I know, I know. Microsoft is the world's largest software company. Its Windows OS and Office Productivity Suite remain leaders in most ways that you can measure them. But the truth of the matter is that the company has lost its luster in recent years and some would say it has also lost its relevance. There has been a long, steady decline, lasting more than a dozen years since the days when the Redmond
giant ruled the Earth, striking holy terror into both competitors and its own customers. Today, it may still have the heft of a fierce giant, but its past muscle has turned to paunch in the eyes of many observers.
Lately, however, there have been signs the giant is getting in shape for a comeback and it might be a good idea to take them seriously.
The biggest to date was the "release preview" announcement of its new Surface tablet computer. Clearly aimed at Apple, the vague announcement generated praise and even speculation on why Surface may be better than iPad.
The term "release preview"means there isn't really a product yet, and the company could get away with omitting such details as the price, or exact date of availability. It also makes one wonder if Microsoft is following Apple, Google, Amazon and probably Facebook into the hardware business.
Acer founder Stan Shih thinks it is just a temporary tactic. If so, it seems to me an expensive and distracting ploy. But even so, the world seems to me to be a little more interesting with Microsoft stepping back into the game.
It's interesting to see Microsoft in a challenger position. On its way up, Microsoft was a devastating competitor. It either out-played or out-smarted scores of companies, including an earlier Apple. Warning that it would acquire or destroy any company in its path, stood as king of the technology mountain, mercilessly kicking ny challengers of any size.
Opposition to Microsoft reshaped how technology developed and opened the window for the likes of Google, Facebook and the new improved Apple. More than that, a whole generation of young people have grown up and entered both the workplace and the marketplace without giving Microsoft much thought other than as the maker of Xbox games.
During the last decade, Microsoft has remained a large, but decreasingly relevant factor on the center stage where innovation matters far more than standardization and where productivity applications have been eclipsed by mobile apps.
But now the giant seems to have awakened. It is developing and acquiring interesting technologies. It is trying to get back into the game just when people were starting to discount it as a player.
Surface is the most recent--and interest-- play. But there have been quite a few others. To name some:
- Last week rumors abounded that Microsoft was about to acquire Yammer, the leading enterprise social networking platform, for $1.2 billion. While these rumors have ebbed, it would be an extremely smart and strategic move for Microsoft. Not only does Yammer have a very cool image in a very big space, but Yammer also instantly modernizes Microsoft's graying Office and Sharepoint product lines.
- Bing, the company's search engine was upgraded to become far more social last month. I've been using it more recently and find I like it. I'm not sure how the controversial jiggering of algorithms work, but I often like the results I get more than I do at Google. It alone is no game changer, but it appear to me that it will be a ground-closer for Microsoft in the search engine wars.
- It bought Skype, the leader in video chat. It faces significant challenges in this area from Apple, Google and presumably Facebook and no one has figured out how to exactly prosper from this growing way to communicate, but by buying Skype it is a player in an area where users seem likely to spend more-and-more time.