Joseph Hinkle at MyITForum.com

Michael Singer wrote an article for InformationWeek that asks the question above. The article is very much true and, from what I gather, many Microsoft employees recognize this is a problem. I think there are some great communities - MyITForum comes to mind - that have sprung up around Microsoft products, but it seems that it is the exception, not the rule. I believe there are a few reasons why.

• Style - Microsoft products are almost utilitarian. A Chevy Nova will get you where you want to go (maybe), but you won't look good doing it. I had a conversation with a Microsoft employee who essentially said that Microsoft won't be able to take on the iPod until they learn how to design something. The Zune and Xbox360 are the most stylish products in the arsenal, but the Zune is an iPod knockoff and the 360 is loud. Don't even get me started on the UMPC.
• Mystery - Microsoft products are available to half the world while they're still in beta. It's good on one hand, but bad on the other. It's really hard to generate buzz for a product when the people who should be most excited have already been through the pains of using an unstable version of a new product. Vista beta 2 killed Vista for me.
• Scope - It seems easier for Apple to maintain the buzz because they have fewer proucts. The Mac world stops when Jobs gives a speech because there is something coming. Microsoft has hundreds of products. There are so many that Microsoft employees can't keep up. It is hard to maintain that connection when there is just so much.
• Unity - I love the fact that Microsoft has embraced blogging and has half a dozen other resource sites. How about a single place to look for all of that data? Technet, MSDN, Channel 9, Microsoft.com, techsexy.net, and dozens more. Where is the 'Search all Microsoft sites' button? Google? I know that all of these sites target a different audience, but I want to find everything I need in one place. I wear too many hats to look for something on three or four different sites from the vendor.
• Time - Buzz can not be sustained when products continue to slip past their original release date. Microsoft is not alone in this, but it has been a common problem in Redmond.
• Simplicity - From the box to the name, Microsoft has a hard time producing something simple. Lets look at our favorite product. System Center Configuration Manager 2007 is a slide killer. Descriptive is good, but not catchy in any way. IBM would have named it Ravioli or something. Silly, but catchy.

I have very mixed feelings on Microsoft. I believe the company does a great job in targeting the enterprise environment. The products that are released are very manageable and seem to take into account the most important needs at the time. The problem seems to be more fundamental than that.

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