Microsoft’s FUD Campaign: Cairo and Longhorn
Here is an interesting and funny article from RoughlyDrafted.com about the parallels of Microsoft’s Cairo and Longhorn visions. This should fill my a whole month’s Microsoft bashing quota for me.
Automatic PC sales of DOS rapidly made Microsoft one of the largest software companies of the 80s. As its market power increased, it gained a reputation as a vendor with staying power. Nobody wanted to invest in the software of a company that might go out of business. Microsoft used its new clout to introduce a product vision called Cairo in 1991; it disrupted development and marginalized competition throughout the next decade. The tactic worked so well that Microsoft repeated it in the following decade as Longhorn. Here’s how it happened, and why Microsoft won’t be able to repeat the same fraud again.
Here is a summary of key points:
Cairo:
- Announced in 1991 to distract from the lack of anything dramatically new in Windows 3.0.
- Expected in 1994. Pushed to late 1995, pushed to late 1996, intended to debut in 1997. Changed to a vision.
- Core features dropped. Ended up as polish on the existing Windows 3.0: Windows 95.
Longhorn:
- Announced in 2001 to distract from the lack of anything dramatically new in Windows XP.
- Expected in 2003. Pushed to 2004, 2005, pushed to late 2006, intended to debut in 2007.
- Core features dropped. Ends up as polish on the existing Windows XP: Windows Vista.
I could actually relate to this. Back in 1995, I was eagerly awaiting the release of the new Cairo vision. Only to be never see it happen. Then they delivered MS Windows 95 (incrementally better and cuter MS Windows 3.0). Same thing in 2001, I was waiting for Longhorn and it also never happened. Then they delivered MS Windows Vista (incrementally better and cuter MS Windows XP) Of course, Microsoft is not the only company doing this.
