Microsoft and Google appear to have contrasting approach in how they deal with their products and services. We often keep hearing about security updates and security releases from Microsoft. These security updates are aimed at plugging the security loopholes, fixing the bugs, securing against vulnerabilities noticed in various Microsoft products. On the other hand, every week, there are at least three to four news reports emerging from Google about new product releases and product updates. So Microsoft generally gets negative publicity for flaws in its products/services which have to be taken care of by releasing various security updates from time to time. It is made out that there are several vulnerabilities in Microsoft products. On the other hand, Google generally gets a lot of positive publicity on account of never-ending news flow about new product releases and new product features. So, what exactly is the reason for their different approaches to their businesses?
The general approach of Microsoft has been to launch a product directly to the public after some limited beta testing. Such products are released in the final form. The updated versions are released generally after a period of two to three years. Within this period, as and when some bugs are noticed or vulnerabilities are found, security updates are released from time to time. Windows 7, the latest operating system from Microsoft, was however released after thorough beta testing by millions of users. This allowed its features to be tested by a very large user base, thereby allowing Microsoft to take care of the problem areas before the launch of the final product. But, most of earlier Microsoft products used to get released after some limited beta testing, generally through developers and others.
On the other hand, Google always launches its products/services in the form of beta versions first. Such beta versions may continue to exist for years together. For example, Gmail continued to be in beta version for several years before it was declared a stable product. By keeping its products in beta version for long periods, Google makes it known to the people that the product is still in the beta phase and it may therefore contain bugs, or other flaws. Moreover, many of the Google products have been created by Google Labs, with people being specifically informed that such a product has experimental features. Furthermore, initially many such products are released by Google with minimal features. Subsequently, new features are added one by one over a period of time. And at the time of each new feature, a post is written in its relevant blog, which is then republished by several blogs and media organizations. Therefore, each new product feature or update gets highlighted in a positive manner and gets wide publicity. And, since most of the product features are released one by one, and the product is generally released initially in the form of a minimal product, and that too in the beta version, you may not notice many bugs or problem areas in such products; and, even if some bugs are noticed on some rare occasions, they do not get that much negative publicity because of the beta tag.
In this way, by using the piecemeal approach, Google is able to generally generate positive publicity for its products and services. Addition of even a single new feature in an existing product by Google gets highly publicized and gets positive response as if Google is always at work by creating newer innovations. However, in view of the reasons mentioned above, Microsoft will generally get negative publicity for various security loopholes / bugs found in its products. Another major reason for Microsoft getting negative publicity is the fact that most of its products are paid products and therefore people generally expect flawless and perfect solutions with no bugs or vulnerabilities. Yet another major reason for negative publicity for Microsoft products may perhaps be due to the fact that it makes the operating system itself, and security vulnerabilities in the operating system can have adverse effects on the general usability of the computer itself and can have serious consequences for the information stored on the computer if it is compromised due to some security loopholes. So, people are more conscious about weaknesses in Microsoft’s products. On the other hand, most of the Google products and services are free of cost for the users, and therefore, even if some minor problems are detected in its products or services (though, due to the reasons mentioned above, such problems are rarely noticed), those are not taken that seriously.
So what do you generally notice? Security releases and security updates from Microsoft every now and then, getting negative publicity for it. And, new product releases and product updates or new feature additions to the existing products from Google, at least four to five times every week, with detailed blog entries and YouTube tutorials explaining such new features or new products, thus giving a lot of positive publicity to Google. Do you notice this basic difference in their approaches to their businesses? What do you think?
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