Is Office the new Netscape?
,----[ Quote ]
| One of the cornerstones of Microsoft's competitive strategy over the years
| has been to redefine competitors' products as features of its own products.
| Whenever some upstart PC software company started to get traction with a new
| application - the Netscape browser is the most famous example - Microsoft
| would incorporate a version of the application into its Office suite or
| Windows operating system, eroding the market for the application as a
| standalone product and starving its rival of economic oxygen (ie, cash). It
| was an effective strategy as well as a controversial one.
|
| Now, though, the tables may be turning. Google is trying to pull a Microsoft
| on Microsoft by redefining core personal-productivity applications -
| calendars. word processing, spreadsheets, etc. - as features embedded in
| other products. There's a twist, though. Rather than just incorporating the
| applications as features in its own products, Google is offering them up to
| other companies, particularly big IT vendors, to incorporate as features in
| their products.
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http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2008/05/one_of_the_corn.php
Google may be beating Microsoft at its own game
,----[ Quote ]
| To achieve this, however, Google would need a license like the AGPL to keep
| ISVs honest in how they work with Google. Unfortunately, Google hasn't
| exactly been a friend to the AGPL, but that could change when it realizes its
| self-interest is at stake.
`----
http://www.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9934851-16.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=TheOpenRoad
Recent:
Microsoft stock drops amid slumping sales
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp., whose Windows software dominates the personal-computer
| market, fell 6.2 percent Fridayin Nasdaq trading after sales slumped, casting
| doubt on whether PC demand can hold up in a slowing economy. The software
| maker reported a 24 percent drop in sales of Windows last quarter and
| forecast earnings that may miss analysts' estimates.
|
| [...]
|
| "The risk is that Linux gets a foothold and then affects their long-term
| revenue significantly."
`----
http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_9061263
Microsoft earnings post-mortem: The cash cows quiver
,----[ Quote ]
| I can’t help but wonder if the lackluster Windows/Office results also can be
| attributed to Microsoft brass’s complete and crazy obsession with Google (and
| taking over Yahoo) has resulted in no one minding the Windows store. Kevin
| Johnson, the head of Microsoft’s Platforms & Services division seems to be so
| laser-focused on the online-ad business these days that he almost seems to
| have forgotten Microsoft is still in the software business, too.
|
| Microsoft execs’ claims about walking away from the Yahoo deal are nothing
| more than bluster. A protracted hostile takeover bid is just going to
| distract not just employees in Microsoft’s online services business, but
| company management, too. It’s not a pretty picture.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1362
Feeling the heat at Microsoft
,----[ Quote ]
| If I ask you who is Microsoft's biggest competitor now, who would it be?
|
| Ballmer: Open...Linux. I don't want to say open source. Linux, certainly have
| to go with that.
`----
http://www.news.com/Feeling-the-heat-at-Microsoft/2008-1012_3-6232458.html?tag=ne.fd.mnbc
Microsoft's SEC:
,----[ Quote ]
| A prominent example of open source software is the Linux operating system...
| To the extent open source software gains increasing market acceptance, sales
| of our products may decline, we may have to reduce the prices we charge for
| our products, and revenue and operating margins may consequently decline.
`----
http://www. microsoft.com/msft/SEC/default.mspx
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