__/ [ BearItAll ] on Tuesday 03 April 2007 10:04 \__
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
>> Software Notebook: Microsoft's cash pile isn't what it used to be
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | But Microsoft has taken a series of steps to reduce its cash
>> | balance. Specifically, by Microsoft's count, the company has
>> | paid out nearly $100 billion through dividends and repurchasing
>> | its own stock in the past five years.
>> `----
>>
>> http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/309852_software02.html
>>
>
> Sorry Roy but this sort of thing doesn't work on the MS fudders. I pointed
> at the charts on reuters showing that MS were not doing too well, the Vista
> blip was tiny even if you only showed a short duration of the graph, but
> the MS fudders must have thought Reuters had printed their chart upside
> down or something because they wouldn't believe it.
The WinTrolls would speak about tinfoil hats here, but there's evidence to
suggest that Reuters, which uses Microsoft technologies widely, has been
publishing deliberately misleading articles that create backlash against the
FSF, GNU/Linux, Richard Stallman, and the GPLv3. Reuters is just part of
this equation. As for Vista sales figures, they conflict with previous
messages that Microsoft delivered, just _weeks_ earlier. Those who looked at
the figures and what they mean were getting angry, or at least shocked. The
black artists at the PR dept. was feeling... artistic.
> Then when you mention that MS hasn't got anything waiting in the wings, no
> big seller waiting for release, so MS hasn't got anything to reverse this
> downward trend. MS can't keep paying out the dividends when their stock
> isn't really worth it's displayed value, something has to break.
I think I included a link in the OP which says that Microsoft relied on Vista
to bring back life to its stock. That was at the end of last year...
> Maybe MS's best hope is to split the company into bite sized pieces. I'm
> not sure what they should do, I only know that they missed a very big
> oppertunity, Vista should have been massive. They should have aimed at
> entirely new, a new base for the OS, a simmilar look and feel for the gui
> shell if they want. XP could have continued in the way that Win98 did for a
> time, but the bulk of new development into the new OS. They had time and
> even if they didn't have resources, they could have bought them in, now
> they have niether.
Instead, Bill Gates announced his resignation, sold over $3 billion worth of
stock (he invests that money elsewhere now) and Jim Allchin, who headed the
project, retired on the date of the release. Ignoring these 'subtle' clues
would be naive. These are early retirements of very wealthy people who are
workaholic.
> If MS said to the market 'Ok, we made a mistake, we'll call in a big well
> established team to write the new Windows OS', would it be too late now?
> No, they could still put people back to XP, give them some of the Vista
> good bits to keep them happy for a time, then set to on the new OS.
>
> Could anyone suggest a list of Vista good bits?
Some folks put together a page in Wikipedia. Nothing compelling is listed
there. It's the art of marketing. Like a Swiss army knife with 100
functions, a very blunt knife, no scissors, and no openers of any kind. What
does it have? Well, it has 99 'sticks' of different shapes, but none fits
one's needs (compatibility). It is also rather heavy and it's unnecessarily
expensive. Once in a while things fall apart, so you need to visit tht shop
to get a 'hotfix'...
--
~~ Best wishes
Steve Ballmer is even monkie than his moniker suggests
http://Schestowitz.com | RHAT GNU/Linux ¦ PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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