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Comment by kareemsabri | Hacker News Reader

> Microsoft is in the same boat. Virtually no users of their products are actually their customers.

Apple has less than 10% of the PC market. What do you think the rest of them are running?

> Apple has less than 10% of the PC market. What do you think the rest of them are running?

If you didn't pay for your copy of Windows (which you most likely didn't, far more likely it was provided to you in another way, such as OEM or your employer), you are not Microsoft's customer.

Likewise, if you got the free license from upgrading, you're also not their customer.

Pirated Windows? Not their customer.

Bought one of those $20 license keys? Still not their customer.

Actually bought a Windows key directly from them? Okay, you're their customer. You're in the minority.

I think it's a very Valley-centric opinion to think Microsoft doesn't have any consumer customers. Even putting aside all their other end user products consumers buy (XBox, the utterly dominant Office).

I certainly don't agree with your definition of a customer. People who buy a PC with a Windows OS on it know it's a Windows OS, and make that choice willingly. It's like pretending nobody is an Android customer because they buy their phones from Samsung not Google.

With Google it’s even simpler. You’re generally not their customer because you are their product.

That makes no sense.

If you use Microsoft products you are their customer.

Splitting hairs is a bit silly

Perhaps GP means to highlight the distinction between the person deciding whether the money gets spent and the operation who uses the product. That can man a lot, eg if a boss just buys whatever he thinks it's good without asking the team what they want to use.

The point is that the majority of their revenue comes from corporate enterprise. This is one reason Ballmer didn’t understand the iPhone: his customers (corporate IT) wanted the windows phone but no actual users did.

Microsoft was taken by surprise by the “BYO movement”

I agree with all that. I still think Microsoft has lots of consumer customers though.

>Microsoft was taken by surprise by the “BYO movement”

They did still eventually address the root cause with WSL/WSL2.

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