{"id":67392,"date":"2015-01-30T04:12:02","date_gmt":"2015-01-30T09:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/?p=67392"},"modified":"2015-01-30T11:22:36","modified_gmt":"2015-01-30T16:22:36","slug":"will-microsoft-windows-10-win-back-the-masses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/2015\/01\/will-microsoft-windows-10-win-back-the-masses\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Microsoft Windows 10 Win Back the Masses?"},"content":{"rendered":"
January 30, 2015<\/div>
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By WallStreetDaily.com<\/span><\/a> \"Microsoft:<\/p>\n

By Greg Miller<\/a>, Senior Technology Analyst<\/em><\/p>\n

Microsoft<\/strong> (MSFT<\/a>) wants you to know something\u2026<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very sorry\u2026 it misses you\u2026 and wants you back.<\/p>\n

Now, this might come as news to you, as you may not even realize that you broke up in the first place!<\/p>\n

After all, chances are you have a PC with a Windows operating system\u2026 you used Microsoft Word to create your last document\u2026 and you may use Excel for your spreadsheets.<\/p>

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Even so, Microsoft and its customers are on very shaky ground.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s where the rough patch came from \u2013 and what the company is doing to win back public approval\u2026<\/p>\n

Microsoft\u2019s Evaporating Market Share<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s no secret that Microsoft still completely dominates the PC world. And with a 90% share of PC and laptop operating systems, that position isn\u2019t going to change anytime soon.<\/p>\n

However, the way we use<\/em> computers has changed. More of what we do on a \u201ccomputer\u201d is done on a tablet or smartphone.<\/p>\n

And Microsoft is all but absent there.<\/p>\n

Its market share among smartphones is a paltry 3.6%\u2026 and with tablets, it\u2019s a virtually non-existent 1.6%. Indeed, Microsoft estimates that its share across all personal computing devices combined has fallen to 14%.<\/p>\n

The story is similar with browsers. Microsoft\u2019s Internet Explorer has steadily lost share to Mozilla Firefox, Google<\/strong> (GOOGL<\/a>) Chrome, Apple<\/strong> (AAPL<\/a>) Safari, and various other proprietary browsers that come with smartphones.<\/p>\n

And what has Microsoft done to fight back?<\/p>\n

The Not-So-Great 8<\/h2>\n

For a long time, Microsoft\u2019s scattergun approach to winning back some affection was akin to a wayward significant other who kept drunk dialing you at 3 a.m. and wondering why you always hung up and moved on to someone else.<\/p>\n

Take the much-maligned Windows 8, for example. If you want a case study of how not<\/em> to design a product, this is it.<\/p>\n

The operating system was originally crafted for mobile devices, but was then shoehorned into desktop and laptop mode.<\/p>\n

It was a sloppy and ill-conceived end product that tried to please everybody\u2026 but ended up pleasing nobody<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And while the Windows phone has been a modest success, going from a 0% share to just 3.6% isn\u2019t the kind of success befitting a company of Microsoft\u2019s standing. It\u2019s accustomed to being No. 1.<\/p>\n

Microsoft\u2019s solution?<\/p>\n

Windows 10\u2026<\/p>\n

From Sloppy Drunk to Prince Charming<\/h2>\n

In Windows 10, the company has sobered up, got a job, and is sending flowers.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s in the system to woo you back? It comes down to six key factors\u2026<\/p>\n

Factor #1: A More Versatile Operating System.<\/strong> The biggest piece of Windows 10 is the operating system itself. It\u2019s set to be everything that Windows 8 was supposed to be, but wasn\u2019t. In other words, it provides the same experience for tasks, whether you\u2019re using a smartphone, tablet, PC, or even Xbox (which I\u2019ll cover in a second). Importantly, this means a seamless transition between touchscreens and non-touchscreens.<\/p>\n

Factor #2: Cross-Platform Apps.<\/strong> With a cross-platform operating system comes cross-platform apps, too. The new Windows app store is supposed to offer applications that scale by platform and, again, provide a similar user experience, regardless of what kind of device you\u2019re using.<\/p>\n

Factor #3: A New Browser.<\/strong> \u201cProject Spartan\u201d is set to replace the much-reviled Internet Explorer. The truth here is that while Internet Explorer was only as bad as people say for a brief period early in the century, it\u2019s still been losing market share to other browsers. However, Spartan is a complete reboot and provides some neat features that Microsoft thinks you\u2019ll enjoy. This includes the ability to doodle on a webpage, save it, and share it with others. In addition, Microsoft says Spartan will make it easier to read content offline than existing browsers.<\/p>\n

Factor #4: Say \u201cHi\u201d to Cortana.<\/strong> Apple has Siri. Google has Now. And Microsoft is responding with a big upgrade to its own digital assistant \u2013 Cortana. Like the rest of Windows 10, the emphasis here is on Cortana being able to work properly across devices.<\/p>\n

Factor #5: An Xbox-Windows 10 Marriage.<\/strong> Microsoft\u2019s Xbox has steadily lost share in the console gaming market to Sony\u2019s<\/strong> (SNE<\/a>) PlayStation.\u00a0But all<\/em> gaming consoles have been losing to the PC, where Microsoft reigns supreme.\u00a0When you combine the Xbox and PC gaming, Microsoft has a leading share.\u00a0So it only makes sense for the company to enhance that strength by combining those two platforms.\u00a0Its Xbox Plus PC will be brought into the Windows universe and will be one of the platforms on which Windows 10 is designed to run. The compatibility will run in the other direction, too. Many Xbox games will be playable on PCs, and even tablets and smartphones.<\/p>\n

Factor #6: Holograms.<\/strong> Yes, holograms. Windows 10 is designed to work with a new hologram system that the company is designing. The timing may seem strange, coming right after Google recently withdrew its Glass eyewear product from the consumer market. But Google isn\u2019t abandoning mainstream holograms; it\u2019s just retooling the technology. Google and Microsoft are both convinced that in the future, many people will want to be immersed in information (at least sometimes) \u2013 and Microsoft\u2019s move signals that it\u2019s looking to tomorrow\u2019s technology today,<\/em> not merely playing catchup with its competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Editor\u2019s Note:<\/strong> Despite its recent setback, no one can deny that Microsoft is one of the most powerful companies in the software space. And there\u2019s no question that a position of dominance can ultimately lead to profits. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve been following the actions of a similarly powerful network of individuals. This tight-knit group is responsible for a new generation of wealth and power. In fact, they\u2019ve helped create more multi-billion-dollar companies together than any other network ever known on Wall Street. Click here for the full story<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The Prognosis for Microsoft<\/h2>\n

So will Microsoft succeed with Windows 10 \u2013 and, in turn, woo back the customers it\u2019s lost?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to be a hard slog.<\/p>\n

Those customers have since moved on to Apple or Android \u2013 both of whom are pretty good partners. Returning to an old flame rarely works out. And for Microsoft, returning to a market-leading share of personal devices from the 14% it currently has will be no easy task.<\/p>\n

But remember, there was a time when a company called Google had zero share of the search engine market\u2026 and things turned out pretty well in the end!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that Microsoft suffers from previous baggage, but it\u2019s got $90 billion in cash to spend in an attempt to regain customers.<\/p>\n

If nothing else, a successful Windows 10 rollout will ignite further competition between Microsoft, Apple, and Google \u2013 and force everyone to better themselves. So no matter what happens, it\u2019s a positive scenario for consumers and investors alike.<\/p>\n

To living and investing in the future,<\/p>\n

Greg Miller<\/p>\n

The post Will Microsoft Windows 10 Win Back the Masses?<\/a> appeared first on Wall Street Daily<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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By WallStreetDaily.com By Greg Miller, Senior Technology Analyst Microsoft (MSFT) wants you to know something\u2026 It\u2019s very sorry\u2026 it misses you\u2026 and wants you back. Now, this might come as news to you, as you may not even realize that you broke up in the first place! After all, chances are you have a PC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","no-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67392\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}