Comment Re:The Network Effect was *part* of it (Score 1) 511
Not sure what parts aren't true.
Incremental improvements in Sharepoint and SQL server are to be expected from Microsoft. In that time MySQL and Postgres exploded in capabilities, while DB/2 and Oracle kept their position as go-to for the top end databases.
Dropping out of their *substantial lead* in mobile phones, failing to produce a worthy successor to XP, failing to produce their next generation filesystem, fighting a dubious battle with Sony for video game consoles, watching Terraserver lose its lead in the marketplace. Losing IE's share to the upstart *Chrome* from a company younger than IE itself, watching MS Office erode to LibreOffice and fail to create a reasonable alternative to Google Docs for collaboration.
Some flops are okay, like RT. There's a handful of vague successes, like their user interface experiments, and some things I like, like OneNote. Some legitimate successful innovation like Azure, and some broad corporate successes like their incremental improvements in security management...
but overall this has been a dark and losing decade for MS.
There are now huge opportunities for them in non-cloud based data management. They have all the parts to do an awesome job at data self-determination control and privacy, but they're not even trying to move in that direction.
Meanwhile I find myself migrating from Windows to Mac because FOSS development tools on MS are becoming too alien to use properly on their platform... and MS made the decision to expire my certifications and end my Technet subscription. I'm running out of reasons to even consider MS for anything.