Microsoft News & Research

[LimeWire]

“We’re going to have some retail stores opened up that are opened up
right next door to Apple stores this fall. Stay tuned."

-Kevin Turner (Microsoft’s chief operating officer, 2009 Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans)


source: http://www.boston.com/business/techn...e_retail_plan/

[LimeWire]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/16838...ogle_Docs.html


Microsoft vs. Google: Office Web Will Kill Google Docs
David Coursey | Tuesday, July 14, 2009 12:31 PM PDT

As Google positions itself for a future of web-based operating systems and applications, a new reality is about to intervene: Microsoft Office 2010, with both web and stand-alone versions, will kill Google Docs. Long live, Office Web!

Maybe Google will be able to rescue something from its Docs misadventure, but it better do something quick. Microsoft says it can solve big customers' big complaint about Google Docs and will do so at a price Google understands: Free.

Here's the gripe: Corporate IT doesn't think Google Docs are a secure place for important information. Microsoft will deal with this by offering something Google doesn't, the ability to host Office Web on the customer's own servers.

And Microsoft will include this capability--for free--as part of all Office 2010 volume-licensing agreements. OK, that isn’t totally free, but for customers who will upgrade to Office 2010 it's a nice value add. It is also something Microsoft could easily package with other deals, such as server operating systems and even Windows 7, as an incentive to upgrade.

What Microsoft is offering will seem close enough to free to entice customers who considered Google Docs and backed away. There will, of course, also be the free version of Office Web on Microsoft's own servers as a try-before-you-buy.

Bottom line: Google Docs are underwhelming and the company needs to move quickly, it's just that simple.

But, it gets worse.

Here's the double-whammy: The mere existence of an online Office suite is enough to send Google Docs to the great beyond. Why have "sort-of compatible" Google Docs when you can have "100 percent" compatible no-brainer online apps from Microsoft?

This is another manifestation of the Microsoft that is starting to play rough with Google, formerly treated as a bit of a handsome rogue by Redmond's masses.

And the attack has multiple fronts. Besides Office Web taking on Google Docs, Bing is slowly finding a niche, maybe even a profitable one, as a Google alternative. And Chrome OS doesn't seem to be off to the rosy start Google might lead us to believe.

While Google is more nimble and carries the cachet of coolness, Microsoft is rolling back into town and looks like, where Google is concerned, it won't be taking prisoners.

Isn't it nice to once more be watching a really competitive industry?

[LimeWire]

http://apcmag.com/windows-7-is-ready...m-sign-off.htm
Windows 7 is ready to roll as code gets RTM sign-off
23 July 2009, 10:53 AM (8 hours 10 minutes ago.)


Build 7600.16385 was “signed off … and declared as RTM”.

[LimeWire]

A look ahead at Microsoft's FY 2010 launch plans

[TriNa-Bee]

including eeyore

[LimeWire]

http://www.product-reviews.net/2009/...collaboration/


Windows 7 More Speedy with Microsoft, Intel Collaboration
Posted on: July 24, 2009

With Microsoft in collaboration with Intel, its upcoming Windows 7 OS will be more speedy as it will take advantage of the chip maker’s multithreaded and multicore processors. According to an Intel source, this result would be faster application performance.

With Microsoft and Intel working so close together, this will allow Windows 7 to identify resources that is available and then break up application processing over the Intel processors multiple chip cores and threads. This is something that Vista was unable to do.

According to PC World, Windows 7 operating system will take advantage of a feature called SMT parking; this will take advantage of Intel’s hyperthreading technology. We will now have to wait and see if we can finally have a version of Windows that does not hog up all of the system resources. We will not have to wait long, as the Windows 7 RTM is released on August 6.

[LimeWire]

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Intel...7-117532.shtml


Intel: We Are Very Excited to See the RTM of Windows 7

What better sign that Windows 7 is not a repeat of Windows Vista, as far as Microsoft is concerned, than Intel acknowledging a consistent level of excitement for the next iteration of the Windows client? Some of you might still remember the chip maker's reaction to Windows Vista, following the 2007 launch of the operating system. While AMD moved fast to embrace Vista, Intel shrugged off the operating system in RTM phase, and then managed to dodge migrating its infrastructure when Vista Service Pack 1 was released, as well. As Windows 7 was released to manufacturing, Intel's position on the platform is a tad different compared to its precursor.

“Intel and Microsoft have a relationship that spans more than 20 years. Our collaboration today is in full swing across many fronts, but today is a day where we are very excited to see the RTM of Windows 7. Intel began working with Microsoft at the very beginning of the Windows 7 development process. In that process, we saw unique opportunities to optimize Windows 7 for Intel processor technology, to deliver PCs that are more powerful and easier to use. Our technical collaboration focused on multiple areas, including performance and responsiveness; energy efficiency/power management/battery life; and graphics and multi-media,” revealed Joakim Lialias, Intel alliance manager for Microsoft.

The Redmond company announced the release to manufacturing of Windows 7 on July 22nd, 2009. In fact, the gold bits of the next version of Windows have already started shipping to OEMs for preinstallation on new computers. Lialias emphasized that the Microsoft and Intel collaboration on Windows 7 was to ensure the delivery of the most responsive compute experience possible for end users. An integral part of the work done for enhancing performance was focused on optimizations for Intel Solid State Drive technology. But at the same time there are other areas of interest.

“Just to elaborate on better performance and responsiveness. Working with Intel, Microsoft implemented a new feature called SMT parking, which provided additional support for the Windows 7 scheduler for Intel Hyper-threading Technology, enabling better performance on hyper-threaded, multi-core Intel processors. This will help users get the maximum benefit from multi-tasking. Also, Intel and Microsoft jointly analyzed the boot/shutdown/sleep/resume times on Intel platforms during the development of Windows 7 to identify opportunities to optimize Intel drivers and BIOS as well as Windows 7,” Lialias added.

[familia.dos]

Microsoft’s quarterly profit falls 29% on soft PC sales

FIRST REVENUE DECLINE:: The company’s CFO says it is in a stronger position than it was a year ago and did well in the fourth quarter, but challenges lie ahead

AP, SEATTLE
Saturday, Jul 25, 2009, Page 10

“It was not a great quarter at all. ‘Wow,’ was the response I had when I saw it hit the tape.”

— Peter Misek, an analyst with Canaccord Adams

Microsoft Corp said on Thursday its profit in the last quarter plunged 29 percent because of weak computer sales, ending a fiscal year in which the software maker’s revenue fell for the first time since the company went public in 1986.

Microsoft’s revenue in the quarter was well short of analysts’ expectations, and its shares skated down US$2, or 7.8 percent, to US$23.56 in after-hours trading.

Before the earnings report the stock had gained 3.1 percent to close at US$25.56.

The results reflect how Microsoft’s fortunes are tied to the PC industry, which is expected to sell fewer computers this year than last — the first such decline since 2001. Many buyers are holding on to their existing machines for longer than usual to save money in the recession.

Among consumers, the hottest segment of the PC market is in low-cost “netbooks,” which run Windows XP — a lower-profit product for Microsoft.

“It was not a great quarter at all,” Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek said. “‘Wow,’ was the response I had when I saw it hit the tape.”

Microsoft’s earnings in the last quarter, which ended June 30, sank to US$3.05 billion, or US$0.34 per share. In the same period last year it earned US$4.3 billion, US$0.46 per share. The company’s quarterly sales dropped 17 percent to US$13.1 billion.

For fiscal year 2009, which ended on June 30, the company’s profit fell 17 percent to US$14.6 billion, or US$1.62 per share, from US$17.7 billion, or US$1.87 per share, in the previous year. Sales sank 3 percent to US$58.4 billion.

In a conference call with analysts, chief financial officer Chris Liddell said Microsoft did well in the fourth quarter, given the economy.

“We are a stronger company than we were a year ago,” Liddell said. “However, the economy continues to be challenging and we need to lift our game to another level in fiscal 2010.”

In the three months that ended June 30, divisions responsible for Windows, Office and server software, posted sales declines, as did Xbox 360 and Web ad groups.

Big businesses renewed software license agreements at about the same rate as in the past, Liddell said. But revenue wasn’t growing at historic rates because many firms have frozen hiring or cut workers, so they aren’t increasing the number of software licenses they buy.

Corporate customers also bought fewer server computers.

Over the last few quarters, Liddell said, Microsoft “felt we couldn’t necessarily see the bottom. I think that at least we are seeing signs now of the bottom.”

The rest of the calendar year, at least, will remain tough, he said.

Microsoft’s online ad business widened its operating loss. The Entertainment and Devices group also ended the quarter in the red.

[familia.dos]

Microsoft to Issue Emergency Patches Next Week

As Security Fix predicted earlier this week, Microsoft says it plans to issue at least two out-of-band software updates next week to plug a series of unusually stubborn and critical security holes in the Windows operating system and its Internet Explorer Web browser.

Microsoft says it will issue two patches -- one to deal with problems in Internet Explorer, and another to fix a bug in its Visual Studio software suite.

From Microsoft:

While we can't go into specifics about the issue prior to release, we can say that the Visual Studio bulletin will address an issue that can affect certain types of applications. The Internet Explorer bulletin will provide defense-in-depth changes to Internet Explorer to help provide additional protections for the issues addressed by the Visual Studio bulletin. The Internet Explorer update will also address vulnerabilities rated as Critical that are unrelated to the Visual Studio bulletin that were privately and responsibly reported.

The advance notification advisory that Microsoft released about these upcoming patches doesn't say so explicitly, but a spokesperson for the company confirmed that the updates will address a critical security flaw in collection of code that Microsoft uses in a number of places in Windows. Having a vulnerability in this so-called "code library" is especially dangerous because Microsoft also provides this library to third-party software makers to help them build programs that can leverage certain built-in features of Windows.

As usual, Security Fix will have the lowdown on these patches as soon as they're released next Tuesday.

By Brian Krebs | July 24, 2009; 7:29 PM ET

[familia.dos]

10 cool features to look forward to in Office 2010

Date: July 23rd, 2009
Author: Debra Littlejohn Shinder

With the release of the Office 2010 Technical Preview, details are finally starting to roll in. Deb Shinder highlights some of the features she thinks might make the new version worth the upgrade.


Microsoft kept the details of its next iteration of Office pretty closely guarded up until the release of the Technical Preview in conjunction with the opening of the Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) July 13th Now, with the software in the hands of thousands of Microsoft partners, MVPs, and other “selected testers,” the cat is out of the bag. I was told by my MVP lead at Microsoft to blog about it to my heart’s content.

My first impression was that Office 2010 is going to be to Office 2007 what Windows 7 is to Vista. Although personally I liked both of them, Vista and Office 2007 inspired an inordinate number of complaints from consumers and IT folks alike. Maybe the changes were a little too drastic or maybe it’s just that the timing wasn’t right. Whatever the reasons, many people skipped the new OS and apps and stuck with Office 2003 on XP.

After using Office 2010 extensively for the last couple of weeks, I’m finding more and more to like about it. One big change is that this version of Office comes in a 64-bit version, so those running a 64-bit OS can take full advantage of 64-bit performance and stability. Keeping in mind that this is beta software and some things could change before the final release, here are the top 10 features that I think will make Office 2010 worth the upgrade.

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=900

[LimeWire]

http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/ar...ads/1247712816

Microsoft laughs off Apple legal request to kill TV ads
Published July 15, 2009, 10:50 PM

Apple is a company known for good design -- meaning also that appearances matter beyond just the products. Apple's legal department may have done something that appears simply laughable. Even if untrue, it's a helluva good story -- and a Microsoft executive tells it. Well.

Apple has a reputation for issuing legal take-down notices. The practice is a byproduct of the company's penchant for secrecy. Many Websites posting leaked Apple product pics have felt the burning ire of Apple lawyers. Today, at Microsoft's annual partner conference, COO Kevin Turner described receiving what could be characterized as the ultimate take-down notice.

"Two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, hey -- this is a true story -- saying, 'Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices.' They took like $100 off or something. It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I've ever taken in business."

"I did cartwheels down the hallway. At first I said, 'Is this a joke? Who are you?' Not understanding what an opportunity. And so we're just going to keep running them and running them and running them."

In June, Apple introduced 13-inch MacBook Pros for $100 less than the MacBooks they replaced and cut $300 off 15-inch and 17-inch laptops. Assuming the story is factual as told, Apple legal actually has a point about the price comparisons in most "Laptop Hunters" commercials. That said, the prices were correct when Microsoft first aired the ads.

Is there a little *** for tat going on here? Of course. I had noticed that in recent weeks Microsoft started airing older Laptop Hunters commercials more frequently, after a hiatus. I didn't make the connection until today that these same commercials also call out the higher Mac notebook prices.

Is that unfair? In marketing there is no love between competitors. Just war. Microsoft took the marketing two-by-four to Apple's head. Whack. Whack. That's what effective marketing is for.

It's no wonder Kevin Turner cartwheeled around the office. For nearly three years prior to Laptop Hunters, Apple dominated PC purchasing messaging with "Get a Mac" commercials, which brilliantly use two people -- Mac and PC -- to simply communicate complex ideas about computer buying. KT told Microsoft partners about reactions a year ago:

"Gosh, when I went home for the holidays, brothers, sisters, cousins -- hey, hope you don't have anything to do with marketing over there at Microsoft. What are you guys going to do about those Apple ads?"

Apple and Microsoft are both readying new operating systems for autumn release. I expect Microsoft to all but literally cover the planet in advertising. According to KT:

"When we put Windows 7 in there, which we've got coming out in October, what an incredible opportunity for us to fight back. And it feels really good to be on the offensive here. And we know we've got plenty of work to do. We don't have it all figured out."

Laptop Hunters commercials have proved to be a surprisingly effective response to Apple marketing. "I'm a PC" ads were OK and "The Rookies" spots were much better. The Laptop Hunters series is the big home run. The commercials have improved perceptions about Microsoft and Windows PCs. The company stated so during its earnings call three months ago. By the way, the Bing commercials are even better -- some of best tech ever run on TV.

I suspect Apple's sensitivity is more than about Laptop Hunters. Microsoft has played up value by highlighting what it calls the "Apple Tax" -- the price premium paid for Macs compared to Windows PCs. In fairness to Apple, that premium is in the market under $999, which is the entry price to join the iMac, MacBook Pro or Mac Pro clubs.

Microsoft plans to expand the "Tax" concept. Apple is one target. VMware is another. Kevin Turner told Microsoft partners: "Just like we did with Apple...we're going to get this virtualization tax, the VMware tax out there and start driving people crazy with the value proposition."

Given the econolypse, Microsoft has picked a good time to reemphasize value in its marketing.

[familia.dos]

Microsoft revenue plummets in spring

Microsoft this afternoon reported a steep drop in its financial health for the spring triggered by its most important businesses. The Windows developer experienced its first-ever sequential drop in revenue and saw its revenue fall 17 percent year-over-year to $13.1 billion. The company's net income also declined by a sharp 29 percent compared to spring 2008, landing at $3.05 billion.
The company wasn't specific on all causes but primarily blamed the world economic collapse for hurting the "global PC and server markets." It explained that PC sales are estimated to have dropped between 5 and 7 percent in the quarter, reducing the number of new Windows licenses. About $276 million in revenue for Windows 7 upgrades also won't be reported until the OS is officially released in October, Microsoft added.

It expects its fortunes to turn around in the near future, including through the release of Windows 7; others in the pipeline mostly address deficiencies in the mobile space with both Windows Mobile 6.5 and the Zune HD unofficially poised to ship in September. Its business expenses also shrunk by $750 million due to previously announced job cuts for 5,000 workers.

The news nonetheless underscores mounting problems for Microsoft's market share. Although the PC market shrank on a year-to-year basis, Apple's Mac shipments grew 4 percent in the same timeframe even with continued higher average system prices that would theoretically render it more sensitive to tougher economic conditions. Microsoft's decline also implies an apparent ineffectiveness for its Laptop Hunters ad campaign in persuading customers to opt for more frugal Windows notebooks.

As part of an effort to restore the Windows brand following damage caused by the initial launch of Vista, Microsoft is also planning to launch retail stores near Apple's locations in the fall.


http://www.electronista.com/articles....2009.results/

[TriNa-Bee]

woah 29%
baka makita na ni LimeWire yung mac sa marketshare

so fake pala yung mga picture ni LimeWire?
yung mga picture na may 2010,2011,2012?
sabik na sabik pa naman mag post ng mga article sa windows

[familia.dos]

Microsoft's Emergency Patch Mess

Microsoft today released a pair of emergency software updates (Redmond calls them "out-of-band" updates). Yes, that's right folks: If you use Windows -- and especially if you browse the Web with Internet (Exploder) Explorer - it's once again time to update.

The backstory to these patches is a bit complex, so here's the short version: A while back, Microsoft introduced several security flaws into a set of widely-used third-party software development tools, and today it's correcting that error by issuing an updated set of tools. Another update tries to block attackers from exploiting those weaknesses while third-party software makers figure out how to fix their code with the updated tools.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most dire and far-reaching, Eric Schultze, chief technology officer at Shavlik Technologies, said he'd put the seriousness of today's out-of-band patch releases at an 8.

"When I was at Microsoft, there were a couple of issues that we referred to as 'Voldemort,' meaning they were so nasty you didn't even want to speak their names, and this one is kind of like 'Son of Voldemort,'" Schultze said. "You really start to lose confidence in Microsoft's security mechanisms when something like this happens."

More: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/sec...?hpid=sec-tech

[LimeWire]

Intel: We Are Very Excited to See the RTM of Windows 7
24th of July 2009

“Intel and Microsoft have a relationship that spans more than 20 years. Our collaboration today is in full swing across many fronts, but today is a day where we are very excited to see the RTM of Windows 7. Intel began working with Microsoft at the very beginning of the Windows 7 development process. In that process, we saw unique opportunities to optimize Windows 7 for Intel processor technology, to deliver PCs that are more powerful and easier to use. Our technical collaboration focused on multiple areas, including performance and responsiveness; energy efficiency/power management/battery life; and graphics and multi-media,” revealed Joakim Lialias, Intel alliance manager for Microsoft.

We at Sony are excited to welcome the arrival of Windows 7
Jul 29, 2009

Xavier Lauwaert here. We at Sony are excited to welcome the arrival of Windows 7 with its performance, ease of use and connectivity innovations. Indeed, pre-release reviews and engineering investigations show that Windows 7 is in line with industry needs and end user requests for an operating system that is leaner, faster, easier to use and more connected.

At the same time, Windows 7 is built on a solid foundation. Be it a netbook or a mainstream notebook, we expect to deliver unprecedented performance and connectivity options through Windows 7. Faster boot up times, improved battery life and the ability to stream your contents through the "Play To" feature will not only make the PC omnipresent but Windows 7 will also bring content "to life".

AMD hails Windows 7 RTM
Tuesday, 28 July 2009

"Working with Microsoft, AMD has focused on addressing customers' top computing priorities such as superior visual experience, better PC entertainment, a stable platform and great power management technology to help Microsoft deliver an outstanding, dynamic Windows 7 environment for consumers and businesses alike," trumpet AMD officials.

"Because we worked closely with AMD in the development and test process of Windows 7, users running Windows 7 Home Premium and Professional on an AMD-based platform can experience a rich, fast computing experience," he added.

[LimeWire]

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/200...s_ultra_thins/

Microsoft ultra-thins to 'out cool' netbooks, Apple
Windows netbook price leap
By Gavin Clarke in San Francisco
30th July 2009 20:06 GMT[/b]

FAM Microsoft is betting ultra-thin laptops can steal business from netbooks and Apple this Christmas while providing the opportunity to sell more expensive copies of Windows.

Speaking at Microsoft's annual Financial Analyst Meeting in Redmond, Washington, chief executive Steve Ballmer told investors that Microsoft, Intel, and PC makers "screwed up" by not delivering "cool" low-price, lightweight, high-performance laptops.

Instead, he said, we have netbooks that do well on price, power, and "cool" factor, but fail on "super-small" screen and keyboard size.

Ballmer promised a range of ultra-thin laptops from PC makers in time for Christmas that customers who want a full-size screen and keyboard when shopping for a netbook.

On Apple, Ballmer promised the ultra-thin laptops would defuse attacks from Apple, which has dinged Microsoft for not being cool. "The predominant attack is: 'We have the coolest hardware.' When you see the hardware the PC designs that will come out this Christmas with Windows 7 that conventional wisdom will begin to change," Ballmer said.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...907310337/1013
Look for more powerful ultrathin laptops
Ryan Kim / San Francisco Chronicle
Friday, July 31, 2009

Netbooks, the diminutive, low-cost laptops, took the PC market by storm last year, selling wildly in a tight economy.

But the devices had their detractors, from users unhappy with their lightweight performance to the netbook manufacturers and chip vendors, who had to settle for even tighter margins on the $300 to $500 computers.

Now the PC industry is rallying around a new category called ultrathins, which it hopes will satisfy customers looking to blend the portability and battery life of netbooks with the performance and bigger size of more traditional notebooks.

The ultrathin laptops, also dubbed consumer ultra-low-voltage notebooks, have started to appear in the past few months and should roll out in force in the fall and holiday seasons.

Intel said it is working with all its major vendors on new ultrathin laptops and expects sales of their chips to mimic the growth of its netbook processor Atom. Rival chipmaker AMD said it expects to have two-dozen ultrathins on the market this year.

"It's about getting something thin and highly mobile," said Leslie Sobon, vice president of worldwide product marketing at AMD. [/b]"You'll see some interesting designs ... for notebooks that hit in the back-to-school and holiday seasons, and consumers will have a lot of choices."[/b]

With the netbook establishing the rock bottom of the market, the PC industry is taking some of the lessons from that device to carve out a new niche.

The ultrathins, which will rely on processors from Intel or AMD, give manufacturers a way to restore some of their average selling prices while offering more performance for a few hundred dollars more than a netbook. Ultrathins will probably sell in the $700 to $900 range.

While netbooks, with a screen size topping out at 11 inches, offer limited processing and graphics capabilities, the [/b]ultrathins will have 12-inch to 14-inch screens, will be 1 inch thick or less and will offer stronger performance and graphic abilities thanks to better processors and graphics chips.[/b]

That will allow ultrathin users to play games, do more media editing and watch more quality online video, things netbooks struggle or fail to do.

"When people try to do 3-D games on these things (netbooks) or try to run their office applications on them, they tend to think it's a bit slow, and that isn't just the processor, it's the entire architecture," said Intel CEO Paul Otellini during the company's quarterly earnings call this month.

"Now if you want a thin and light notebook, you don't have to just pick a netbook," he said.

The trick for manufacturers and retailers will be to spell out the differences of this new category. Some worry it could lead to confusion for people who are still grasping the basics of netbooks.

In fact, it was a murky sales pitch that led to a high number of returns early on for netbooks.

While about 1 to 2 percent of laptops are returned, the first netbooks were coming back more than 20 percent of the time for some vendors because buyers were unhappy with the size, underwhelmed by the performance or found some of the Linux-based netbooks unfamiliar.

Return rates for netbooks have improved greatly in the last year but are still higher than mainstream notebooks.

[familia.dos]

More Faint Praise From Microsoft's Steve Ballmer
Posted by: Peter Burrows on July 30

Maybe it’s being in the rosy glow of accolades over his deal with Yahoo, but Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was in a magnaminous mood toward his PC rival to the south. I’m at Microsoft’s financial analysts meeting in Redmond, where Ballmer joked about the many Apple laptops in use by the financial analysts in the room. “We have low share in the investor community. I see a lot of Apple logos,” he said during his opening remarks. “Don’t bother to hide them. I’ve already counted them. And it’s okay—feel free [to use the Macs], so long as you’re running Office.”

He insists he can afford to take Apple somewhat lightly. While he praised Apple as a “fine company” that was doing a great job with its low-volume, high-price strategy, he claims that contrary to popular perception, Microsoft has not lost any share to Apple in the past year. Any share shifts are “a rounding error.” He says that any meager share gains “cost us nothing. Hopefully, we’ll take share back from Apple. But they still sell only 10 million PCs a year, so it’s a limited opportunity.”

Still, Microsoft needs to keep the dollars flowing on the ad front to reach consumers that might be leaning towards buying a Mac, says chief operating officer Kevin Turner. “We’ve made so much progress communicating to the people who are thinking about Apple,” with the low price message in its recent “Laptop Hunter” ads. The goal: to show consumers that “they’re going to get ripped off, and pay too much” if they go Mac.

Of course, Ballmer also explained that the company’s goal is to raise PC prices in the next year. That’s due both to expected popularity of a new class of higher-end and higher-priced netbooks, a new pricing strategy around Windows 7 that the company hopes will result in far more upgrades to premium skus, and a reversal of a strategy in the last year to cut prices to spur demand in emerging countries. “The theory was wrong,” said Ballmer, in that Microsoft didn’t tap enough untapped demand to compensate for the price hit. “You’ll see us address the theory. We’re going to readjust those prices north” with windows 7.

With Apple getting somewhat more aggressive and Microsoft looking to raise prices, it should be an interesting holiday season in the timeless Mac vs. PC debate.

[familia.dos]

MacBook Air
Date: March 2008

Comment: Speaking at the Mix conference in a one-on-one interview with Guy Kawasaki, Ballmer took Kawasaki's MacBook Air out of an envelope and debated the value of the computer.
After Kawasaki asked him why he didn't want a light machine, Ballmer said his Toshiba laptop weighs less.

He went on to say that the MacBook Air "is missing half the features. Where's the DVD drive?"

Result: Today, the MacBook Air is still available from Apple. It has a fresh design and a more affordable price tag. The competition must believe Apple is on to something--Acer, Lenovo, Dell, MSI, and Asus have all announced plans to debut PCs that will compete with the MacBook Air.

[familia.dos]

Microsoft’s $2 billion online problem
Posted by Adam Lashinsky, Editor at Large
July 30, 2009 10:34 AM

Even with Yahoo deal Microsoft will continue to struggle — and lose money — online.

The anti-climatic deal of the year is now out. Long after the sizzle faded from Microsoft’s (MSFT) failed $40-billion-plus bid for Yahoo (YHOO), the two companies announced Wednesday they’ll do what sympathetic observers urged them to do two years ago. They’ll stop competing on search and search-advertising technology, enabling them to combine forces against Google. (GOOG)

Critics frowned on Yahoo (where’s the “boatloads” of upfront cash Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz promised she’d extract from Steve Ballmer?) and praised Microsoft, The Wall Street Journal going so far as suggesting the tide may turning in the tired monopolist’s favor. Perhaps. Beyond the something-must-be-said-because-they-called-a-press-conference chatter, however, a few points to consider:

Yahoo is a sideshow now. Sure, it’s an afterthought that’s still worth $21 billion, even after being hammered by investors Wednesday. But this is a battle of giants now, and only giants. Consider in comparison the market capitalizations of Microsoft ($212 billion), Apple (AAPL) ($143 billion), Google ($138 billion), Cisco (CSCO) ($125 billion), Oracle (ORCL) ($110 billion) and Hewlett-Packard (HP) ($101 billion). These are the titans that are clashing. Their strategic feints and jabs at each other are the ones that matter now.

This deal won’t become reality quickly. What happens next between Microsoft and Yahoo is, well, nothing. The two must convince Washington and Brussels that their combination isn’t anti-competitive. It’s sort of laughable. Of course they won’t be anti-competitive. They’ll be lucky to get Google even to notice them. But the way things work they won’t even get to start trying until next year. (A contrary thought: Several times during the course of writing this post I decided to use Bing, Microsoft’s renamed search engine. I actually liked its look, feel and, importantly, results. I doubt I’ll stop using Google any more than I’m likely to give up on Microsoft Outlook. The behavior is too ingrained. But still, it makes you wonder and ought to worry Google just a little.)

Microsoft will have to make many more clever deals. One of Google’s strongest suits in search is the toolbar arrangements it has negotiated along the way that place the Google search box at the top of the page of many user’s screens. These cost money in the form of revenue sharing agreements, and Microsoft is in this game too. Staying in it is expensive and sometimes futile. Microsoft made a big deal, for example, of a November, 2008, agreement with Sun Microsystems to include what was then Live Search, now Bing, with a key version of Sun’s important Java software. One can envision Sun’s new owner, Oracle, beating a hasty retreat from that deal, given Oracle’s lack of affection for Microsoft.

Microsoft loses gobs of money online — and seems resigned to losing more. Overlooked in the hoopla over Microsoft’s first-ever year-over-year revenue decline that it reported last week is that its online division continues to bleed red ink. I focused on this last year in a piece that asked Why Can’t Microsoft Make Money Online?

The short version: Catching Google is costly in terms of personnel, marketing and capital expenditures; Microsoft’s people have software on the brain, not the Internet; and online advertising is a scale business. With the Yahoo deal Microsoft is addressing the last issue. As for the first two, Microsoft CEO acknowledged Wednesday that the benefit of the deal to Yahoo is that it won’t have to keep spending heavily on search technology. Microsoft will. By the way, the two billion figure in the headline of this piece? That refers to the $2.3 billion Microsoft’s online business services division lost in its just-reported 2009 fiscal year on declining revenues of $3.1 billion. Think about that, Google remains a cash machine, Yahoo itself is profitable and getting more so, but Microsoft’s online business, the one that will spend heavily and give Yahoo most of the revenue from combined search-ad sales, is oozing more than half a billion dollars each quarter.

Microsoft has said repeatedly that online mastery is critical to its future. Maybe it is. For now, it’s a cash sinkhole that is years from providing a return on Microsoft’s investment.

[familia.dos]

Microsoft facing an uncertain future

Despite the gloom, many of Microsoft’s biggest rivals aren’t faring so badly. IBM saw revenues drop, but its profits rose, Google’s ship remains steady, while Apple seems to be ignoring the recession almost entirely

By Bobbie Johnson
THE GUARDIAN, SAN FRANCISCO
Sunday, Aug 02, 2009, Page 9

You probably think you know the world’s biggest software company pretty well. Microsoft is Windows and Office. Microsoft is the billionaire Bill Gates and chest-beating chief executive Steve Ballmer. Microsoft is loved, it is hated, but above all, Microsoft is big.

Last week, however, things shifted just a little. It wasn’t that the company rekindled its infatuation with the search engine business, with it closing a deal with Yahoo. Nor was it the way the company capitulated in its long-running arguments with the EU by announcing plans to help customers download other Web browsers to Windows PCs.

The real change? Microsoft got smaller.

Like most businesses, Microsoft’s revenues for this year were lower than the previous year. Unlike other companies, it was more than just a symptom of the recession — it was a moment in history. The announcement marked the first time in its 34 years Microsoft had seen its business shrink from one year to the next.

Data from the company’s files show that Microsoft has enjoyed continuous, unalloyed growth, mostly at a remarkable pace.

During the company’s golden years, it gained a formidable grip on the computer market and its revenues grew between 30 percent and 50 percent each year. Even when the Microsoft juggernaut slowed down after 2000, it didn’t stop — revenues continued to grow by an average of 13 percent each year, turning it from a significant organization into one of the planet’s most powerful corporations. It was one of the fastest-growing businesses in history — going from revenues of US$347 million in its first year as a public company to highs of US$60 billion last year.

“Microsoft has always seen itself as a growth company,” said Matt Rosoff of the independent analyst firm Directions on Microsoft. “There were some calls from Wall Street earlier this decade for Microsoft to reposition itself as a value company — to stop investing so much in research and development, to stop trying to compete in new areas like game consoles and search. They’ve resisted that pressure and said they still believe there are significant growth opportunities.”

However, if growth is so much a part of the company’s DNA, what happens when it disappears?

Users of the Mini-Microsoft blog (http://bit.ly/bjmicrosoft1) — a site run by an anonymous Microsoft manager that has become a chatboard for employees to discuss the company without divulging their identity — generally agreed that it was seriously bad news.

“I’m glad I got laid off in January,” said one user. “I see clearly now that Microsoft has truly jumped the shark and is a company in a long, slow decline.”

It isn’t an entirely new situation, however. While revenues have never dropped before, it has had to deal with dips in profit. There have been lean years (2006) and there have been unprofitable ones — 2001 and 2002 saw Microsoft make its first losses as the planet struggled to come to terms with the dot.com bust and the attacks in New York and Washington in 2001.

Microsoft had been planning for the downturn, said Warren Wilson, a senior analyst with Ovum.

“I think they’ve seen it coming for some time. It’s the worst recession since the Great Depression and I think Microsoft has watched its customers struggle, and has watched the impact building,” Wilson said.

Although Ballmer has been markedly downbeat about the prospect of the economy lifting, few insiders are publicly suggesting that next year will be worse.

“They’re looking at a very robust wave of product launches over the next year, starting with Windows 7, Windows Server in the months after that and Office 2010 next year,” Wilson said. “I think they have a feeling that the worst is behind them — that they’ve weathered the worst of the storm.”

Does the global downturn explain everything that is going on at the company?

It’s certainly true that, despite the gloom, many of Microsoft’s biggest rivals aren’t faring so badly. IBM saw revenues drop too, but its profits rose because of cost-cutting. Google’s ship remains steady in the face of an advertising slowdown, while Apple seems to be ignoring the recession almost entirely, merrily posting blockbuster profits thanks to the iPhone.

This is the sort of thing that worries Mini-Microsoft’s users — and while they could easily be accused of over-reacting (after all, Microsoft is still a business with almost US$60 billion in revenues this year) the comments betray that there is a serious psychological impact to suddenly being on the back foot after so many years of having the Midas touch.

Wilson said the employees should take comfort in the company’s ability to succeed under pressure over the years.

“I think it’s an unprecedented situation, they did as good a job as anyone in the industry of anticipating it,” he said. “One of the reasons they’ve done as well as they have for as long as they have is because they stay paranoid, despite their position at the top of the software industry.”

Rosoff agreed that things would bounce back, ultimately believing that Microsoft’s size may prove to be its biggest strength, rather than a weakness.

“When things start to rebound, they could be poised to rebound faster than everyone else — just like they fell faster this time,” Rosoff said. “They have enough breadth that, if the economy starts to pick up in China, it could help them sooner than it could help a company like Apple, which is very focused on the US.”

What if next year doesn’t improve enough? Will this inglorious moment in Microsoft’s history prove to be enough of a shock to the system to change things?

Probably not.

“I think they’re likely to continue to keep doing what they have been doing. I don’t think this is going to be a catalyst,” Rosoff said. “If they were to continue to suffer revenue shortfalls after the rest of the economy recovers, that would be bad. If they ever suffer a loss, that would be pretty catastrophic.”