A Tipping Point – Apple vs MicroSoft
Something is wrong with MicroSoft. Latest tests of its Vista operating system show that it is not as productive as the old MicroSoft operating system XP. That’s not to say that it does not have the level of productivity that Apple’s new operating system, Leopard, has, it doesn’t even match up well with its own old one. This does say whole bunches about MicroSoft as a company.
It says that Apple has learned how to apply the lessons of the iPod to other parts of its business. It is able to produce products in other areas of its business that offer more productivity to the market place at the same price point as before and do it faster than the competition. If Apple keeps this up, the competition will fall farther and father behind in their product offerings. At some point Apple’s product dominate the chosen market place; MP3 players, hand held computer phones and PC operating systems.
This all may be early days for operating systems, but big PC makers, DELL and HP, are offering the old XP operating system to clients in lue of the new Vista. MicroSoft is big and rich. They should be able to do better. But, putting a team together that 1) can put out products which are more productive than before and 2) consistently do it faster than the competition is not a function of money.