By Tim Ferguson, 7 July 2008 12:06
NEWS
Bill Gates has left the building and the question on many people's lips is: will Microsoft change as a result? What influence will Steve Ballmer have and how will the company's strategy alter without Gates?
Here are five ideas about what could change at Microsoft now Gates is no longer at the helm in Redmond...
1. A greater acceptance of open source:
Microsoft has been coming under increasing pressure from open source software, especially as more and more web-based activity relies on open standards. The company risks looking increasingly out of touch if it continues to keep everything to itself.
One of the signs that this will take place is Moonlight - the Novell-sponsored, open source, Linux-based implementation of the Silverlight web application development platform - which Microsoft helped build.
Nobody's suggesting Microsoft will release code for its big name applications in the near future but some industry watchers are speculating that post-Gates, open source and interoperability will become increasingly part of the Microsoft culture.
Gates was the person who drove the adoption of Windows as the de facto global operating system by guarding code fiercely. But with him gone, the influence of others should come through more strongly. And although Steve Ballmer may not be as keen as some, the collective will coming from some parts of the company could well make a difference.
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2. A new approach to Windows releases:
Vista has only been about for 18 months but talk has already turned to Windows 7 with shaky video shots of the OS in development emerging on the internet. Microsoft has said it plans to launch Windows 7 approximately three years after Vista - in January 2010.
But the way it will be released could be significant. Previous OSes have been launched as single all-you-can-eat applications but there is speculation Windows 7 could be modular. For example, Windows Server 2008 already allows the chopping and changing of applications depending on users' requirements.
There are suggestions that elements such as mail, photos and video could be available as an option on Windows 7 meaning customers could buy a version which supports what they want to do, without the loads of extra stuff they won't use or need.
This could be music to the ears of those who have criticised Redmond's approach of putting everything into Windows so other players offering services didn't get a look in.
Comments
There are 3 comments. Join the discussion
1. W. Anderson
The "interoperability" play has nothing what-so-ever to do with the company's or Bill Gates' or Steve Ballmer's wish to "better interoperate" with others.
2. Wesley Parish
In relation ot Free and Open Source software, Microsoft has already made some very tentative steps towards recognizing that MS Windows is more a platform than a product. They've released WinCE 6 under a highly ambiguous "Shared Source" license, that doesn't offer nearly enough to system builders; and they've released a version of the NT kernel under one of their Academic "Shared Source" licenses, that again, doesn't offer nearly as much as the competing offerings such as Linux, Minix, the *BSD family, OpenSolaris or other related offerings such as Syllable, HaikuOS, ReactOS, or such, license terms.
All that is needed is to adopt realistic license terms for those products, and accept that it is a viable way to develop a platform.
The real fun's going to come when they realize that the same thing applies to their decision to make MS Office a platform instead of leaving it as a product. That's where the real test of their mettle is going to be.
3. Simon Allen
Microsoft will hardly change at all.
An organisation built over three decades will not change to any significant degree and anything about Open Source will just be window dressing.
This is not just because it is M'soft but ALL and ANY corporation of that size and success - does not change just because the founder is out of the door.
Look at other big companies and ask how they have changed? For the most part they don't, or the change is small and slow.
Space does not permit an exposition of why companies do not change but the essence is: Once a house has been built - you can add an extension and a loft conversion - but it it is still the same house. Humans don't change that easily.
Lastly, I see that most of the press covering Gates' move STILL refer to him as a 'geek' or 'nerd'. He was never that but was simply the finest salesman you will see in your lifetime. I mean that as a compliment, he knew exactly what the world would buy and how much they would pay for it.