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Jul 23, 08 - 11:42 pm Comment from: joey

Yesss! Please!

Jul 23, 08 - 11:53 pm Comment from: amyhre

If nearly a decade of flat stocks doesn't have Microslop's shareholder concerned, why are they getting their knickers in a twist now?

A little friendly advise Mr. Yang.

Mr. Ballmer only wants Zimbra. Let your stockholders in on that nugget.

Mr. Ballmer desperately wants to kill Zimbra — because killing is what he does best — and he'll let the rest of your org rot on the vine.

I'm sure Yahoo stockholders should ask for 200 billion — or more.

Jul 24, 08 - 12:18 am Comment from: 84 Mac Guy

Apple stockholders worry that Jobs will die.

Microsoft stockholders worry that Balmer will live.

@MDN -- OK, You've worked in Fester's lightbulb, now surely you can work in Gomez's train wrecks.

Jul 24, 08 - 12:34 am Comment from: jjjj

maybe he's in the garage workin on his big ass table.

Here's hoping that Balmer stays around long enough to see Apple unveil the iTele. This way Steve Jobs can use his iTele to transport Balmer and company to Uranus.

84 Mac Guy,

well put!

Earth to Microsoft. STOP JUST COPYING WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE DOING! The only thing I can think of that is 'new' from Microsoft is their wacky 'surface' table, which may be cool to show off but it'll be years before it could be a product of some kind.

Everything else you do is a "me too" product or technology. DirectX = MS only version of OpenGL, XBox = MS playstation (and nice one with that HDDVD addon). Hell, even their new announcement for their DirectX-only version of OpenCL is another pathetic shot at ignoring an open standard and instead trying to hack together a microsoft-only "standard".

Oh yeah, and maybe built products and services with your real customers in mind, namely the end-users, and not middle-men or the MPAA (the copy protection MS agreed to build in probably adds $100 or more to systems capable of playing HDDVD/BluRay discs).

Jul 24, 08 - 12:57 am Comment from: Micro Me

And Chris Liddell is a Kiwi (Micro Me hides head in shame).

That's just my opinion of the kind of changes MS would have to make to drive their stock up.

I don't think they have the balls or the leadership to actually do it.

Jul 24, 08 - 01:44 am Comment from: qka

We hereby advise Microsoft shareholders that there is nothing to see here.

If only it were that simple. Unfortunately, many of us own Microsoft through our retirement plans and other indirect investments like mutual funds. That's our money Ballmer is pissing away.

Can you say Enron? I knew you could. It's Enron all over again.

The only good news is that since Apple is in the S&P;500, those same retirement plans and mutual funds also hold Apple. Hopefully Apple's growth will more than offset Microsoft's decline.

What Ballmer refuses to admit, is that having hit market saturation, MSFT is no longer a growth stock, and never will be again. There's no shame in that, it means after all that MS has had a tremendous success. What the company should do now is start paying dividends regularly, and concentrating on their main line of business: windows and Office.

Every other venture that Ballmer has thrown billions of dollars of shareholders' money after (zone, xbox, MSN, etc) has failed to even show a hope of going profitable. That means he's wasting the shareholders' money on his ego trips.

-jcr

Microsoft's problem is that it only ever had one consistent idea and that was to destroy any and all opposition in order to make it to the top of the heap. Everything, including coding was skewed to that end.

Now it is at the top of the heap, it has no idea what to do next. The inevitable result is that the opposition in the form of people with real, tangible ideas is beginning to encroach on its patch. Like a rabbit in the headlights it doesn't know where to run.

Long may Ballmer reign, with any luck he'll drive the company into the ground. It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.

Jul 24, 08 - 06:17 am Comment from: Macromancer

" why are they getting their knickers in a twist now?"

Because Bill idn't there to cover Steve's ass anymore.

"STOP JUST COPYING WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE DOING! "

When copying something was what the entire company was founded on (*cough* cough* DOS *cough*) you can't just turn on a dime and instill a culture of innovation. Apple has innovation built in at the core and culture. MS doesn't and never will. The attempted purchase of Yahoo is a perfect example of how they can't do anything on their own from the ground up.

LONG LIVE BALLMER!!!!!!!!!

Jul 24, 08 - 06:50 am Comment from: Lurker_PC

I just hope he's not squirting any ideas to anyone.

Peace.

Jul 24, 08 - 07:24 am Comment from: OctoberMac

I have to agree with "John C. Randolph": "What Ballmer refuses to admit, is that having hit market saturation, MSFT is no longer a growth stock, and never will be again. There's no shame in that, it means after all that MS has had a tremendous success."

In order to have measurable growth in certain areas, MSFT should break there enterprise up into separate independent businesses and let them live or die of their own accord. Eventually AAPL will reach this point as well ... and probably in the not too distant future.

Jul 24, 08 - 07:28 am Comment from: AAPLguy

"Introductions seem to be in order here: Kim, Drain. Drain, Kim."

LMAO!

If they are lucky, the smell of Microsoft's decaying corpse might be enough to stop progress on the internet for a further ten years.

Jul 24, 08 - 08:01 am Comment from: Journo

"Building and operating a cash furnace, now that would make sense..."

ROTFLMAO!

"Cash Furnace"? That's being kind!

Your comments and analysis are great.

Microsoft's new products division is best described as a cash furnace. They should invest their current profits into profitable ventures like AAPL and increase their dividend return to shareholders.

Jul 24, 08 - 08:38 am Comment from: TexasAg03

Big Ass Table Demo.

On behalf of Microsoft, I take offense. How dare you use the term "Big Ass Table". How insulting.

Everyone knows it should be hyphenated: Big-Ass Table...

The long knives are out for Ballmy, now that Bill is no longer able to protect him. Sometime in the next twelve months, perhaps fairly soon, he'll be gone. If there's one thing worse than not being an innovator as CEO, it's being a BAD innovator by spending a lot of money trying to innovate and not coming up with anything successful. When you're doing that with someone else money, they eventually get tired of it! I bet the investors decide to just put someone in who'll turn M$ into a cash cow by focusing on Windows and Office and paying out a healthy dividend.

Jul 24, 08 - 08:48 am Comment from: Goople

"cash furnace" LMAO!!!

Ballmer is our Hero, he is going to bring down the Microsoft Monopoly...

FTFA: "Steve Ballmer says he plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to fix the company's unprofitable Internet business."

Isn't he also spending $ 500 million in a campaign that's trying to tell people Vista ain't that bad after all? Throwing money at problems. It's very clear that it's the sales guy who trying to run the show, with no idea how to make it right.

Long live Steve Ballmer, please don't ever leave MS, they need you B A D !

Please keep Windows compatible with all the versions that have come before at all costs, don't ever retool into a modern OS.

Psssssst Mr B, don't give that 90 billion dollar capital meltdown a single thought, it means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Buy Yahoo and shut it down. That will help MS get rid of all that pesky capital laying around.

Hire A LOT more engineers, pay them massive salaries, this will be great for the US economy job statistics.

Innovate with the workweek schedule, everyone at MS only works one day/week and has the rest off to be with family, think of the positive PR this will generate, call it MS family values.

Whatever you do, please don't ever retire or leave MS!

All of us here at MDN really love you man!

Jul 24, 08 - 09:04 am Comment from: Ampar

"Hire A LOT more engineers, pay them massive salaries, this will be great for the US economy job statistics."

They really need a few dozen more executives with catchy titles:

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/a-d.aspx

(e.g., Will Poole, Corporate Vice President, Unlimited Potential Group; Scott Charney, Corporate Vice President, Trustworthy Computing)

Jul 24, 08 - 09:08 am Comment from: Famous Grouse

Spin off a business that provides ongoing support but no new development for Windows XP. Ditto for Office. Then, shut the company down and give the money back to the shareholders. Did I mention kill Vista?

Of course there'll be a mortgage foreclosure crisis in Redmond, but this will be a small amount of pain and suffering compared to say Michigan or Ohio.

Jul 24, 08 - 09:17 am Comment from: Bluefin

Here's a kick in the pants for you:

If Microsoft had invest $9 Billion in AAPL two and a half years ago, that would be worth almost $24.75 BILLION right now.

At current prices at Staples, that's 82,775,919.733 Executive leather chairs to toss around, or 495,099,019.804 chairs for the rest of us schlubs

Jul 24, 08 - 09:19 am Comment from: Bluefin

Around Redmond, fractions of chairs count...

Ballmer= innovation= hostile takeover of Krispy Kreme and Dunk'in Doughnuts

What if M$ had only kept their "Apple Saving" investment when Steve Jobs returned...do the math...it's amazing.

Jul 24, 08 - 10:09 am Comment from: Ampar

It's time for Egg Ducker to go on another world tour.


"What we've gone through in the last several years has caused some people to question 'Can we trust Microsoft?'"
- Steve Ballmer

Jul 24, 08 - 10:50 am Comment from: Andy

If Microsoft had any sense, they'd realize by now that to survive the company must embark on a Steve Jobs style takeover where all the useless junk and fat are ripped right out.

Downsizing and focusing on what they can actually do well (I know, MS may be hardpressed in that one) will keep the company going, as opposed to being the leviathan monstrosity they currently are where the only avenue left is to crash and burn.

Of course, to undertake this new approach would mean pissing off virtually all enterprise users and the home users, who, for whatever reason, don't have the gumption to look beyond Windows.

@Blue Dream,

"...hostile takeover of Krispy Kreme and Dunk'in Doughnuts."

Rob 'Glazed-donuts' Glaser won't let Uncle Fester within a 30 kilometer radius of *any* Krispy Kreme store, let alone the corporate headquarters...

Robert Glaser

Jul 24, 08 - 11:06 am Comment from: Jubei

With Gates gone, Ballmer is now focusing on destroying Apple at all cost. Just wait and see how sneaky MS will be to try and grab any market Apple has gained.

90 Freak'n B I L L I O N dollar market cap meltdown?

Oh My Freak'n G O D, where is the outrage by stockholders?

All you windoze fanboy trolls, now is the time to BUY A LOT of Microsoft stock, the price is RIGHT. Show Balmy you really care.

Buy a bunch of the new Windows Vista giftcards for all your friends.

You know you wanna show the love for your favorite OS, Windows Vista! Come on Windows fanboyz, buy buy buy!

Get your Vista now because the next version of the OS is gonna be a LOT higher priced, that's Steve Balmers real profit strategy!

good perspective

Jul 24, 08 - 11:31 am Comment from: Bluefin

Thanks

I wonder what the guys looking at the servers at Staples think when I priced the order for 495,099,019.804 chairs.

Jul 24, 08 - 12:31 pm Comment from: Olmecmystic

If they start a push to get "Uncle Fester" out of there, I'll light torches, gather the villagers, and go to Redmond to stage a protest. As Apple fans, we MUST not allow this sentiment to take root.

If Bill Gates (OR John Sculley, take your pick) was the worst thing that ever happened to Apple, Steve Ballmer is the best.

Leave him there to finish the job!

Peace.
Olmecmystic

Idea drought???

The only idea they ever had was and still is- "Let's wait and see what Apple's doing"


Their XBOX App Store is the latest "innovation"

developers, developers, developers....

snakes, liars, thieves....

Jul 24, 08 - 01:36 pm Comment from: MCCFR

From an extract of Steve Ballmer's memo announcing the latest management re-org at Microsoft published at All Things Digital yesterday evening.

· Apple: In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1. But there is no doubt that Apple is thriving. Why? Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience. Today, we’re changing the way we work with hardware vendors to ensure that we can provide complete experiences with absolutely no compromises. We’ll do the same with phones—providing choice as we work to create great end-to-end experiences.

Jul 24, 08 - 01:40 pm Comment from: MCCFR

Accidentally hit Submit!!

Is it any wonder that MSFT is so confused? A CEO who doesn't seem to understand that you can't provide great end-to-end experiences unless you control the whole widget and who also doesn't understand that you can't create compelling user experiences unless you really understand how people want to work.

Ballmer idea drought

If Ballmer rained ideas like he rains sweat, he'd have Apple AND Google easily beat.

Ballmer, save yourself & the world the grief. Milk Office until it dies, then shut the company down.

Everything else is a pointless sideshow.

Jul 24, 08 - 06:36 pm Comment from: knowhowe

Hey, I've got a company for sale. Can I have a billion for it while you're handing them out like candy bars?

the opening line to the shareholders is "please come closer while we play a little 3 card monte"

Jul 24, 08 - 09:37 pm Comment from: Road Warrior

Maybe MS could really sink another nail in the coffin by giving their investors a return, not money of course, something better...points that they could use at an MS online store.

Jul 24, 08 - 09:43 pm Comment from: Road Warrior

Ah, what the heck two posts in a row, but I just got a bit of an article from the future.

"IBM wasn't big enought to stop it. Lotus and Wordperfect went to near extinction trying to compete with it. Apple could not race with it. But Ballmer, yes Steve Ballmer was big enough, massive enough to finally sink the Microsoft flag ship. Detractors like MDN often thought he was rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Who would have thought at the time that Ballmer would become the iceberg itself."