Microsoft Versus Apple — More than Just the Cool Guy Versus the Nerd
It’s been a ‘slow’ decade for Microsoft. Yes, Windows is still the most widely used OS on the planet, with its usage share resting at about 90 percent. Those are staggering numbers, and they represent a huge and diverse market, which is evident in the amount of effort used by hackers to attack the Windows operating system.
But for the first time in 20 years, Apple has surpassed Microsoft in quarterly profits and revenues as a result of a dip in PC sales and huge losses in Microsoft’s Online Services Division (which contains the search engine Bing). Microsoft’s Q1 profits for 2011 were $5.4 billion on revenues of $16.2 billion. Apple on the other hand had mammoth revenues of $26.7 billion and profits of $6 billion.
These numbers paint a picture of more than just quarterly profits. They reflect the difference between how Apple and Microsoft operate. The difference in revenue and profit for Apple is about 20 billion dollars. For Microsoft, it is about 11 billion. The numbers suggest a much leaner operating and marketing strategy on the part of Microsoft. You need only watch a few days of television or surf the Internet to understand that what drives Apple is innovation and marketing. That may all be about to change.
All Bets on Windows 8
Windows 8 on ARM (which Microsoft is calling WOA) is Microsoft’s bet for the near future. Microsoft has watched quietly as Apple has changed the face of computing, perhaps less in awe (in the true sense of the word) and more like, “Okay, let’s see what the kid has got to say.” That analogy may seem odd given that both companies emerged out of the hippie-fueled era of the 70s, but Microsoft has long been the big brother in this relationship.
For a long time, critics have been saying that Microsoft has lost the plot, so to speak, but by all appearances, Windows 8 seems to finally have the answer to Apple and its long line of chic products. And the answer is Metro.
All Aboard Metro
Metro is a typography-based design language created by Windows. It was used originally in Windows Phone 7 and is now set to be the user interface for Windows 8. Metro offers Windows PC users what Apple has been giving its customers for quite some time now: interactive, visually-appealing, simple design. Now, design is not just a hip term for the coffee house. Design, whether we realize it or not, is an aspect of everything around us, both natural and man-made, from the fern-like leaves on a giant sequoia to your coffee mug to the desktop applications of your personal computer. Everything is ruled by design.
Metro was inspired by elements of the Swiss Style of typography; the sign graphics found in major transportation hubs; and the existing interfaces in other Microsoft software such as Zune and Office Labs—all of which focus more on motion and content than simple ‘chrome’. This can all be see in a “future vision” video put out by Microsoft that foresees a dynamic future of integration and interactivity.
What this video that is straight out of a science fiction movie suggests is that we will still be getting up in the morning, driving a car, catching a plane, or riding the subway to go to work. But perhaps we will be doing so with greater ease. Metro and Windows 8 is a first step toward that vision.
Coupled with the WOA architecture, Windows 8 is Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s long-standing question, Okay, so what’s your next move? When Windows 8 finally rolls out on tablets, laptops, and PCs later this year, maybe it will be Microsoft’s turn to ask that same question.
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