Microsoft CEO sets benchmark as "Apple experience"

[Partial]

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer on Wednesday issued a company-wide memo outlining his battle plan for the new fiscal year in which he singled out the Apple experience as a benchmark for future success.

"In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1. But there is no doubt that Apple is thriving," Ballmer wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by the Wall Street Journal. "Why? Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience."

Going forward, Ballmer said Microsoft will be changing the way it works with hardware vendors to mimic the experience offered by the Mac maker in which there will be "absolutely no compromises." His plan calls for a similar approach in the mobile phone arena, where he hopes the company can create "great end-to-end experiences" akin to that afforded by Apple's closed ecosystem, where it maintains tight control of nearly every aspect of a product's design.

Ballmer's memo and his comments about the mobile phone industry arrive amid reports that the Redmond-based software giant this week held its first concrete meeting to begin mapping out a rival to the iPhone. A report published by jkOnTheRun suggests such a device would be based around the company's struggling Zune media player, but run a variant of Windows Mobile 7 with heavy tie-ins to Windows Live Services.

Still, Ballmer acknowledged in his memo that Windows and the public's perception of Vista remains Microsoft's No. 1 priority. He said the recent release of Windows Vista SP1 and teamwork with PC manufacturers have largely addressed the device and application compatibility issues that plagued the operating system in its early going.

"Now it’s time to tell our story," he said. "In the weeks ahead, we’ll launch a campaign to address any lingering doubts our customers may have about Windows Vista. And later this year, you’ll see a more comprehensive effort to redefine the meaning and value of Windows for our customers."











Good. Microsoft could learn many a thing from Apple.

[BallHawk]

As could Apple learn some things from Microsoft.

[SkinBasket]

I'm sure they are interested in learning how to train trendy youth into paying twice as much as they need to for any given technology.

[Partial]

As could Apple learn some things from Microsoft.

Such as???

I cannot think of one thing that Microsoft does better than Apple from a user or stock owner perspective.

[Partial]

I'm sure they are interested in learning how to train trendy youth into paying twice as much as they need to for any given technology.

tee hee. Way to comment and ignore that Microsoft has even accepted that OS X and the Apple Experience is FAR superior than anything Microsoft has put out.

[BallHawk]

As could Apple learn some things from Microsoft.

Such as???

I cannot think of one thing that Microsoft does better than Apple from a user or stock owner perspective.

How about having complete control of the market?

[Freak Out]

I'm sure they are interested in learning how to train trendy youth into paying twice as much as they need to for any given technology.

tee hee. Way to comment and ignore that Microsoft has even accepted that OS X and the Apple Experience is FAR superior than anything Microsoft has put out.

Far superior...? ha ha ha....that's just downright funny Partial. Stop being such a total fanboy and look at the reality of the situation. They both have some very good products and some not so good products. The only reason Apple is alive today is becasue of the ipod and the fact that they got smart and copied Microsquish and started supporting intel hardware. Flattery is smart business.

I remember the days when Gates and friends kept Apple afloat because he knows that competition and innovation are good for the business.

[Partial]

As could Apple learn some things from Microsoft.

Such as???

I cannot think of one thing that Microsoft does better than Apple from a user or stock owner perspective.

How about having complete control of the market?

Complete control of the market but a ton of unhappy consumers?!? No thanks..

Apple makes money hand over fist and probably is pretty close to as valuable (I have no interest in verifying this though, just a hunch, so don't bother wiki-ing it Ty).

Clearly, Microsoft is starting to see that the open system is ultimately going to lead to their demise as the user experience can never be as tight, and with the open system eventually open source will catch up with it (its pretty close already).

[Partial]

I'm sure they are interested in learning how to train trendy youth into paying twice as much as they need to for any given technology.

tee hee. Way to comment and ignore that Microsoft has even accepted that OS X and the Apple Experience is FAR superior than anything Microsoft has put out.

Far superior...? ha ha ha....that's just downright funny Partial. Stop being such a total fanboy and look at the reality of the situation. They both have some very good products and some not so good products. The only reason Apple is alive today is becasue of the ipod and the fact that they got smart and copied Microsquish and started supporting intel hardware. Flattery is smart business.

I remember the days when Gates and friends kept Apple afloat because he knows that competition and innovation are good for the business.

Copied microsoft?!?

PowerPC chips were superior chips when IBM was putting money into them.

Then, the video game market exploded and IBM stopped trying to get a G5 into a laptop. Apple switched to Intel at this point and for that reason alone.

Apple had some rough years, no doubt, but since Steve came back they have grown at a rapid rate while pumping out really high quality products.

See the post on the closed system. Microsoft is going to be competing with open source where as Apple is not. Cost trimming and linux improvement will someday lead to linux workstations for your average office worker.

[BallHawk]

You can't argue that Apple is superior to Microsoft. The statistics just don't work.

You can say "I believe X Product is greater than Microsoft's Y Product. But as a whole, Microsoft is superior. In users, revenue, popularity, etc.

As Freak Out said, Apple was saved by the iPod. If it wasn't for that they'd be crippled, if not already defunct.

[Partial]

You can't argue that Apple is superior to Microsoft. The statistics just don't work.

You can say "I believe X Product is greater than Microsoft's Y Product. But as a whole, Microsoft is superior. In users, revenue, popularity, etc.

As Freak Out said, Apple was saved by the iPod. If it wasn't for that they'd be crippled, if not already defunct.

No one said they were except Steve Ballmer saying they need to move towards an Apple like experience.

Apple was saved by Steve Jobs. Furthermore, why does that matter? It's an excellent example of quality product from a booming company. They are growing extremely fast.

[Freak Out]

I'm sure they are interested in learning how to train trendy youth into paying twice as much as they need to for any given technology.

tee hee. Way to comment and ignore that Microsoft has even accepted that OS X and the Apple Experience is FAR superior than anything Microsoft has put out.

Far superior...? ha ha ha....that's just downright funny Partial. Stop being such a total fanboy and look at the reality of the situation. They both have some very good products and some not so good products. The only reason Apple is alive today is becasue of the ipod and the fact that they got smart and copied Microsquish and started supporting intel hardware. Flattery is smart business.

I remember the days when Gates and friends kept Apple afloat because he knows that competition and innovation are good for the business.

Copied microsoft?!?

PowerPC chips were superior chips when IBM was putting money into them.

Then, the video game market exploded and IBM stopped trying to get a G5 into a laptop. Apple switched to Intel at this point and for that reason alone.

Apple had some rough years, no doubt, but since Steve came back they have grown at a rapid rate while pumping out really high quality products.

See the post on the closed system. Microsoft is going to be competing with open source where as Apple is not. Cost trimming and linux improvement will someday lead to linux workstations for your average office worker.

Apple is not going to be competing with open source? How so?

[BallHawk]

They are growing extremely fast.

In the business world? No. They still can't manage a 10% market share.

In the bedrooms of spoiled teenagers across the US? Yes. Apple has managed to make Macs hip, trendy, and cool. But they aren't going to win the battle against Microsoft in the bedrooms of teenagers.

[3irty1]

Microsoft needs to start competing with Windows XP not with Apple in the OS market. Stop trying to turn Windows into a toy and release something that gives existing Windows users a reason to upgrade.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

As could Apple learn some things from Microsoft.

Such as???

I cannot think of one thing that Microsoft does better than Apple from a user or stock owner perspective.

How about outselling MS 30 to 1? Might be a nice change.

Or not being narrow and complete..ie, niche.

[Partial]

I'm sure they are interested in learning how to train trendy youth into paying twice as much as they need to for any given technology.

tee hee. Way to comment and ignore that Microsoft has even accepted that OS X and the Apple Experience is FAR superior than anything Microsoft has put out.

Far superior...? ha ha ha....that's just downright funny Partial. Stop being such a total fanboy and look at the reality of the situation. They both have some very good products and some not so good products. The only reason Apple is alive today is becasue of the ipod and the fact that they got smart and copied Microsquish and started supporting intel hardware. Flattery is smart business.

I remember the days when Gates and friends kept Apple afloat because he knows that competition and innovation are good for the business.

Copied microsoft?!?

PowerPC chips were superior chips when IBM was putting money into them.

Then, the video game market exploded and IBM stopped trying to get a G5 into a laptop. Apple switched to Intel at this point and for that reason alone.

Apple had some rough years, no doubt, but since Steve came back they have grown at a rapid rate while pumping out really high quality products.

See the post on the closed system. Microsoft is going to be competing with open source where as Apple is not. Cost trimming and linux improvement will someday lead to linux workstations for your average office worker.

Apple is not going to be competing with open source? How so?

Closed system. If you want Apple hardware or software legally and don't want to jump through hoops, you're buying a 25% profit machine from Apple.

[Partial]

They are growing extremely fast.

In the business world? No. They still can't manage a 10% market share.

In the bedrooms of spoiled teenagers across the US? Yes. Apple has managed to make Macs hip, trendy, and cool. But they aren't going to win the battle against Microsoft in the bedrooms of teenagers.

They are going EXTREMELY fast. What crack are you smoking? They're the fastest growing pc manufacturer and they are now #3. Apple has over 20 billion dollars cash on hand. How many other companies can claim that? It's just the beginning for Apple, too.

They're not interested in that battle. You people just don't get it. If they were interested in selling a billion systems like Microsoft and having to support a million different configurations, they'd sell the OS stand alone at a significantly decreased markup.

Apple is intersted in selling machines at a steady growth rate at 25% profit instead of being like dell and having a 1-2% profit.

[Partial]

As could Apple learn some things from Microsoft.

Such as???

I cannot think of one thing that Microsoft does better than Apple from a user or stock owner perspective.

How about outselling MS 30 to 1? Might be a nice change.

Or not being narrow and complete..ie, niche.

See above. Apple could sell the OS stand alone or license it to Dell and others and they'd catch up with Microsoft in a matter of years. They're not interested in doing that, though.

Here's a good article for little dog BH.

In the past year, Apple stock has been +115%, vs Microsoft +7%. Over the last five years, Apple stock has been +2270%, vs Microsoft +21%. And in the last ten years, Apple stock has been +4314%, vs Microsoft +89%. Those extraordinary statistics emerged during the week as the blogger community discussed the relative merits of money invested in Apple versus the same amount invested in Microsoft.

Microsoft has 80,000 employees, +95% market share, and competes in businesses outside of Apple, which only has 18,000 employees and ~3% worldwide market share.

However, Apple is bringing in more than a third of Microsoft's revenues and making more than a quarter of Microsoft's profits, and is selling new Macs - which eat up direct sales of Windows PCs - four times faster than the industry.

All in all things are looking good for Steve Jobs.

It's from Time. Oct. 29, 2007 05:00 AM

[BallHawk]

If Apple isn't intersted in the battle they will never win the battle. And if they never win the battle they'll never be the power that Microsoft is, or even close to it.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Microsoft has been stealing good ideas from Apple since the dawn of the PC. Snore.