Microsoft Will Survive

Microsoft launches Vista and upgrades to Office soon. I wonder how much the new products will really benefit me. I mean do I really need more new features in Word or Excel? Are the new features for power users or for the masses? Will Vista make my computer run faster because if not I’m not really sure I need a different operating system. Especially when I worry about software I have now that works fine potentially not working when I upgrade and will all my settings remain in tact and will the time I have to spend to upgrade be worth it?

From an Office product standpoint, I think I’m ready to switched web based applications. I don’t need to spend a $100 or more on a new version of Office. I mean I’m pretty much a basic user and at this point the web based applications provide the basic functionality I need. And if they come out with new features I don’t have to care because I don’t have to pay for them.

People keep talking about web based applications as a threat to Microsoft but I just don’t see it. First, You still need an operating system to run your browser even if you are using Zimbra, Zoho, Hyperoffice, BlueTie, etc. Second, Large corporations are going to continue to use Office for several years to come and that’s a lot of revenue. And by the time large corporations are ready to move to web based apps Microsoft will be there too.

I’m not sure the stakes are that high for this coming launch and I wouldn’t say that these new products allow Microsoft to stay ahead of the competition. This product launch will appease current users and keep them pre-occupied long enough for Microsoft to execute a strategy to counter players like Zimbra, Zoho & Google Docs. It will be interesting to see these companies are able to monetize their products and stay in business long term and how many fall by the wayside while Microsoft works it’s strategy in the background.

My comments are related to  an article at the Kansas City Star.

Are the stakes high?