As 2011 draws to a close, it’s time to take a look at the year that’s been. In this post I’m going to take a tour of the highs and lows of Microsoft’s year.
All in all, it's been a very good year for Microsoft. The hits of 2011 include:
- Windows 7 - Microsoft's desktop OS goes from strength to strength, with millions of licenses sold so far. Windows XP continues to be the dominant OS worldwide, but there's been a gradual erosion of this incumbent OS during 2011.
- Windows 8 - Microsoft unveiled the Developer Preview, and while there have been some concerns related to the Metro UI, the new OS has been well received.
- Windows Phone - While sales haven't been stellar, Microsoft is entering into a highly competitive market with Windows Phone. Microsoft has entered into a partnership with Nokia and while handsets have already started to emerge, the real fruits of this partnership won't appear until next year.
- Xbox 360 and Kinect - The aging console is still selling well, its popularity boosted by the Kinect motion controller. Over the Black Friday weekend alone some 750,000 Xbox units were sold.
- Android cash - 2011 has been the year where Microsoft has figured out how to pull in more than $440 million a year from Google's mobile OS.
But it wasn't all plain sailing for Microsoft. The company had problems with Windows Phone updates bricking Samsung handsets. The company was also hit by a mobile tracking lawsuit (the lawsuit was later dismissed). There was also controversy over how the new Secure Boot feature that Microsoft was mandating for Windows 8 PC could prevent users from installing alternative operating systems onto their PC. There's also increased concerns that the late arrival of Windows 8 might limit its appeal.
Microsoft - 2011 timeline
January
6th - Who here has had their Xbox 360 'RRoD' after using a Kinect?The year kicked off with some readers claiming that the Kinect hands-free controller was causing older Xbox 360 consoles to die and display the infamous Red Ring of Death (RRoD) error message.
14th - LG: Windows Phone 7 "visibility is less than we expected"
Electronics giant LG went public with a statement saying that Windows Phone 7 didn’t spark the sort of demand that it expected.
18th - Intel to put Windows 8 on phones ... Wait ... whaaaaat?!?!
During a financial conference call, Intel CEO Paul Otellini discussed plans to put Windows 8 onto phones. Wait … did he say Windows 8? Where does that leave the Windows Phone ecosystem?
25th - Microsoft's secret weapon against the iPad is very, very familiar
Microsoft’s secret weapon against the iPad was familiar. Very, very familiar.
Microsoft was talking about Tablet PCs … again.
26th - Microsoft ships 2 million Windows Phone 7 handsets, no word on how many sold
Microsoft said that it has shipped 2 million handsets to carriers, but there was no word on how many were sold to customers.
31st - 900 million Internet Explorer users hit by bug - You're probably one of them!
All 900 million affected by a serious IE vulnerability.
February
1st - Yahoo! issues statement on Windows Phone 7 phantom data bugA phantom data bug affecting Windows Phone 7 users turned out to be down to Yahoo! Mail.
11th - Nokia and Microsoft announce Windows Phone partnership
Nokia and Microsoft announced a strategic alliance to build a new ecosystem - around Windows Phone.
22nd - Windows Phone 7 update 'bricking' some Samsung Omnia handsets
Reports began to circulate that Microsoft’s first update for Windows Phone handsets was causing problems for some owners of Samsung Omnia handsets.
23rd - Microsoft halts distribution of WP7 update to Samsung
Microsoft halted distribution of the first Windows Phone 7 update to Samsung devices following complaints that the update left some handsets in a ‘bricked’ state.
March
3rd - Microsoft resumes WP7 update for Samsung handsets, but some users still having problemsMicrosoft re-released its Windows Phone 7 update for Samsung handsets following an issue which caused handsets to be bricked. However, some users continued to report that they are still having problems installing the update.
3rd - How much did Microsoft pay Nokia NOT to choose Android? How about a cool $1 billion!
How badly did Microsoft want to avoid Nokia making Android handsets?
21st - Microsoft sues Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec over Android patent infringement
Microsoft took legal action against Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec over five patent infringements involving Android.
April
6th - Linux Foundation chief says battle with Microsoft over ... and that Linux is victorious!Linux Foundation Executive Director Jim Zemlin claims that the war with Microsoft is over, and that while Linux is ready to admit defeat in the desktop market, it has managed to outpace Microsoft in the server and mobile sectors.
May
1st - Windows Phone 7 update foul-ups continueWindows Phone 7 users continue to have problems getting updates.
27th - Microsoft's next cash cow - Android!
Microsoft rakes in $5 for every Android handset HTC sells thanks to a lucrative patent settlement.
June
16th - Microsoft releases Kinect SDK for Windows 7 PCsMicrosoft announced the release of the first beta version of the Kinect SDK (Software Development Kit).
July
A report claimed that Microsoft demanded that Samsung pay $15 for each Android handset it made.
11th - Microsoft: In a year, Windows Phone has gone from very small to ... very small
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer used the keynote speech at the 2011 Worldwide Partner Conference to admit that Windows Phone 7 was still “very small.”
12th - Windows 8 will run on all Windows 7 PCs (and Vista PCs too)
Windows 8 will also run on systems that currently have Windows 7 or Vista installed on them.
August
Microsoft’s financials for 2011 showed that Windows Phone (and Windows Mobile) was worth some $600 million.
4th - Google and Microsoft trade blows in public over patents
Google claims that Android rivals are using ‘bogus patents’ to attack the mobile OS, but Microsoft offered up evidence to suggest that Google dealt itself out of patent discussions.
30th - By 2014, less than 20% of devices connected to the Internet will powered by Windows
Is the PC on the way out? VMware’s CEO Paul Maritz believes so.
September
1st - Microsoft hit with mobile tracking lawsuitMicrosoft was been hit with a lawsuit which claims that the Windows Phone 7 operating system tracks its users without their permission.
8th - Microsoft ropes two more OEMs into Android patent deal
Two more OEMs sign deals with Microsoft in order to be able to use Android without fear of being sued.
13th - Get the Windows 8 Developer Preview
Microsoft makes the the Windows 8 developer preview available to all.
19th - Windows 8: App Store will be the only source of Metro apps
Microsoft confirms that its App Store will be the only place to get Metro apps for Windows 8.
If you’ll be wanting to install Linux or an older version of Windows on that Windows 8 PC, you’d better do your research before you buy.
27th - Windows Phone 7.5 'Mango' goes live!
Mango update headed to a Windows Phone near you!
October
1st - Do you STILL trust Microsoft to build antivirus support into Windows 8?Is building an antivirus package into Windows a bad idea?
Zune was dead. Then it came back to life. Now it’s dead again.
18th - Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" update causes freezing and keyboard issues
Microsoft’s latest Windows Phone 7.5 caused problems for some of its users.
19th - Ballmer: Android users need to be 'computer scientists'
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says that people need to be ‘computer scientists‘ to be able to use Android smartphones.
25th - Windows 8 to increase PC production costs
ODMs and brand vendors squabble over who will cover the additional costs.
27th - 'Firefox with Bing' - You asked for it!
Automatically set Bing as your search default AND homepage!
30th - Microsoft: Android is standing 'on the shoulder of companies like Microsoft'
Microsoft: ‘Licensing is not some nefarious thing that people should be worried about.’
November
15th - Gartner: Windows Phone market share crashesMarket share for Windows Phone collapse from 2.7% in Q3 ‘10 to 1.5% in Q3 ‘11.
17th - Security researcher creates Windows 8 'bootkit'
Windows 8 bootloader security features bypassed.
18th - Barnes & Noble challenges Microsoft's infringement claims with 43-pages of prior art
Who would have thought it would be Barnes & Noble rising up to defend the Android OS from Microsoft.
2.32GB compressed down to 1.51GB.
December
5th - Can Microsoft beat Apple and Google and successfully 'appify' the TV?According to Microsoft, this new Xbox 360 dashboard is where ‘a new era in entertainment begins.’