Microsoft Missed Its Moment: How History Condemned Windows to Obsolescence
When writing the 'Windows Everywhere' series, the author initially didn't have a clear theme in mind. They had some ideas based on past experiences and memories, but one idea they disproved by writing code was that visual development tools like Visual Basic were a major step forward because they could scaffold an app user interface visually and then only need to write 'glue' code. However, the author found out there's more code to write than that.
A central theme emerged as the series progressed: Microsoft either saw a version of the future and invented something or reacted to competitors, emerging industry trends, or outside forces. The author noted that this was what happened in the history of Windows. However, one inflection point stood out where things could have gone either way.
Microsoft's decision at that time confined Windows to its current fate, which wasn't obvious at the time. This marked a shift from being about the future to being about the past. Subsequent innovations occurred on the web and then mobile, but Microsoft failed to react until it was too late. The irony is that Microsoft had initially rallied around embracing the web, but internal forces squashed those efforts.
The impact of this mistake can be seen in Satya Nadella's push for AI, an attempt to reestablish the company as a leader after missing previous waves. This has since transformed into a strategy to ensure co-dominance with Amazon and Google when smaller competitors disappear.