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Like it or not, when it comes to technology, the conversation is always about companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, and especially Microsoft. No wonder: the company founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen has been around for 28 years and has managed to build a very profitable business model.
Despite increasing competition, Microsoft continues to dominate about 80 percent of the Windows computing market with its suite of office-oriented applications, Office. The company is expected to have little room for error to stay ahead of so many customers. But that doesn’t mean it never existed. on the other hand.
We put together this list of the 10 biggest disasters that Microsoft has had in the last 3 years. look at her!
10. Windows Phone
The “child” of Windows CE, an operating system no one knew about, Windows Mobile was born to dominate the nascent smartphone market that began to emerge in the 2000s.
Initially, the system was relatively successful, capturing about 47 percent of the market by the time Apple released the iPhone in 2007. Steve Ballmer even joked about Jobs’ statement at the time, calling it the most expensive phone in the world. At a time when Microsoft saw its engagement in mobile shrink year after year after 2007, Ballmer, properly prompted, finally bit his tongue.
Even though iPhones and iOS are far more expensive than any other mobile device, they have shown users that they can do so much more with their smartphones than ever before. Its thinner and lighter system, massive application library and capacitive screen, greatly opened up the limitations and shortcomings of Windows Mobile. Despite Microsoft’s efforts, Windows Mobile has lost its ability to reinvent itself while losing developer support. Even releasing two versions with improvements and capacitive screen support couldn’t keep it alive. From 2007 to 2011, the system’s market share fell from 47 percent to just 3 percent.
With its poor experience on the iPhone exposed, it’s time for Windows Mobile to leave the scene and give Microsoft a fresh start.
Windows Mobile has long dominated the smartphone market, but the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 exposed all its limitations and prompted Microsoft to discontinue it.
9. Microsoft Bob
Microsoft left you in a bind when it brought its graphical user interface to Windows 3. This will eliminate the need to memorize commands or understand programming skills to use the operating system. But in 1995, Microsoft decided that wasn’t enough and introduced the Microsoft Bob.
Bob aims to make Windows very easy to use, giving Windows a fresh look for users with little or no computer experience. The idea is to make Windows an environment that everyone is familiar with and make using a computer natural, such as B. performing tasks indoors. If this all sounds interesting on paper, it’s actually a total disaster.
An exciting interface at first glance, becomes boring and annoying over time. Additionally, it was heavily criticized by the trade press for requiring hardware that most computers at the time didn’t have. Those who bought it complained about Bob, those who didn’t and listened to the report were shocked by the price he asked for: $100.
The initially weak sales plummeted when Windows 95 was released 5 months after Bob’s release. Windows Explorer greatly simplifies using the new operating system, and other multimedia innovations were enough to put Bob out of production two years after its release. Its failure was so blatant that even Microsoft employees acknowledged the fiasco.
To appeal to the layman, Bob made Windows a home and took a task-oriented approach to using it instead of programs. However, the idea was not successful and was shelved 2 years after its launch.
8. Internet Explorer 6
If many users today consider Windows XP to be Microsoft’s best operating system, that’s not the case with their native browser, Internet Explorer 6. It was released in 2001, but the optimistic scenario did not last long.
When Microsoft released IE6, we saw a browser full of bugs and security holes that would take years to fix. The promised CSS support is also poor, and hacking often has to be done to make the page least appealing in the browser.
Too bad IE6 will receive updates to fix security holes until April 2014, and its biggest legacy is the general fear among web designers and programmers who still care about whether their sites will work. It’s not uncommon to find it in lists summarizing the “worst tech products of all time,” which they call “the world’s most insecure software.”
7. Clip
The millions that Microsoft invested in Bob couldn’t have been thrown into the trash overnight. At least that’s what the company thought, and after Bob’s failure, the company decided to reuse its technology in other products. Clippy was born in this context.
With good intentions, Clippy wanted to support users with Office applications, and in their then-new 1997 version, these applications were redesigned and included several new features. In practice, however, things get out of hand and Clippy becomes more like your annoying coworker who always shows up at the most inopportune moment, makes the most annoying comments conceivable, and only gets in the way when trying to help you.
6. Tablet PC
Anyone who thinks the tablet was invented by Apple and Jobs is wrong. Nine years before Jobs introduced the iPad to the world, Bill Gates took the stage at Comdex in Las Vegas, heralding the future in the form of a tablet. “[Tablet PCs] are going to be the most popular way to sell computers in America,” Gates predicted at the time.
The situation couldn’t be better: Microsoft has partners like Acer, Toshiba, and Compaq willing to produce new hardware concepts and the newly released Windows XP. A prototype was even shown during the conference, and a few months later a tablet-specific version of Windows XP was released, with voice recognition, screen rotation, and an on-screen keyboard. Nothing can go wrong. But it did!
In practice, tablets are expensive, and Microsoft’s push to tweak Windows XP doesn’t work well. Features are limited, and most of the time these don’t work properly. Partners disappeared one by one, and HP was the last to jump off the boat. Although Gates’ predictions were correct, tablets never caught on, and Microsoft is still trying to gain a foothold in this segment of the market. But it seems things are not going well, and the company continues to make the same mistakes it has made in the past.
Bill Gates was right, but failed to bring the tablet to a device that the average user could use.
5. Zun
On the one hand, if Microsoft has successfully predicted the future of tablets, the same cannot be said about MP3 players. Launched in 2006, the Zune joined the digital music party five years late—enough for Apple to dominate the market with the iPod.
It’s hard to accept the failure of the Zune, mainly because the device is so well-made and has a well-designed ecosystem. While technically benefiting from the iPod, it never surpassed double-digit market share because it offered nothing more to differentiate it from its competitors. Without that difference, there’s only one reason people can buy Microsoft devices at Apple’s expense: stay away from the Apple ecosystem.
It took five years of struggle and pain before Microsoft decided in 2011 to end the Zune and announce that there would be no new devices. The brand was used in media playback software for computers and Windows Phone for several years until it became Xbox Music.
Although it failed, some say the only problem with the Zune is Microsoft’s poor timing, and if they release at the same time, we’ll see a huge battle between the two.
The Zune didn’t owe the iPod anything, its only sin was being late — five years after the iPod’s launch.
4. MSN Smartwatch
The idea of a smartwatch isn’t new, it originated in SPOT at the time. Using FM radio waves, the technology promises to transmit information such as weather forecasts, food prices, soccer scores and even emails to various electronic devices. The number of fans continued to grow, and Microsoft saw an opportunity to launch its own smart device, the MSN Smartwatch, in 2004.
The idea is to keep users informed about everything without being connected to a computer. With this watch, they can check emails, make appointments, and even check traffic conditions before going on vacation. He has been promoted by Bill Gates for a long time, and he has used him in a targeted manner on several occasions. However, despite multiple attempts to score points, the smartwatch was of no use. There are several reasons.
At first, users may overlook the fact that smartwatches are large, heavy and bulky. After all, its functionality should stand out from it. But no, they don’t stand out. Aside from having to charge every day, smartwatches don’t work anywhere, and when they need to be carried around, Microsoft requires users to say where they’re going so the watch “just works” there. That being said, he doesn’t Instead of connecting to the Internet for information, it built its own Internet using the MSN network, which was Microsoft’s arrogant idea. Not only is the MSN network unstable, it requires its users to subscribe for $59 a year.
Frustrated, fewer consumers were searching for MSN smartwatches, and after all inventory disappeared from shelves in 2008, it failed, and Microsoft said it had no plans to launch a new version of the so-called smartwatch.
Bill Gates has long been the poster child for a smartwatch, but the device was buggy and riddled with limitations that made consumers want it.
3. Windows ME
After the release of Windows 98, Microsoft accomplished a feat: it successfully appeased 3 operating systems in a row. Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and Windows 98 brought major improvements to the company’s flagship products, now aiming for the emblematic years 2000 and the millennium. Nothing is more cause for celebration than the same success for the fourth consecutive Windows release. Thus, Windows ME was introduced in 2000.
Visually, Windows ME is very similar to Windows 98, and the differences are very subtle. However, Microsoft is starting to offer home users a new multimedia experience, including native support for MP3 files, the inclusion of Movie Maker for creating and sharing videos, and greater support for home networking. Another important addition is the arrival of a feature that will be present in all other versions of Windows from then on: System Restore.
This message was not so obvious to the average user and ultimately went unnoticed, and all that Windows ME was left with was a criticism of the system’s instability. Some say Microsoft is in a hurry to release before the millennium, others say the new features aren’t enough to justify a new operating system.
Eventually, Windows ME was discontinued 13 months after its release and was named the fourth worst tech product of all time by PC World, which PC World called a “bad version of Windows” after several users reported “installation and build issues.” work, “identify it with other hardware and software and stop working”.
Some say it was made in a hurry, others just say its resources don’t justify its launch. Regardless, Windows ME has been one of the main stumbling blocks for Microsoft’s operating system.
2. Microsoft Sub
The impending failure of Windows Mobile after 2007 got Microsoft thinking, and for some reason, concluding that its main flaw was the lack of integration with social networks. For this reason, the company thought it would be a good idea to create a device that is fully integrated with social networks to appeal to younger audiences. In 2008, Microsoft Kin was developed based on this idea.
After two years of development, a $1 billion investment, and the acquisition of startup Danger Incorporated, Kin just got off the ground and went public in May 2010. Proposals for the device are good, including integration with social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. Cloud data storage and downloadable app store.
Despite Microsoft’s efforts to rate it, it’s clear that Kin was released as a “cover” just days after it went on sale. The design was unflattering, the device didn’t support third-party apps, and Microsoft and Verizon’s partnership to provide consumers with data plans failed miserably. The stock plummeted in unprecedented fashion, Verizon refused to sell the device, and Kin was discontinued less than two months after its launch.
Kin spent $1 billion to develop, completed in two years, and took less than two months to market. No one wanted to buy or sell the device, and it was discontinued 48 days after its release.
1. Windows Vista
After Windows ME failed, Microsoft was able to appease one of its best operating systems with Windows XP. With the huge success of XP, so much was expected of Windows Vista that Steve Ballmer even considered it “the biggest release in the history of software.” But it didn’t stick.
Despite significant improvements in security, multimedia features, and a beautiful user interface, Vista failed even before it was released. With a spate of shifts, it was considered “the latest version in software history”, causing consumers and partners to lose faith in it.
After hitting shelves, consumers quickly realized that older accessories and apps weren’t working. Those who managed to keep everything in order found that the system was slow, heavy, and required more stuff than any computer. Complaints piled up and quickly intensified, leading people to believe there was not enough reason to upgrade their computers to a system that was a headache. Without selling it, Microsoft was forced to accelerate the development of Windows 7 as we know it today, acknowledging that the system was a complete failure.
Slow and heavy, Windows Vista has accumulated countless complaints and negative reviews and still makes it brilliant. In a few years, the software went from heaven to hell, from “the biggest release in software history” to one of the biggest regrets in Microsoft’s history.
