Software behemoth Microsoft still rules, but its influence may be diminishing feel some experts.
Its déjà vu time for Microsoft, which edged out Netscape ten years back, as it is up against competitors who are using the web space to threaten its monopoly.
For instance, free OpenOffice suite can be effortlessly downloaded with a broadband connection. Its Writer is turning out to be an able alternative to MS-Word and certain experts feel Mozilla's Thunderbird can replace Outlook. So is MS-Office suite's dispensable in the very near future?
Microsoft's growth is also slowing. It is registering its first single digit sales growth ever with its stock remaining flat for five years. It is also dogged by antitrust battles in Europe and Asia. When Google managed to outbid Microsoft for a stake in AOL, things seemed to have changed for Redmond giant.
But, the biggest threat seems to be from the World Wide Web. Internet connections are becoming faster and are able to handle large data wherein a whole software program can be delivered online. So there is shift from desktop PCs to Internet, where Microsoft has to shoe itself up.
Rick Segal, a former Microsoft employee, says: “When we were there, our influence on where things were going was dramatically higher because of the lack of an open-source community, standards bodies, and the inability of developers at-large to communicate. Those days are so over, it's frightening.”
