Financials Indicate Microsoft Prepping for War 349
SpaceAdmiral writes "Microsoft has surprised analysts by forecasting significantly higher expenses in the next fiscal year, an indication that the company might be getting ready to do battle with its online rivals. According to analyst Eugene Munster of Piper Jaffray, 'It looks like Microsoft is going to war with Google.'" From the article: "According to Mark Stahlman of Caris & Company, the fact that Microsoft plans to spend significantly more in 2007 was an indication of renewed aggressiveness in its competitive strategy and an indication that the company was returning to the kind of actions it exhibited before the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit in the mid- and late 1990's. 'It's pretty clear that Bill is running the company again,' Mr. Stahlman said, referring to Bill Gates, 'and they are going to remake the business. They are being much more combative and much more strategically managed.'"
Vista (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft is betting on online services (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft started the battle long ago (Score:3, Insightful)
First round, they tried to steer the web in their direction. Fortunatly open standards kept things under the public's control.
IE7 they're starting to get a little better supporting stuff like AJAX, and PNG transparencies. What i'm seeing is a shift in Microsoft from "Let's make all the rules" to "Let's adopt everything".
Not a long comment, but that's my thoughts on their strategy.
Google? wtf? (Score:4, Insightful)
On the other hand, I imagine marketing, shipping, supporting, and even patching a new OS that will be installed on the majority of the world's newest computers will increase costs quite a bit for a company. Let's not forget IE7 and Office Live either.
Google's market share (Score:3, Insightful)
Not really (Score:3, Insightful)
Google is only one front, there are many others... (Score:5, Insightful)
1. Launch the most expensive product in your history (in terms of development dollars)
2. Try to prevent nearly-free server operating systems from eating your lunch
3. Pay off the EU fine (just a paltry $700 million or so)
4. Launch a new version of your flagship application (Office Vista?)
5. Stem the losses from your flagship gaming appliance (Xbox360)
6. Make your Longhorn into steak
7. Continue to avoid the wrath of various litigation efforts, some which you will lose...
And there are many more, but these are sufficient to need to build a war chest, Google's success notwithstanding.
Re:Vista (Score:2, Insightful)
I don't think it has much to do with Vista. I think analysts are right in believing this has to do with an oncoming battle for the online market. MS has been trying for it for several years now. I can see them pushing harder once Vista is (finally) out the door.
Re:Spot the dinosaur (Score:1, Insightful)
What, like Netscape?
Re:They are already losing this war (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes but you could easily and logically carry that to the next step and say "because MSN search will be the default home page in IE7 they will draw a number of users who simply find it easiest to keep it that way". Heck, my Mom used IE for a couple of years before she realized she could even change the homepage. I would guess that this "default page" strategy will attract at least some portion of advertisers. If nothing else I could see a lot of them investing in all three (google, yahoo and msn).
Right now (or last I checked anyway) the MSN portal page is the default home page for IE. If MS decides to make their new search page the default in IE7 then that may attract some attention. So I would look for an uptake in MS search based advertising when Vista is released... sometime around or after 2010 that is.
This is stupid (Score:5, Insightful)
This is just random bullshit speculation, might it just be that microsoft is in the middle of some of the largest product launches in their history, with SQL server, new development tools, a huge new Operating system, new web browsers, and a new website www.live.com.
I suppose it would just be too logical that they might be spending money marketing and supporting all these huge new endeavors.
Re:They are already losing this war (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, but this is (as you stated) already the case: msn.com as the standard IE startpage features a "Search the Web" field at the top of the page. If this would be sufficient, MSN/Microsoft search would already be the most popular search engine. But Google managed to catch the top spot. It is much easier to type www.google.com into IE than to download and install software, so I guess the advantage in comfort does not apply here as heavily. I know a number of people who use Firefox as their standard browser, but search not by entering the search term in the field in in Firefox, but call Google manually first. I'm always astonished about that, but they don't seem to mind. Calling an URL is sufficiently low tech to be handled by the majority.
Re:Spot the dinosaur (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:They are already losing this war (Score:3, Insightful)
You nailed it right there. If you look at IE 7 [microsoft.com] you see they have the search box like Firefox. Instead of Firefox's default search engine being Google, IE7 defaults to MSN Search. With 85% or more of the market satisfied to stick their default browser, what percentage will take the time to change their default search engine in IE7? I don't know the answer, but I'd bet it is less than half. I don't know about you, but I always use the search box (well, actually the similar Google Toolbar) to start a search.
And I think that Google knows it, too. Right at this moment, the Google homepage shows an advertisement for Firefox right on their home page! (only visible for non-Firefox users) And Google Pack [google.com] includes Firefox. Yes, Google knows that Microsoft wants to leverage their monopoly by using IE 7 to drive searches to MSN Search, and Google must do everything they can to prevent it from happening.
Re:Windows monopoly is secure (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Windows monopoly is secure (Score:5, Insightful)
Great for servers. Terrible for desktops. And I don't even want to imagine taking support calls from my employees using Linux. It's hard enough to walk someone through "simple" things in Windows, much less Linux.
I can only imagine the call:
Me: "Yea, so go in and edit your
them: "What do you mean edit?"
Me: "Open Gedit, and modify the file"
them: "So how do I open Gedit?"
Me: (sigh) "I quit"
I am just now starting to see most people grasp the concept of files and directories. And that's people who have been working on "business" computers for most of their adult lives. Never underestimate how clueless the typical computer user is and always overestimate how much time you have to spend with them to do the simplest things.
Re:Windows monopoly is secure (Score:5, Insightful)
Your file association problems are probably a result of Gnome's overzealous dumbing down of its features. I suggest sticking with KDE. At least none of the Linux file associations have trashed hundreds of thousands of systems due to security holes with buggy file association auto-launching the way Windows has.
Re:Interesting effect on the stock too... (Score:3, Insightful)
All my Linux opinions aside, what is there about Microsoft that would project any growth? Vista is late and has had most of the mildly interesting features stripped out. The Office suite is about as bloated and ridiculous as you could possibly make word processing and spreadsheets. I don't see much for revenue there. I don't know if the Xbox has actually made any money yet. There was a bunch of noise about Groove and Ray Ozzie a while back, but we haven't seen anything come from that yet. AdCenter is just getting started, a little late. The only thing anybody seems moderately excited about it is IE7 (oh, and the fact the godaddy converted to Windows Servers).
While Microsoft may be a value stock based on previous performance, the competency of their leadership as businessment and the tremendous resources available, I wouldn't make any such judgements on their technical merits.
Re:Windows monopoly is secure (Score:5, Insightful)
It didn't come with Microsoft Office, and he just assumed that it would have that package. He was a bit taken back by the fact that to do Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access he would have to shell out another $500-$600.
He connected to the Internet and was off in running after a few hours of work, and suddenly he started to think how much Windows sucked. The problem you ask? Well he started to get all these "Windows" on the screen that prevented him from working. He also noticed that his computer was now crawling along, and much slower than it use to be. He has no clue of pop-ups and spyware. He does now. He went to load a "new" game and found that the his "video driver" from ATI was beyond buggy and crashed so much that he needed to reload Windows with a recovery CD. (The only CD provided by the manufacturer). He then realized that recovery meant "loose all your data on your HD). Now all this guy wanted to do was surf the web, use and office package, email and print.
Now back to your problems. What exactly was your issues? What distro did you install? You say that you want to use Linux, then you have taken a giant leap forward and I can say without a doubt that almost every online support group is very friendly to new linux users. I would also trying a distro like Ubuntu.
Also what exactly do you want to do with your computer?
What hardware are you installing it on?
Lastly, be prepared to hear that Linux may not be the OS for you. If you want all the simplicity of a Macintosh and know that all the Mac hardware you buy will work without ANY hassle, then you probably should go out and buy a Macintosh. Does this mean that Linux sucks? Nope, it just isn't a fit for you. Now if you want to play all the latest games and don't mind fighting spyware, viruses and stability issues, then Windows is probably the best for you.
The advantage of Linux is that there will be competition. RedHat, SuSE, Ubuntu, et all are fighting to provide the best experience, and thus things are improving rapidly in the Linux world. Much much much faster than either Microsoft or Apple, and to be honest it amazes me that Linux has come so far so fast. So if Linux isn't for you today, then perhaps next month....
Re:Vista (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll believe it when I see it.
There's nothing new in the MS pipeline. MS loves vaporware, and lately MS hasn't been able to execute.
Even at the top of it's game, MS would have trouble dealing with the current landscape, and MS is most definitely not at the top of its game right now.
If MS didn't have huge marketshare and a huge pile of cash they'd be in serious trouble. As it is, MS can coast nearly indefinitely.
But stop with the "MS is going to kill everyone else 'real-soon-now'". It's
bullshit, and even MS employees don't believe it anymore.
Put up or shut up. Your posting as AC; so lets hear these wonderous future plans that caused you to change your business plan.
Re:Spot the dinosaur (Score:1, Insightful)
"Uh, no."
Hello Internet Explorer!
Netscape shot themselves in the foot. They could have kept the market, if they hadn't been so bloody arrogant. All I can say now is, thank $deity for Firefox.
Re:Spot the dinosaur (Score:1, Insightful)
This new paradigma goes like that: software as a service vs. software as a product.
This article is spotting new trends that may take years to become at their fully. It is completely out of the Linux vs Windows dilemma.
Imagine you run a web session to use mail/calendar, word-processor or whatever app, and you don't need to care about the underlying browser (IE, Opera, Firefox...) or OS (Win flavors, unix flavors). You as a user will care less about backup, O.S. misbehaviours, HW issues... cause the code and data remain on the Network. In case of problems you'd just swap your commodity HW and move forward.
To me, this is the realization of the vision that Sun broadcasted 10+ years ago, where the "network will provide the applications on demmand". Instead of being Java, it has been made possible by chaps like Perl, Python, PHP,... data translation protocols like XML, asynchronous http, name it AJAX, running in server farms mostly powered by a Free Unix versions. At the end, I believe Google's living on such kind of infrastructure,
Not surprisingly MS has become aware of the threat, and it's starting to change its course, though inertias work both in favour (with their two cows still milking out at good levels) and agains, cause those culture changes in long-lived organizations take long time.
----------------- my advocacy
Free Software model encourages co-opetition, leverages the playing field, discourages from inventing the wheel back every few weeks. New companies and individuals sprout offering new solutions to old problems. Those who strive to make the software use a less painful experience and fulfill uncovered needs/desires will succeed (not necesarily meaning to become rich, but to make a good life out of it).
I would like to see this mix of cultural and technological changes making us move from the corporate capitalism mindset to a participative model.
At some point, it will be possible for everybody to become producer and/or consumer of digital goods, to invent, to express,... who knows ?
Re:Windows monopoly is secure (Score:2, Insightful)
Different distributions have different strengths and weaknesses.
Package installation is not one of Fedora's strengths, and never has been.
For that, the title goes to Debian and its derivatives (Ubuntu, in particular).
So because your mission is different, I think you might do well to look at a different distribution, like Ubuntu.
Re:Stupid meme (Score:1, Insightful)
"Invent" may have been a poor choice of words on my part, but Microsoft led the development of what is today coined as "AJAX".
PS - I'm on board with you regarding the name AJAX and the dummies that think it is a single technology rather then acronym to identify a set of technologies working together.
PPS - I'm not a MS Fanboy
Re:Windows monopoly is secure (Score:3, Insightful)
This is a red herring. OS X also uses samba for SMB shares and there are never any issues reading/writing from any application (that i have encountered)