Microsoft sets sights on providing an Apple-like experience

[AppleInsider]

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer on Wednesday issued a company-wide memo outlining his battle plan for the new fiscal year in which he singled out the Apple experience as a benchmark for future success.

"In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1. But there is no doubt that Apple is thriving," Ballmer wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by the Wall Street Journal. "Why? Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience."

Going forward, Ballmer said Microsoft will be changing the way it works with hardware vendors to mimic the experience offered by the Mac maker in which there will be "absolutely no compromises." His plan calls for a similar approach in the mobile phone arena, where he hopes the company can create "great end-to-end experiences" akin to that afforded by Apple's closed ecosystem, where it maintains tight control of nearly every aspect of a product's design.

Ballmer's memo and his comments about the mobile phone industry arrive amid reports that the Redmond-based software giant this week held its first concrete meeting to begin mapping out a rival to the iPhone. A report published by jkOnTheRun suggests such a device would be based around the company's struggling Zune media player, but run a variant of Windows Mobile 7 with heavy tie-ins to Windows Live Services.

Still, Ballmer acknowledged in his memo that Windows and the public's perception of Vista remains Microsoft's No. 1 priority. He said the recent release of Windows Vista SP1 and teamwork with PC manufacturers have largely addressed the device and application compatibility issues that plagued the operating system in its early going.

"Now it’s time to tell our story," he said. "In the weeks ahead, we’ll launch a campaign to address any lingering doubts our customers may have about Windows Vista. And later this year, you’ll see a more comprehensive effort to redefine the meaning and value of Windows for our customers."

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[AHeneen]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

[Microsoft] this week held its first concrete meeting to begin mapping out a rival to the iPhone.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

What are they talking about, the R&D for this device has already been completed...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRLRjKCGHek

[miniMoe]

"...mimic the experience offered by the Mac..."

Microsoft's been trying to do that since Windows 1.x, for more than 20 years now.

Nothin' new here.

[iPhone91]

So, they finally feel inferior? The day that Microsoft can provide an "Apple like experience" is the day that Apple goes under... which is never. This is just another rescue mission to save the sinking ship. I cannot wait to see what they come up with. If it is anything like the "World is Flat" ads on their website, we are in for a laugh.

Steve

[samurai1999]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer on Wednesday issued a company-wide memo outlining his battle plan for the new fiscal year in which he singled out the Apple experience as a benchmark for future success.

Amazing - that's Ballmer's Big New Idea that's going to turn Microsoft round & save his job
- Copy Apple!
- the man's a genius!

[thrang]

Microsoft has been called out before for being "inspired" by Apple's endeavors when developing some of their own products, but I think here, Ballmer is saying Microsoft will try and copy the entire company this time

This is astounding in certain ways, and speaks volumes to the idiocy of Dancing Monkey Boy.

This will be the largest copy and paste attempted in the history of computers.

[iPhone91]

Originally Posted by AHeneen

What are they talking about, the R&D for this device has already been completed...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRLRjKCGHek

That's an amazing spoof. But, on a more serious note, they may actually try something like this... and it will fail as much as the Zune has.

[justflybob]

Monkey Boy must be getting ready to dump more of his MSFT stock options....

[thrang]

And Apple's ad agency must already be busy whipping up a new Mac/PC tv ad with THIS gem as its theme...

[thompr]

Balmer said:

<...more comprehensive effort to redefine the meaning and value of Windows for our customers.>

This quote says so much. First of all, it says that Microsoft feels that it is necessary to define the meaning and value of windows to the customer. Shouldn't the customer just naturally sense the value, if the product is any good? I know with most good products, the value is inherently obvious from the get-go. If the company has to TELL me why it is valuable even after I have tried it, then the product most likely stinks.

The second thing the quote says is that Microsoft has to REdefine the value. In other words, not only do they feel it necessary to define in the first place, but they failed at it once and need to try it again... presumably with a different - but somehow better - definition.

Balmer STILL doesn't get it!

Thompson

[Banalltv]

Why wait? Get an Apple and enjoy the experience today.

People who can only copy and not innovate are forever stuck, mediocre and producing only limited things.

But that's not to say they can't crowd out the market with their landfill and squeeze out or consume the innovator.

[Banalltv]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

...heavy tie-ins...

With strong emphasis on the word 'heavy', like running through syrup, maybe.

[willgonz]

It was funny...as I was reading the article the ad for the Toshiba ToughBook was running and they had a laptop on top of a copier. That is exactly what they will do with Apple. I can't believe Microsoft still calls the "Control Panel" the "Control Panel" a name stolen a long time ago.

On another note. I love using my Mac and filling out forms with the Spell Check turned on. My Windows machine does not have that feature out of the box.

[Lakota]

I can see it now! The MEphone. Building on the success of Windows ME!

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer on Wednesday issued a company-wide memo outlining his battle plan for the new fiscal year in which he singled out the Apple experience as a benchmark for future success.

"In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1. But there is no doubt that Apple is thriving," Ballmer wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by the Wall Street Journal. "Why? Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience."

Going forward, Ballmer said Microsoft will be changing the way it works with hardware vendors to mimic the experience offered by the Mac maker in which there will be "absolutely no compromises." His plan calls for a similar approach in the mobile phone arena, where he hopes the company can create "great end-to-end experiences" akin to that afforded by Apple's closed ecosystem, where it maintains tight control of nearly every aspect of a product's design.

Ballmer's memo and his comments about the mobile phone industry arrive amid reports that the Redmond-based software giant this week held its first concrete meeting to begin mapping out a rival to the iPhone. A report published by jkOnTheRun suggests such a device would be based around the company's struggling Zune media player, but run a variant of Windows Mobile 7 with heavy tie-ins to Windows Live Services.

Still, Ballmer acknowledged in his memo that Windows and the public's perception of Vista remains Microsoft's No. 1 priority. He said the recent release of Windows Vista SP1 and teamwork with PC manufacturers have largely addressed the device and application compatibility issues that plagued the operating system in its early going.

"Now it’s time to tell our story," he said. "In the weeks ahead, we’ll launch a campaign to address any lingering doubts our customers may have about Windows Vista. And later this year, you’ll see a more comprehensive effort to redefine the meaning and value of Windows for our customers."

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[astrosmash]

I welcome any improvements to "The PC Experience" and any other area of computer technology, but I'd much rather see these improvements happen through innovation rather than through the "mimicking" of your competitor.

[EyeNsteinNo]

An article by Darren Morph in engadget jan 18, 2007 was titled 'Steve Ballmer laughs off the iPhone" came right after the WWDC in 2007. the article can be found here:

www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/01/18/ steve-ballmer-laughs-off-the-iphone-deems-it-most-expensive-i/

It would seem the Value of Vista would be going down since SB's IQ is on the rise!

V=SqRoot of 1984/SBIQ=.6455378

[BuzDots]

Originally Posted by AHeneen

What are they talking about, the R&D for this device has already been completed...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRLRjKCGHek

That was then, this is NOW!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRKIDdIaFyE&NR=1



And................... don't forget the master sales promoter to provide the pitch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsboPUjrGc

[8CoreWhore]

For the sake of mankind, I hope they succeed... but why do I get the feeling they won't? They need to rebuild that company from the ground up - a memo just isn't going to cut it.

[lundy]

Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience."

CHOICE??? Windows or .... what else??? They've been saying that for decades and it never made any sense. They said it with the non-iPod music players - "CHOICE!!" ..... as long as it was WMA....

Can they EVER be the first one to do anything? Copy the Mac, copy the iPod, copy OS X, copy the iPhone, copy the "end to end experience".....

Redmond, start your copiers.

[ltcommander.data]

If a ZunePhone is going to be based on Windows 7, that puts it at least a year's away. By that time, Apple would have announced, if not released it's next iPhone model, which will probably be a more of a redesign rather than mainly a feature addition as the iPhone 3G was. Microsoft is going to find itself up against entrenched competitors with the iPhone for consumers and the Blackberry for business, just like the iPod was against the Zune, and they'll likely find the results disappointing.

[minderbinder]

30-to-1? What fantasy world does he live in where Apple has 3 percent market share and Windows 97%?

[teckstud]

xoxoxo

[teckstud]

That's ridiculous. They would like- have to -build a computer first?

[stevetim]

In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1.

Perhaps someone should tell Mr. Balmer that Microsoft doesn't sell PC's.

[satchmo]

Originally Posted by EyeNsteinNo

An article by Darren Morph in engadget jan 18, 2007 was titled 'Steve Ballmer laughs off the iPhone" came right after the WWDC in 2007. the article can be found here:

www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/01/18/ steve-ballmer-laughs-off-the-iphone-deems-it-most-expensive-i/

It would seem the Value of Vista would be going down since SB's IQ is on the rise!

V=SqRoot of 1984/SBIQ=.6455378

The video is here...best part is where he says, paraphrasing... 'they have their strategy, we have ours...we like ours'

Hmmm.....sounds more and more like he like Apple's strategy now.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=C5oGaZIKYvo

[jcatma61]

Good luck with that.

What a horrid spectacle Monkey Boy is making of his leadership of MS.

[stevetim]

I can't wait to get the Microsoft phone and keep on buying the anti-cell phone virus software every month.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by BuzDots

And................... don't forget the master sales promoter to provide the pitch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsboPUjrGc

ARGH!!! My eyes!!! My eyes!!! Help!!! Medic!!!

The horror...

the horror...

[nagromme]

Ah, yes. Because providing a user-friendly, integrated solution across multiple hardware and software product lines is as easy as just saying so

All along, it wasn't that Apple was good at this stuff, it's just nobody else ever tried before

[bpatton]

I don't get the monkey boy reference everyone keeps throwing out. Can someone elaborate real fast?

[simont]

Steve Ballmer looked completely idiot on the stage. For a CEO, he should have been calm and make a witty joke at his competitor. Oh! Isn't it what Steve Jobs do? Sorry! There is stupid and stupid... looking at him, a monkey would have done it better.

If Microsoft wants people to have a better opinion of its products, then they should fire Ballmer first, then concentrate on products that appeal to people and that go away from that "Social experience" mind. The Zune is a failure, Vista is a failure on all the line, and everything else they are doing just s***.... maybe except the 360, and even in that field, the hardware isn't working that well and the interface is clunky...

In fact, why bother rebuilding this company? Shut it down, give the money back to the investors and save the face...

[justflybob]

Originally Posted by bpatton

I don't get the monkey boy reference everyone keeps throwing out. Can someone elaborate real fast?

Look up "Developers, developers, developers" on uTube

[PhillyMJS]

...is the one they should copy the most: Admit their OS isn't cutting it anymore, build a new one from scratch, and add legacy support for the old OS into the new one for a few years until application developers make the transition from old-and-busted Windows to new-hotness Windows.

Windows is a bloated piece of crap, spaghetti code, ready to collapse under its own weight. They need to throw it out and start over, they just refuse to admit it to themselves. That's why Vista took so long to come out. Actually they did sort of do it, in typical half-assed Microsoft fashion, a few years back-- when they decided to throw out what they had done and rebuild Vista on the newer Server 2003 codebase. That was a start, but there's still too much legacy crap weighing the system down, and the proof is in the fact that you need a pretty beefy machine with a ton of RAM to even hope to get performance comparable to XP on older hardware.

The funny thing is, I think Microsoft is in a better position to do this sort of thing than Apple was back when they did it. Microsoft owns Virtual PC, and that coupled with today's virtualization technologies ought to make running the "classic" Windows and apps in a sandbox on top of a revamped OS a pretty painless exercise.

~Philly

[teckstud]

"Leave Ballmer Alone- Just leave him ALONE- PLEEZ!!!"

[amerist]

Microsoft's Windows' strongest selling point is that it can run on any modern PC. You don't need proprietary hardware to run it. Because of that fact, if they were to make their own PC they would not be competing with Apple, but they would be taking sales away from other PC vendors. Imagine how that conversation might go...

HP and Dell: "We hear that you're making your own line of computers to compete with ours."
Microsoft: "No, we're competing with Apple."
HP and Dell: "Oh. So you are going to make a new OS that competes with OS X?"
Microsoft: "No, we're going to use windows Vista"
HP and Dell: "Then you're competing with us!"

I don't see Microsoft purposely taking business away from HP or Dell. It's never going to happen.

[chadisawesome]

maybe I'm crazy, but I'd like for them to succeed... imagine them coming out with a microsoft phone with a few personal edition of Exchange a la mobileme, but for free. This will force Apple to drop their service to free, or come up with something better to keep us paying for it. Sometimes competition is good, and considering no one has been able to compete for the first year of the iphone, hopefully someone will soon.

[bpatton]

Originally Posted by justflybob

Look up "Developers, developers, developers" on uTube

Bwahahahahaha!

Well, I guess you gotta have energy and excitement flowing like that to keep people from noticing the sinking ship

[Marvin]

The problem with companies like Microsoft is they see Apple's success and think that's where they need to be when they really need to aim ahead of them. If they aim for where Apple is now, the best they'll achieve is second place because Apple is a moving target.

Always playing catchup isn't the best of business plans. It's hypocritical of Ballmer to admit this plan too. He has derided Apple so many times and then he turns round and says that Microsoft need to start doing what Apple do.

[amerist]

Originally Posted by PhillyMJS

...is the one they should copy the most: Admit their OS isn't cutting it anymore, build a new one from scratch, and add legacy support for the old OS into the new one for a few years until application developers make the transition from old-and-busted Windows to new-hotness Windows.

I couldn't agree more. When that happens, they might get me to start using Windows again. Until then, I'm an Apple fanboy and I'm not ashamed to prove it.

[bpatton]

From the Memo: "Looking ahead, I see an incredibly bright future for our company. As I said at the June 27th Town Hall for Bill, we are the best in the world at doing software and nobody should be confused about this. It doesn’t mean that we can’t improve, but nobody is better than we are. Nobody works harder than we do. Nobody is more tenacious than we are. We’re investing more broadly and more seriously than anybody else. Our opportunities to change the world have never been greater."

Huh? Did he wake up thinking he was working for Apple?