The problem with Microsoft is not the product line. They still sell plenty of hardware and software. The problem with Microsoft is Steve Balmer. He needs to go! He never should have taken the reins. He is not smart enough to lead a company like Microsoft, probably not even a small division. Microsoft survived other bad OS before and having a prior good one keeps the company rolling. Millennium was probably the biggest flop followed by Vista. XP was great and so was 2000.
As for the tablet enterprise switch, John, I don't think your thinking is how that is going to happen. Docking stations won't be necessary as everything will work wirelessly. You put your tablet down and just sit at a keyboard and screen at your desk, not even a CPU box. The screen will be combination touch and mouse. Everything you do on the tablet while up from your desk will be resident on a server that your desk work station, tablet, as well as your smart phone have access to. You'll use which device is appropriate for where you are with the smartphone being the most mobile, the tablet when you need to see a bit more and can carry it, and the desk workstation when large workload is necessary. In a business environment, no one will need a KVM access center for their tablets. Just two mobile devices and your U.I. plus password. FYI- Using Logmein, I am doing this now at home and I mix ios and win7 pro!
On the business side, Microsoft has plenty of cash, $72B and is growing presently at 7%. I do predict Steve Balmer being replaced and then maybe the company spinning off certain divisions like the XBOX game group. I think the Surface Pro is a good idea but it's too early to see if this will be a success. My guess is it will in a year. With the company paying a 3.4% dividend, I have begun to build a small position in the stock since September, picking up a few shares on the pull backs. The government's fiscal cliff has created many buying opportunities, including Microsoft but not so much, like Apple. For Microsoft, the pull back was likely due to the Surface RT being such a failure against ipad and Android. My plan is if Surface Pro gives me a pop in the stock I will sell off enough to break even and cover my investment, then ride the rest until doomsday. ( not this Friday
) Investors need to have a catalyst to buy and Surface Pro seems unique enough to be that at this time. If not, then at least I have a 3.4% ROI until the company is broke, unlikely.