Get Off Microsoft

As Apple eats away at Microsoft’s market share on the consumer side of PCs and mobile devices, and Google chips at Microsoft Office’s share in business, Microsoft is caught in the middle and facing a two-front war.

Windows 7supposed to be the operating system to replace Vista in three years (or less). Will Microsoft continue to be as big a threat to innovation as it was in the past?

What will change the landscape and make it possible for larger numbers of users, especially corporate users, to overcome Microsoft inertia? I’m tracking the development of software as a service, smartphones that don’t do Windows and don’t need to, Apple’s OS X that may some day run Windows XP apps, and Linux on the desktop, which is growing fast in overseas markets.

Microsoft has lots to worry about and can’t point fingers at iPhone security while living in the glass house of Windows Mobile. This explains why the Gartner analysts that adhere to Microsoft’s way of thinking took the first propaganda shot against the iPhone, calling it unfit for business due to lack of security measures.

Windows XP users — have you recently been “unable to complete genuine Windows validation”? You may be a pirate — or at least Microsoft thinks you might be.

Google introduced Google Apps Premier Edition for $50 per account per year. The best thing about these types of Web applications (or Web services) is that the software is NYP — Not Your Problem.

With Ozzie and Mundie at the helm, Microsoft is not likely to make its transition — from Office and Windows revenue streams to services — very quickly. While heaping praise on Ozzie for at least having a truly innovative past, let’s not forget that Mundie, and ultimately Ballmer, will remain “the voice of reason” in Redmond.

Maybe you believe that Microsoft is probably the best software company to undertake the task of making Vista, the upcoming version of Windows, secure. Then again, maybe not.

Microsoft plans to significantly boost spending in the upcoming year to battle with Google and other rivals. The company is starting from scratch, and it scares Wall Street.

So, why not a cheaper Origami-like device from a manufacturer that runs Linux and Web services? And what about Microsoft’s own Origami becoming a leverage for Web services that eventually dethrone Microsoft Office?