Adobe vs. Microsoft

Predictions

from the the-next-big-battle? dept

Someone who prefers to remain anonymous writes “The folks at Business 2.0 are taking a look at how Adobe has survived competition from Microsoft in graphic software. Next up, according to the mag: document creation.” It is always interesting to look at the (extraordinarily few) areas where Microsoft has lost their battles to try and understand how it happened. The only pattern I’ve noticed is that you have a bigger chance of success if your business is further away from “core” computing uses where Microsoft is already dominant. So, Inuit survives because doing your taxes and managing your money isn’t closely tied to your operating system or productivity suite. Adobe has won out for the same reason in graphics software. However, document creation is a different story – since it seems obvious and natural to build that functionality into Microsoft Office.