Campbell: Looking back on Microsoft’s success

As I kept an eye out for an interesting topic for the last column of my college career, I… As I kept an eye out for an interesting topic for the last column of my college career, I wondered how Microsoft was doing. Over the four years I’ve written for The Pitt News, I’ve written many columns reviewing Microsoft’s various operating systems, pointing out their nice features and, in the case of Vista, analyzing their stumbles.

So I thought to myself: Although my previous columns predicted that Microsoft might encounter some troubles, did Microsoft really stumble?

According to a new article from Computerworld.com, those of us who thought that Microsoft might see a modest hit to its influence were quite mistaken. Data recently released on Microsoft’s recent earnings show they made 35 percent more income than a year before.

Windows Vista was, according to many picky operating system users, a complete failure technically. Sales-wise, however, it was not. According to Computerworld, many consumers didn’t care enough to boycott the operating system.

The world kept on turning, people continued to buy computers, and those computers happened to come with Windows Vista pre-installed.

Corporate users decided to keep XP — another Microsoft product — and simply paid Microsoft for XP, rather than Vista.

One might even say that Microsoft gained a little bit from Vista. Although people didn’t leave Microsoft en masse to become Linux gurus or Macintosh enthusiasts, a general dissatisfaction with Vista probably boosted sales of Windows 7 when it became available. Once new computers began shipping with Windows 7 rather than Vista, this undoubtedly made many more people more comfortable with the purchase.

Microsoft predicts that 10 percent of the computer world is currently running Windows 7. This figure represents somewhat of a milestone for the young operating system. Even businesses show some enthusiasm for Windows 7 — the same businesses that screamed so loudly to stay with XP during Vista time.

Microsoft may have reached its previous goal of truly moving on from XP, a goal that angrily eluded them when Vista was on the market.

Even if you were to look to the future with some level of pessimism and realism, Microsoft comes out smelling like roses. Computerworld predicts that the enthusiasm about Windows 7 will eventually wane. Microsoft’s profits might not continue to grow by leaps and bounds; more than likely, though, the assertion that Windows is here to stay remains solid and Microsoft will continue to make sustainable money.

Computerworld reported rosy figures for hardware manufacturers, as well. A vast majority of computer buyers are going with Windows-based PCs, and the number of people buying brand new devices has recently increased. Microsoft’s dominance in the computer arena shows no signs of abating.

Microsoft will also, more than likely, use the success of Windows 7 to branch into different markets. Talk has already been swirling about whether Windows 7 will prove to be truly an excellent idea on a netbook or smart phone or embedded platforms. For some time, Microsoft has been interested in touch computing; with the introduction of the iPad,

Microsoft might feel more compelled to bring some Windows-based solution to market. HP has already announced its desire to use Windows as the platform of choice for its iPad competitor, the Slate.

And so, I finish my column — and my time at Pitt — in a computing industry essentially where it was when I started. Although other companies have some successes, the computing world remains somewhat competitive, and there is a substantial population that continues to complain about Microsoft’s dominance. Microsoft continues to be a behemoth with few true signs of stopping.

This fact is definitely true in my apartment. Although I often complain about Microsoft and own a MacBook, two out of my three computers still run Microsoft Windows, and my MacBook runs Boot Camp.