Microsoft Case Study: Windows Vista Essay

According to the Department of Justice, Microsoft used its resources and technology to drive other companies out of business, thereby eliminating the competition and creating a monopoly. Without competition, Microsoft was able to set prices and consumer conditions in a way that exceedingly benefited the company while ensuring a decreased amount of new competition because of the proprietary software installed in most PCs. (Competitive Processes, Anticompetitive Practices and Consumer Harm in the Software

Microsoft has developed into an inescapable force within the technological field. Coming from a delayed humble beginning, it has had to devote large sums of money to approach the levels of the founding technological companies. Today, Microsoft controls the market in computer software. How they have achieved this status is what some have come to question. Through “bundling” software programs, manipulating other computer companies, and packaging deals with personal computers, Microsoft has managed to eradicate nearly all competitors in the computer software market (Love, 1997). This near monopoly affects the entire spectrum of classes, including the consumer, other networking providers,

MySQL is available for Microsoft Windows, for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions (MSQL, 2015). It is possible to run MySQL as a standard application or as a Windows service. By using a service, “you can monitor and control the operation of the server through the standard Windows service management tools” (MySQL, 2015). Installing EasyPHP was not something I consider to be easy. I just happen to have a flash drive, not knowing if the program would install correctly or not, I proceeded to download the software onto my laptop. I came across many errors stating that the program had stop working or that my laptop needed to be restarted to complete installation. Constantly getting errors, I admit I became very frustrated and did not know how to get

Microsoft’s approach of creating competition also increases both the variety and the availability of their PCs. PCs can be found almost anywhere that sells other electronics. Each PC manufacturer produces their own configurations. Each retailer sells at least a few exclusive PCs. The end result is many different PC options for the consumer.

Microsoft is the software giant responsible for bringing Windows operating system to the PC (personal computer). Microsoft is also a known and well respected company in the global market. The tech giant has dominated the computer industry since 1981. Due to the nature of such a huge company, Microsoft has its hands in multiple markets. Microsoft currently competes in file hosting, software, operating systems, and gaming consoles. Unfortunately, each of the afore-mentioned markets differ from one another. For the purpose of this paper, the market that

In more recent years, the Microsoft Corporation has repeatedly been accused of having a monopoly on the software market (Rise of monopolies 1996). Microsoft

The main empirical claim opposing sides disagree on is that Microsoft is deliberately trying to shut out its competitors in the software industry. While this issue might seem like a matter of opinion, there is hard evidence to back it up. The most striking example of Microsoft shutting out its competitors is with its Internet Explorer software. In 1997, Microsoft packaged an Internet Explorer Access Kit with Windows, thus shutting out Netscape, who did not create a similar service until nine months later. Unfortunately, purchasing the software from Netscape would cost $2000, whereas the service was free from Microsoft. To make matters even more interesting, Microsoft struck a deal with AOL where in exchange for using its Internet software, “Microsoft placed an AOL icon on its Windows desktop, leading more than a million new customers to sign up for AOL” (FAQ). Microsoft supporters assert that this service “increased general familiarity with the Internet and reduced the cost to the public of gaining access to it” (FAQ). However, critics suggest that Microsoft intentionally add the Internet Explorer feature to Windows in order to shut Netscape out the industry. Additionally, because Microsoft is so wealthy and powerful, it can be a hazard to the economy and consumers. If Microsoft ever crashed there would be complete economic chaos. Also, Microsoft controls the prices of their products and could decide to raise them at any time. Consumers would be forced

The PCs became a commodity. Microsoft grew to be the leader in the operating system market continuing to develop their Windows GUI line. With Windows, software standards have been established allowing software developers to certify their products to meet Windows requirements and deliver controlled performance. In addition, the PCs allowed numerous hardware manufacturers to

One company that appears to have a gap between its mission and its capabilities is Microsoft. The software giant has long had a problem with respect to innovation, and continues to rely on aging franchises for the bulk of its revenue. It was left out of the mobile operating systems boom and has failed to be a leader in either software or consumer electronics as a result (Clarke, 2010).

in the most part, states that Microsoft is truly dismantling the competitive market. IBM and Apple created OS/2 and the Mac OS, respectively. Because of this “barrier of entry,” these top companies have not been able to “compete effectively with

The large capital requirements to enter the computer industry combined with established brand identities of the current incumbents make barriers to entry high, not to mention the economies of scale and distribution channels that incumbents enjoy which make entry barriers even higher. The current PC incumbents enjoy demand-side benefit of scale in the business sector where PC buyers prefer to buy products from large trusted companies, raising the level of entry barriers.

Microsoft (MS) is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices. In the mid 1990’s, Microsoft held the monopoly in the production of Operating Systems (OS) for personal computers (PC). When their monopoly was threatened by Netscape, MS began bundling the Internet Explorer (IE) web browser with Windows, using cross-promotional deals with internet service providers (ISP), and prevented PC makers from customizing the opening screen showing Microsoft. These actions, which some view as illegal and unethical, dissolved any competition, raised the barriers of entry and inhibited

Mr. Gates’ also explains how Microsoft tackled the challenge of integrating the Internet to be compatible with various Microsoft products. The biggest dilemmas were determining what should be incorporated into the existing Microsoft products, what should be packaged as new products, and how should the Windows Operating System support the Internet. He gives frequent examples of how the other competing computer industry giants were able to succeed in the computer industry. A lot of success he points out was made through trial and error as well as learning from one’s mistakes. He talks about how Microsoft has learned from projects that have failed such as the Multiplan spreadsheet that went on to be developed into Microsoft Excel, and the Omega database that would become Microsoft Access. One suggestion that Mr. Gates makes in achieving company success is by

And these analyses will be done with the help of Porter’s 5 forces (see appendix 1, 2, 3). This analysing toll deals with issues which are from outside the industry that impacts the nature of competition within the certain industry. Thurlby, (1998) stated “Understanding the nature of each of these forces gives organisations the necessary insights to enable them to formulate the appropriate strategies to be successful in their market”1. The analysis of the three industry are given belowPC industry (See appendix 1) This competition within the PC industry is extraordinarily high consisting with top companies like Dell, HP, Apple, Gateway and Sony. In order to gain competitive advantage, the key factors are advancement in technology, custom built PCs, reliability and standard customer service. The life cycle of PC industry can be seen as mature (See appendix 6); however the growth of PC’s has not decline. The reason is due to the globalisation trends taking place within the major firms. The barriers very high where there are already five main firms that dominate the market. Therefore, the chances of new PC companies entering the market and get significant hold of market share is very slender. The main two factors that are making the entry level high are mainly cost and distribution and the top five firms also control 70 per cent of the global personal computer market. Another factor may be is that

In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen created a company called Microsoft. More than thirty years later, Microsoft is a leader in the field of computer programming. Gates and Allen both had big plans for their company and came up with different ways of managing people and products