• Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyz
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    5 hours ago

    I saw in a recent Youtube video that between web services and AI, Windows licencing is only about 10% of Microslop’s business.

    That’s correct. Here’s some data on Microsoft’s revenue:

    40%     Server Products and Cloud Services
    22%     Office Products and Cloud Services
    10%     Windows
     9%     Gaming
     7%     LinkedIn
     5%     Search and News Advertising
    

    IDK if that number is true, but it sure would explain how much they’ve put into user experience.

    It does but it’s really short-sighted from MS’s part. Sure, Windows might be only 10% of its business, but the other 90% heavily rely on it. Or rather on Windows being a monopoly on desktop OSes; without that people Windows servers, Office and MS “cloud services” (basically: we shit on your computer so much you need to use ours) wouldn’t see the light of the day.

    • kungfuratte@feddit.org
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      5 hours ago

      Also: even if they are not directly connected, the fact that one monopoly crumbles might result in the next one falling apart too. Someone who successfully got out of Windows might try to ditch their MS365 subscription too.

      • red_tomato@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        I don’t think companies are going to ditch their MS365 subscriptions. That would mean getting rid of Outlook and Teams, and that ain’t happening anytime soon.

        • lemmingabouttoexplode@lemmy.ca
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          2 hours ago

          I don’t think companies are going to ditch their MS365 subscriptions. That would mean getting rid of Outlook and Teams, and that ain’t happening anytime soon.

          Can someone more technical than me tell me why Outlook is so awesome for work? I use Outlook 365 for work, and the search function is ass. G-suite worked better on the front end, so I’m wondering about the back end.

          • AmbitiousProcess (they/them)@piefed.social
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            7 minutes ago

            It’s just a recognizable brand, and it’s often bundled with the other things businesses are already buying in the Office suite. (think: Teams, Word/PowerPoint/Excel/etc)

            The interesting bit is that these businesses are almost always using their custom domain for emails… which means if they wanted to switch from Outlook to another provider, and they linked their domain to that new provider, there is then zero switching cost outside the time to sign everyone up for accounts on the new provider and transfer old emails over, since all the emails directed at their domain would just go to the new provider.

            Emails also come in standardized formats that can be downloaded and transferred to a new provider, too.

            I genuinely have faith that businesses will begin switching away as the cost becomes harder and harder to justify.

        • Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyz
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          4 hours ago

          In the hypothetical situation Windows desktop monopoly is over, there’ll be at least some internal pressure to do so. Cost of switch (in money = work hours) might be a pain, but if they believe they’ll profit more by using some competitor that is not Windows exclusive, they’ll eventually do it.

    • red_tomato@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      Azure has support for Linux servers. They’ve even made an effort to port Dotnet to Linux. A majority of their cloud infrastructure is Linux it seems.

      • Lvxferre [he/him]@mander.xyz
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        5 hours ago

        I had to dig through their annual report to find it:

        Server products and cloud services revenue growth

        Revenue from Server products and cloud services, including Azure and other cloud services; SQL Server, Windows Server, Visual Studio, System Center, and related Client Access Licenses (“CALs”); and Nuance and GitHub

        So it includes Windows Server, but it’s way more than just that.