“It’s not going to work,” are among the some of the scariest words a software company CEO can hear.
The Wall Street Journal has a feature article that recounts the July 2004 day senior Microsoft exec Jim Allchin delivered that very news to Bill Gates about the long-awaited Longhorn OS (now Vista).
The reasons why were many but could be summed up as this: the Windows replacement was so complex in nature and piecemeal in its development that its writers would never be able to make it work as intended.
Allchin recommended a complete rebuild, which Gates initially resisted for fear of giving the competition too much time to catch up.
Writes author Robert Guth:
“As always, Microsoft’s great fear is that it will lose its near-monopoly on computer operating systems and basic office software. In the short term, there is little danger of that. But the more Google and other software makers encroach on Microsoft’s turf, the greater the chance that someday computer users will wake up and find Microsoft Windows superfluous.”
A very interesting piece that puts the Microsoft/Google rivalry in a broader context. See what Slashdot readers have to say here (surprisingly, it’s more than just Microsoft-bashing).
