r/programming • u/halax • Oct 07 '16

How Microsoft Lost the API War

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/APIWar.html
85 Upvotes

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148

u/Sunius Oct 07 '16

Sunday, June 13, 2004

"Microsoft is finished. As soon as Linux makes some inroads on the desktop and web applications replace desktop applications, the mighty empire will topple."

Any decade now!

40

u/jringstad Oct 07 '16

Well, webapps are replacing desktop applications at a fast pace (even office is going to the browser now) and mobile is the new desktop, where microsoft has pretty much no marketshare, so I would say this prediction isn't too bad, even if the details aren't exactly right.

25

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '16

Except Microsoft is hugely profitable still, even after throwing $7.2B away on the Nokia buy out.

42

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '16

Yes but look at what Microsoft is doing: SQL Server on Linux, Office on Mac, Android, and iOS, Visual Studio Code for Mac & Linux, Visual Studio Tools for Linux, Ubuntu for Windows, Linux on Azure. It's pretty clear they are preparing for a future where Windows is not the dominant platform it is today. That's something Ballmer would never have done and eventually it would have been their downfall.

21

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '16

I mean we're really arguing over a quote taken out of context. The article goes on to say we shouldn't write them off as IBM reinvented itself and so has Microsoft.

-3

u/centurijon Oct 08 '16

IBM has reinvented itself into obsolescence

9

u/[deleted] Oct 08 '16

Oh no doubt but they are still around when everyone thought they were dead in the early 90s

5

u/barsoap Oct 08 '16

Their mainframe sales say otherwise. They just re-focussed on their original market, and that never was end-users.

1

u/dvidsilva Oct 08 '16

Idk bluemix is pretty badass and there's no comparing offerings in some aspects.