already in deep SH*T to have got involved in the gaming console since the XBOX era and not to mention now, nothing is gotta save them but themselves. Hope they will learn a lesson and not to treat the BOTS as a moron. BOTS FTW.

"Four of Microsoft's biggest products are under attack. What does this mean for Microsoft and the Xbox 360?"

Simple: Bugger all - it's a completely unrelated market. The only effect it has is reduced profits for Microsoft as a whole, but they're still making shedloads of cash.

Is this true?
I really don't want to rebuy another PC at the moment, but at the same time i have to have latest and best of everything...

Hense i brought an Xbox 360 and not a PS3rd.

The thing is..ppl now have alot more choices now than they did back then...

IE is no longer the best browser everyone knows it..Vista was just a compete disaster on a whole different level..

Zune isn't taking off as M$ had hoped...MSN..is just there but no-one uses it...

the Xbox 360 is the only thing that's going really well over at M$ these days , but they're the worlds biggest software publisher so...they'll be fine with a couple of failures and shrinking market share....ppl are just smarter and prefer quality these days..

will not remain in business, MS have there fingers in a lot of pies and are smart enough to be aware of the problems they are facing and will always be working on a solution, DLC will be big and there gaming division will survive and do well. There OS and other software problems will need a big overall, it will not be so long before we have OS software/webmail/browser etc built into our TV's, but we will always need security and we will always need a company like Microsoft to be a part of softwares involved in having a good online source with the proper security. Firefox is fantastic but the only reason that Explorer has had all the security issues is because it has been the choice of the hacker, the more main stream Firefox becomes the more likely it is to be hacked, MS are always a target for hackers which makes thing more complicated, as far as the OS is concerned MS need to offer Vista buyers free upgrades to there next windows version.

Love how this guy manages to throw Sony and Nintendo in the mix when his title states: 'Microsoft in deep trouble'?

What the hell does Nintendo and Sony have to do with the article to begin with? He couldn't go without mentioning those two companies could he...

Sony didn't throw away anything. They were just arrogant in the beginning and are learning things the hard way. They're getting back on track and will continue to do so as time passes by.

bruce and hiphopgamer should join forces

M$ in trouble...
With the Global economy the way it is, alot of companies are in trouble.

People are really starting to like there Macs, and Linux-

but XP is still the Gold Standard- Watch to see what happens with Yahoo-
M$ will be fine. Bill can Roll with the Punches!!!

was a major flop. They need to get thier heads out of their arses!!!! Hey Bill wake up and smell the piss, your products suck ass!!!!

Microsoft don't make as much money as Nintendo in the gaming market... not even close

if they lost IT marketshare, that would be hugely detrimental... Microsoft can't survive on gaming alone, if they were to do that- they would have to lay off most of their staff and shrink their company significantly

while they still have a monopoly in IT.... people are starting to see the advantages of the alternatives.... Firefox is vastly superior to IE, who the hell uses MSN as a search engine? and freeware software negates the need to use any MS software like Word and Excel

Vista is a massive failure too.... if Windows 7 fails on a similar level... Microsoft could be in for some dark times

Bill Gates retiring is a smart move on his side I guess.

theres a sony in trouble article then 2 hours later theres a microsoft in trouble how peachy when you really think about it were all in trouble. AHHHHHHHHHH

As Fishy said in the first post - it almost looked like a Bruce article taking a swing at MS!

MS has it's fingers in a lot of pies - that's not going to change. The MS we know now is going to evolve over the next few years - and possibly become a much smaller, leaner and more agile company.

But I'm not entirely sure I agree with Bruce that the entertainment division is going to be a huge part of their continued dominance or success.

The Zune isn't making any impact on the mp3 market.

The 360 has been a big black (red!?) hole for money since inception - and although I can see the long term strategy MS is working towards they have a lot less leverage in this area and I don't see a clear strategy for dominance beyong changing their 'A PC on every desktop' mantra to 'An Xbox in every living room'.

The most worrying thing for MS' entertainment division (in my opinion) is that even though they control the OS market, there's not a lot of synergy between Windows/PC's, Xbox, Zune and so on.

For example. I own both a 360 and PS3 - yet I use my PS3 for streaming media, not the 360. I have no 'fanboy' allegiance to either console, I just want to use the best tool for the job - and the PS3 provides that.

Why are MS not encouraging Zune owners to manage their music libraries on the 360 by providing a class leading music interface and store front on the 360? Why are they not launching accessories that encourage Zune users to dock their Zunes with a 360 to take advatage of the fact that many TV's/360's are hooked up to 5.1 sound systems?

MS need something to distinguish themselves from the competition and really make an impact on the living room, media centre space.

It would seem obvious that considering most people are using Windows, that the 360 would integrate best with this - but it's not the case at all. No one I know with a 360 uses it as a connected media centre device - and those people I know who own both consoles also use the PS3.

This generation MS have proved they can make a good games machine and 'steal' market share. Removing the 'gaming' side of both consoles what does the 360 offer that is better or unique compared to the PS3? That's where MS are losing out. The Next Xbox will need to address all those areas where they are lacking compared to the PS3 and compared to what consumers actually want.

The worrying thing is, by the time the Next Xbox launches (and assuming it adds a lot of value - like web browsing, bigger hard drive, access to 'cloud' computing, better PVR features and so on), Sony may have found they have gained a lot traction in this space because they are already offering many of the features MS is not.

Microsoft has not returned to their software dominance like they achieved in the 90's. With far more superior products in every category, Microsoft has clearly gone the way of the dinosaur. Xbox 360 is an endangered product as hardware failures shoot through the roof with each and every dying console every hour. Dark Sniper can truthfully state that when it comes to quality, Microsoft will never be synonymous with that word.

As this generation of technology moves forward, it's time to send Microsoft it's final goodbye as the consumers have made a choice to abolish all Microsoft products to move forward to much greener pastures (pun very much intended) with software and hardware that is reliable, easy to use, and functional.

From the heartfelt words of Dark Sniper, RIP Microsoft. Rest In Piss.

$niper

i dont own any share in microsoft.
so i dont care if that dosnt effect xbox360 and i guss its WILL NOT and just fanboys bullshit talks

To all those small minded juveniles who thinks MS been in trouble is a good thing need to wake up and smell their morning breaths, MS have hundreds and thousands of employees, contractors and subcontractors. Less money for MS means less money for all of these people, and that means less money for the people connected to them, so on and so forth

Love them or hate them, for the worlds economy its important that these giant corporations make money otherwise everyone loses out

It could be an interesting talking point, but instead of any in depth thought or analysis it degenerates into unproven assertions and the usual b*tching about the competition.

If MS were committed to being a long term player in the entertainment market, they would be concentrating on building and keeping first party studio's for the long run. They actually have enough money to be able to do this. But they have ditched most of their studio's and have no significant presence developing software now - with Blue Box and Rare being the obvious exceptions. I guess none of knows their ultimate long term 'plan', but ditching software dev houses the way they have in the last couple of years is NOT a prelude to seeking dominance in this market.

As for increasing market share - if you step back a bit, that doesn't appear to be the case. The 360, fine and succesful as it is, has only shifted as many units as the first xbox to date. Compare this with how much the market has grown (there are so many more people who now own game systems) and you can see that as a percentage of a much bigger market, their current market share is actually smaller. Of course sales are strong, partiularly after the recent price slashing, so the share continues to rise, but it can't be claimed to be a 'qunatum shift' in market share, unlike the WII which has stolen the show.

tells me M$ is bleeding like a stuck viet cong pig and it's time to move in for the kill.

360 which is almost a freebie now is on a lifeline! next stop will be another pricedrop plus a free game.

so part of microsoft as a whole is in very very deep trouble!

IMO, Vistas failure is everyone's gain, the competition.

I am wondering if Bruceongames was a man constructed from within the bowels of Fortess Von Microsoft.

Because you're spinning me right-round-baby!

I got no problem with Microsoft, just the division that does the 360

even though i own a 360, im not going to lie and not point out its obviously a crappy piece of hardware cheaply made.

I personally belief what Microsoft need to do is start from scratch with Windows. What I don't mean is forget everything they've done already. What I mean build the new version of Windows from scratch incorporating things which work from older versions of windows (like Direct X & the user interface) but just start with a clean slate. No Copy and Pasting lines of code from old versions windows.

This would hopefully result in a version of windows which does all the things we are familiarly with, but is written with as few a lines of code as possible. hopefully resulting in few a problems as possible and also resulting in a less resource hungry OS.

(I am of course referring to the rummours that Windows Vista is just patched code from XP, XP patched code from ME, ME patched Code from 98, 98 patched code from 95)

I have heard rumours before that Microsoft have deals with hardware manufacturers to make each version of Windows more Resource hungry than the last forcing the Customer to purchase a new system each time they want to upgrade to a new OS. I take this with a pinch of salt, and think it is just lazy developing on MS behalf. but it does make you think when if I were to choose to upgrade from OS X Tiger to OS X Leopard on my Mac, I am meant to see a performance boast because Leopard has been coded to better make use of the hardware, because they have had "X" number of years to get use to the hardware inside the machine and know how to code for it better now then when they wrote the old OS (or something like that).

I use my computer to surf the web...period..all this "Vista sucks" reallys doesnt apply to me. I run nothing- I do nothing. My Xbox and Playstation see a lot more time than my web browser...just sayin'

you can compare hundai to bmw all day, by it being cheaper and selling more but bmw is still miles better.

Fair play to you, I'm not trying to tell everyone that they need to not use windows, I'm just referring to my own personal experience. It all depends on what you use a PC for.

If you use a PC for...

Gaming - Windows is pretty much the main choice.
Surfing Web email etc - then it doesn't matter if you are using a machine still running windows 95, what ever works does the job,

I myself fall into the same category as DJ, I'm a designer who works within motion graphics a lot and have to do a lot a heavy rendering and processor heavy work. My choice of profession pretty much dictates I use a Mac, and it works for me. Referring to 'Lets-Game' of course you are right, but it doesn't mean that everyone needs a BMW. besides I'd much prefer an Austin Martin :)

Still singing that same old tune, eh Bruce?
"So it is against this background that the Xbox/Zune/Live project makes so much sense. The gaming industry is still at its very beginning. The future growth potential is very many times the current size of the market. So it will grow to be a far bigger market than the IT markets that Microsoft have monopolised for so long. In other words Microsoft could become a bigger company because they will be in a bigger marketplace, as long as they have a significant market share."

So the main point of this article is that MS may be doing badly in its other markets, but if they conquer the game industry than all is good, right?

That is what your saying, is it?

I'll belive it when I see it come 2012

Its true vista broke on me twice i have no idea how, then i had to explain to the manager of Circuit City that this Vista isnt working out, so i asked him if he can order me a Windows XP, and I got it. Now i havent had problems with anything.

In a way that's kinda true.
Most of the music player market is owned by Apple w/ the iPod.
Practically all of the music production is owned by Sony.
Ninety Percent of the movie industry and 100% of the movie production industry is owned by Sony.
Sony had created DVD even now they still own a good 70% of all movies being produced on a disc and they own the new format Blu-ray.
Sony created CD, DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray CD, etc.
I'm glad to see Microsoft in a industry they're good at which is video games but even then that won't last forever since Sony is catching up real fast w/ the Playstation 3 and there's a price cut in 2009 so Sony might just overtake the 360.
The one spot I can stay Microsoft will be safe in are things like Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power Point because all computers have it even Apple uses Word and Excel.
So, we'll see what goes on in the future but the only thing going on for them entertainment wise right now is the Xbox 360 and some PC gaming.

SONY is in even bigger trouble.

It means Bruceongames is looking for hits on his blog.

You are a pathetic old loser marketeer, bruce.

Stop spongeing hits off the internet and
Please, please... oh please get a real job!!!

For Fvcks sake!

Bruce, you are lower than Nasim!

As long as their are PC games people will always use Windows. What a dumb article, this shouldn't be posted as 360 news, it should be PC news, thanks fankids

Great post. There are a handful of reasons why the 360 is not used as a media device. The main one is that the capabilty is not "wizard based". Someone kinda has to know what they are doing to setup the 360 that way, and then have the intent to do so. It is like you said, the PS3 is a much better device (ironically) to do this. As a matter of fact the PS3 hardware is about twice as good in quality as the 360... I own all consoles, and this is an evident fact.

Also, with the Zune... the software for the Zune is about the only thing worse than Millennium and Vista. It is absolutely HORRIBLE! You have to use registry hacks in order to see a Zune as a separate device in My Computer. The Zune FORCES users to interface with it through Zune software only. This could be the reasons why such an option is not available for Zune to 360 marriage. It is a shame because the Zune device itself is AWESOME. If the 360 were built like the Zune, I doubt that I would even own a PS3... but the PS3 hooked up to a 46" 1080p HDTV with surround sound is hard to beat in audio and video... the PS3 is just better equipped for the job (built in wifi helps too, twice the networking options in different rooms).

The Zune is an awesome device if you know how to hack it. My lady wanted to use the zune to study for her college courses. So I took her online flash card website, extracted the flash card data from the temporary internet files after she used the flash card website... copied it to a word document... extracted each indivdual flash card in word as an individual .jpeg, then I used a registry hack on the Zune to allow me to drag and drop the picture files into the device.
The hardest thing was organizing the file names in a way that the flash cards would come up in the proper order, I used a name changer to do that. The Zune is awesome when you creative find ways to remove the ball and shackle MS places on it. You SHOULD be able to use the Zune to study for college, she got the idea from me when I used my PSP to study flash cards for college, but the PSP is so easy, it is just drag and drop... you get my point. i only paid $79 for a new 30GB Zune, I wish I had bought two!

LBP wipes the floor with 360's underdelivered game trash.

LBP > any game on RROD box. Bots continue to support TRASH and pretend to ignore SUPERIOR GAMES only on PS3.

botz: Go play 2 huMan, fLaBle, NalO, and gEErZ over again. You had nothing in 08' and crap in 09'. :)

Hey Brucie, just go away.

I am really starting to hate the fact that this site considers personal blogs news.

ohh crap... Microsoft should close down... ohhhh they are in serious trouble! run!

ahaha! Do you guys have any idea how long since people have being predicting the destruction of Microsoft?

Do you know how many new Microsoft products came out after?

Do you know how easy it is for a company to make other revenue streams...

Take the xbox 360 for example, though it was not generating profits at first... look at it now... That's one more revenue stream with the potential to bring billion into a company that was not part of the equation 10 years ago.

People are panicking because other companies are making software that compete against some microsoft products like Internet Explorer, MSN, Windows, Office?

Well, guess what... over time some of these software will disappear as technology evolves... just like AOL software, and others.

I wouldn't doubt if Office as it exists completely disappear as technology moves to a more web service oriented app environment...

But that does not mean the Microsoft will be in trouble.. since 5-6 other products and revenue stream will come out of no where...

You see... people are shortsighted... it's not the ability of a company to make 1 good source of revenue... but the ability of a company to be able to come up with lots of revenue as technology make their existing products obsolete.

Do you actually think this is the first time a microsoft products dies out?

When a company put all their eggs in one basket and only sticks to one product they die... this is what happens to Netscape and others... and this is why many companies try finding other revenue streams...

take Google for example, you don't think they know their browser world will die eventually? This is why they are trying to get into other things like Phones, office software, etc. Because all it would take is for someone to come up with a better way to search the web and BAM! out of business.

this :"potential is very many times" is the win

new title for your website: www.bruceonflames.com.

Think again, Windows is not beeing attacked, Windows has killed anything else on the market, and is now the only thing left

Maybe in 20-30 years some other OS manages to take their place, i can't see how, but maybe ... in 20-30 years though, and if some other huge company tries it, and are ready to waste billions in promotion doing it

What a joke, who on earth writes articles like that

at microsoft

Ironically, I'm using firefox right now. lol. I still use IE but it has a tendency to lock up a lot.

Heck, I am a developer on Microsoft products. What people need to understand is that Microsoft isn't just windows and office. Microsoft has so many enterprise products like SharePoint, SQL server, BizTalk...etc. It will always be a software company. The xbox business is a very good move because it will be a huge market indeed of which microsoft is doing great in and probably will continue to do so in the long run.

From a regular consumer's pov i.e. me, browsing music, pics, leisure, Vista has allowed me to reach certain files a lot quicker.

There's a lot more flexibility with shortcuts, thumbnail previews and search functions.

From a professional's pov, it may be a problem. Compatibilty?

Yea Nintendo is almost expected to beat both MS and Sony. Nintendo is a family friendly console. There is a lot of families out there that like spending time together and the Nintendo Wii is something that makes that a fun experience. I think MS and Sony also have a different audience their going after. MS after hardcore games and also tries it's best with casual gamers but it's not such an easy task.

Sony is all about the PS3 being a true entertainment system, not just for gaming but anything entertainment related. It's interesting to see how both manufacturers end up in a year or two.

ROFLCOPTER.

Article is fail.

good

I am just taking this from a comment I made on another post it just seems to fit hear also.
All you suckers that actually take this seriously really need to get some therapy. Man some of you people need to get off your happy little cloud and come back to reality. The more you read this crap the more money these companies make from it. So the more controversial they make it the more popular it is and the more $$ these tools make from selling out to a corrupt industry.

I used to use all of those just a year ago, but recently I bought a Mac so I use none except for MSN for IM.

I think the suggestion that MS would, for some reason, shift it's entire business model to just gaming is...triggerhappy. Office generates more revenue for MS than Windows and their license pricing and strategic partnerships far outreach that of gaming. Regardless of popular opinion, Sony is a huge threat to MS in the gaming space. If Nintendo had made a console for gamers this gen I'd include them, but alas, it's a toy. A nice toy mind you, but still a toy. Anyway...MS biggest obstacle is lack of 1st titles. Look at how many titles Sony has banged out this year and what is slated for 09. MS has no answer to that. And as long as they don't the gap with Sony disappear.

N4G is garbage. Boot me!

This kids, is why i just bought an iMac. And i love it to death...

Goodbye microsoft, hope i never see any of your products in my hand again.
I've never actually been happy with any microsoft product. I dont mind the 360... i am, however, on my third one. Yes, its an elite.
Once it breaks, its going in the trash. im not even gonna get the warranty on it... i've bought a PS3 and a Mac, i see no reason to keep buying games for that thing. Especially with its compressed audio... i cant stand the audio on it.
Anyway, yes- Microsoft is rather screwed at the moment. The reason Vista failed is because nobody wanted a new OS. Thus, no drivers were developed. Do they really think developing ANOTHER OS is going to fix that? Seriously? The only thing anybody liked about vista was the look of it - which i personally hated. ...which is why i skinned it when i had it.

Again, i love my mac. I even have Windows XP on it so i can play all windows games i feel like playing. Any programs i want to run - whether it be for mac or windows - can be run on the mac using parallels. I really see no reason to own a PC...
I also have linux on my PS3. I cant figure out how to use it though, so it pretty much never gets touched. haha. Call me an idiot if you want. Im sure i could figure it out if i wanted, i dont really care though. Herdy Heron? whaa?

So yup. Goodbye Microsoft. I enjoy watching your users switch to better products.

I understand your argument, but if they keep shoving their recent crap out there, people are going to become like me and not buy anymore of their - yes - "crap".
If people don't buy this "crap", where are they going to get their money for all the XML and whatever else you listed above? Do i know, care, or understand what all that is? no. Does that matter? no. Because i'm an average consumer. I buy what's best. What's best? well, my mac, ps3, and iPod are best. I don't, and didn't support the Zune, or HD-DVD (What idiot would?), and i was forced to use Vista due to my XP computer crashing. Call me shortsighted if you want, i don't quite give a ****. I just know i will never buy another Microsoft product again, and thats less money for them to throw out their crappy products. Thanks.

...but everyone said that I was a "PSfanboy" and "MS hater"...
( sighs, while listening to 'she knows' by Gnarls Barkley: nice song and very befitting)

I think that it is pretty clear that this guy doesn't like MS. He is not alone. Lots of people don't like the company either. That said, facts still matter, at least they should in an intelligent discussion.

A quick check on the facts of the health of MS reveals that profits are actually up, not down. According to the NY Times on October 28, 2008, "Microsoft’s revenue in its first quarter, ended Sept. 30 (2008), rose 9 percent to nearly $15.1 billion from $13.8 billion a year ago." In fairness, that same article says that profits will like be down next year because of a hard economy and businesses failing to upgrade to Vista the way MS thought they would.

As for browsers, Computerworld reported today that the share of IE as a browser slipped below 70% for the first time in years. A pessimist would say that MS is dying off. An optimist would point out that MS continues to have a whopping 70% of the market.

I don't point out these things to go pro-MS. I just don't want this guy's slanted opinion to overlook facts.

As such, MS isn't going anywhere. Continue to embrace facts.

Dramatic title aside, the one company that can buy itself out of any situation is Microsoft. They have oodles of cash!

Microsoft already has a strategy for taking on Google and they are doing it from a position of strength. Media hype aside, google has a long way to go to supplant Microsoft as the dominant player.

I don't bother with any of that buggy MS crap

Ms isnt in any trouble . They have like 70% of the browser market, they have Ms office which googles free crap cant touch. Windoes will always sell.

Whats with all these stories implying that Xbox/Ps3 are in trouble? First with HipHop gamer with his show titled, 2009 : Last Chance For Sony?, now its Microsoft in deep trouble.

I was under the impression that Xbox and PS3 are both doing quite well. Will all these pessimistic articles I would assumes that Nintendo will be the only ones left.

Tell me again how the multiplatform strategy was supposed to fix everything. Look at your results and compare them to Nintendo, which keeps thriving with exclusives. Your loyal fans are gone. And let’s not forget the pile of IPs you purchased only to let them rot.

The worst thing is this is down from last years numbers/expectations which was down from the previous years numbers/expectations. You think about how long “down” has been a consistent part of the communication and you realize those subscriptions are what’s holding that boat together. The price cut of gamespass is still a price raise in a string of price raises. They are trying to use players to offset the missing revenue. Now call of duty is out of gamespass, which is literally WHY they bought the company. To draw people to the subscription. They realized they missed a boatload of money and that wasn’t sustainable. Now you pay for it like you would have if they never bought the company… so why buy the company? Mind you those billions still need to be paid back. Yeah it gives you a chance to say we make the biggest FPS… but the internal conversations must be brutal at high level on topics that really matter. Like revenue. Profitability. And ROI for the shopping spree.

Is this like the 10th quarter in a row they're down 33% on hardware how is that even mathematically possible. You would think their mediocrity would Plateau