MS seems to be doing a lot of interesting things at the moment

[G+_Damian Mongru]

MS seems to be doing a lot of interesting things at the moment. The OS; programs and services; quality devices and finally they realise their software should be everywhere. http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-makes-office-online-available-in-chrome-web-store-7000028408/#ftag=RSS0966a21

http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-makes-office-online-available-in-chrome-web-store-7000028408/#ftag=RSS0966a21

[G+_Uncle Joe (Uncle Joe Hi]

The OS?

[G+_Damian Mongru]

I didn't want to list and critique EVERY single product Microsoft makes so the list was very general, but I would argue they are doing a lot of interesting things with their OSs. Windows 8 was a bold new direction of which the pros and cons have been discussed - a lot - elsewhere around the Internet. Their server products are getting better and better. However, Windows Phone (especially 8.1) from all accounts seems to be a lightweight, beautiful mobile OS, which was built for mobile devices.

 

As an aside, MS seem to be asking users both what they use computers for, and what they require and are finding neat solutions to deal with their needs. For example, in a previous version of Navision they added Dashboards tailored to job specific roles. So a manager would want sales reports, year on year figures, email etc. So open up NAV, and it would link with Exchange for your email, generate sales charts etc. Everything in one place.

 

They seemed to have followed on with Cortana where they asked PAs how they helped their bosses, and integrated this functionality. Similarly with smartphones, they built an OS with a live tiles, and hubs to keep all your information in one place. Maybe not all the parts were successful, but it seemed a logical and interesting concept. 

 

Finally, this seems in contrast to Steve Jobs' "“people don't know what they want until you show it to them" quote.