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1. climacs

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Sep 2001

   +19
   12/24, 10:34am | report spam | close reply

   the only honest thing left for Ballmer

   to do, is to liquidate and distribute the proceeds to shareholders.

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1. climacs

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Sep 2001

   +15
   12/24, 10:35am | report spam | close reply

   take that PC fanbois

   we told ya so.
   
   in fact, we been tellin' ya so for several years now.

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1. slapppy

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Mar 2008

   +19
   12/24, 10:57am | report spam | close reply

   Innovative? ahahaha

   They haven't been innovative since they purchased QDOS which was a ripoff of CP/M. LOL

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1. kerryb

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Aug 2001

   +12
   12/24, 11:00am | report spam | close reply

   ouch!

   We all knew this but to hear it from an insider stings a bit more. Microsoft has lost its fangs or has had them grounded down by legal battles with the US DOJ and the European Unions courts. It got too comfy in dominance of the desktop and server markets and bloated like a beached whale watching the waves incapable of moving forward. There is a lesson for all tech companies in the MIcrosoft story, never rest on your laurels, keep an eye on the little guy don't loose what got you to the top. Lastly keeping an eye on the market your serve, diversifying is good but pursuing products (xbox, zune, search) that are don't come natural will be a waste of money and resources.

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1. MyRightEye

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Apr 2008

   +9
   12/24, 11:00am | report spam | close reply

   "beleaguered Microsoft..."

   It's just a matter of time before the word beleaguered will appear before the word Microsoft in nearly everything said about the company.
   
   You burnt your bridges with blackmail and deception and clever lawyers taking advantage of other lawyers that did not expect yours to be so rabid. Now you'll get your just desserts. Apple and Google are just waiting in the wings for your downfall. And finally technology will be able to surge once again.

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1. climacs

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Sep 2001

   +14
   12/24, 11:05am | report spam | close reply

   Microsoft

   has been milking the same cash cows (Windows and Office) for 20 years. That's a pretty good run.
   
   However, they have proven they are completely unable to innovate. If they could, they would not keep trying to force everything into the Windows paradigm (as if "Windows" is a valuable brand anyway, it's muttered as a swear word more than anything else).
   
   Windows CE, Windows Mobile etc
   
   Microsoft stores = EXACT COPY of Apple stores but for the logo.
   
   Zune = epic fail
   
   Sidekick = epic fail (after Microsuck got their filthy hands on it)
   
   Microsoft smartphone, where is that one anyway? Will it ever come out?
   
   XBox = has carved out a significant share of the market but is years away from making back the hundreds of millions of dollars sunk into it.

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1. iphonerulez

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   Joined: Nov 2008

   -11
   12/24, 11:26am | report spam | (2 replies) close | reply

   How is Apple ready to pass Microsoft?

   I guess they're talking about innovation and diversification but not market cap. As long as Microsoft controls 90% of the desktop and nearly 100% of the business market, I would think they'd be relatively safe from companies overtaking them in value. Apple hasn't made much headway in catching MS in company value despite all those iPhones sold in the last few years. Since Microsoft has released Windows 7, its share price has been moving up slowly but surely and creating even a bigger gap in market cap. Microsoft's market cap is almost up to $300 billion. Apple ($185 billion) has even been easily outdistanced by Google ($195 billion) in market cap and Google will likely be the company to dethrone Microsoft in size and market cap when they start selling Google phones. So why is Microsoft seen as being ready to topple when it continues to grow in overall value day by the day? Nobody seems to be giving up its mainstay Microsoft Office, either.
   
   This has nothing to do with my love or hate for any of these companies. I've just been following the market cap charts for the past six months and Microsoft is clearly pulling away even as Windows Mobile dies. If I'm missing something, please explain.

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1. QualleyIV

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   Joined: Aug 2001

   +11
   12/24, 11:51am | report spam | (1 reply) close | reply

   re: How is Apple ready...

   @iphonerulez
   
   You've got a salient point, but consider this: if Microsoft controls 90% of the desktop and a huge share of the Office suite business shouldn't their market cap be something like 1.665 TRILLION (9x that of AAPL) if their business is as successful as Apple? They compete in pretty much the same areas (obviously there are some exceptions, but I think the commonality outweighs the differences). Of course, this presupposes that market cap is a fair method of valuation alone (I don't think it is). Nevertheless, I think the point remains that while MS may be bigger, given its position, it should be worth a WHOLE lot more than AAPL.

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1. lkrupp

   Junior Member

   Joined: May 2001

   +10
   12/24, 12:10pm | report spam | close reply

   Ever notice...

   how posters and analysts choose which measuring stick to use according to their personal bias when evaluating how successful a company is or isn't? Market share, market cap, innovation, customer service, profit margins, net income, brand recognition, etc? Depending on if you like or dislike the company in question you choose the measuring stick that supports your personal bias. Wintrolls like the market share, market cap measuring stick. Mactrolls like the innovation, customer service, and margin tape measure.
   
   The problem is there is no other company out there like Apple in the tech world. Some make hardware, some make software, some distribute content, some do one or two. Only Apple makes the whole pie, from crust to filling. So how should success really be measured anyway?

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1. The Vicar

   Junior Member

   Joined: Jul 2009

   +12
   12/24, 12:36pm | report spam | close reply

   I'd like to agree, but...

   Much though I feel the same way about Microsoft, this guy is rather obviously going to say whatever the company paying him wants to hear. Almost immediately before he left Microsoft, he was saying the exact opposite -- Microsoft was poised to destroy Google, and everything they did was new.
   
   And let's face it: Google doesn't precisely innovate, either. Google's products:
   1. A search engine
   2. Web-based e-mail
   3. Web-based Office/productivity suite (client-server office stuff dates from back in the days of mainframes)
   4. A Linux-derived phone OS
   5. A web browser built around Webkit
   6. A Linux-derived OS which only runs the aforementioned web browser
   7. A web-based collaboration product
   
   All they need to do is release a mouse and keyboard, a game console, and a really cruddy music player, and they'll actually BE Microsoft.

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1. nat

   Junior Member

   Joined: Mar 2002

   +7
   12/24, 12:47pm | report spam | close reply

   good point

   His point about Office is a good one. Let's face it, without the cash cow twins there would be no Xbox, no Zune, no MS web properties (MSN, Hotmail, Bing or Live Search or whatever the hail it is now). They lost that competition a long time ago. Now they just exist as a drain on MS' bottom line.
   They lose Office sales these others are in real trouble.
   
   Xbox - estimated 10 BILLION in losses before first quarter of profit. Long time before that money comes back.
   Zune - 100 million a year in losses. Not a single dollar in profit.
   Internet stuff - hundreds of million a year in losses. Not a single dollar in profit for over 10 years now.
   Apple stores - er, uh, I mean MS stores. Too early to tell but will they pump immense fortunes into them to keep them alive as well?
   
   If Office should take a big hit then that means that it's up to Windows alone to carry the load unless these others start showing some positive returns.

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1. climacs

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Sep 2001

   +7
   12/24, 01:19pm | report spam | close reply

   let's remember

   this is the company that predicted the Internet would be a passing fad
   
   Microsoft, like the USSR, is a hollow giant
   
   we now know that the USSR's economic inefficiencies, a totalitarian culture which punished individual initiative and creativity, and bloated, excessive military spending were papered over by income from petroleum and other raw materials. Go look up some real history of the 1980s, not the pro-Reagan hagiography which says he single-handedly toppled the USSR.
   
   The single biggest blow to the USSR in its final decade, was the rock-bottom petroleum prices of that time. It deprived a decrepit Soviet Union of critical revenue at a time when it was spending wildly on its military and about to blunder into Afghanistan.
   
   Likewise, Microsoft is unable to innovate its way out of a paper sack. Like the USSR, it seeks to steal and copy the best ideas and best technology of a far more innovative culture. Like the USSR, Microsoft's numerous failures and ginormous losses on XBox and Zune are papered over by income from Windows and Office.
   
   When Microsoft finally falls, everyone will say, "of course! we all saw that coming!"
   
   But we will know the truth...

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1. JTh

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Sep 2007

   +5
   12/24, 02:24pm | report spam | (2 replies) close | reply

   Living in MS Land

   Having talked with a number of MS employees that are friends, the company as a whole sounds very much like little kingdoms that managers and VPs have built, and want to keep operating as though we're in the 1990's: God forbid there's interaction and an entrepreneurial spirit across teams. For example, has the Windows Mobile team and the Zune team even talked to one another? Functionality aside, can they start with a moderately consistent UI?!
   
   Ballmer (and many senior execs) need to be replaced, without question. I know there's a lot of talent and the company is perfectly capable of producing good products, but Ballmer holds it back.
   
   OTOH, what company isn't like this? I can see where it might just be a matter of time that Apple, Google, or any other tech company turn into something like "Big Blue" (or "multi-colored-flag?" :-)

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1. 1golfdoc

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Oct 2008

   +2
   12/24, 05:23pm | report spam | close reply

   what a shock

   though i'm not proficient with technology, i like the toys for what i can do with them. after my first dell 12 yrs. ago my brother who is a tekkie convinced me to try apple. best decision i ever made with tech. the operating system is so much better, for me i like the fact that i don't always have to worry about viruses. computer is so good it has convinced to buy other products like ipods, a touch, the box that does wireless, itunes. hope they continue with the innovation.

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1. MediaPlex

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Dec 2009

   0
   12/25, 01:38am | report spam | close reply

   huh?

   "likely to lose many traditional Office customers to web-based Google technologies like Gmail and Google Apps as they decide to use the cheaper, more frequently updated web tools in place of costly offline software"
   
   I dont think so. When people realize that Google is collecting every single bit of their data, their ideas, their information - they'll leave in droves. Google is fun but none of this "via the cloud" c*** is secure. Please dont even try to defend it. If the data is not in my hands, its no longer in my control and therefore not secure anymore.
   
   Maybe today's "kids" think otherwise........ until they run into problems with their online profiles biting them in the as.....................
   
   What I see happening is Microsoft and Apple merging within the next couple of years and together taking on Google. AppleSoft would probably be stronger than the two are, separated. And dont worry about the government crying about a monopoly..... they cant cry about that c*** anymore as they've just created the largest monopoly in US history - themselves "playing" doctor with the bedside manners of a postal worker. Isnt THAT going to be lovely.

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1. komentarz

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Dec 2009

   -4
   12/25, 04:00am | report spam | close reply

   Sigh...

   I'll let you in on a little secret: MS bashing became passe years ago. It's the easy way out.

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1. nat

   Junior Member

   Joined: Mar 2002

   +5
   12/25, 08:28am | report spam | close reply

   oh komentarz

   passe? is this a "cool" test of some kind?
   easy way out? of what? seems to me the easy way out is to respond to these facts about ms with some vague comments along the lines of "OH YEAH MAN?"

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1. komentarz

   Fresh-Faced Recruit

   Joined: Dec 2009

   -5
   12/25, 09:21pm | report spam | close reply

   oh nat

   Did you bother to read my earlier reply to QualleyIV? Believe me, I am not being vague in the least.
   
   Facts? There is not one thing in the MacNN summary article above that is factual - only implied. Why? Because the MacNN summary article carefully extracts only the sections beneficial or attractive to it's stance. It's the *opinion* of an ex-MS exec.

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1. nat

   Junior Member

   Joined: Mar 2002

   +3
   12/26, 11:38am | report spam | close reply

   oh kom

   kom ol' bean, no, didn't catch that reply. still can't because it apparently doesn't exist. my dear boy, facts are in the posts. if you choose to "sigh" over the article do try and be a bit more precise. right. it's a simple thing really. as it stands, you seem to be replying (albeit with some kind of invisible digital keyboard thingy) to a poster then sigh about an article. tsk tsk.

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1. driven

   Addicted to MacNN

   Joined: May 2001

   +1
   12/29, 03:19pm | report spam | close reply

   True points

   Microsoft really has become like IBM. Also like IBM they won't go away, nor will they be amazingly innovative. They will continue to run their core business as IBM has done theirs. Businesses will still build stuff on Windows and people will code in C#.
   
   I also expect them to eventually exit the mobile space (as IBM did in the PC space.) Zune will soon be a footnote in history as microsoft yields the music space to Apple, Google and Amazon.
   
   Now: All that said: Google is the company that worries me more now than Microsoft. Google has become the new MS. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't concerned with how much of my personal data Google has access to. (Google Voice and GMail in particular.)
   
   

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1. driven

   Addicted to MacNN

   Joined: May 2001

   -1
   12/29, 03:20pm | report spam | close reply

   True points

   Microsoft really has become like IBM. Also like IBM they won't go away, nor will they be amazingly innovative. They will continue to run their core business as IBM has done theirs. Businesses will still build stuff on Windows and people will code in C#.
   
   I also expect them to eventually exit the mobile space (as IBM did in the PC space.) Zune will soon be a footnote in history as microsoft yields the music space to Apple, Google and Amazon.
   
   Now: All that said: Google is the company that worries me more now than Microsoft. Google has become the new MS. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't concerned with how much of my personal data Google has access to. (Google Voice and GMail in particular.)