Is Microsoft losing its hold on technology ?

How can anyone say that? 

If this argument raised just because of the open source revolution, any standard user will easily justify how much "Real" open source is available. Microsoft's place will be unbeatable among the user's community, until unless the common end user is able to think of other than "Windows" and  MS applications.

But for sure Microsoft has changed some of its strategies towards free and open source applications, which it should have done long before. This strategy will definitely add much more value to its reputation and improves the trust levels across its user community.

Success and Failures are a part of growth. I agree that Vista is a failure but, Windows 7 is an immense success. XP successfully filled the gap between the release after Vista failed. We also can say that the failure of Vista may became a successful lead towards developing Windows 7.  Windows 7 proved that Microsoft is still the best in its familiar technology. So deviating to other technologies is to show that Microsoft is not behind any technology and to provide hope to its lovers.

Yes, lets not worry of the loss MS got in its Longhorn (Vista) project. They are set to bounce back with their latest Win 7.

Moreover, it is difficult for the Open Source community to take over this monopoly at least till another decade.

Harshil i agree with you.Even today most of the PCs and laptops have microsoft's operating system and the newly launched web-browser by microsoft-IE 8 has also gain quite a market share.So definitely microsoft has not lose its hold in the field of technology and there is a long way their competitors have to traverse if they want to displace microsoft from the top position.

Microsoft main strength is the amazing array of applications and the developer ecosystem it has developed around its operating systems.

Also i recent read an article by jack gannsle where he said "Perfection is penalized. Windows is hardly ideal, yet Microsoft is by any measure the most successful software company of all time. Capitalism doesn't, it seems, reward getting it right. Profits seem to come from "good enough.""

So as long as they keep being just good enough and there is nothing pathbreaking or disruptive to challenge their supremacy in OS market,they will hold .

Also MS has diversified into many other areans where it is doing a commendable job developing world class applications and enabling frameworks like .net.

for example i really like the MS Songsmith developed by microsoft reasearch.

i think MS is here to stay.

It is time of competition so it may seem to us that Microsoft is losing its hold on technology as the company is providing us latest technolgy very fast as per our need and in some of there products there were some problems. But to overcome it has also provided with its updates which overcomes those problems. Microsoft provides relaible products which is also proved in many studies that people has started migrating back on Microsoft Technologies. Some people also say that Micosoft products are costly but if we see for long run dive then we will find it cheap s compared to others. Maintaing costs of Microsoft products is less and the products are user friendly.

Hi Friend,

This never indicates there downturn, the people are also the cause for it. People dont want to accept the change - nomatter who ever tells them. The fear of change has to be evaded. Also due to recession, companies are not ready to buy the licence for the new technology.

Microsoft has launched campaign for Sunset XP - and asks the users to migrate to Vista / Windows 7 ASAP. They are going to stop the support for XP. Then what choice is left for user. This is called forced migration. 

-Yuva

MS is one big thing that everybody has heared, seen or experienced and recommended. BET on it..... its answers .. :)

MS is not loosing any foothold in the market, Infact it is even more stronger. Vista may be a disaster but with products like Server 2008, Sharepoint, Dynamics and even more they are gaining a lot of momentum. 

 There's lot of focus on "7" which I guess will be far better than other OS'es. Having worked extensively on Non-windows & Windows platform the only problem with MS is "Reliablity"..Hope MS works on that one!

Microsoft can be soon challanged with MAC or LINUX in later years.

The Version magic wont be working any more

What MS does is brings out the common man fetures with user friendly experience with a lot of system resource utlization and impacting system and puting it in an ustable manner but I hope MAC is into it too much ahead and LINUX will soon be at that benchmark.

LINUX is the stable software.