WWBD
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WWBD
What would Bill Gates Do? I mean if he were in charge of Microsoft.
I know he's still chairman of the board, but it seems to me that he's out of the daily grind of building the Microsoft empire. There's a different feel that I get from the company, in the news, in blogs, in press releases. It really seems that Microsoft has changed.
I saw this list of advice for Microsoft for 2007, which wasn't a bad list, but it's not what I would think they should do.
Play Your Game - I don't disagree with everything. As someone who's built a small business, one of the core philosophies that I think you need in business is to play your game. Focus on what you think you do best and work on that, not worry about the competition. There's room for many successes in the world and Microsoft is a huge success, so I'd vote that they play their game, build their products and services and let people make the choice. Don't chase Linux or AIX or Oracle. Do what customers want and you'll be fine.
Divide and Conquer - One of the things I like about Microsoft is that they are moving into different areas. They have the XBOX/entertainment franchise, the core applications, and research. Let those three areas operate independently. Have three CEOs, each running one of those areas independently. Let them communicate so that if the XBOX team likes the way that some codecs are being used by the OS team they can piggy back on the work, but let them make independent decisions. I think there's a lot of this being done, but it's one of those things I think it important.
Security is #1 - I heard a lot about this back when Service Pack 3 for SQL Server 2000 was being worked on. We had tons of patches and hot fixes being released about that time and since then the SQL team has done an excellent job. Force this same philosophy across the company, even if it means that some features get dropped or things break. Security is a problem in the world today and Microsoft owes us a better job.
Slim Down - Every new product they produce seems more and more bloated. Kind of like my Database Daily Newsletter, I keep adding things and never take anything out. Slim down the products and make more of the features optional, like not installed until you need them. They've done some of this, but there's still too much going on. Go back and build us a version of Vista that leaves out many of the bells and whistles, but boots in seconds, networks, runs Office, IE, and is rock solid stable. Give us some smaller, more bulletproof applications. There might be a whole suite of "upgrades" I'd make if it were to smaller, more stable, quicker running software.
I've got more ideas, not necessarily quality ones, but I can come up with a quantity. Microsoft will be around for a long time and I'm certainly not worried about their survival.
I just think they can truly be one of the great companies in history if they focus more on that and less money.
Steve Jones
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Of your listed advice, I whole-heartedly agree with Slim Down! I've griped for years about the "bloat" in many packages.
Give me the "key features" in the OS and Office suite and make it fast and small.
I like the idea of optional features, but I want them to be "temporary" (available until reboot?) so that when I'm done with the feature I go back to my fast and small application.
Jeff
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I dont think having a lot of features is bad at all. It's the implementation that matters:
- Dont give me any feature that doesnt work 100% of the time (so this implies that if basic functionality doesnt work, I don't want to see the bells and whistles!)
- An app needs to load fast. I care little about disk usage, or even overall memory usage, as load it loads fast. Too many apps take seemingly forever to load, and I'm astounded by how many try to make up for it by adding things to the start menu to offset that load time (Office, Adobe, etc). Cmon, its 2006.
As for having multiple CEO's at MS, Im not sure that's a good idea. If they've got P&L responsibility within their division they have some incentive to watch the dollars, but once you crown another CEO I'd be willing to bet that they would start looking out for #1, rather than the collective, possibly accomplishing the opposite effect from having them concentrate on doing things better/making the world a better place.
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SLIM DOWN !!!
Ever since Office 95, the core functionality that I (and probably many others) use on a daily basis has remained the same. There is just too much there. The thought of making things optional for an instalation sounds great - just DO NOT make me reboot just to add or remove an office feature.
For the OS, priority 1 is stability and priority 2 is security. make it work, make it safe, make is boot fast - 30 seconds tops after the hardware POST test. Again, DO NOT make me reboot for small patches and upgrades - production environemnts alredy have tight maintenance windows and applying 20-30 patches at a time is "lousy".
Now the final gripe, "MS get your act together on whether or not I have to reboot". All to many times I have run into a patch applied in test and no reboot is needed then lo and behold in production it is. Right, the documentation says that "I may have to reboot" - damn it, make up your mind !
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
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Do not get me wrong here, I like and use Microsoft products everyday. I have used many of the development tools, Office versions, email, SQL Server and more. But there are a couple of things I would suggest going forward:
1. Deliver what you say you will deliver.
2. Deliver it within the time period promised/stated.
3. Deliver it so it runs for at least a few months without having to start the patch processes.
4. Let the technicians run.
5. Remember that Marketing is for selling product and gathering feedback, not for setting direction and scope.
Just a few simple things that could help going forward.
Peace!
Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!
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