Why Microsoft Has Been Hiding From You

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Have you noticed that Microsoft is one of the most discrete tech companies in the world? Compared to Facebook, Google, and Apple, interest in Microsoft is virtually non-existent. They’re rarely in the news and even though the average person knows about them, they rarely talk about Micorosft and they don’t really have any strong opinions about Microsoft. At first, this might just seem like a random attribute, but this is actually very much on purpose. You see, Microsoft was very much a public company before the 2000s, and Bill Gates’ reputation was similar to that of Mark Zuckerberg’s today. But, all of this changed when a lawsuit nearly split up Microsoft into two different companies for being a monopoly. Ever since then, Microsoft has been avoiding the spotlight to avoid drawing excessive public criticism, and it seems like it’s working. Almost all of the criticism of big tech goes to Google and Facebook nowadays. This video explains how Microsoft slowly disappeared into the background and diverted attention away from their own monopoly.
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Timestamps:
0:00 - Microsoft’s Profit Margins
2:27 - The Public Monopoly
5:27 - Saving The Monopoly
8:28 - Transition To B2B
11:18 - The New Microsoft
Thumbnail Credits:
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Resources:
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Disclaimer:
This video is not a solicitation or personal financial advice. All investing involves risk. Please do your own research.
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[@jonasfermefors]

As an old geezer I'd say Microsoft learned from IBM.. and I would also argue that IBM has gone even further in avoiding public scrutiny.

[@emmanueloluga9770]

They have also suffered some from it as well

[@RyanPillay92]

Weirdly enough, IBM are leading in the AI/ML space

[@RichardLucas]

Was going to say that. IBM put in a lot of heavy lifting on behalf of open source.

[@billh.1940]

Like sharks, they run silent, but deep, wait to eat thing around them. Stayed quiet so they can do whatever they want to.

[@ADeeSHUPA]

@@RyanPillay92 ReALLY

[@danielvasquez3758]

Ironically, the became a quiet monopoly!! Who would’ve thought that could even exist. Master of being in the shadows and BG is a master of PR too!! People already forgot what he did and what he had done to get to the top already!!

[@LogicallyAnswered]

For real, super smart though

[@TheHighborn]

Alright. What's the alternative? Linux + Libre office? give me a break. The reason everybody buys their products is the alternatives are total dogshit

[@JJs_playground]

@@TheHighborn Google docs, sheets.

[@maddogblum]

@@JJs_playground definitely good alternatives, but not exactly getting away from the monopolists with Google

[@oo--7714]

@@JJs_playground grim software mate

[@MalachiMarvin]

I don't disagree with any specifics, but I think you really missed much more important issues. In the early 90's Microsoft had trounced tech giant IBM and was in the process of crushing other giants like Sun Microsystems and such. These companies were older, experienced companies, as in experienced in lobbying. They snapped their fingers and regulators jumped. When all was said and done, Microsoft had learned their lesson: it's not [just] about competing in the market place, it's about greasing palms in DC and today Microsoft is a major DC lobbyist. As to why they have transitioned to B2B, it's simply more lucrative. Consumers largely transitioned from PCs to smartphones. Microsoft made a play for phones, a couple of times actually, but couldn't make it stick. Businesses, though, still use PCs. Lot's of them. So, they've leveraged Windows and Office to provide cloud services for businesses.

[@wewilldiehere]

Also developers developers developers developers

[@19godfather93]

Thanks for bringing this up! This video absolutely missed how MS caught on to the lobbying game. Netscape cried hoarse about anti-competitive practices with IExplorer bundling but no one gave a shit. It's only when MS started to carve out giant chunks of the big guys' pie that the regulators swooped in. The first thing they did after they managed to escape getting broken up was to cozy up with politicians. It was that, along with pivoting to business customers, turning into a SaaS model and Gates' philanthropy bit that allowed MS to scale new heights without regulatory backlash.

[@TonyP9279]

Bill Gates is pretty much a real-life version of Mr. Burns #Simpsons. Dr. DOS was a small company that was developing their own version of DOS (i.e. the "C prompt" or basically the base user shell for PC and compatibles). This infuriated Gates and he ordered his software developers to slip code in that will crash the program if it detected Dr. DOS. Gates has many skeletons in his closet, many from financial interests not related to Microsoft but i will not go down those rabbit holes. Basically, I use Microsoft for work because I have to, but for everything else, I use Linux or a Mac.

[@hellskitchen10036]

Not only that but they took over Minecraft and forced me to give up my Mojang account...nazis !

[@justjordiano]

100% this. I wasn’t convinced by this video. At several points I was thinking but why at points where he thought he made a great point.

[@vzuzukin]

Bill Gates' glasses keep getting smaller with each passing decade

[@LogicallyAnswered]

It looks like the trend reset recently though

[@apc9714]

Haha they were proportional to the size of the PC in front of him

[@starvin666]

Thats probably due to refractive index of materials glasses are made from changing

[@JohnS-il1dr]

It's not the glasses that shrunk it was the size of his head getting bigger

[@The_Divergent]

@@JohnS-il1dr hhmmm...

[@Caleb__]

I always found it interesting the case with Microsoft. I work in a council organisation that shares a corporate building with microsoft and always never thought too much of it while we use Microsoft everything but of course Microsoft has found themselves in a position where they can't really be in the negative spotlight in terms of consumers and they can take in so much money from organisations that it just doesn't really matter anymore.

[@LogicallyAnswered]

Really smart positioning

[@H31nr1chTh3Austr1an]

What is your rank on job?

[@Caleb__]

@@H31nr1chTh3Austr1an My job is a Transport Network Operator which basically means making sure everything runs smoothly across the entirety of the cities roads, highways and infrastructure with monitoring CCTV, managing incidents, managing planned and unplanned activity and overall just making sure cars, buses, trains and ferries are all running smoothly and safely and coordinating a response when they may not be or there's an incident. A lot to explain but my job is with an agency operated by the city council but another entity altogether and my role is not low persay but it's not high either.

[@starrynight3945]

@@LogicallyAnswered Microsoft already have their antitrust pass/paid. Like Google Android. Google Android and Apple IOS is the analogy on desktops (Windows vs Mac OS) To be fair, people just need to support cloud app to use on Chrome os, or mac os. But too bad, corporation just cant changed their dependency to Microsoft product. But it will be better after 10 more year.

[@andrewhabroad]

@@starrynight3945 it will never change because apple and google are fundamentally predatory to users and businesses in the same way. Even if they weren't, Microsoft owns too much IP to give up for inferior platforms. Even if you are using a mac, whenever you open a browser or run some cross-platform app, the server/dev side probably runs Microsoft. The only way to challenge Microsoft is with Linux, and Linux stands no chance in the consumer space to gain traction in the business space.

[@isagiyoichi5207]

damn microsoft be like: Sneakiness 100

[@LogicallyAnswered]

Yep, 200 iq moves

[@gregor3148]

Being a developer, we come across tons of tools and technologies that are constantly being updated and released by Microsoft team. It's astonishing the speed and critical focus Microsoft is putting on their service industry. They're far ahead of Apple and Google when it comes to their product management. You won't believe how much their business is diversified and how billions of dollars they generate just by being at the right place, right time and to the right customer

[@rapiddu6482]

@@DanLyndon Google is not good at anything outside of android and search which already their homeground. MS entered in multiple avenues which was not their homeground and still got in top 2 if not top 3 kn few years. The only big failure I can count is windows phone but beside that there is not much. Plus whether ms or Google both have got their own set of significance advantages owing to some different product monopoly. Gmail is good but still doesn't have advanced options that Outlook as it blows my mind that Google still hasn't bothered to give those bases features of Outlook had for years now so much so that I don't even remember when they weren't there. 😅 Stadia has been killed by Google recently. Xbox game pass and cloud gaming is new venture for ms but they still broke through and are now pretty much the only one to pay for if you want subscription based gaming. Everyone was swooning over apple when it touched 1, 2 and 3 trillion mkt cap but no one bat an eye when ms also touched the same within 1 week and sustained itself better then apple ever did. 😂

[@laughingalien]

@@DanLyndon Unfortunately Google has a bad habit of killing their products. You can't trust them.

[@warrensabastienanderson]

I saw an app blowing up all over the internet, I think it was Calendly. I checked it out and thought hmmm there must be a Microsoft alternative. I searched Microsoft booking app and there it was, just as effective. Microsoft is my secret weapon in business.

[@AITreeBranches]

That's because maybe you don't interact with windows products. They literally created a large ecosystem of softwares that are so good for their specific niches it's impossible to compete with them. Visual studio, for example, is a platform for projects in all programming languages, you can build and deploy so many different projects is unbelievable, power automate integrated all user apps in the automation trends. You can build bots on teams, and I can go on and on.

[@NOTLeavingLV]

This reads like Microsoft PR wrote it.

[@skyMcWeeds]

MS has mastered the art of being quietly successful.

[@paulstejskal]

*profitable. They put out the bare minimum for products and don't have competition to really force them to innovate and produce good quality.

[@Aditya-qk8yz]

True

[@scaredevil666]

They learned that from Drax

[@myfakeaccount4523]

What you call success is much darker than you think. Your tax dollars basically fund them to control you.

[@BriefNerdOriginal]

Actually MS is still collecting tons of personal data. It also entered the virtual assistant game, the search engine game, the games game, the hardware game, etc. They've just become more embroiled with institutions, not distant from consumers.

[@BriefNerdOriginal]

@@EatMyBacon000 completely untrue. Not every site does it. This everything vs nothing way of thinking is useless.

[@SHRModding]

@@EatMyBacon000 yep true that

[@Journey_Awaits]

It’s basically fascism at this point, especially with how much Biden is in on it

[@BriefNerdOriginal]

@@Journey_Awaits please, explain yourself

[@physef_3738]

true, also a thing that not much people talk about is the fact that the lack of windows optimization+the insane amount of data constantly taken make computers more and more slower over the years and more prone to complete dysfunction and it is happening more frequently than ever

[@Ys_Guy]

When you're so big you bail your immediate competitive rival from bankruptcy, that's a Boss move!

[@SzBenedek2006]

I'm a linux user, I talk about microsoft every day and I use libreoffice and onlyoffice. I don't use microsoft office.

[@theworddoner]

It's an interesting strategy. But they haven't been following through with it 100%. Take X-Box Game pass for instance. They bought up so many game designer companies that there was concern that it would warrant a monopoly investigation. I don't know if it will work out for them either. It seems incredibly risky with little payoff in the short term.

[@joel3399]

But there's still strong competitors in the gaming industry

[@rzpogi]

Games shifted from fixed pricing to the in-app purchases model. Customers in the fixed pricing model expects lots of good content for every dollar and would be pissed off if devs don't deliver lots of good content. People are often generous to devs with free with in app purchases model and sometimes spend more than game actually cost. Playing the empathy model.

[@balramsingh4759]

As long as play station exist. xbox is not a monopoly

[@KrolPawi]

Game buisness is so incredibly diversified that monopolizing it is infeasible.

[@rzpogi]

@@KrolPawi tbh, the game business has no definite circle. Mobile, console, pc, dev, publisher, etc? They are not distinct compared to standard oil (petroleum) or at&t (telecommunications).

[@_.0o.0._]

Also Microsoft kills the competetion by bundling softwares together. My org used Slack/Zoom but thy were paid. Microsoft Teams came free with Office 365 hence my org started using Teams, hence Microsoft dig deeper into the ecosystem.

[@Cecil_Augus]

Ecosystem means: "the complex of a community of organisms and its environment functioning as an ecological unit" Not f*cking computer systems. Stop hijacking the word.

[@Lullabbbyyy]

@@Cecil_Augus my man mad over a word. Business ecosystem exist

[@glavet5950]

@@Cecil_Augus "Ecosystem" can also mean computer software. Google, Apple, Microsoft, and others, all have their own ecosystem that function/integrate under one account, like a Google account or a Microsoft account. OneDrive, Office, Teams, etcetera, they are all part of the Microsoft ecosystem. KZbin, Play Store, Gmail & many others are part of the google ecosystem. It doesn't matter if it's in the dictionary or not, it's a widely used term that you cannot change the meaning of. Don't be an arrogant nitpicker who tries to tear down others.

[@NoBlinds]

@@Cecil_Augus Lol what a stupid thing to get mad about 😆

[@njpme]

@@Cecil_Augus we don't care

[@KRYMauL]

Google and Amazon are trying to pivot to being more like Microsoft and Oracle, but they are constantly running into the issue of their public perception.

[@AA-db9cb]

A lot of the anti-competitive practices in desktop by Microsoft back then are being done by Apple and Google on mobile today.

[@jpjenkins86]

You skipped over some huge points here, Microsoft didn’t just invest in apple out of nowhere, Steve jobs created QuickTime and planned the delivery of it perfectly against the timing of the window 98 release. In a panic, bill gates realised he had to include a video player in the OS but there was only one company that could build it in the short time they had before release: the same company apple subcontracted to build QuickTime. Inevitably the company had to use most of the code they used to build QuickTime and windows media player was born, and it opened the door for a potential massive lawsuit from apple against Microsoft. Steve Jobs was aiming to take over the business and education space but didn’t have access to one crucial thing, Microsoft office. So instead of taking Microsoft to court, bill agreed to give apple lifetime access to Microsoft office and a ‘goodwill investment’ to apple on the brink of bankruptcy. It was a genius move by Steve jobs and one of the reasons he’s considered the king of capitalism, he manipulated the entire market with expert precision.

[@side-fish]

Yeah, I always thought this was the case. Their monopoly saga in the nineties traumatized them. One could figuratively say that they've become the adult in the room including the FAANG companies. Call it adapting, but I also call it maturity in some way. They've also made it such that the impression is that they're the good guys of the bunch. I mean they acquired Activision and most thought of it as a good thing granted there was acknowledgement of monopoly. And Activision is just one of the high profile ones. If you look in Wikipedia, they've been acquiring at least one company every month for several years.

[@Cecil_Augus]

What is maturity for you is being childish in my opinion. Like a little kid that wants everything around him to be exactly as they like.

[@side-fish]

@@Cecil_Augus I meant maturity in the sense that they're not getting into a lot of controversy and scandals as compared to FAANG. The little kid that wants everything was their Windows, Internet Explorer phase. Ever since they pivoted to the cloud, these things became less relevant. Microsoft cares more that you use their services in the OS of your choice rather than you having windows in your system. The same can be said with Xbox. They'd rather you get game pass. That said there could be new controversy in the horizon with Windows 11 and the future Windows 12.

[@monad_tcp]

They became IBM. It is still very big, it runs very important things, no one ever remember them anymore.

[@Herkan97]

They've acquired Activision? Isn't that still on hold because of legal issues? Just a day or two ago, that was still the case I believe and your comment is 3 days ago..

[@hankpigate943]

@@Herkan97 not really they said the deal would close around may-july next year and regulators we're always going to go into a deeper look. All the reporting is just it moving to 2nd phase. Microsoft will toss a couple concessions around COD to get it over the line if they have to but the deal is very on track. The deal has a lot of noise around it because Sony isn't happy but regulators don't exist to protect singular companies but consumers.

[@OneAngrehCat]

Good vid, but I would disagree on some key points: MS always wanted to be B2B, they merely failed to do so in the 80s and early 90s. By the time Office and the generic MS suite was monopolistic, they were known as "the OS maker" by everyone who had a PC, so it's assumed that they wanted to aim for consumer products, when in reality they just failed their goal for a long time. I always found it extremely ironic that Torvalds made Linux as a consumer/user oriented OS and it's almost only used by companies, while MS made Windows for businesses first, and conquered the consumer market. MS does have a massive offensive on businesses since a dozen years (the amount of c*ap that I see being transfered to Teams, Office 365, etc, is just massive) and they just keep getting more overbearing, but I think that it will end up biting most of these companies in the butt. MS has a hand in far more than most believe, in one of the most interesting, or worrying, parts of their business is that they want to be dominant or outright monopolistic everywhere, including games and coding. They own a ton of gaming companies and platforms, acquired Activision Blizzard recently, the XBOX/Windows platforms obviously, but also Github. They even make and give away for free VS Code, which is arguably the easiest high quality IDEs you can use for free. Even make an "OSS Code" version that's FOSS. So MS is playing a game of domination of the coding, gaming, and generally all software market, and targeting to have a hand in every enterprise. Since I hold no love for MS and strongly distrust them, I am not pleased with this, but I must recognise that 15 years ago, I outright hated Microsoft, and now, it's more like a mild distrust. They have managed to become a sort of secondary Google: they are everywhere, they spy on you, they will give you things in the hopes of getting more out of you than your money, and you should be worried about them. But they are discrete enough about it that you never really notice it, like a ghost that's flying behind but never making noise. MS has grown a lot from its extremely overt greed in the 90s, but I don't think they've changed an inch. (then again, Linux desktop is doable, but frankly just more annoying than Windows)

[@BroadwayRonMexico]

Even with Activision, theyre pretty far from a monopoly in the gaming sphere though. Not even the biggest player. Everything else is pretty spot-on though

[@nunograca2779]

I'm curious on what are your thought on Google, Apple and Amazon?

[@mcp121]

Funny what they said about piracy - when I was 13 if I was using a legal copy of office I was in school, none of my peers in North London had the cash for a legit copy. But now I will probs be 365 family subscriber for life. MS get paid - they were patient enough to wait.

[@i_am_silkbeard]

🤣🤣🤣…same here! I started pirating ms suits and os’s since XP; before XP, there was literally no reason to pirate since most things came out of the box with every PC purchase or OS upgrade 🤣… And the shock of my life happened when I (curiously, intentionally, and nicely) requested an activation code (via the windows activation process) for my pirated WINmobile on my HTC HD2, and they mailed it to me 🤣…I couldn’t believe my eyes! I should be happy, but I became more confused as to why they’ll do that! 🤣

[@ryan-smith]

Microsoft attempted to kill Java and also attempted to kill open source. Thankfully they learned their lesson. They stopped fighting Java and Microsoft is now one of the most open-source friendly companies by giving us Visiual Studio Code and github.

[@JamesJon1187]

VScode is the best! Ctrl+d, alt down, alt+shift+down, and so much more save me so much time!

[@shankysays]

In india almost everyone i knew when i was a student pirated windows. Almost everyone learnt about computer and how to use it on a windows xp machine. Today those guys are engineers in fang and service sector and they are all using legit software because of many reasons. We pirated windows back in the day and today almost all of us use legit version. So yeah, bill was right. He did manage to find a way to monetize those who pirated his software in next decade.

[@gigihanmandarin]

It's free now anyway.

[@shankysays]

@@gigihanmandarin i don't think so. You need to have licence. Right ? I have a licence issued to me.

[@GIGADEV690]

@@misheeltubshinbaatar6620 it's not free in corporate jobs Microsoft gives strike there.

[@OnurTheXbot]

Microsoft is a mysterious company.

[@mitchellhorton9382]

As Bill Gates lost power, Microsoft became less and less ego-driven. Now it's run by qualified business folk who pay employees well, have a robust HR department, and who avoid pointless legal battles while focusing on growing their core products.

[@kamyastudios]

Y’all will just say anything as long as it sounds good 😂

[@Camelotsmoon]

You give Microsoft too much credit. I like the new CEO who completely missed the boat on smartphones because his ego was bigger than bills with nothing to back it up.

[@simonk.2969]

@@kamyastudios This guy legit has a dead smooth brain😂😂

[@emmanueloluga9770]

@@kamyastudios Like straight up, it baffles me lol… All that sounded good, but is literally opposite of what the reality is

[@silverchairsg]

@@Camelotsmoon I thought that was Steve Ballmer who missed the boat on smartphones? The current Nutella got the cloud Azure market thing absolutely right.

[@mahmga1]

Absolutely respect the 180. Hard not to also as I've made my entire living from Microsoft products since the 90s (as a developer). I also stopped thinking of MS being evil in the 00s as they faded from the spotlight. Now 'we' definitely focus our angst toward FANG!

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

Oh, they're still evil, but their strategy is working, even well run companies get sucked in and downgrade all their working systems into the quagmire of MICROS~1. We had a lively set of Slack channels, then downgraded to Teams. Now nobody talks any more. Polishing my resume...

[@backupaddict1356]

@@johnrehwinkel7241 How are they downgrading?

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

@@backupaddict1356 The usual way: replacing working, secure, easy to use software with inferior MICROS~1 software, which is none of these.

[@johnpeterson1464]

I think this is a well put video and overal I agree with the fact that Microsoft is mostly out of the spotlight compared to other tech companies of its size. One thing though that has recently been in the new is the acquisition of activision which has been a big deal, just something I found interesting

[@liamporter1137]

Informative. Never thought of this topic until this vlog. Thanks for sharing.

[@the_italian_weeb4732]

I realized this when my father HAD to purchase an Office license and then subscribe to Office 365 just to keep going with the accountability and data managing (he's a farmer). It's shocking to me how businesses have to continue using MS products to ensure compatibility with past records and outside institutions. The Apple Works suite is a strawman, the open source alternatives aren't quite up to standard and MS continues its monopoly.

[@willi1978]

wouldn't libre office work too?

[@SioxerNikita]

Open Source Alternatives is certainly up to standard for 99% of business use

[@Herkan97]

@@SioxerNikita But presumably it would mean change and that may be tedious, I do think it's odd to act like you have to do something rather than want. No one says "I want this" anymore, do they? It's always "I have to" as if they're hiding behind it to take blame away from themselves. Just own up to what you do..

[@SioxerNikita]

@@Herkan97 What?

[@eone199]

why don't you use older office instead??

[@sylvianblade75]

Gotta give credit entirely to Ballmer. He pushed Microsoft to turn to enterprise products and double down on Office. He led the development of .NET framework and SQL server. He also invested heavily in the entertainment business with Microsoft studios and envisioned Xbox as an entertainment console. He also transitioned Microsoft to invest in cloud with Azure which Nadella is taking credit. I remember when Microsoft had cutting edge research scientists in the 2000s and Nadella laid off most of them in 2014. All shareholders cared about was smartphones and stock price which hurt Ballmer’s reputation.

[@laughingalien]

Agree, matey! I really liked Windows phone.

[@jesseinfinite]

Bill was extremely ahead of his time when it comes to its piracy policy which they still follow to this day, and even more so than ever given that you can just officially download it from their website. The gaming industry wouldn't be as big as it is today without piracy either.

[@davidfrischknecht8261]

The only limitation if you don't activate Windows with a valid product key is the inability to personalize the OS.

[@myfakeaccount4523]

😂 how naive, why do you think MS doesn't care if you buy the OS? Your personal info and access to your PC is far more valuable even beyond money.

[@delightfulsquirtle316]

I always wondered why that is. As a Windows, Office, Azure and Xbox user I am quite into the ecosystem. They did many weird things with their products (Windows Phone, Surface, Xbox One, Zune etc.) but they are still so damn successful. Not simping for them. I'd rather use linux as well... but for my purposes that is literally impossible rn. I do have a laptop with linux and raspberry pies to tinker with though.

[@warwickwestonwrigful]

One of the biggest reasons for Microsoft's monopoly is that it's such a useful product. The monopolies commission can only affect company policy they can't affect what the public buy. I think the next best step for Microsoft is allow it to be free for personal use.

[@NubeBuster]

It's already basically free though. I'm running on a product key from 2012

[@TheTrueCBaer]

@@NubeBuster they charge you with your personal data

[@NubeBuster]

@@TheTrueCBaer tried switching to linux mint two days ago. Wasted 8 hours trying to fix kernel errors. Pfff honestly disappointed. Always have trouble on modern and old hardware on different distros. Wanna switch but dont have time to get in touch with low level devs trying to fix

[@TheTrueCBaer]

​@@NubeBuster Yes I switched to Linux Mint. It was 1.5 Years ago. It was very easy and I'm not going back. It is a relief. And they are improving by time. Windows on the other hand gets worse every mayor version. Windows now is just a mix of bad ideas and rotten code. Microsofts ads and account none-sense made me angry and after seeing win11 screwing up a simple thing like the right click menu I just noped out.

[@AnalogDude_]

What wrong with Ubuntu linux or so, their desktops behave quite like Apple OSX, like Dock, similar effects and functions, like 2 desktops and switch between them with the scroll of the mouse wheel, nice color scheme, the taskbar is much more elaborated on the left of the screen and you can scroll through program and easy access to programs menu. Something similar to an appstore to find and install new programs, games. The plus is that you don't need to create account and you're not constantly asked to log in, comes with libre office witch does pretty much everything. You are not asked if you are SURE if your wanna delete something, that's a pretty autism property of microsoft. You got Arduino IDE, Microchip mplab, Kdenlive video editing software (looks professional), GIMP image editing software (like Photoshop), Inkscape (vector drawing), Autodesk Eagle(PCB editting), Kicad (PCB editting), Autodesk Fusion, ECLISPE IDE, QTcreator C++ IDE and much more. WINE to run windows programs, most of them accept visual studio, Autocad, you can play Rollercoaster Tycoon. it's all free and no accounts creating required. You CAN'T access your wife/parners folders, no antivirus required, it's safe and locked, energy efficient and runs days, years without restarting, like tv setup boxes, tv's, mobile phones, etc. it has some pretty useful shortcut microsoft doesn't have width the DOS terminal witch you need to use sometimes. it takes 2 command to update the entire machine, all software instead of handeling them individual, one by one. Much better for your wallet and no need for accounts.

[@EauRouge]

I would become enfuriated with FAANG tactics but would never question or comment on Microsoft's. I'm addicted and depend on Excel, OneDrive and Outlook, by the way. Sad but true. Great video mate!!

[@DarkOracleOfDeath]

Being somewhat of a Microsoft fan, I haven't seen them going away from the public eye. I always knew about their new products and services, but now I also understand why they gave up so easily on Windows Mobile. Before I had watched this video, I still had hopes that a Surface Phone 3 could run Windows on ARM. Now I'm not so sure anymore. It'll probably still come with Android ☹️.

[@user-vi3fy2cc9z]

Never be a fan of a company, be a fan of their product...

[@emmanueloluga9770]

Never be a fan of the product idea, be a fan of the promise of the product or the purpose of the promise! Actually, don’t just be a fan at all lol

[@LogicallyAnswered]

They’re def killing it in b2b sectors. So I’m not sure how much focus they’ll put on consumer products

[@DarkOracleOfDeath]

I guess that was a lazy way of saying that I liked their idea and the idea of a customizable ecosystem where your phone syncs/works seemlessly with your PC, you have your fitness tracker (MS Band) syncing with them as well, etc. Apple kinda went there, but their lack of customization on any of their products is terrible. And Google won't release anything for Windows other than Drive and Google Earth it seems, so the Microsoft promise was the best in my opinion. Plus, the future I was envisioning in 2007 was that the phones in our pockets will essentially be just PCs with a smaller screen, so productivity machines, not these entertainment oriented devices and I think Windows would've played fairly well into that, but not with Windows 10 Mobile. Maybe Windows on ARM.

[@Ozymandi_as]

I wouldn't say they gave up easily on mobile. Steve Balmer famously missed the boat, and then spent a fortune trying to catch up - e.g. acquiring Nokia, with very little to show for it. Windows is an OS designed for x86 architecture, and has stubbornly resisted attempts to habituate itself to other platforms and form factors, though not for the want of trying. Its legacy corporate users have been fine with it where it is, using the applications their businesses depend on, which has frustrated Microsoft's desire to move to arm, and always connected devices. But they'll have to do it eventually.

[@manhoosnick]

Microsoft is the Gen X of tech: rich, works, enjoys...keeps quiet.

[@LogicallyAnswered]

Yep pretty much

[@hindolbhattacharya9715]

In short they became like the tech companies of Europe- Siemens et al.

[@larryonting]

Great video. I would also point to the change of leadership as part of the reason why people are less mad at MS. Ballmer and Gates were the two most hated persons at MS and they're no longer involved with its daily operations.

[@GabbieCh]

This is a great point. Bill still gets some attention for the shady moves he's making.

[@oo--7714]

Microsoft is the visa of tech companies, lmao true.

[@dylangtech]

I'm a software engineer, and despite my relationship with Microsoft souring immensely these last few years, I believe the breakup order would have been detrimental to the consumer. You see, monopolies in software are a completely different animal to those of just about any other consumer product other than entertainment media, except with software, your life runs on them like with any engineered product. The problem is that software is IP isn't reliant on a company's location or size, but is reliant on other IP (software and hardware). If Microsoft actually was broken up into an apps company and an OS company, then this would effectively make downloading a browser impossible (for the average user) unless you physically bought a browser on a diskette first, which could risk hurting competition more. There are more issues, such as the precedents this would create, but those are issues many of us are familiar with to this day. These early regulatory decisions were CRUCIAL in creating the devises the way we have them now. For example, websites such as Roblox can get away with exploiting kids 12 and under because COPPA was what mandated that kids be 13+ and have parents' permission, and Roblox doesn't sell data. The issue with anticompetative behavior was actually solved quite well due to Microsoft being made to open its APIs to 3rd-party devs. I wish that this would be applied across the board to companies like Apple. This would allow for competition for iPhone apps, and allow for more free speech. That said, you don't want to enforce standards either. I believe that iPhone being forced to use USB-C will kill innovation in the future if USB (whose regulatory body is basically owned by the old "triumvirate of evil" that is Microsoft, IBM, and Intel) becomes outdated or weaponized.

[@oo--7714]

Cry

[@captainphysic]

You do realize apple is part of the USB Implementors forum right? They had a hand in USB-C, regardless of how much, why would Apple join a public standard with its specs open to the public if it would "stifle innovation." if it stifles innovation that badly that apple will fight it, why not just spend that time and money on INNOVATING! And please tell me where the EU's law states that USB-C has to be the final connector? As far as I can tell it's just asking for a Universal cable and charging standard, USB-C and its Power Delivery spec being very enticing options so they chose that for now. If apple really worried about it they can just invent the Apple Lightning Thunder Super Pro Cable Max S XR Z for all I care. I'm all for a standard charger, working in IT its a pain in everyone's butt to have to file through charges to find one with the right voltage and amperage.. but oh look the connector is too small better keep digging. USB-C with variable PD would be such a game changer, and I argue it would make other companies want to innovate more and create an even better connector, whether that be more durable, smaller, higher PD capabilities, you name it. USB-C is for all intents and purposes the best IMO connector out there rn, It's small, reversible, supports multiple versions of the USB spec and is an incredibly common charger thanks in part because apple pushed it so hard on their laptops and desktops... oh and their tablets

[@HonoredMule]

"...monopolies in software are a completely different animal to those of just about any other consumer product..." That's a common argument based on failing to see the opportunity cost from no competition. Software monoliths are hard to displace but _not_ because they're better - it's because they're _easier_ to make and adopt. It's an important distinction that regains the spotlight every time software following unix design philosophy gains a foothold. After all, the free market as a whole is _way_ more innovative than one unmotivated company, and what's good for the requisite interoperability is also good for advancement and also just inherently better software design. So, suddenly a decentralized ecosystem of well-interfaced purpose-built tools starts evolving at breakneck pace, circumvents the previously "hard" problems, and leapfrogs the current state of the art. ...at least until someone with deep pockets merges all the new functionality into a one-stop do-everything software package, displaces all the expert individual part vendors, and establishes a newly-stagnant pseudo-standard. Rinse and repeat. Most of the truly wondrous (and ongoing) success stories in software are open standards, protocols, or platforms that were for one reason or another immune to proprietary displacement or other forms of monopolization/oligopolization. _Those_ are what we should study to paint a picture of what the world would be today without the likes of Microsoft and Apple. If we could solve the "tech exhaustion" market condition, software monopolies (and in particular single-company-owned platforms) would be much harder to create and virtually impossible to keep, precisely because in terms of actual product quality, they are objectively worse, slower to innovate, and their primary function is vendor lock-in.

[@patrickpowers5995]

The fundamental problem is that in IT monopolies (or near monopolies) are really not at all bad. They effectively establish standards for others to use more conveniently and cheaply. We can see this in the way that cell phone technology has emerged with IOS and Android being virtually the sole market. Also of course the way that Apps for IOS are controlled might sound punitive to some but that is one very big way to ensure that IOS is nearly immune to viruses. Monopolies of this sort have their advantages.

[@gwgux]

@@patrickpowers5995 I disagree, monopolies in B2B or even regular consumer markets are inherently harmful at all times. A convenience of a limited amount of standards dictated by one entity to abide by is by no means an advantage. Sure literally everyone knows it and can build from it to support it. However, literally everyone knows it and can build from it to break it too and then you have to wait on the single source of it to get around to releasing a patch for it while your system is vulnerable. In the meantime you're spending lots of time and hours and dollars on security systems outside of that system to keep unauthorized people out of it. If there were 20+ unique fundamentally different types of systems on the market with equal market share that adhered to reliable open and secure communication standards so they could all work together for folks, the nonsense with ransomware taking down entire companies at a time wouldn't be possible. The fact that we have software monopolies out there means computing has been fundamentally less secure than it really should be. If something happened on an open standard, then the platform's affected by it may vary a lot more based on how they had to implement it to use it.

[@stipebalenovic6497]

Bill Gates is more of a Apple guy, if we look at the stock he owns.

[@LogicallyAnswered]

Hahaha, gotta choose the winners

[@larrypaul2462]

@@LogicallyAnswered at the time, apple was worth more dead than alive. Kudos though, most I encounter either out and about in the physical world as well as online that are also fanboys of apple don't realize apple only cirrently exist due to Bill Gates/Microsoft. lol, still remember the fanboys when that announcement was made, they all booed when Gates walked onto the stage.. Hell, if I'd been Gates I'd have told Jobs "Dealing with the FTC sounds much better than dealing with your brain dead following, deals off/apple dies with it! See ya" Jobs: "Shit, I really have created a brain dead following" Yep Steve you did!

[@rapiddu6482]

@@LogicallyAnswered winners? 😂 MS has been trading almost parallel to apple actually better sustained then apple. Owning stock can't tell anything about someone mindset people invest based on how much money and in how much time they want it.

[@oooChickenatorXooo]

You may wish to update the text description. There is a difference between "discrete" and "discreet". Don't feel bad though, there are tons of people who confuse those two.

[@d1p70]

i am so discreetly discrete that i seem continuous

[@thedelanyo]

My opinion. Because first, they're empowering developers with (GitHub, vs code, and other development tools), and secondly they're now more embracing the Linux ecosystem into theirs.

[@NOTLeavingLV]

5:05 the video creator is likely too young to remember but IE was indeed a part of windows, it tied together explorer for a period, so reduced functionality of windows wasn’t a stretch, but you could indeed remove it so they aren’t completely incorrect.

[@SyrFlora]

Honestly Microsoft give quite a lot for free.. U can mod and tweak window to minimise and completely avoid data collection if u want. It very possible to do if u gonna go into that route... Same as office also.. U can do whatever u want... Unlike other competitor who really depend on locking user. They will try their best to remove any modding workaround.. To ensure all the data collection, all the fee goes into correct channel as their revenue.

[@TheVirtualArena24]

I was thinking lately about them as a company. Bill really made one of the best companies in business.

[@eliubfj]

That's right, But people love hating the player NOT the game

[@LogicallyAnswered]

True

[@levihalperin7649]

@@eliubfj many people hate the game and would like the rules to be changed

[@emmanueloluga9770]

@@levihalperin7649 IKR, many people just say stuff because it sounds good as that’s what they have been expose to as well

[@SHTMusik]

Nice report. I noticed Microsoft was changing. I still remember the days of 98 and XP. I have stuck with 7 on my recording workstation but eventually I'll have to let that go too. I think Linux will be my next move.

[@ligmaballs674]

We seriously need to bring more attention to this!

[@danielvasquez3758]

Brother, good seeing you again!! Hope you have an amazing week!!

[@LogicallyAnswered]

Thank you so much Daniel! Wish you the same!

[@F15ElectricEagle]

Drug Dealer: "Here kid, take this free cocaine, meth, heroine, fentanyl or whatever is your drug of choice. I'll be very thankful that you took it when you later become an adult." Microsoft: "Here consumer, have this free operating system. I be thankful that you took it when you later need anything that need a software program to operate".

[@stevenriley6255]

They haven't gone quiet. I frequently get calls from their technical support team in India calling me up saying my computer is infected and I just need to give them my credit card number to fix the problem. They access my computer and make the necessary changes.

[@Neeseius]

What nice people ☺️

[@meatsuitpilot6642]

of all the tech majors MSFT will weather this economy best. They're seasoned, diversified, and entrenched. Of the tech majors, MSFT is the 'essential worker'

[@sahiljindal]

Technically, It is the Linux community that holds the strongest opinion about Microsoft. 🙂

[@emmanueloluga9770]

Of course lol, because they are the direct competition to its monopoly

[@atlanta2076]

So they finally became IBM, a shadowy, business-client-oriented, seemingly all-powerful force lurking in the background. Yay! :I

[@oo--7714]

People like to hate on large companies. Honestly it's a bit funny.

[@LogicallyAnswered]

For real hahaha, they be jealous

[@oo--7714]

@@LogicallyAnswered true, people usually like to hate on those with more power.

[@leonidacorrales3231]

@@oo--7714 Agree , is foolish think like that when we are in a capitalism system.

[@StefAdr]

I still don't get how MS is accused for decades for monopoly just because they are bundling software with their OS while Apple computers and all smart phones are doing it freely. You are free to install whatever you like. How much you get bundled in with your OS or any software is nobody's business. It is the job of developers to make a better product and sell it directly to you or whoever is bundling software that will reach you...

[@sladoid]

0:59 Camera man knows whats up

[@bigjared8946]

They learned the lay low lesson in the Browser Wars when they became the villain. They have avoided the villain role since. It amuses me that in 2022, IE is the only browser a bunch of stuff on my work intranet actually works with. -posted from Windows 10

[@airsoftbeast11234]

As a current Microsoft engineer, I find this video very interesting!

[@rayoflight62]

After Vista, I switched to Ubuntu and never looked back. Windows XP has been the pinnacle of the Microsoft operating systems, and I wished the kept iterating on that model, but no. Windows now hides it's options and modes of operations deep into nonsensical menu choices, as it has been incredibly dumbed down from an user perspective. With all its logging, indexing, reporting and mirroring Windows is a resource hog, a connectivity nightmare and a privacy hazard. In the decades past, I have been a passionate ambassador for all things Microsoft, until they achieved irrelevance - when their products become services. Now, my HDD light comes on only when I access a file - like it was in the good old times...

[@syte_y]

Nice you used the Atlanta office in your screenshot of the microsoft office. It’s beautiful

[@darthnegativehunter8659]

with microsoft there is a HUGE privacy argument.

[@ardagenc4674]

In the all-in podcast David Sacks explain this topic very nicely. If anyone interested on the strategies of how Microsoft sustain its monopoly against new commers I highly recommend that pod

[@sabusukaquean8357]

Which episode??

[@apc9714]

Super interesting video. Microsoft position is really enviable

[@nasserx720]

You should watch the video "Bing isn't a failure" by Polymatter. They do monetize consumers data directly.

[@nicholasgrippo1754]

I wish the thumbnail had a photo of Satya Nadella. He seems actually like a nice guy. It's also pretty sad what happened to his son.

[@BuenoSuertes]

Dell and IBM also have done something similar.

[@novadestroyerthesundestroy890]

10:56, that's super interesting, probably the first of it's case

[@vivekrsharma557]

Out of dozens of tech companies, Microsoft is the one whom I'll bet even in my sleep. 30+ years and still running like pro. Other tech giants kept struggling to maintain themself with new technology but Microsoft stayed there it knows everything. Obviously it had major failures too but at the end of the day it stands strong in market and there are bunch of services nobody else can provide. I won't call it monopoly, I'll call it commitment and dedication towards consumers.

[@bchristian85]

This explains why Microsoft so tightly integrated IE into the Windows Desktop in Windows 95 OSR2 and Windows 98, which I hated at first but eventually came to like. Never knew about that earlier court case.

[@nicholasdean3467]

To be fair. In gaming the only thing people are talking about is Microsoft and their 70ish billion dollar acquisition of blizzard/Activision.

[@SuthesanSA89]

Not the same as Facebook, I can live without facebook, but Office? Without Office? or Onedrive. Total Nightmare. Yes, I know there is other programs, but good luck by being the IT admin and have to migrate very one over in the company.

[@Ozymandi_as]

Microsoft seems to have attracted a lot less public ire since Satya Nadella took over, who is a much less abrasive leader, and aggressive strategist, than either Bill Gates or Steve Balmer were; and, to be frank, a much more emotionally intelligent human being. From the start, he seemed determined to learn from the mistakes of the past, and reorient the company towards a more responsible and collaborative ethos, and with that, Microsoft's earnings began to recover.

[@RobertShofkom]

Microsoft's business model was to ALLOW pirating of their products (like drug dealer giving away free samples) Once everyone got hooked, they changed their business model to SAS (Software as a Service) Which is why the OP stated that even if you use a MAC you most likely use Microsoft Office (IE Word, Powerpoint, Outlook, etc. etc. ) I have always said that if Apple would design thir own Domain controllers and Group Policy, they would put Microsoft out of business as that would move them fully into the business sector.

[@hankpigate943]

Apple putting MS out of business in b2b software is like MS releasing the zune thinking it's a viable alternative to the ipod. In theory maybe, but in reality not gonna happen.

[@mind-of-neo]

"Bald slave driver" is the best description of jeff bezos i have ever heard lmaoo

[@jkepic25]

Nah, in those days things were different. Internet explorer was integral part of windows desktop and other feautures. So if you uninstalled explorer on those versions, some parts of windows would not work the way it was intended. So what Microsoft claimed was actually true and not "obviously a lie" as you claimed in the video. Not sure if that was in Windows 98 SE or Windows ME, but that is how it was. I think it was in Win 98 SE.

[@Luix]

IE render engine was used by XP for everything internet related

[@johndinsdale1707]

It's because they sell to the enterprise , they make teams the centre of the world for enterprise users. Azure is far easier to administer than AWS or GCD .

[@JamesJon1187]

Ngl, since the last.15 years or so, I've always had s favorable impression of microsoft and now with their lax take on windows and all the time saving features of VScode, I like them all that much more. Good job, MS!

[@concernpinoy3412]

Well this a view from someone who is not involve in IT management, IT Budget or IT Professional with good experience. Microsoft is not hiding if your company has adopted Microsoft product those that manages IT will always be approach by Microsoft via their sales team and they will receive various email regarding Microsoft updates and free training and i’m sure IT professionals know how big Microsoft is. It’s just that not all business can afford it specially their server product. It goes the same with the likes of Oracle and SAP they don’t advertise on TV because their marketing only targets those people who are involve in IT management they are efficient that way.

[@altrag]

I think there's another huge factor involved - Windows XP. Specifically, the fact that XP was completely rebuilt based on their server product, with all of the additional security and (more importantly) stability that brought with it. The stability issues in particular was a massive bane on pretty much every computer user with estimates in the billions for lost productivity due to Windows crashes. We all like to mock Windows 8 for being the "worst" Windows, but that's just because ME was such a dumpster fire that Microsoft replaced it as fast as they could manage and barely promoted it while it was active, letting people stick with 98 (unless they had to buy a new PC with ME preinstalled) until XP was released. And 98 wasn't exactly known for its stability at the best of times - it was better than 95 to be sure (especially with SE) and way more solid than ME, but it was still a hot mess in its own right. Or basically, people don't think so much about Windows or Microsoft as long as it "just works". When it was crashing sometimes dozens of times a day, usually losing all of your work in the process, it was always top of everyone's mind as a focus for disdain. With that now (mostly) behind us by nearly two decades, Windows is no even really seen as a separate product anymore. Its just "part of the PC" when you buy a new machine, same as iOS is "part of the Mac" when you buy a new Apple computer. Its not slapping us in the face anymore so we're able to simply not think about it.

[@slamcool]

I would have agreed a couple of years ago with this Video title. But since the Bethesda buy, and the recent game pass deals, the word Microsoft actually comes often in the circle of my family and friends. Some cancelled their steamdeck order to go Microsoft, I skipped the PS5 and we all go either PC or Xbox and we have been crossplaying ever since.

[@laughingalien]

Same. Their products are doing the talking for them.

[@LordBagdanoff]

This company will continue to dominate even though they are not in the spotlight.

[@LumiLumiLumiLumiLumiLumiLumiL]

Microsoft Office is now called Microsoft 365 Btw :>

[@LogicallyAnswered]

True hahaha

[@deanchur]

One thing I've noticed they're doing is quietly distancing themselves from Silicon Valley and everything negative associated with the area/culture (makes sense, since their head office is in Redmond, Washington State). Whenever you hear a keynote from Silicon Valley you're just sitting there waiting to see what disingenuous spin they're going to try and feed you today, or whenever you check tech news you're expecting to see yet another company that twists the law to serve its own purpose; basically, Silicon Valley has made everyone cynical. That rarely happens with Microsoft. I think they learnt a lot from the Ballmer era, who was probably the closest person Microsoft had to a Silicon Valley CEO; Satya seems to be Steve's opposite, where he stands back and acts as a facilitator and overseer instead of a PR figurehead.

[@crystalnelson314]

I'd be careful on the better than ever. They have been laying off people and almost totally freezing hiring.

[@hankpigate943]

That's all of tech though. And with MS mostly in areas that they had been working on and not making any money. The areas where they have interest in...well theyre dropping 68.7 billion on Activision and sucking up the thousands of employees that go into running that.

[@flaguser4196]

microsoft and google give away a lot of valuable stuff for free, so they win a lot of users. the rest are either simple content shops that charge you for everything (netflix, amazon) or have no actual value (facebook).

[@ligmaballs674]

This isn't getting enough attention. Lets post this link everywhere!

[@spde]

I remember the Microsoft of the 80s - just barely. Installing Windows 3.1 from 20 (?) x 3'5 and stuff like that. XP and the Vista disaster 🤣👏 I can speak highly of Halo and Xbox, but honestly, I like their products because I am used to them and they are just familiar... I can't say that there is the same hero-worship feeling as Apple users seem to have. Thanks for including the regulatory nonsense - didn't know any of that 🤣👏

[@silverchairsg]

My take as a Windows user who bought a Macbook Pro out of curiosity about 4 or 5 years ago... Apple feels way better than Microsoft in terms of UI and all that stuff. Going back to Windows feels like a downgrade. However, I'm really not happy about how they keep jacking up prices for their stuff and how they insist on a closed ecosystem for their users.

[@emmanueloluga9770]

Anyone in the corporate world who pays attention already figured this out. However, great expository video essay on the business models and practices of these behemoth conglomerates lol

[@m-Parsa]

If you really wanna know why Microsoft wasn't broken up, look into Bill's parents.

[@oguz5717]

Well you gotta make a video about ORACLE. Another monopoly nobody talks about.

[@LogicallyAnswered]

Ah, I do have a video one them. Maybe another one though

[@IrwineDuncan]

Solution to the one is a solution to the many. The modern subscription model is too focused on selling to one licensee and not groups. We need more group subscriptions and ways to manage that group with group policies. Example, Netflix has grown by having groups, but now it is reducing that capability for profit and selling ads. They are going backwards. sharing a subscription is a feature not a bug.

[@qwill8254]

TCS is another example .... More than close to 50% all Internet traffic is handled by them ... Yet most people don't know of it .... Should make a vid on it ....

[@stefano8840]

what's its complete name? can't find anything on TCS

[@qwill8254]

@@stefano8840 Tata consultancy services

[@qwill8254]

@@stefano8840 btw , see what I mean

[@MrKhashaa]

Please make a video about Richard Stallman, creator of open source coding concept

[@okaycook1307]

Judge trying to not be corrupt on a big but easy case challenge (impossible)

[@chazguerrero5121]

I find it odd that you think the direction was a master plan and missed the many short falls. Mobile being a huge one and how AWS is the for front of cloud with Microsoft following their lead. Feels like this is a push for a video more then honest observation

[@Tential1]

He's right though, if you pirate the software long enough you will eventually buy it. Hell, I bought office even though it's easy to pirate. I wanted to make sure I had it working for business. I can bet you pirates have sold a lot of legit copies of software

[@Gunmetalsunglasses]

Thanks for this Interesting Insight. Smh Microsoft

[@xgxfhzxfuhfjgfhgf]

Exactly video I needed and wished for recently 👍

[@driver288]

Well as an it pro of 23 years I’m well aware of what Microsoft have been up to. And largely they have been building solid services. I work primary with business customers windows and Microsoft 365. Fun stuff! And impressive services. Actually often at reasonable prices. On the private side I’m an Xbox user.

[@laughingalien]

Me, too. 30+ years as a developer. Thanks to Microsoft, a little person like myself can work for big and small companies. I have all the tools I need to get the job done. The hardest part is keeping up with the technology.

[@satyambhartee3189]

So I later thought to sell an extension graphics processor and probably with mini battery