Reasons for Microsoft to smile

Traditionally Microsoft has been at the receiving end of most tech related jokes. In many ways all the barbs are justified as its OS’s have been bulky, resource hungry and its browser has been a clunky app that that just barely got things done.

The main reason that Microsoft enjoys a majority share of the OS and browser market is that
a. Initially it was virtually the only proper OS available for PC users
b. Apple failed to penetrate the consumer market significantly
c. Internet Explorer was forced upon users
But all that seems to be changing as of late.
Over the years IE has seen many challengers to its crown and the most notable of the 90’s challengers, Netscape has disappeared into the wings. Opera has made a comeback, but Firefox, Chrome and Safari have been the biggest reasons for IE losing market share. After making constant one percent drops over the years, it was one very rare occasions that IE managed to get gain any market share. But over the last two months IE has done the impossible and actually gained ground. This is a significant reflection of how much IE has improved.
Windows 7 has also contributed greatly to Microsoft’s fortunes as it has also gained market share. In fact, it has overtaken Windows Vista in market share. The reason for this could be that Microsoft has finally produced an OS that actually does what is supposed to do without asking for too much. Vista was probably the worst OS to come out of Redmond and the bad press it has generated over the years will take some time to fix. However, currently, the signs are good for Microsoft and the company can afford to smile after a long time.