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I mentioned in my last article (Why Google is “Cool”) that I’ve been thinking about the one word I would use to describe the essence of each of the big technology companies. When it came to Microsoft, it only took a moment for “Gigantic” to spring to mind.

Over the past thirty years, that company has transformed itself from a Micro-soft to a Macro-soft. Not only does Microsoft’s products and services dominate the IT marketplace, the company is fast becoming the major player in the video games, mobile/cell phone computing, and now even cable TV. Once the powers-that-be at Microsoft make the decision to enter a new market, a war has begun. And Microsoft does not take prisoners (in a nice, soft, politically correct sort of way).

Though it began its life in 1975, Microsoft had a helpful push with the launch of the first IBM PC, when MS-DOS became the preferred PC operating system, re-branded PC-DOS. Some years later, Microsoft repaid IBM’s largess when Windows 3.1 easily outsold IBM’s OS/2 offering. With the stampeding success of MS-DOS, Windows and Office, Microsoft became the industry giant for desktop PC software.

But despite their run-away success on the desktop, Microsoft didn’t get much respect in the enterprise. Their LAN Manager network software was being ravaged by Novell Netware. And they didn’t have anything serious for a database. So in 1988, Microsoft licensed the code for Sybase SQL Server and ported it to OS/2. Though it took a while (chucking OS/2 in favour of the much more robust and scalable NT, followed by completely rewriting the Sybase code from the ground up), today SQL Server is ranked a close 3rd in the overall enterprise database share (after Oracle and DB2). Where are Novell and Sybase? Remember, no prisoners.

As the Internet boomed in 1990’s, Microsoft was caught scratching its ass. When the talk was of the Internet, the word Netscape (or even AOL) was bound to crop up. And then the giant shifted. Today Internet Explored 6 has become the workhorse of the Internet and is (thanks to many dozens of automatic updates) quite reliable and secure. It’s hard to imagine what Netscape is up to. And do you know of anyone who would admit to using AOL?

It is sometimes said that it takes about three generations of software for Microsoft to get it right. The sceptical would view this as a weakness. To me, it demonstrates that the strength of the giant comes through tenacity and perseverance.

Back in the enterprise, the original Windows (up to version 3.1) just wasn’t something to consider. Many a large organization took up OS/2. Even the Window 95/98 generation was doggy to say the least (bloody unreliable actually). But with the release of Windows XP in 2001, now there was operating system that you could deploy and manage in the thousands. Where is OS/2 today? Another casualty on the battlefield.

In the gaming world, the original XBox did get some grudging respect, but it was no match for the mass popularity of the Sony PS/2. It was a tough couple of years for Microsoft, until the XBox 360 virtually rose from the ashes in late 2005, and continues today to be the hot toy for big boys. And Sony? Oops! Caught with their pants down, the PS/3 is over a year late!

But not all of Microsoft’s success stories came out of their own labs. It’s worth having a look at some of the long list of companies (and their products) that Microsoft has purchased to feed the giant as it grows bigger and bigger:

• 1986 Fox Software (FoxPro)
• 1987 Forethought Inc (PowerPoint)
• 1996 Vermeer Technologies (FrontPage)
• 1997 Sabeer Bhatia’s Hotmail
• 1999 Visio Inc (Visio)
• 2003 Connectix (Virtual PC)
• 2005 Groove, a company founded by Lotus Notes creator Ray Ozzie

The recent purchase of Groove brought Ray Ozzie, broadly regarded as one of an elite few who can match Gates in technical depth and futuristic vision, into the Microsoft fold as Chief Technology Officer. With the April 2006 announcement of Gates’ retirement plans, Ozzie was elevated to Gates’ title of Chief Software Architect. Smart move!

So the giant is not resting. Its white-coated boffins (geniuses most) are about to release a whole new generation of operating systems, applications and developer technologies. Some of you may already be testing out Internet Explorer 7, Windows Vista and Office 2007. If you’re a developer, you’ll be blown away by the coolness of creating Windows Presentation Foundation UI using XAML, or tying together peer-to-peer applications with web services using Windows Communication Foundation. The breadth of stuff coming out of Microsoft Research is mind boggling.

I think most people want a world with options. Not one dominated by a single giant, but perhaps driven by it. Advocators of open source software never gave up their efforts in the war with Microsoft. We have them to thank for a wide variety of alternative (and free) applications:

• Operating system (Linux)
• Web browser (Firefox)
• Word processor / spreadsheet (Open Office)
• Programming languages (Java, Python, PHP)
• Database (MySQL)

So, if we did not have this friendly giant, would our world have so much choice, quality and fun?

But even if Microsoft is “gigantic”, it still finds itself loosing the battle in a few industry segments:

The MSN search engine pales in popularity to Google, and is now declining in market share.Windows Mobile (for mobile phones) continues to be trumped Symbian (Nokia, etc.) in the consumer space (but is now a serious player in the enterprise). 

Coming up next… Why Nokia is “Elegant”