Why Windows 10?
Is it good enough for all of us?
The next version of Windows is out and it’s called Windows 10. Everything about the new Windows seems right, except for one thing — the name. They should had called it Windows ONE, which they also made fun of themselves about it in the release conference. Anyways, why should we care about the new Windows, why should we embrace the new Microsoft and what actually have they done to make themselves relevant again?
Since few years ago, Microsoft has been struggling to keep up with the fast moving industry and trends. Before Satya Nadella came on board, Steve Ballmer already started to revolutionize the company inside out, from the organizational structure to branding of products, I have written about this before in the article Give Ballmer A Chance.
The branding, design and marketing of nearly every product from the company is built from scratch to align with the One Microsoft strategy. This approach is similar to that taken by Google and Apple. These companies all aim to unify the branding of their products and services, and in my opinion, they did pretty well in providing a consistent experience and image to their customers.
I choose to focus on Microsoft for this article because the challenges they face is particularly huge due to the existing image in their customers’ minds. People are mostly resistant to change, though there are also exceptions like myself. Companies with longer history will have more difficulties to re-brand themselves like Microsoft.
So back to the question, why should we care and embrace the new Microsoft? Microsoft’s products, especially Windows and Office have been a part of our lives already. Everyone who uses a PC will be affected by the new Microsoft strategy and should understand the benefits they get from embracing the new Microsoft. The company became less arrogant comparing to a few years ago. They started to listen to their customers and that could be reflected from the release of the new Windows and all the applications they released for other platforms and ecosystems. In the release event, they emphasized on how they try their best to satisfy their customers who are less willing to change and also customers that are willing to try all the new stuff. This effort alone already show how Satya made the company more open and willing to accept opinions.
The effort they made to make themselves relevant could be an example for companies with long history. There are too many companies thought themselves as obvious choices for customers, neglecting how fast the society and the industry is changing and not willing to follow, naming a few such as Nokia, Blackberry, HP and so on. Microsoft though started late, luckily they’re large enough to withstand the huge competition and pushed themselves forward. With all the new services and products they reformed, from Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox, Office, Surface and all the MSN (formerly Bing) apps and services, they successfully transformed themselves into a new company. They’re now more forward thinking, not playing catch up anymore and getting themselves back into the game.
Microsoft’s case gives us a great example showing even industry giants like them can still move and shift, though tough. The most important thing is to listen to the customers and learn from their own and other competitors mistakes.
