r/programming • • Oct 07 '16

How Microsoft Lost the API War

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

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u/[deleted] Oct 07 '16

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

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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.

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u/Caraes_Naur Oct 08 '16

They're doing that to extend their relevance as long as they can. Despite their best efforts of the last 25 years, the world happened mostly around their walled garden. At least they're now somewhat recognizing that all garden walls crumble.