I just got into the Microsoft Ecosystem
and I didn’t even know this is a thing
Have you ever heard someone talking about the Microsoft Ecosystem? In tech, we normally hear about the Apple Ecosystem. They’re just great at it (disclaimer: I am Apple-free for more than 5 years now!). Your iPhone easily connects to your MacBook and your iPad notes are in iCloud the moment you write them. Nowadays even your mouse works seamlessly between devices. This is just another level. As far as we know Apple is the best at doing this. Few people talk about the Microsoft Ecosystem, but I believe every day are more people in it than we ever thought of. That’s why we must talk about it.
A little bit about Microsoft recent years
Ten years ago, Microsoft was just a cringe company. They’ve developed the Zune HD, Windows 8, and Windows Phone. Nobody liked Microsoft back then. While Apple was like the cool hipster kid (like Jobs was), Microsoft was the little nerdy boy on glasses (like Bill Gates was, but today he is cooler). Steve Ballmer, who was as CEO since Bill Gates left in 1998, together with the company board, realized that they needed a cultural change. Things weren’t going well. In 2014 they chose Satya Nadella as the new CEO.
Satya believes Microsoft must empower people and organizations to achieve more. The company must make things to help you make things, and make things happen.
As soon as possible, Satya announced the Office suite was coming to iOS (yes, before 2014 there weren’t Office apps for iPhone). They released Windows 10, bought GitHub, announced the Surface devices, grew the cloud business, and even started selling Android Phones made by Microsoft. Every new device from Microsoft looks like it came from the future. The cultural change was so dramatic that the Windows 11 announcement got people excited in ways Microsoft wasn’t used the see. This is the new Microsoft.
The difference is that now Microsoft is not only trying to copy the competitor’s products but trying to become an innovative company. And innovation is a game about trying small, failing cheap, and learning fast.
The Microsoft Ecosystem explained.
The ‘ecosystem’ word was born in biology, but it works for tech. An ecosystem is an environment that integrates as a whole. This is how Microsoft is integrating a whole for me:
- Windows + Office suite: this is the classic combo. More than 75% of the world uses Windows. And, let’s be real, PowerPoint is so much better than Google Slides.
- VSCode + GitHub for coding: These pieces just became “The New Normal” for developers. Everyone I know is using VSCode to code and GitHub to publish. This is the default. And there are a lot of extensions that make VSCode just perfect for publishing on GitHub.
- Teams and Outlook for communication: Teams grew exponentially during the pandemic, and it is a great fit to use within the Office suite. When we are sharing a document through Teams and editing together, we can say “It just works” (congrats, Microsoft, you got it!). Teams is yet an electron-based software and this make it feels so slow, but this is about to change. For work-related emails and calendars, I use Outlook. And work-related Kanban, I use Planner. Both programs are always in sync with Teams, so my calendar and tasks are always easy to find at Teams.
- OneDrive for file storage: again, this tool is a perfect fit for the productivity package. You can easily share in Teams or send it to another co-worker that can edit the document together with you. The main super-power of OneDrive is the easy saving and sharing of Office documents, seeing its editing history and edit together.
- Edge for browsing: Okay, I actually use Firefox (with a lot of addons) on my day-to-day as a failed attempt to be more private. But, sometimes, I need to change browsers, so, when I need, Edge is my second option. And for me, it feels so much better than Chrome (and it is already installed!). But Bing is yet a no-go. Use a real search engine.
- Xbox Game Pass for gaming: I was a PC Master Race guy (that means I owned a gaming PC). And then, my video-card just broke. So, gaming was impossible. But, a few days ago, I joined Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. This is Netflix-like but for games. For just 14.99 dollars monthly I have access to more than 350 games and some with the possibility to play on cloud, with no need for a high-end PC. Suddenly, buying games at Steam became the second option. I probably won’t have a gaming PC never more in my life.
PS: Microsoft, if you’re reading this, please rename it to “Microsoft Game Pass”. Every time I talk to my friends about the “Xbox Game Pass” they think it’s a service made exclusively for Xbox consoles.
So, when I look at my daily activities, I’m working, talking, coding, browsing, and playing through Microsoft. And I got to admit, I like it. It’s easy.
From now to the future 🚀
I do believe the new culture within Microsoft is a game-changer. We will talk in the future about how IBM lost its position and how Microsoft almost lost it but was capable of getting it again (there are already smart people talking about it). I believe Microsoft will expand its business to embrace even more things. The future is collaborative.
I have good feelings about Microsoft. I really hope they keep this track and build a better ecosystem.
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