Microsoft, the world's largest software company, turns 30 today. The company that brought you the many flavour of Windows, the exciting interface that was DOS, and more proprietary formats than you can shake a stick at, is taking a moment to look back at the last thirty years, and wonder what's coming in the next thirty.
Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and chairman, had the following to say about the anniversary:
As I think about the last 30 years, I'm most proud of our making 'big bets' on technologies like the graphical user interface or Web services and watching them grow into something people rely on every day. And the long-term research we're doing today on some of computer science's toughest challenges - such as helping computers listen, speak, learn and understand - will lead to what I think will be the next wave of growth and innovation for our industry.
So, what are Microsoft doing over the next 18 months then? Well, we've got the next version of Office to look forward to (a different coloured toolbar perhaps?), a whole new Operating System to get excited about, and of course the Xbox 360. Pretty busy times. However, competition has never been stronger. Alternative browsers are fighting the browser battle, Google are trying to shift us into a network-centric view of the world, and free open source office and operating systems are eating into Microsoft's traditional marketplaces.
No doubt the next thirty years will see as much innovation and change as the last thirty years. The question is, will Microsoft still be the power then that they are now? Ask us again in 2035, when we're running GoogleOS from our moon base.
|
|
Reader Comments: 0
