Microsoft: Prosperous Incompetence

Part 1: EEE, FUD, and WTF?

Microsoft, for quite a long time, has prospered in the technology industry; gather millions (and billions) of dollars in profit every year. Microsoft's Windows operating system is installed on more than 90% of all computers distributed and sold in the world. Its Office Suite is a necessity and staple for most students, businesses, and governments. Microsoft, no doubt, has some of the most profitable software sales in the world. Its profitability is growing more and more, even if its market share in operating systems is going down. It is a business miracle and model for some.

But then why does it prosper? Why, you ask. It currently has the most archaic operating system in the world, most insecure, least efficient, least stable, and the OS is closed source. Its software programs are monolithic compared to some other free and open source programs, Microsoft's Internet Explorer is, arguably, the least stable internet browser and has more holes than Swiss cheese after being shot with a machine gun. Almost any techie knows that Mozilla, Opera, or Firefox are better browsers than IE, but most people choose to use IE anyway. I'll answer those questions, and more.

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The first issue that I'll address is how Microsoft manages to stay on top, even with its crappy products. Microsoft manages to convince everybody that it's better than the other guy by making the consumer believe that Apple, Linux, and company are the other guys. What I mean is that Microsoft has already established itself as the de facto software guy, all that your software needs will come from him. If he's installed on your computer, then he's the one to trust. This type of thinking, unfortunately, is the kind of thinking the average non-techie consumer does when using his/her computer.

EEE, the monster that Microsoft has ingeniously created; the acronym stands for "Embrace, Extend, and Exterminate". Sounds pretty sinister for a company like Microsoft, doesn't it? EEE has been used by Microsoft for years to successfully "compete" or, rather, drive its competitors into the ground. Here's how the process works: