ビルゲイツ無き時代にMicrosoftが復興する15の道
PCWorld:15 Ways Microsoft Can Reinvent Itself for the Post-Gates Era
Its cofounder is retiring, its latest big product has been vilified, and potential partners are spurning its advances. So what does Microsoft do to remain relevant? Here are 15 ideas.
Harry McCracken, PC World
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 10:01 PM PDT
どのデスク，どの家庭のコンピュータでもMicrosftのソフトが動いている．
Bill Gatesがよく言っていたように，これは彼とPaul Allenがソフト会社を1975年に設立した時からのビジョンだ．
1980年代中盤の歴史の初期，この標語が最初に示されたとき，
論争があったが，結局認められた．
Micrsoftはこの無謀なゴールを現実とした．
A computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software. That, Bill Gates has often said, is the vision on which he and Paul Allen founded their software company in 1975. There's debate over when the mantra was first articulated--the earliest known instances go back only to the mid-1980s--but this much is undeniable: Microsoft made that audacious goal a reality.
今日，Billは日に日にMicrosoftの管理から離れる準備をしているが，別の事実が明らかになっている．
近代のMicrosoftはもう一つの動きを見せているのだ．
事実，Microsoftは世界で一番利益を出している会社だ．
その額は，2007年のApple, Google, Yahoo, Oracle, Adobeの利益を合算したものより多い．
しかし，Microsoftの支配のヒビは，大きく広がってきている．
ウェブの世界ではMicrosoftではなくGoogleが支配者だ．
これは，1990年代のBillとMicrosoftの畏敬と恐怖を思い起こさせる．
それに対するMicrosoftの答えとして，Yahoo買収に乗り出したが，失敗に終わってしまった．
Appleのような古きライバルたちや，Mozillaのような元気な企業は，
Microsoftの独占に意味ある浸食をしている．
また，Redmond(Microsoft本社の所在地)を出れば，ほぼ全員がWindows Vistaに失望している．
Today, as Gates prepares to step down from day-to-day management of the company, another fact is clear: The modern Microsoft remains a company in search of a second act. True, it remains one of the world's most profitable enterprises, raking in more dough in its 2007 fiscal year than Apple, Google, Yahoo, Oracle, and Adobe combined. But the cracks in the Microsoft hegemony aren't just showing, they're growing.
On the Web, it's Google, not Microsoft, that inspires the blend of awe and fear that Gates and company commanded in the 1990s--and Microsoft's answer, the attempted acquisition of Yahoo, fizzled. The company's attempts to extend Windows and Office to the Web have been lackluster and confusing. Old adversaries like Apple and gutsy upstarts like Mozilla are making meaningful inroads on Microsoftian monopolies. And outside of Redmond, almost everybody seems to regard Windows Vista as a disappointment.
そこで，おせっかいにもMicrosoftにアドバイスを用意した．
15のステップにより，Microsoftは数年先も反映することだろう．
いくつかのアイデアは，すでに同社の戦略として盛り込まれている．
その他は，手に負えないものだろう．
そして，あるポイントは論争を呼んでしまう．
Steve BallmerとMicrosoftとは違い，
戦略を選ばずに，ゆっくりと考えたものだ．
So here's some unsolicited advice for Microsoft--15 steps that can help the company thrive in the years ahead. Some of these ideas are clearly part of its game plan already; others, it would likely reject out of hand. And hey, certain points conflict with others in the list. Unlike Steve Ballmer and company, I have the luxury of pondering its future without having to pick a strategy and make it happen.
大きな視点
1.全てのものを全ての人に当てはめるのはやめる
Microsoftは，非常に大きい会社から子供まで，全ての人の為にソフトとサービス作っている．
PC，サーバ，工業製品，電話，GPS，車用のアプリケーションを提供している．
また，オンライン広告のメジャーになろうとしている．
さらに，ゲーム機，音楽プレーヤ，マウス，キーボード，ペンタブ，ケーブルニュースのチャンネルまで製造している．
世界のどんな会社も，全てのことをうまくやることはできない．
Microsoftは多くの製品で利益を上げられていない．
想像できるものを全てまかなうより，OS，アプリ，サービス，プログラムツールのようなコアビジネスに注力するのが妥当だ．
お手本はIBMだ．彼らは契機となる分野をしぼっていて，自らが作ったPC部門を手放した．
The Big Picture
1. Stop trying to be everything to everybody. Microsoft makes software and services for everyone from humongous companies to little kids. It provides applications for PCs, servers, industrial devices, phones, GPS units, and cars. It's trying to be a major force in online advertising. It manufactures gaming consoles and audio players and mice and keyboards and touch-sensitive tables, and owns part of a cable news channel. No company on the planet could do all these things well, and Microsoft doesn't even do many of them profitably. Rather than jumping on every imaginable bandwagon, it would be smart to focus on core businesses such as operating systems, productivity applications and services, and programming tools. Possible role model: IBM, which is so disciplined about the opportunities it pursues that it decided to exit the PC business it created.
2.数年に一回ではなく，アップグレードを続けるべき
Windows Vistaは，数年前のコンピュータ黎明期に決められた機能だけで，新鮮さがなかった．
これはMicrosoft製品の歩みだ--ソフト開発と提供の，古いアプローチを繰り返してきた．
Googleと比較すると，Googleは新しい機能を，思いつくと同時に投入できる．
Microsoftの無味乾燥なデスクトップ製品は，未だにウェブサービスより使われている．
その製品には，くだらない革命より，継続した発展が必要だ．
Microsoft UpdateはくだらないパッチからWindows, Office, その他製品の修正を毎日提供できないのだろうか？
2. Upgrade continuously, not once every few years. Windows Vista is a tad stale in part because it feels like its features were determined years ago, in an earlier era of computing--which they were. That's a by-product of Microsoft's decades-old approach to software development and distribution. Google, by contrast, can push out fresh new features onto the Web almost as quickly as it can think of them. Even if Microsoft's bread-and-butter products remain desktop applications rather than Web-based services, they need to move to a model of ongoing evolution rather than once-in-awhile revolutions. Couldn't Microsoft Update evolve from a tedious patching system to a cool way to make Windows, Office, and other applications better on a day-by-day basis?
3.革新的になるべきだ--いや，これは本気だ．
Redmondからのマーケティングメッセージは，Microsoftと革新が実際に同義であると思えるだろうか？
実はMicrosoftは先駆者ではなく，真似をしているだけだ．
AppleがiPodの裏に"Designed in California"と入れれば，Zuneの裏に小さく"Hello from Seattle"と入れる．
もしこれがCIO(独自性を害するものを解除する職制)の許可を得ているのであれば，
これは，会社の評判が気になるところだ．
3. Be innovative--no, seriously. The marketing message from Redmond would have you believe that Microsoft and innovation are practically synonymous. In fact, the company is more mimic than innovator: When Apple put a tiny "Designed in California" on the backside of every iPod, it was inevitable that the Zune would sport an equally microscopic "Hello from Seattle." It might do wonders for the company's reputation if it appointed a Chief Innovation Officer whose duties would include ruthlessly killing everything that smacks of pointless imitation.
4.顧客を日雇い労働者ではなく，王様のように扱う
Microsoftはコピープロテクションを停止した．
顧客の製品が正規品であると確認させるものだ．これが顧客の頭を悩ませている．
多くの人が必要としているにも関わらず，Windows xpからこれを排除すると主張している．
コポレートモットーの"Your Potential. Our Passion"は，恩着せがましい．
Microsoftは完全にコンピュータ世界を支配しているのに，
実際に多方面で競合している立場としては，顧客と顧客になろうとしている者を同等に扱うべき．
という態度で止めたのだ．
4. Treat customers like kings, not peons. Microsoft rolls out copy-protection technologies that cause headaches for paying customers, then tells those customers it's doing so for their own good. It insists on doing away with Windows XP when there are legions of users who still want it. Even its corporate motto--"Your Potential. Our Passion"--is patronizing. The company that utterly dominated the computing world could get away with that attitude; the one which faces real competition on all fronts will have to treat customers and potential customers with more respect.
5.Windowsをもっとウェブとシームレスに
デスクトップソフトは優位だが，ウェブベースのサービスもそうであってほしい．
未来のWindowsでは，ソフトにもウェブにも力を入れるべきだ．
2007年2月，BillがNewsweekに語った，"user-centric"シナリオ
-ユーザのファイル，設定，フォント，その他をウェブデータアクセスで同期し，どのコンピュータからもアクセスできる．
(現在preview版でLive Meshというサービスで，実際に体験できる)
がそれではないか．
5. Make Windows a seamless desktop-Web experience. Desktop software has its advantages, and so do Web-based services. Future versions of Windows would be most powerful if they were a little bit of both. And maybe they will be: In February 2007, Bill Gates told Newsweek about an appealing, "user-centric" scenario in which Windows syncs all of a user's files, settings, fonts, and other data across the Web, so they're available at any computer that's at hand. (Live Mesh, currently available as a preview, seems to be an early incarnation of this vision.)
6.Windowsを再開発
2000年，AppleはOS9と呼ばれた古いOSを
全て新しい，まったくの近代OSXに置き換えた．
この冒険的先手が，MacOSを救った．
WindowsはOS9ほど古くないが，新しい基盤なしでもう10年生きていけるとは想像できない．
余分な装備をいっさい省いたカーネル"MinWin"は，良いスタートとなるだろう．
しかし，うわではMinWinはwindows 7には含まれず，Vistaのものを引き継ぐらしい．
6. Reboot Windows. In 2000, Apple replaced the creaky operating system known as OS 9 with OS X, an all-new, thoroughly modern OS. The daring gambit saved the Mac OS. Windows isn't as archaic as OS 9 was, but it's hard to imagine it staying viable for another decade without a new foundation. "MinWin," a stripped-down version of the Windows kernel, might be that fresh start, but scuttlebutt says MinWin is not part of Windows 7, Vista's successor.
7.Windowsを二つに分割せよ
長い間，世界は根底から新しいWindowsを必要としている．
しかし，MicrosoftがWindows XPを消し去ろうとすることについての騒動は，
ただ親しみやすく互換性のあるOSが欲しい人が多くいることを示している．
Microsoftは既に20種類以上のOSを売っているが，
なぜレガシーなOSと全く新しいOSをほしがる人々両方を幸せにしようとしないのだろうか．
7. Split Windows in two. Long-term, the world needs a fundamentally new version of Windows. But the uproar over Microsoft's plans to kill off Windows XP shows that there are lots of folks who just want a version of the OS that's familiar and compatible. The company already sells more than 20 versions of the operating system--so why not make both groups of people happy by offering both a legacy edition and a Windows that's new from the ground up?
8.Windowsをもっとつまらなくする
MS-DOSはシンプルで，魅力のないソフトの一つだ．
Microsoftや他の会社に強固なプラットフォームと評価されているが．
Windowsがツール，デジタル画像，エンターテインメント，コミュニケーションを追加するにつれ，
Windowsは複雑で満足度の低いものとなった．
Microsoftが未来のWindowsで基本に立ち戻ったら非常にいいと思うが，
Windows 7のデモで，新しいWindows Paintが含まれることが公表された．
これはいい予兆ではない．
MicrosoftはOSをもっと信頼性のある，安全で，使いやすいものにするべきだ．
paintソフトを作っている場合ではない．
8. Make Windows more boring. MS-DOS was a simple, unglamorous piece of software that focused on being a solid platform for applications from Microsoft and other companies. As Windows has added tools for digital photography, entertainment, and communications, it's become more complex and less satisfying. I'd love to think that Microsoft might go back to basics with future versions of Windows, but one of the first public demos of Windows 7 involved a new version of Windows Paint. That's not a great sign. Microsoft should concentrate on making the OS more reliable, secure, and easy to use rather than adding features to a paint program.
9.Windows Mobileを主要製品に
未来のPCは今のスマートフォンの子孫である事は明確だ．
これはAppleがiPhoneにOS Xを改造して搭載した理由でもある．
もしwindowsがその世界になじめないならば，死が待っている．
しかしWindows Vistaは，安いノートPCや単体の携帯では動かせない程膨れ上がってしまった．
そして最新のWindows Mobile 6.1には何もない．
噂では，次のWindows Mobile 8は基本から作り直され，
数年のうちにお目見えする．
もっと早く出来ないのだろうか？
9. Make Windows Mobile the flagship. It's obvious that tomorrow's PC will be the descendant of today's smart phones. That's why Apple reinvented OS X as a mobile operating system for the iPhone. And if Windows can't adapt to that world, it'll die. But Windows Vista is too bloated to run well on cheap laptops, let alone phones, and there's nothing cutting-edge about Windows Mobile 6.1. Rumor has it that the first edition of Windows Mobile rewritten from scratch will be version 8, which supposedly won't show up for years. Wouldn't sooner be better?
アプリ：Officeとその先
10.Google Docsを超えろ
ひと時，Microsoftの作るソフト-Word, Excel, PowerPoint-は落後者だった．
WordPerfect, 1-2-3, Harvard Graphicsなどの大物たちに負けていたのだ．
Microsoftがofficeの市場を古い戦法で独占し，利益を上げるようになったのは．
良いソフトを作ったことによる．
今日のMicrosoftにとって，
Google Docsにへ切り札として，オンラインofficeスイートを作るのは難しいことではない．
Microsoft以外に良いポジションにいるものはいない．
Applications: Office and Beyond
10. Leapfrog Google Docs. Once upon a time, Microsoft productivity apps such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint were also-rans compared with blockbusters like WordPerfect, 1-2-3, and Harvard Graphics. Then Microsoft earned much of its dominance of the office market the old-fashioned way: By building better software. Today, it shouldn't be all that hard to build an online suite that trumps Google Docs--and nobody's in a better position than Microsoft to try.
11.Officeにオンラインofficeスイートを付ける
Microsoftはオンラインの生産性の世界に非常に注意深く歩み寄っている．
それは，Microsoftが製品を殺してしまうと懸念しているからだ．
Office製品に何百ドルも払う人たちは，オンラインofficeスイートは無料であるべきと考えている．
なぜ消費者たちにウェブバージョンのofficeを提供しないのだろう？
これは主要なネットベースのツールが実は多くの利益を出していることを知って頂かないと．
11. Bundle Office with an online suite. Microsoft has approached the world of online productivity so cautiously in part because it's worried about murdering one of its cash cows: The same people who pay hundreds of dollars for a copy of Office think that online suites should be free. Why not give those paying customers a great Web version of Office as part of the deal? It might help show the world that essential Net-based tools are indeed worth real money.
12.Officeのファイル形式をウェブで必要なものにする
Word, Excel, PowerPointのファイル形式はMicrosoftでもっとも価値のある要素だ．
office 2007でさえもMicrosoftはオープン形式としている．
このファイル形式は，AdobeのPDFのようにウェブで広く使われるようになれば，もっと協力な資産となる．
統合office ビューアはどうだろうか？
理想的には簡単な編集が出来，簡単に検索，インストール，使用ができるものだ．
(Office Live Workspaceで同じ事ができるが，普及するには複雑すぎる)
これはPDFに対抗して作った生焼けのXPS形式より意味のあるものとなるだろう．
12. Make the Office file formats indispensable on the Web. The file formats for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are among Microsoft's most valuable property--even the Office 2007 ones that the company has published as open standards. They'd be an even more powerful asset if they were as widely used on the Web as Adobe's omnipresent PDF. How about a unified Office file viewer--ideally with some basic editing features--that would be a cinch to find, install, and use? (Office Live Workspace does this, sort of, but it's too complicated to become pervasive.) This would sure make more sense than XPS, Microsoft's half-baked response to PDF.
13.ソフトにスタジオ形式を取り入れる
Microsoftゲームスタジオは，ゲームタイトルを備え，契約した開発者たちや，Microsoft，Microsoftに吸収された会社，独立した会社によって運営されている．
例えばBungie (Halo), Ensemble (Age of Empires), Rare (Viva Pinata), Lionhead (Black and White)などだ．
Microsoftが出したゲームの平均は，ほぼ間違いなくMicorsoftが出したアプリより面白い．
もし同じシステムをアプリ開発に適応したら，創作が爆発するのではないか．
13. Take a studio approach to software. Microsoft Game Studios, the company's game title arm, is run as a loose federation of developers, some started by Microsoft, some acquired by it, and some independent. Examples include Bungie (Halo), Ensemble (Age of Empires), Rare (Viva Pinata), and Lionhead (Black and White). End result: The average Microsoft-published game is arguably more interesting than the average Microsoft-published productivity application. If the company applied the same system to productivity software, it might unleash an explosion of creativity.
14.IEをfirefox以上に
これは前にも言った．
独特でないし，議論をするようなものでないとも理解している．
しかし，これはいい考えだと思う．
IEがMicrosoftの戦略的資産だった頃は，まだ時間があったが，
現在は障害が増えている．
Firefox以上にスキンの下をカスタマイズ出来る
無駄の無い，意味のある"Internet Explorer"をなぜ作ろうとしないのか．
14. Build Internet Explorer on top of Firefox. Okay, I've suggested this before. I understand that it remains an idiosyncratic and unlikely proposition. But it still seems like a good idea to me. There may have been a time when IE was a strategic asset for Microsoft, but today it's more of an albatross. So why not dump it for a leaner, meaner "Internet Explorer" that's really the supremely customizable Firefox under the skin?
15.iPhone開発者を導け
「新しい基準を作るには，ただちょっと違うものを使うだけではだめだ...本当に新しく，人々の想像をとらえたものでなくては」
とは，1984年Billが言った言葉だ．
彼はMicrosoftの製品の事を言っているのではなく，新しいAppleのMacintoshを激賞している．
MacがDOS起動のPCと真っ向から競争している事実にもかかわらず，
MicrosoftはMacの主要な開発者となるほど利口であった．
(Excelは，Mac版が一番早く登場した程だ)
もしSteve Ballmerが強い興味でiPhoneを受け入れるのならば，
Microsoftは利益を上げ，Window Mobileをさらに協力にできるだろう．
15. Be a leading iPhone developer. "To create a new standard takes something that's not just a little bit different...It takes something that's really new and captures people's imaginations," said Bill Gates in 1984. He wasn't talking up a Microsoft product--he was raving about the then-new Apple Macintosh. And despite the fact that the Mac competed head-on with PCs running DOS (and later Windows), Microsoft was smart enough to establish itself as a major Mac developer. (It even introduced Excel on that platform first.) If Steve Ballmer were to embrace the iPhone with the same enthusiasm, Microsoft would make money and learn things that could make Windows Mobile more formidable.
ビルゲイツ無きMicrosoftに他におすすめはありますか？
コメントに残して共有しましょう．
Microsoftは数年は最大のソフト会社であり続けるでしょう．
しかし，できるだけ良いアイデアが聞きたい．
Got more recommendations for the post-Gates Microsoft? Share them by leaving a comment. Microsoft may well manage to remain the world's largest software company for years to come, but it's going to need all the good ideas it can get.
Harry McCracken is a former editor in chief of PC World. He's developing his own technology site, technologizer.com.
Its cofounder is retiring, its latest big product has been vilified, and potential partners are spurning its advances. So what does Microsoft do to remain relevant? Here are 15 ideas.
Harry McCracken, PC World
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 10:01 PM PDT
どのデスク，どの家庭のコンピュータでもMicrosftのソフトが動いている．
Bill Gatesがよく言っていたように，これは彼とPaul Allenがソフト会社を1975年に設立した時からのビジョンだ．
1980年代中盤の歴史の初期，この標語が最初に示されたとき，
論争があったが，結局認められた．
Micrsoftはこの無謀なゴールを現実とした．
A computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software. That, Bill Gates has often said, is the vision on which he and Paul Allen founded their software company in 1975. There's debate over when the mantra was first articulated--the earliest known instances go back only to the mid-1980s--but this much is undeniable: Microsoft made that audacious goal a reality.
今日，Billは日に日にMicrosoftの管理から離れる準備をしているが，別の事実が明らかになっている．
近代のMicrosoftはもう一つの動きを見せているのだ．
事実，Microsoftは世界で一番利益を出している会社だ．
その額は，2007年のApple, Google, Yahoo, Oracle, Adobeの利益を合算したものより多い．
しかし，Microsoftの支配のヒビは，大きく広がってきている．
ウェブの世界ではMicrosoftではなくGoogleが支配者だ．
これは，1990年代のBillとMicrosoftの畏敬と恐怖を思い起こさせる．
それに対するMicrosoftの答えとして，Yahoo買収に乗り出したが，失敗に終わってしまった．
Appleのような古きライバルたちや，Mozillaのような元気な企業は，
Microsoftの独占に意味ある浸食をしている．
また，Redmond(Microsoft本社の所在地)を出れば，ほぼ全員がWindows Vistaに失望している．
Today, as Gates prepares to step down from day-to-day management of the company, another fact is clear: The modern Microsoft remains a company in search of a second act. True, it remains one of the world's most profitable enterprises, raking in more dough in its 2007 fiscal year than Apple, Google, Yahoo, Oracle, and Adobe combined. But the cracks in the Microsoft hegemony aren't just showing, they're growing.
On the Web, it's Google, not Microsoft, that inspires the blend of awe and fear that Gates and company commanded in the 1990s--and Microsoft's answer, the attempted acquisition of Yahoo, fizzled. The company's attempts to extend Windows and Office to the Web have been lackluster and confusing. Old adversaries like Apple and gutsy upstarts like Mozilla are making meaningful inroads on Microsoftian monopolies. And outside of Redmond, almost everybody seems to regard Windows Vista as a disappointment.
そこで，おせっかいにもMicrosoftにアドバイスを用意した．
15のステップにより，Microsoftは数年先も反映することだろう．
いくつかのアイデアは，すでに同社の戦略として盛り込まれている．
その他は，手に負えないものだろう．
そして，あるポイントは論争を呼んでしまう．
Steve BallmerとMicrosoftとは違い，
戦略を選ばずに，ゆっくりと考えたものだ．
So here's some unsolicited advice for Microsoft--15 steps that can help the company thrive in the years ahead. Some of these ideas are clearly part of its game plan already; others, it would likely reject out of hand. And hey, certain points conflict with others in the list. Unlike Steve Ballmer and company, I have the luxury of pondering its future without having to pick a strategy and make it happen.
大きな視点
1.全てのものを全ての人に当てはめるのはやめる
Microsoftは，非常に大きい会社から子供まで，全ての人の為にソフトとサービス作っている．
PC，サーバ，工業製品，電話，GPS，車用のアプリケーションを提供している．
また，オンライン広告のメジャーになろうとしている．
さらに，ゲーム機，音楽プレーヤ，マウス，キーボード，ペンタブ，ケーブルニュースのチャンネルまで製造している．
世界のどんな会社も，全てのことをうまくやることはできない．
Microsoftは多くの製品で利益を上げられていない．
想像できるものを全てまかなうより，OS，アプリ，サービス，プログラムツールのようなコアビジネスに注力するのが妥当だ．
お手本はIBMだ．彼らは契機となる分野をしぼっていて，自らが作ったPC部門を手放した．
The Big Picture
1. Stop trying to be everything to everybody. Microsoft makes software and services for everyone from humongous companies to little kids. It provides applications for PCs, servers, industrial devices, phones, GPS units, and cars. It's trying to be a major force in online advertising. It manufactures gaming consoles and audio players and mice and keyboards and touch-sensitive tables, and owns part of a cable news channel. No company on the planet could do all these things well, and Microsoft doesn't even do many of them profitably. Rather than jumping on every imaginable bandwagon, it would be smart to focus on core businesses such as operating systems, productivity applications and services, and programming tools. Possible role model: IBM, which is so disciplined about the opportunities it pursues that it decided to exit the PC business it created.
2.数年に一回ではなく，アップグレードを続けるべき
Windows Vistaは，数年前のコンピュータ黎明期に決められた機能だけで，新鮮さがなかった．
これはMicrosoft製品の歩みだ--ソフト開発と提供の，古いアプローチを繰り返してきた．
Googleと比較すると，Googleは新しい機能を，思いつくと同時に投入できる．
Microsoftの無味乾燥なデスクトップ製品は，未だにウェブサービスより使われている．
その製品には，くだらない革命より，継続した発展が必要だ．
Microsoft UpdateはくだらないパッチからWindows, Office, その他製品の修正を毎日提供できないのだろうか？
2. Upgrade continuously, not once every few years. Windows Vista is a tad stale in part because it feels like its features were determined years ago, in an earlier era of computing--which they were. That's a by-product of Microsoft's decades-old approach to software development and distribution. Google, by contrast, can push out fresh new features onto the Web almost as quickly as it can think of them. Even if Microsoft's bread-and-butter products remain desktop applications rather than Web-based services, they need to move to a model of ongoing evolution rather than once-in-awhile revolutions. Couldn't Microsoft Update evolve from a tedious patching system to a cool way to make Windows, Office, and other applications better on a day-by-day basis?
3.革新的になるべきだ--いや，これは本気だ．
Redmondからのマーケティングメッセージは，Microsoftと革新が実際に同義であると思えるだろうか？
実はMicrosoftは先駆者ではなく，真似をしているだけだ．
AppleがiPodの裏に"Designed in California"と入れれば，Zuneの裏に小さく"Hello from Seattle"と入れる．
もしこれがCIO(独自性を害するものを解除する職制)の許可を得ているのであれば，
これは，会社の評判が気になるところだ．
3. Be innovative--no, seriously. The marketing message from Redmond would have you believe that Microsoft and innovation are practically synonymous. In fact, the company is more mimic than innovator: When Apple put a tiny "Designed in California" on the backside of every iPod, it was inevitable that the Zune would sport an equally microscopic "Hello from Seattle." It might do wonders for the company's reputation if it appointed a Chief Innovation Officer whose duties would include ruthlessly killing everything that smacks of pointless imitation.
4.顧客を日雇い労働者ではなく，王様のように扱う
Microsoftはコピープロテクションを停止した．
顧客の製品が正規品であると確認させるものだ．これが顧客の頭を悩ませている．
多くの人が必要としているにも関わらず，Windows xpからこれを排除すると主張している．
コポレートモットーの"Your Potential. Our Passion"は，恩着せがましい．
Microsoftは完全にコンピュータ世界を支配しているのに，
実際に多方面で競合している立場としては，顧客と顧客になろうとしている者を同等に扱うべき．
という態度で止めたのだ．
4. Treat customers like kings, not peons. Microsoft rolls out copy-protection technologies that cause headaches for paying customers, then tells those customers it's doing so for their own good. It insists on doing away with Windows XP when there are legions of users who still want it. Even its corporate motto--"Your Potential. Our Passion"--is patronizing. The company that utterly dominated the computing world could get away with that attitude; the one which faces real competition on all fronts will have to treat customers and potential customers with more respect.
5.Windowsをもっとウェブとシームレスに
デスクトップソフトは優位だが，ウェブベースのサービスもそうであってほしい．
未来のWindowsでは，ソフトにもウェブにも力を入れるべきだ．
2007年2月，BillがNewsweekに語った，"user-centric"シナリオ
-ユーザのファイル，設定，フォント，その他をウェブデータアクセスで同期し，どのコンピュータからもアクセスできる．
(現在preview版でLive Meshというサービスで，実際に体験できる)
がそれではないか．
5. Make Windows a seamless desktop-Web experience. Desktop software has its advantages, and so do Web-based services. Future versions of Windows would be most powerful if they were a little bit of both. And maybe they will be: In February 2007, Bill Gates told Newsweek about an appealing, "user-centric" scenario in which Windows syncs all of a user's files, settings, fonts, and other data across the Web, so they're available at any computer that's at hand. (Live Mesh, currently available as a preview, seems to be an early incarnation of this vision.)
6.Windowsを再開発
2000年，AppleはOS9と呼ばれた古いOSを
全て新しい，まったくの近代OSXに置き換えた．
この冒険的先手が，MacOSを救った．
WindowsはOS9ほど古くないが，新しい基盤なしでもう10年生きていけるとは想像できない．
余分な装備をいっさい省いたカーネル"MinWin"は，良いスタートとなるだろう．
しかし，うわではMinWinはwindows 7には含まれず，Vistaのものを引き継ぐらしい．
6. Reboot Windows. In 2000, Apple replaced the creaky operating system known as OS 9 with OS X, an all-new, thoroughly modern OS. The daring gambit saved the Mac OS. Windows isn't as archaic as OS 9 was, but it's hard to imagine it staying viable for another decade without a new foundation. "MinWin," a stripped-down version of the Windows kernel, might be that fresh start, but scuttlebutt says MinWin is not part of Windows 7, Vista's successor.
7.Windowsを二つに分割せよ
長い間，世界は根底から新しいWindowsを必要としている．
しかし，MicrosoftがWindows XPを消し去ろうとすることについての騒動は，
ただ親しみやすく互換性のあるOSが欲しい人が多くいることを示している．
Microsoftは既に20種類以上のOSを売っているが，
なぜレガシーなOSと全く新しいOSをほしがる人々両方を幸せにしようとしないのだろうか．
7. Split Windows in two. Long-term, the world needs a fundamentally new version of Windows. But the uproar over Microsoft's plans to kill off Windows XP shows that there are lots of folks who just want a version of the OS that's familiar and compatible. The company already sells more than 20 versions of the operating system--so why not make both groups of people happy by offering both a legacy edition and a Windows that's new from the ground up?
8.Windowsをもっとつまらなくする
MS-DOSはシンプルで，魅力のないソフトの一つだ．
Microsoftや他の会社に強固なプラットフォームと評価されているが．
Windowsがツール，デジタル画像，エンターテインメント，コミュニケーションを追加するにつれ，
Windowsは複雑で満足度の低いものとなった．
Microsoftが未来のWindowsで基本に立ち戻ったら非常にいいと思うが，
Windows 7のデモで，新しいWindows Paintが含まれることが公表された．
これはいい予兆ではない．
MicrosoftはOSをもっと信頼性のある，安全で，使いやすいものにするべきだ．
paintソフトを作っている場合ではない．
8. Make Windows more boring. MS-DOS was a simple, unglamorous piece of software that focused on being a solid platform for applications from Microsoft and other companies. As Windows has added tools for digital photography, entertainment, and communications, it's become more complex and less satisfying. I'd love to think that Microsoft might go back to basics with future versions of Windows, but one of the first public demos of Windows 7 involved a new version of Windows Paint. That's not a great sign. Microsoft should concentrate on making the OS more reliable, secure, and easy to use rather than adding features to a paint program.
9.Windows Mobileを主要製品に
未来のPCは今のスマートフォンの子孫である事は明確だ．
これはAppleがiPhoneにOS Xを改造して搭載した理由でもある．
もしwindowsがその世界になじめないならば，死が待っている．
しかしWindows Vistaは，安いノートPCや単体の携帯では動かせない程膨れ上がってしまった．
そして最新のWindows Mobile 6.1には何もない．
噂では，次のWindows Mobile 8は基本から作り直され，
数年のうちにお目見えする．
もっと早く出来ないのだろうか？
9. Make Windows Mobile the flagship. It's obvious that tomorrow's PC will be the descendant of today's smart phones. That's why Apple reinvented OS X as a mobile operating system for the iPhone. And if Windows can't adapt to that world, it'll die. But Windows Vista is too bloated to run well on cheap laptops, let alone phones, and there's nothing cutting-edge about Windows Mobile 6.1. Rumor has it that the first edition of Windows Mobile rewritten from scratch will be version 8, which supposedly won't show up for years. Wouldn't sooner be better?
アプリ：Officeとその先
10.Google Docsを超えろ
ひと時，Microsoftの作るソフト-Word, Excel, PowerPoint-は落後者だった．
WordPerfect, 1-2-3, Harvard Graphicsなどの大物たちに負けていたのだ．
Microsoftがofficeの市場を古い戦法で独占し，利益を上げるようになったのは．
良いソフトを作ったことによる．
今日のMicrosoftにとって，
Google Docsにへ切り札として，オンラインofficeスイートを作るのは難しいことではない．
Microsoft以外に良いポジションにいるものはいない．
Applications: Office and Beyond
10. Leapfrog Google Docs. Once upon a time, Microsoft productivity apps such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint were also-rans compared with blockbusters like WordPerfect, 1-2-3, and Harvard Graphics. Then Microsoft earned much of its dominance of the office market the old-fashioned way: By building better software. Today, it shouldn't be all that hard to build an online suite that trumps Google Docs--and nobody's in a better position than Microsoft to try.
11.Officeにオンラインofficeスイートを付ける
Microsoftはオンラインの生産性の世界に非常に注意深く歩み寄っている．
それは，Microsoftが製品を殺してしまうと懸念しているからだ．
Office製品に何百ドルも払う人たちは，オンラインofficeスイートは無料であるべきと考えている．
なぜ消費者たちにウェブバージョンのofficeを提供しないのだろう？
これは主要なネットベースのツールが実は多くの利益を出していることを知って頂かないと．
11. Bundle Office with an online suite. Microsoft has approached the world of online productivity so cautiously in part because it's worried about murdering one of its cash cows: The same people who pay hundreds of dollars for a copy of Office think that online suites should be free. Why not give those paying customers a great Web version of Office as part of the deal? It might help show the world that essential Net-based tools are indeed worth real money.
12.Officeのファイル形式をウェブで必要なものにする
Word, Excel, PowerPointのファイル形式はMicrosoftでもっとも価値のある要素だ．
office 2007でさえもMicrosoftはオープン形式としている．
このファイル形式は，AdobeのPDFのようにウェブで広く使われるようになれば，もっと協力な資産となる．
統合office ビューアはどうだろうか？
理想的には簡単な編集が出来，簡単に検索，インストール，使用ができるものだ．
(Office Live Workspaceで同じ事ができるが，普及するには複雑すぎる)
これはPDFに対抗して作った生焼けのXPS形式より意味のあるものとなるだろう．
12. Make the Office file formats indispensable on the Web. The file formats for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are among Microsoft's most valuable property--even the Office 2007 ones that the company has published as open standards. They'd be an even more powerful asset if they were as widely used on the Web as Adobe's omnipresent PDF. How about a unified Office file viewer--ideally with some basic editing features--that would be a cinch to find, install, and use? (Office Live Workspace does this, sort of, but it's too complicated to become pervasive.) This would sure make more sense than XPS, Microsoft's half-baked response to PDF.
13.ソフトにスタジオ形式を取り入れる
Microsoftゲームスタジオは，ゲームタイトルを備え，契約した開発者たちや，Microsoft，Microsoftに吸収された会社，独立した会社によって運営されている．
例えばBungie (Halo), Ensemble (Age of Empires), Rare (Viva Pinata), Lionhead (Black and White)などだ．
Microsoftが出したゲームの平均は，ほぼ間違いなくMicorsoftが出したアプリより面白い．
もし同じシステムをアプリ開発に適応したら，創作が爆発するのではないか．
13. Take a studio approach to software. Microsoft Game Studios, the company's game title arm, is run as a loose federation of developers, some started by Microsoft, some acquired by it, and some independent. Examples include Bungie (Halo), Ensemble (Age of Empires), Rare (Viva Pinata), and Lionhead (Black and White). End result: The average Microsoft-published game is arguably more interesting than the average Microsoft-published productivity application. If the company applied the same system to productivity software, it might unleash an explosion of creativity.
14.IEをfirefox以上に
これは前にも言った．
独特でないし，議論をするようなものでないとも理解している．
しかし，これはいい考えだと思う．
IEがMicrosoftの戦略的資産だった頃は，まだ時間があったが，
現在は障害が増えている．
Firefox以上にスキンの下をカスタマイズ出来る
無駄の無い，意味のある"Internet Explorer"をなぜ作ろうとしないのか．
14. Build Internet Explorer on top of Firefox. Okay, I've suggested this before. I understand that it remains an idiosyncratic and unlikely proposition. But it still seems like a good idea to me. There may have been a time when IE was a strategic asset for Microsoft, but today it's more of an albatross. So why not dump it for a leaner, meaner "Internet Explorer" that's really the supremely customizable Firefox under the skin?
15.iPhone開発者を導け
「新しい基準を作るには，ただちょっと違うものを使うだけではだめだ...本当に新しく，人々の想像をとらえたものでなくては」
とは，1984年Billが言った言葉だ．
彼はMicrosoftの製品の事を言っているのではなく，新しいAppleのMacintoshを激賞している．
MacがDOS起動のPCと真っ向から競争している事実にもかかわらず，
MicrosoftはMacの主要な開発者となるほど利口であった．
(Excelは，Mac版が一番早く登場した程だ)
もしSteve Ballmerが強い興味でiPhoneを受け入れるのならば，
Microsoftは利益を上げ，Window Mobileをさらに協力にできるだろう．
15. Be a leading iPhone developer. "To create a new standard takes something that's not just a little bit different...It takes something that's really new and captures people's imaginations," said Bill Gates in 1984. He wasn't talking up a Microsoft product--he was raving about the then-new Apple Macintosh. And despite the fact that the Mac competed head-on with PCs running DOS (and later Windows), Microsoft was smart enough to establish itself as a major Mac developer. (It even introduced Excel on that platform first.) If Steve Ballmer were to embrace the iPhone with the same enthusiasm, Microsoft would make money and learn things that could make Windows Mobile more formidable.
ビルゲイツ無きMicrosoftに他におすすめはありますか？
コメントに残して共有しましょう．
Microsoftは数年は最大のソフト会社であり続けるでしょう．
しかし，できるだけ良いアイデアが聞きたい．
Got more recommendations for the post-Gates Microsoft? Share them by leaving a comment. Microsoft may well manage to remain the world's largest software company for years to come, but it's going to need all the good ideas it can get.
Harry McCracken is a former editor in chief of PC World. He's developing his own technology site, technologizer.com.
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