细数微软Windows系统30年得与失

当然，微软也曾有败笔，而且还不少。

1、微软的垄断头衔

很多人可能都忘了，在2000年初，微软曾被裁定垄断，即通过非法手段利用某一领域的实力来获取在其他领域的统治地位。

联邦法官托马斯·本菲尔德·杰克逊在其判决中写道：“法庭认为，微软通过反竞争手段来维持其垄断力量，并试图垄断网页浏览器市场。”美国司法部在判决中建议将微软拆分为两家公司，但在上诉过程中遭到否决，原因是杰克逊在上诉过程中接受了采访，而且发表了似乎带有偏见的言论。

尽管微软靠着诉讼程序问题躲过了一劫，但旷日持久的调查和庭审耗费了公司大量的精力，也确实损害了声誉。盖茨所提供的证词如同任性孩童一般，对案情没有任何帮助。

穆格里亚说，“毫无疑问，这一调查是Windows历史上最持久、最痛苦也是最具破坏力的事件。”在他看来，此事对于微软以及全行业的影响是巨大的。他在邮件中提到，“当时，人们认为Windows是无懈可击的，微软的地位是永远不可动摇的，而且会一直在行业中占据主导地位。然而，微软神话就此终结。”

2、哎呀，我们错过了互联网

Windows 95成功也有其代价，由于微软专注于打败AOL、Compuserve、MCI和Prodigy，没能在互联网发展的大潮中充分历练。微软推出MSN之后，Netscape Communications利用其图形化的Netscape Navigator在互联网访问方面抢占了领先地位。随后，微软重新部署力推IE，却招致反垄断调查。

多年后，比尔·盖茨在一次贸易展会的演讲中自嘲道，他终于发现了互联网（停顿）……却发现所有人都在做互联网了。

3、Vista之灾

说实话，大多数人用Windows XP感觉挺好的，被吹捧过度的接班人Windows Vista出现了。后来Vista系统有时被称为Visaster（Vista与灾害disaster的合成词——译者注），上市前就数次跳票，2007年上市后更是骂声不绝于耳。原因在于，Vista系统即便在高配置电脑上运行速度也很慢，还存在各式各样的兼容问题，旧软件完全崩溃。同时，如果购买的是预装Vista系统的新电脑，就得面对海量的垃圾软件，还有各种预装在机器里的第三方软件。

可以说，简直是一团乱！

4、错过移动业务

微软太着急解决Vista问题，又错过了本应抓住市场机会的另一关键领域——移动设备。苹果2007年推出的iPhone后，手机行业彻底蜕变。自那时开始，微软便眼睁睁地看着安卓设备与iPhone和iPad设备在市场中一较高下，而Windows手机似乎只能被归入“不入流”那一型。

2013年微软斥资70多亿美元收购了诺基亚手机业务，也没能扭转局面，而且收购之后微软一直在努力恢复元气。

5、其他产品造成混乱格局

尽管Office应用，Windows和Windows NT（如今叫Windows服务器系统）为公司带来了数十亿美元的收入，但失败的产品也不在少数。还有人记得“Microsoft Bob”或“Clippy”吗？没有吗？原因很简单。

那些只能算小失败，微软还曾有一个穆格里亚称提过的“超级文件系统”。这一项目在开发伊始名为“Cario”，1994年项目解散却后继有人，即代号“Longhorn”的项目。Longhorn围绕Windows文件系统（WinFS）搭建，宣称拥有众多的特色和功能，却没法实现。这个项目后来归入Vista品牌，也以失败告终。

微软产品最广为人知的失败案例可能是在1998年Comdex展会上（现在该展会已停办）。当时，现已转任微软首席营销官的克里斯·卡普瑟拉与盖茨同台演示，用户可以将新设备插入装有Windows 98操作系统（当时还未上市）的电脑并实现即插即用，但演示过程中windows 98宕机了。（财富中文网）

译者：冯丰

审校：夏琳

But, yes, there were lows. Lots of them.

1.Microsoft the Monopolist

Many have forgotten, but in early 2000, Microsoft was ruled to be a monopoly that unlawfully parlayed its strength in one area to gain dominance in others.

As Federal Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson wrote in his judgement:

“The court concludes that Microsoft maintained its monopoly power by anticompetitive means and attempted to monopolize the Web browser market.”

The verdict, which endorsed the U.S. Justice Department’s recommendation that Microsoft be broken up into two companies, was thrown out on appeal because Jackson had given interviews during the appeal process that seemed to indicate bias.

Even though Microsoft avoided the axe—on a technicality—the long-running investigation and trial was a huge distraction and really damaged its reputation. Gates, whose testimony was likened to that of a petulant child, certainly didn’t help.

This was, Muglia said, was “without a doubt, the most prolonged, painful, and destructive event in Windows history.”

And its impact on Microsoft and the industry was huge, in his view. “At the time it was believed that Windows was so entrenched that Microsoft would forever hold an impenetrable position and would always dominate the industry. So much for that,” he noted via email.

2. Whoops, we missed the Internet

The flip side of all the Windows 95 success was that the focus on beating AOL, Compuserve, MCI, and Prodigy meant the company failed to hone in on the broader Internet. While Microsoft launched MSN, Netscape Communications stole the lead on Internet access with the graphical Netscape Navigator. It was Microsoft’s Internet Explorer push to regroup that helped spur the anti-trust investigation.

Years later, to his credit, during a trade show speech, Bill Gates joked that he discovered the Internet (full pause)…after everybody else did.

3. The Vista debacle

Windows Vista was the overhyped successor to Windows XP, which frankly, most people liked just fine. Sometimes called “the Visaster,” it was late to market and when it shipped in 2007, there was no love. It was slow even on high-end PCs and riddled with compatibility issues that broke old applications. And, if you bought it pre-installed on a new computer, you had to fight your way through a sea of junk ware—third-party software also packaged up with the machine.

It was a mess.

4. Mobile.

Microsoft was so desperate to fix its Vista problem that it took its eye off the ball in another area it should have mastered: mobile devices When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, it started the push to completely transform the phone. Since that time, Microsoft stood by as Android devices vied with iPhones and iPads for market supremacy; Windows phones seem perennially stuck in the “other” category.

This situation wasn’t remedied even after Microsoft bought Nokia’s phone business for more than $7 billion in 2013. It has been trying to recover from that deal ever since.

5. Other product snafus

While the Office applications, Windows and Windows NT (now known as Windows Server) have generated billions for the company, there have been lots of software misfires as well.

Anyone remember “Microsoft Bob?” or Clippy? No? There’s a good reason for that.

But over all of those rather minor misfires, loomed what Muglia referred to as the “file system that rules all.” This started out as a project called “Cairo” which fell apart around 1994, but was followed by another effort, code-named, “Longhorn.”.

Longhorn was to be built around, the Windows File System or WinFS, and promised so many features and functions there was no way it could deliver. It, too crashed and burned, under the aforementioned Vista branding.

Perhaps the best example of an on-stage fail of a Microsoft product came at Comdex, a now-defunct trade show, in 1998 when Chris Capossella, who is now Microsoft’s marketing chief, was on stage with Gates to demonstrate how users would be able to plug new devices seamlessly into a PC running the yet-to-ship Windows 98.