microsoft is invincible 8 of august, 1998 by johnmichael patrick monty monteith

So, Microsoft is the great invincible giant, right? So many people believe the same thing. Microsoft is the company to hate. “They don’t play fair.” “They are the biggest monopoly ever.” “Their products suck but people buy it because they don’t know any better.” True as these statements may be, the same message comes through underneath every single one of them. “Microsoft can not be beat.” That is what the Microsoft Whine is all about. Whether it be the 1995 vintage or the 1998 vintage, it is all the same whine, with all the same message. And Microsoft's continued releases of cheesy operating systems has only made the whine worse. The truth is, Microsoft is far from invincible. In fact, the big Redmond bully could be a pretty easy target.

To understand how Microsoft could be beat, one has to understand how they got to be the big bully they are. Originally Bill Gates was a pretty small potatoes guy who happened to run into a little piece of software from a little Seattle company and started marketing it as MS DOS. By itself, the deal would have meant nothing. In fact, the reigning operating system CP/M was a better product than MS DOS. (Heck, it still is.) In fact, CP/M was the operating system being sold on the majority of business PC’s. However, IBM when coming out with their new IBM PC decided to make a deal that would change the industry. They decided to use MS DOS instead of CP/M. (Big Blue would love to reverse that decision, I can tell you.) From that moment through to today, Microsoft has held control of PC operating systems.

It was not just the operating system sales alone that did it. Microsoft found a neat trick for generating revenue. By controlling the operating system, they had a distinct advantage at writing the software for that operating system. Whether it was MS DOS 5 or Windows NT, the fact that Microsoft built the OS meant they knew best how to write the code. Furthermore, because everyone saw “Microsoft” written everywhere on their computer, they make a natural assumption when buying more software that they need the “Microsoft kind”.

In fact, Microsoft’s entire monopoly rides on their operating system domination. If we all ran a different operating system, their monopoly would perish. People would stop believing in this mindset that they “need the Microsoft kind”. This mindset even carries over to the Macintosh where Mac users get caught up in believing they need to run Microsoft Office. If the majority of users did not use Microsoft operating systems, this madness would stop.

Easier said than done, right? Getting 95% of the computer users of the world to switch to a new operating system is never going to happen, right? That is where the Microsoft Whine begins. We all know that if it were not for Windows, we might all be free to choose more innovative products. But, because we are mindless lemmings, we will continue to buy Bill’s stuff for the rest of our natural lives.

Ah, but the winds are changing. This might have been true. Back in the early years, people did not understand computers. They did not understand software. They just knew they wanted a computer that could do what their buddy is doing. Or what their work is doing. Or what the other company is doing. So everyone bought the same thing because they did not know any better. Reviews about which products were best to purchase never was read by the majority of PC buyers. They simply bought what friends and neighbors had, trusting that it was the right thing to do. But today your average computer user is not a mindless lemming. Thanks to the Internet, people these days are pretty well informed. They know fairly well that Windows is a product with a lot of problems, and most people these days would be willing to try something new. They see through the Microsoft hype, and have a strong idea about what is going on in the computer industry. All the information most users need to make an educated decision is just a modem and mouse click away. What’s more, people are using the information these days, too.

Lets play out a hypothetical situation, shall we?

Lets say the bulk of computer users start using the Internet. Lets say these users are fairly well informed, and have been known to do a little surfing. Then, lets say someone puts out a new operating system for Intel machines. Maybe they release it for free over the Internet, or maybe for a small cost. Perhaps it could even run along side Windows. Word of this new excellent product starts to get around, and some really great applications get written for it. Soon enough, people start downloading this free or cheap product. Lets say a small percentage of the Internet world is actually running said operating system. Then, maybe a Dell or a Gateway takes a chance and actually starts advertising PC’s selling this new OS.

Seem far fetched? Why? It would not take much. All it would take is someone to write a new killer operating system and put it online. The Net would do the rest. Before you know it, the Internet community is a buzz about this new operating system, and not a single penny in advertising would be spent.

At one time Netscape Corporation had a Microsoft size monopoly on web browsers. Netscape’s monopoly has all but evaporated thanks to Microsoft’s innovative idea of giving away a competing product. Microsoft’s plan to destroy Netscape, by giving away Internet Explorer on the Web, is the exact way virtually any company with a little programming effort could get at the heart of Microsoft. Imagine the excitement on the web if a strong operating system choice became available to Windows users by simply downloading it on the web? It could do to Microsoft what Microsoft did to Netscape.

If you own Microsoft stock, you probably do not need to be worried. I have not heard word of anyone pursuing this idea. Even Apple Computer, the most likely company to be a thorn in Microsoft's monopoly, has at least temporarily delayed plans for a Rhapsody OS for Intel release. But, whether it be Apple, or IBM, or any company, eventually someone will do it. If someone would release a decent product on the Internet at a cheap price, it is quite possible the Microsoft Whine could be ended. So stop complaining about the Microsoft monopoly, and lets start convincing some seasoned programmers that writing a new operating system for Windows machines might make them the next Bill Gates.