In my opinion, no matter who the CEO is, Microsoft will go the way of the dodo. This because in the end they are not needed anymore. They don't manufacture hardware like Samsung and other companies do, and with things like Linux and Android out there, companies like Samsung (I use Samsung purely for example) can manufacture products with a familiar software environment and not have to pay royalties for it or require their consumers to buy a $99 OS. I think hardware companies are seeing this, and Android has already come to dominate the mobile space. It only is a matter of time before Linux does the same in the PC space.

Microsoft make most of their money from B2B sales and windows phone 8 is growing extremely fast. http://bgr.com/2013/07/09/windows-phone-russian-market-share/

Microsoft is kicking the crap out of Oracle, this is where most of their growth in revenue has come from despite windows server 2012 obvious flaws.

Microsoft is not a 1 trick pony and their share price always remains quite stable because of their diversification. They have tonnes of spare cash (not as much as apple mind) and a healthy balance sheet. They aren't going anywhere.

In my opinion, no matter who the CEO is, Microsoft will go the way of the dodo. This because in the end they are not needed anymore. They don't manufacture hardware like Samsung and other companies do, and with things like Linux and Android out there, companies like Samsung (I use Samsung purely for example) can manufacture products with a familiar software environment and not have to pay royalties for it or require their consumers to buy a $99 OS. I think hardware companies are seeing this, and Android has already come to dominate the mobile space. It only is a matter of time before Linux does the same in the PC space.

Microsoft make most of their money from B2B sales and windows phone 8 is growing extremely fast. http://bgr.com/2013/07/09/windows-phone-russian-market-share/

Microsoft is kicking the crap out of Oracle, this is where most of their growth in revenue has come from despite windows server 2012 obvious flaws.

Microsoft is not a 1 trick pony and their share price always remains quite stable because of their diversification. They have tonnes of spare cash (not as much as apple mind) and a healthy balance sheet. They aren't going anywhere.

Windows phones sales are going up because they're selling them at a loss... and nobody still really wants them. I wouldn't be surprised if Firefox phones surpass them in popularity a few months after they really hit the market.

I guess we're not going to discuss the fact that Microsoft is being sued for flat out lying about their abysmal sales figures?

Windows phones sales are going up because they're selling them at a loss...

And...?

The Xbox and PS3 were both sold at a loss.
iPhones and Android devices are subsidised by contracts constantly - and also, in the UK at least, cost around the same price as a WP8 device, at least they did when my choice was between an Galaxy S4 and a 920 last year, which means the consumers which are buying the phones at the same price as the existing brands.

The biggest problem MS have is that they are entering an already entrenched market which is why they have to see this as a long term project - still, WP8 is third in the world market over turning Blackberry and still growing (although to what extent world wide varies depending on the article you read) so it isn't a done deal yet.

Personally I wouldn't trade my WP8 device for an iPhone or Android device right now (and, depending on the 2nd generation details I would give serious consideration to an Win8 based tablet, my current Galaxy Tab 10.1 is getting a bit long in the tooth)... a year from now when my contract is up and I can renew? Who knows, maybe someone will offer something and I'll swap again.

It only is a matter of time before Linux does the same in the PC space.

Huh.. I just realised that it's nearly 15 years since I first heard the phrase 'year of the Linux desktop'...

In all honesty Microsoft needs to adapt to the modern market and redesign their payment systems. The fact is no one wants to keep shoving out over a hundred dollars for a new OS every couple of years. Microsoft needs to learn that free can earn them more money if done correctly. I say Windows home should be free, Pro 20 bucks, and Ultimate 45 bucks. This should be pushed though to all of their products.

I think there is signs of them heading broadly in that direction; I got Win8 Pro for £25 (in fact it was so cheap I brought it twice; once for my main, once for my laptop) and Office365 is the signs of a software as a service setup going forward.

VS already ships with free versions but I'd like them to add 'pro' to the subscription list as well - most so if they are going to update it every year going forward; Paying £10/month is much easier to swallow than the idea of paying ~£400 or more every year or two.

The recent changes seem to indicate that, internally, they do recognise the need to change how they do things it'll be interesting to see how that works out long term.

I get the sense from people that there are a lot of situations where Windows 8 doesn't work that well, but I haven't experienced any of them yet. In fact, on every computer I've used that's had both Windows 7 and Windows 8 (not necessarily at the same time), Windows 8 has been much more stable. Maybe it's just that Windows 8 comes standard on a lot of poorly-configured hardware. I don't know.

I'm running Win8 on a laptop which started out life as a Win Vista machine (4gig, Core2Duo, from around Dec 2008), moved to Win7 and then Win8 and works perfectly (well, the laptop's battery has long since died but 17" 1920*1200 laptops are so hard to find these days).. certainly no slower than Win7, maybe even faster... (although it's hard to tell as it's using SSDs after an upgrade so it was always pretty quick).

It only is a matter of time before Linux does the same in the PC space.

Huh.. I just realised that it's nearly 15 years since I first heard the phrase 'year of the Linux desktop'...

Maybe you should read it again considering the best selling laptop on Amazon for almost a year runs linux.

I'm not sure why people are so pro Microsoft, I guess closed source walled gardens are fun? Or are we still being convinced that open source can't compete with closed source in smear campaigns?

Maybe you should read it again considering the best selling laptop on Amazon for almost a year runs linux.

Yes, because one data point clearly proves every thing.
But sure... I'll play your game because why not..

Looking at the 'most popular' laptops on the UK amazon site I see;
#1 Chrome OS
#2, 3, 4 Windows
#5 MacBook Pro
#6 - 20 Windows
#21 MacBook Pro

So, if the Chrome OS sells 10 units and the next 3 WinOS based sell 8 units each they are now selling 2.4:1 in favour of WinOS.
Throw in the MacPro @ 6 units so it's only slightly behind, then the next 14 @ 2 units (5.2:1 Win vs Chrome), then 1 more for the final MacPro (10:7 in Chromes favour)... and, well, do you see the folly in your argument?

And while I wouldn't draw any hard data from it the numbers at the bottom here make the point pretty well on a global scale; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems#Summary
(When I say 'hard data' I mean I wouldn't point at this and say 'Windows has a 91% market share' but it is a good guide to relative selling amounts globally as the error would have to be VERY significant to bring Linux based OSes into contention in that space.)

(Most surprising thing for me was the Web server numbers with a ~33% split across the board o.O)

I'm not sure why people are so pro Microsoft, I guess closed source walled gardens are fun? Or are we still being convinced that open source can't compete with closed source in smear campaigns?

I think you are seeing 'pro MS' statements where none exist; people tend to be pro-getting-shit-done which, more often than not, closed source apps do just fine. I know how Windows works, I install things and they 'just work' so I have no need nor desire to step outside of that world because I can get-shit-done.

While it has been some years now my experience with Linux during the early part of this century was nothing but frustration and annoyance at the lack of GUI to do things. A programmer I might well be but, as it was at the time, I have no desire to dick around with text files to do things because someone somewhere decided it was The Best Way To Do It.

Maybe this has changed in the last 5+ years since I last had a Linux box spun up but right now my time is limited and so in the battle of 'closed vs open' closed wins as long as it lets me get-shit-done and provides, what is in my opinion, a good user experience. Also no one has shown me that open software CAN compete with the closed software I use; where is open Visual Studio? Where is the open graphics debugging software?

Finally you also make an assumption that because people used closed software they are against free and open source software; this isn't true. In my own case I've released code under zlib in the past and when I do so in the future I will continue to do so. The fact I happen to use Windows as my OS of choice has no impact on my over all support of open source software in general.

Granted my utter dislike and contempt for the GPL means I'm unlikely to willingly install Linux on a machine again without a damned good reason (such as I've a game I want to sell and I need to test it...) but that's a personal side issue.

I think there is signs of them heading broadly in that direction; I got Win8 Pro for £25 (in fact it was so cheap I brought it twice; once for my main, once for my laptop) and Office365 is the signs of a software as a service setup going forward.

"When does the promotion end?"

The last day you'll be able to buy Windows 8 Pro Upgrade for $39.99 is Thursday, January 31st. I'd guess it'll run up to near midnight Pacific Time that evening but I don't know for sure.

How much will Windows 8 cost after the promotion ends?

Here are the estimated retail prices in USD of Windows 8 as of February 1:

Windows 8 Pro Upgrade: $199.99 (I know, big jump, hu?)
Windows 8 Upgrade: $119.99
Windows 8 Pro Pack: $99.99 (upgrades a copy of Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro)

I see your point the fact is a small promotion is not the solution. A 199.99 upgrade is well overpriced given that windows is on a lot of computers around the world.

Maybe this has changed in the last 5+ years since I last had a Linux box spun up but right now my time is limited and so in the battle of 'closed vs open' closed wins as long as it lets me get-shit-done and provides, what is in my opinion, a good user experience.

There's a GUI for most things (only the most esoteric stuff can't be done through GUI), the problem is that nobody is going to help you if you ever decide to go that route. Everybody insists on giving out complex stuff to type on the terminal (of course without explaining at all). The end result is that everybody thinks you have to use the terminal and type entire paragraphs worth of commands to do even the simplest of the tasks.