really no point to run Windows Server anymore unless a business requires Windows applications. As Linux gets cheaper to maintain because of more GUI options and more features added, and applications and server sotware becomes ported to Linux, Windows becomes even less of a cost-effective option.

If things continue on their current path, Windows will become an OS that enthusiasts are running because they got a Windows PC for their 12th birthday. The layoffs are step one. Step two is opening up the kernel source and proving Windows doesn't have backdoors, and having competitive file systems with EXT4, Btrfs, and ditching the appalling registry. There's a lot more to be said and I'm not going to exhaust it all here, but lets wait and see what the fools decide to do next. Their PR machines like ZDNet only work for so long until people catch on that what they're reading is complete cow dung.

I don't know if I should cry or laugh...

Microsoft stock hits decade high ahead of layoffs.

How many employees will be laid off is not known, but it is expected that these could be the largest layoffs in the company's history. Some rumors have said up to 10 percent, which would push the number over 10,000, but until Microsoft says what the actual figure will be, this is speculation.

http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/msft »

18000 jobs will be cut.

Microsoft just announced that they are dropping that ridiculous idea of putting phones out there that run both the Windows Phone OS and Android. I don't know how the platform worked, but it sounded like the phone ran Windows Phone 8.1 on top of Android? Anyway, I don't care how it ran right now because it was a fucking stupid idea and this is really good news.

Why is it good news? Because maybe someday I'll buy a Windows Phone, and it will give me something different to tinker with. I like unlocking my bootloader, rooting my devices, and installing custom ROMs. Microsoft needs to give us tech people these abilities because it's money in their pocket. Just like how Intel allows their "K" series processors to be overclocked. Do they do this for charity reasons? No! I remember when I was younger that Intel and AMD were doing things to prevent overclocking such as locking the processor's multiplier, and in one case there was an actual hardware modification anybody could do to an AMD processor to unlock it. Maybe Intel and AMD thought that their profit margins would be in jeopardy if everybody started overclocking processors. The thing is, that everybody quickly realized Moore's law to be factual, and then so what if a few nerds want to overclock their CPU and potentially burn it up and have to pay Intel or AMD even more money for yet another chip?

C'mon MS, give the nerds something to where they feel like they have to go through the motions and run some commands in a terminal windows to unlock their phone and install custom stuff on it! Tech people want it to be difficult, because it makes them feel like they got the best value out of their device, not to mention that the rooting/jailbreaking part is a lot of fun. Is Microsoft going to be the old man tightass company that tells you how to use your device/PC, or are they going to change? Let's wait and see.

One last thought: Microsoft has so much money that they can afford to have Android out of the picture and be an underdog for however long it takes. Even if it's 5 years, with the right strategy, Windows Phone will take off like one of those new composite Airbus A350 XWB's. I'm really wanting to see Windows Phone compete with Android, because Google has way too much control over the market right now and I like change and new things.