Anticlue

Will Longhorn save Microsoft?

Microsoft is gearing up to release Longhorn as the next savior of an operating system. Truth be told, this maybe more of a molehill than a mountain. Microsoft has been involved in a plethora of litigation. It almost makes Microsoft's prime product being a breeding ground of corporate lawyers instead of software.

Longhorn’s competition is actually previous Microsoft OS, Windows 98 runs 16% of the world’s computers. This is actually larger than Apple’s and Linux combine according to Gartner. Gartner also estimates that in 2008, Longhorn will enjoy a market share of 35.8%, less than XP’s projected 55.7% slice.

It is hard to see a new OS as a savior for Microsoft, its just not the killer app that it used to be. Business won’t be pressed to implement the new OS, especially since the apps on the old OS run the business.

The other item is shouldn’t MS strategically be looking towards the mobile market? Adobe buying Macromedia and Macromedia’s growing movement towards the mobile market with flashlite and flashcast. With the cell phone market booming at its current rate, isn’t mobile computing the next big thing?