microsoft

The Microsoft albatross

Speaking in front of a group of financial analysts Thursday, Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive of Microsoft, explained that his company needs to stay focused on moving away from the desktop and focus on Web services and consumer devices. But what Ballmer did not come out and finally admit is the very products keeping Microsoft afloat are quickly becoming its albatross.

Windows and Office are the sole reasons why Microsoft has enjoyed such success over the past decade. Without Windows, the company could not have moved into all of the markets it currently maintains products in. Without Office, the company would … Read more

The value of an independent Linux

A thought struck me this morning: would you really want your database/application server/office productivity suite/etc. developer to also be the author of your operating system? On one level, the answer is an easy 'yes': tighter integration between the OS and the applications that run on it is a good thing.

On the other side of this coin, however, is the reality that today's integration is tomorrow's barrier to entry against all other applications. Take Microsoft, for example.

Microsoft has arguably done a very good job of encouraging third-party applications on its Windows platforms. But Microsoft has done less well once it starts to compete in a given application market against its partners. Even where the company has a financial incentive to boost the partner, it has a competing incentive to boost itself.… Read more

The ironic rise of the Mac among open source developers

I've been attending the O'Reilly Open Source Conference for years and have watched an interesting thing happen. A rising number of attendees have come with Mac OS X-based laptops. In fact, throughout the tech world, you see a dramatic increase in the number of people toting Macs. Why?

The Mac, after all, is a closed platform, just as Windows is. In fact, arguably, Apple is a more proprietary company than Microsoft has ever thought of being, controlling hardware and software alike. Just look at how Apple has managed its iPhone product: developers were initially shunned, and then they were allowed to crawl onto the device through the browser (and not a community-based browser like Firefox, but rather through its own Safari).

As a die-hard Mac addict and open-source advocate myself, I was thinking this morning about why the two increasingly converge, despite all the ironies and conflicting approaches. Here's my best guess.… Read more

Xbox 360 price drop for real this time?

E3 came and went, and while another company announced a "price drop," the Internet-wide speculation of Microsoft doing the same at the big show went unmentioned.

Well it seems that these Xbox 360 price-drop suspicions were not completely unfounded; over the weekend it was discovered that multiple retailers will have the Xbox 360 premium listed at $350 beginning in early August--most likely to coincide with the release of Madden 08.

Thanks to Cheap Ass Gamer, we have two scans of predated ads from Wal-Mart and Toys R Us displaying the $50 price cut. It is unclear, however, about whether this will affect the Elite and Core versions of the console as well.

Check out the Wal-Mart ad scan after the jump.… Read more

Roll over for patent reform

Sorry. I saw this ad on a website today, and it made me laugh.

Roll over and beg for patent reform, Fido? Or roll over, as in a freeway accident? Roll over in one's grave at the thought? Or...well, let's leave it there. :-)

Product update: Zimbra takes online calendaring offline

Zimbra has now made a great product even better. Determined to help "fat-client Luddites" like me, Zimbra has released the second version of its Ajax, offline client, Zimbra Desktop. First it was email offline, and now the calendar works offline, too. This may well be the the first major web application to go offline.

Who cares? Well, I do, and not because of Zimbra's open source credentials. The primary value I see in Zimbra is an enterprise-class email server that treats Macs and Linux as first-class citizens, rather than as an afterthought.… Read more

Microsoft's Ozzie opens up on Internet 'cloud' services

Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie provided a fresh take of the technical components at the heart of its online services push on Thursday.

Speaking at the Microsoft Financial Analysts Day, Ozzie spelled out in greatest detail yet the work he has led on "cloud" Internet services.

During the next 12 to 18 months, Microsoft will introduce software and hosted services designed to enhance its current product line and derive more revenue from advertising-supported Web services, Ozzie said.

Echoing comments he made in an interview with CNET News.com earlier this year, he said Microsoft is preparing a … Read more

Microsoft acquires 'ad exchange' company AdECN

Underscoring its commitment to the advertising business, Microsoft on Thursday announced it has bought AdECN, a company that is a technology platform for buying and selling display advertising.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Speaking at Microsoft's Financial Analysts Day, Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's Platform and Services Division, told financial analysts that the deal complements Microsoft's adCenter software and its planned acquisition of Aquantive.

He said that AdECN provides an ad exchange, like electronic stock trading markets, that allows publishers and advertisers to broker the sale of display advertising.

AdECN is a venture-backed company … Read more

Microsoft decides 'open' is better than 'shared': What this says about OSI

Tim notes that Microsoft will be submitting its shared-source licenses to the OSI for approval. He calls this "huge, long-awaited,...and earthshaking." It's actually none of the above, but it is welcome.

It will do little to blur the "bright line between Microsoft and the open-source community," as Tim suggests it will. That bright line is increasingly drawn by Microsoft, and not by the community. This will not erase patent FUD, for example, from the collective consciousness. But I suppose it does help Microsoft to start acting like a full participant, rather than an outsider.

But this isn't the real news.… Read more