With most computers running a version of Microsoft, and so many businesses using the company for their commercial activities, the idea seems fanciful. Impossible even.
Yet, it seems to me that Microsoft is on the decline. Where once almost everyone depended on the company for a decent computer operating system, that is no longer the case. This has happened for a number of reasons.
First the advent of smart phones. Because mobiles have become - in essence - pocket computers, with powers of internet, word processing, photography et al, it means that people can carry out necessary tasks (like email etc), without having to rely on a mainframe computer. In the same way the advent of the car liberated individuals to go exactly where they wanted to, when they wanted, so smart phones have provided a similar form of freedom.
There is no longer any need to carry a bulky laptop, or be tied to a desk monitor in order to have computing powers. Blackberries, iPhones, Google Android and Nokia Symbian mobiles have rescued people from the hold of Microsoft. Consumers can now email when and where they want to, and, use a host of computing powers, without ever needing recourse to a Microsoft machine.
The companies mentioned above have given individuals successful new operating systems which are so far removed from Microsoft that can possibly be imagined (they don't take five minutes to turn on for a start).
It is no accident that Microsoft Pocket Mobile Windows machines (an attempt to catch up with Blackberry and iPhone etc) are way behind their competitors in terms of usage and the operating system is clunky to say the least - with most mobile window machines having poor battery life, compared to their competitors. That is why companies like HTC, when producing mobile window machines, try and hide the clumsy operating system - under their own user interface.
The second reason for Microsoft's decline is a simple one. In reality the product is no longer any good. Its much hyped Vista has proved a failure and despite virus software, ordinary consumers are plagued with bugs. The amount of time that consumers have to spend, and amount of money in getting 'IT professionals' to clean up their computers is simply unsustainable. Why should a consumer use a buggy Internet Explorer, when Google Chrome is cleaner. faster and far more reliable? Why should Microsoft users have to put up with viruses and the like when they can use an Apple machine, faster, with a better operating system and coming down in price? And that's not forgetting Linux, fast becoming the platform of choice. Why does any one need Microsoft Office, when you can get Google docs for free - and much more besides? And, when we finally see the release of Google Chrome/Android operating system, why will any non-Apple/Linux users have to buy Microsoft - provided the new Google system is as good as its pocket Android counterpart?
It seems to me that the story of Microsoft is the story of the failure of Brownian Government. "I am from Microsoft and I am here to help", is as humorous as its Governmental equivalent. Just as Brownian Government promised the world and thought to control people's lives by pushing and pulling levers from Whitehall, so Microsoft pledged to empower consumers - but only if all of them used Microsoft products - from operating systems to software. There was of course a difference in that people could choose to opt for Microsoft, except that for so many years, there was little competition to choose from.
I may be wrong in this, but it seems to me that Microsoft is an empire beginning to totter as the company faces siege from smaller more efficient, consumer driven products. In some ways Chairman Mao was right, when he said "let a thousand flowers bloom". The age of great monoliths is over.
P.S. For the record, just in case anyone thinks I am part of the 'Google Mafia', I use a Microsoft computer (sadly), a Nokia Symbian Phone N97 (because of its fine camera and ability to email pictures), an iPhone for multi-media and sometimes a Blackberry for email. I do use Google email though, because of its brilliant synchronisation abilities with mobile phones. You can download all your addresses and diary over the air. My girlfriend has a Google product: an Android mobile made by HTC.
