A little over a year ago I had many conversations (read: bitch-sessions) regarding Microsoft and my ever-growing frustration with them. For being the world’s leading technology company, it was pitiful to see them continue to slip away from their once-prominent stance as Leading Innovators to Struggling Followers. It was clear that it would not be long before market demands forced their habits to the grave.
The Death of a Brand
Microsoft was on its death bed for nearly the entirety of the last decade. As more competition arrived, it seemed that less was being done by the company to maintain their monopoly in the technology market. Apple’s operating systems began to gain sizable recognition for outperforming Windows, Google dominated the search market and began to dominate all of web technology, Mozilla annihilated Internet Explorer simply by applying common sense and utilizing web standards, and various software companies challenged Microsoft Office to a bloody duel.
Throughout all of these challenges Microsoft faced, there was one common theme: the user was completely ignored. This degraded the trust in the Microsoft name and forced users out the door and into the arms of those who cared about their needs.
A Breath of Life
Vital signs of this once-feared beast were faint until only a few months ago. Then slowly, yet all so suddenly, the pulse quickened and the lungs expanded. As Microsoft exhaled, it became clear that there is still hope for them yet. As much as developers might have enjoyed having something to complain about, it is refreshing to again have hope that the company that many of us grew up trusting in completely may not have in fact left us for dead.
What happened? Well, we all sometimes fall victim to becoming comfortable in our habits and lives. In the life of Microsoft, they became lethargic once their market domination reached a point that seemed too high to fall from. They stopped innovating, stopped dreaming of what could be and instead only created what already was. They gave their versions of what others had already done, and most of the time they failed at even that. They ignored the needs of users (which was apparent by removing the capability from Word to save as a .txt file) and chased shadows in circles until they wore themselves out.
But they didn’t give up the fight. Recently they launched Bing, which in quite a number of ways outperforms Google. Windows 7 doesn’t make me want to crawl in a hole and pray for the day I can afford the Mac Book Pro I’ve been dreaming of for years now. And possibly the most exciting thing to me is that IE8 actually adheres to standard web technology.
Office 2010 should prove to be the next step toward better health, as they had this to say in the preview of the software set to release early in 2010:
It’s not just a pretty picture
Designing and implementing the visuals for Microsoft Office goes beyond the icons and the age old desire simply to “make it look pretty”. It’s about bridging the gap between the familiar and the unknown, conveying and building on a brand, and helping users complete their daily tasks without getting in the way. Hopefully this quick overview has given you a better understanding of the visual refresh you’ll see in Microsoft Office 2010.
Not Off Life Support Yet
Though these recent changes are milestones of progression, Microsoft still has much to do to keep themselves alive. First and foremost, they must continue in this resurrected mindset that has proven to be so-far successful for them. They have caught up with the shadows they have been chasing, but to regain their status as Market Monopoly, they must make others chase their shadows. I don’t have much hope that they will be able to do that, but, then again, I didn’t have any hope that they’d ever get their pulse back. It is faint, but it is growing stronger. I’m rather excited to see what happens next.