Microsoft Needs To Stop Being "The Windows Company"

This morning one of my commenters suggested I should provide concrete solutions for Microsoft instead of just bashing them.

In an ongoing effort to be of service to my readers, I am going to provide a ten point plan next week. But until then, I will start with the most important issue:

Microsoft is no longer a software company. They are "The Windows Company".

This is a failing strategy. They are not opportunistic, and they are not focused on being the best platform but on being the best Windows promoters. Microsoft should be deploying substantial resources, perhaps most of their resources, as though they didn't even own Windows.

For example C# language and SQL Server database are great technologies many will never use because they only run on Windows. Owning tools is a huge strategic advantage, but only if they are relevant. Historically, Microsoft's power in large part, has come from the leverage of tools. Microsoft should open up their tools group to compete with the likes of Java and MySQL. They should go platform agnostic and open source because Microsoft's tools are, despite being truly awesome, becoming totally irrelevant. In so doing, Microsoft would immediately get itself back in the game.

More to come next week.