June 16th, 2006
Microsoft’s Top 10 Flops
Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
Since Bill Gates is stepping down, Microsoft Watch wanted people to remember that despite his talent, he’s only human. There have been some mighty big flops. And yes, first on their list is the biggest one I can think of: Microsoft BOB.
1.Microsoft BOB (and son of BOB – Clippy): BOB, a product Microsoft released in 1995, was set to be the next-generation interface for Windows 3.1. BOB was Microsoft’s first foray into making user interfaces more interactive and intuitive. (Clippy is the talking paperclip character that Microsoft users love to hate.) Interestingly, it was Bill Gates’ wife, Melinda French Gates, who managed the BOB project.
2.Windows ME: Microsoft has rolled out a lot of versions of Windows since good old Windows 1.0 back in 1985. The most maligned of the bunch was Windows Millennium Edition, or Windows ME, which Microsoft introduced in 2000. ME was seen by many as a buggy upgrade with next-to-no compelling features. It was eclipsed rapidly by Windows XP, which Microsoft rolled out in 2001. Source: Microsoft Watch
And of course, there are 8 more …
We Say: Ya know, Clippy has never bugged me as much as BOB did. I took one look at BOB and thought it was a piece of junk. Sorry, Melinda (though I’m sure she doesn’t have much to apologize for considering who she’s married to).
RTN Readers, any other candidates for a big Microsoft flop?
ishtar says:
And this is the, what, third time this site write about bob in less then a year?
June 17th, 2006 at 1:28 am
Alice says:
What can I say, I still have BoB in original packaging. It was so bad…
June 17th, 2006 at 10:32 am
degustibus says:
Win2k came in there somewheres eg Win2000 beta 4-29-1999, ME beta2 11-29-99, Win2000 2-2000, ME final 6-2000. (I still have several computers running SE, one old notebook running ME, and all my preferred computers running 2000 — my OS of choice. Am I the only one using 2000? — a major improvement over the 9x OS…stability, bsod problems vanished…. I use XP on a couple of notebooks by default preinstalled) I don’t see Bob at all.
June 17th, 2006 at 11:03 am
Bill Ramsey says:
How about the worst things the company has ever done? I still mourn Geoworks Ensemble, run off the market by packaging DOS and Windows more cheaply than one could buy DOS and add Geoworks. It provided a GUI, scalable fonts, and a suite of apps that would actually run effectively on my Tandy 1000 (read “XT”) and fly on an AT or 386.
Bill R.
June 19th, 2006 at 7:56 am
AbbydonKrafts says:
I found this entry through a Google search for Geoworks Ensemble. I agree with you, Bill. I absolutely loved my IBM 386 with Geoworks and Wordperfect 5.0. I loved it so much that even though I now have 4 Windows computers (various version of OS - 98, 2K, XP), I am going to be knocking the dust off of some of the older systems and starting them back up. I have most of my original disks for Geoworks and various DOS software. I also loved the games. They were so colorful compared to most modern ones. The new ones try to be so realistic that it becomes unattractive. I liked the DOS ones because they felt like a game. That’s why I also have a love for classic consoles.
If any of you have old retail DOS software you don’t want, I’d be interested in it. I’m trying to build my collection back to it’s former glory (and beyond). It’s so hard to find that stuff nowadays without someone trying to gouge you.
July 21st, 2006 at 6:38 pm
ClapekDodki says:
eros-amatoriali sesso duro
July 17th, 2007 at 4:43 am