Why Windows 8 Is Fundamentally Flawed as a Response to the iPad
Gruber:
But I think it’s a fundamentally flawed idea for Microsoft to build their next-generation OS and interface on top of the existing Windows. The idea is that you get the new stuff right alongside Windows as we know it. Microsoft is obviously trying to learn from Apple, but they clearly don’t understand why the iPad runs iOS, and not Mac OS X.
Gruber’s right. There’s a lot that’s right about what we’ve seen of Windows 8, but a refusal to let go of legacy is a crippling impediment to progress.
Microsoft appears to have gone through several phases. They were the exciting startup, then the powerful 900 pound gorilla after which they became a lazy company intent on just milking their monopolies.
Today, half of Microsoft is a company with clear intent and focus while the other half remains the lazy monopoly. Whether that’s due to people at the top or middle managers, I’m not entirely sure.
