Readers of this Blog, will know that I was less than amused when Microsoft killed their Windows Mobile 6 operating system, replacing it with a Version 7 which could not run any of the old software. This left developers like us, with a successful product, forced to re-write our systems and customers forced to buy new hardware.
I was then even more dismayed to find that commercial envy of Apple's profits had led them down the road of trying to make money out of every piece of software loaded on their phone with their own equivalent of iTunes. This was the final straw for us, and we have migrated to Andoid for our next version of Caseworks Mobile. I note that another UK company in the same position - Orchard Mobile - has made the same decision.
Then I pointed out that the current method of selling MS Office with a 3 month trial and a paid-for release code, is misleading, forces customers to pay as much as they have for their PC, with only one copy for the one machine compared to three installs if they had bought the disk (for the same price). This is a product which is reputed to have a 60% profit margin for Microsoft.
Windows 7 phone Windows 8 phone
More recently I reported that the new Windows RT for their tablet, like the phone, would also allow software to be loaded only from Microsoft and would restrict any alternative browsers and would be engineered to give Microsoft-written software access to hardware facilities not available to third parties.
I have just learned that Microsoft are bringing out a new Windows Mobile 8 phone, which is completely incompatible with ANY current phone running Windows Mobile 7! So Nokia who rather unwisely went into a strategic partnership with Microsoft will see their sales of current phones plummet and all users who actually like the Windows Mobile 7, will be forced to upgrade their phone as well as their OS (and of course, pay for both). You also have to have some sympathy for Microsoft's other strategic partners, like HTC, who apparently were frozen out of the Tablet development because they wanted to include their excellent "Intellisense Overlay" and vendors like HP and Acer who will find that if they develop hardware for Windows RT, they will be competing directly with Microsoft who supply their Operating System, because the new "Surface Tablet" is actually going to be manufactured by Microsoft.
A more serious smart phone? - Android with HTC Intellisense
The message could not be clearer. Microsoft is a money making machine, owing no loyalty to anyone. It is determined to make its profits by being ruthless - not though creativity and innovation like Apple or Google.
Then I came across this link on the internet, which went a long way to explain how this sorry state of affairs has come about:-
http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2012/07/03/the-terrible-management-technique-that-cost-microsoft-its-creativity/ For those who haven't got time to read all of it, the following quote gives you a flavour:-
"
.... Microsoft had a touch-screen e-reader developed in 1998, but Bill Gates binned
it because he “‘didn’t like the user interface, because it didn't look like Windows,’ a programmer involved in the project recalls.” The team that developed the reader was told to stop coming up with new ideas and instead work on software for Microsoft Office that would be instantly profitable. A founder of the group says, “We couldn't be focused anymore on developing technology that was effective for consumers. Instead, all of a sudden we had to look at this and say, ‘How are we going to use this to make money?’
The London Olympics provide a rare opportunity to see for ourselves the reality of the 60% profit margin on Microsoft Office. The "Octopus" - a "yacht" owned by Microsoft co founder Paul Allen steamed into the London Docks this week. It is worth seeing - get off the DLR at South Quay - to see what looks like a cross channel ferry with a launch in attendance which is bigger than most yachts. Octopus is far larger than the Royal Yacht of the Queen of Denmark, anchored close by. 
