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Microsoft needs system to fix Vista (and itself)
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| Meanwhile, another technology called "virtualization," which allows multiple
| operating systems to run simultaneously on one PC or server, is diminishing
| the importance of products like Vista and raises questions about its
| future. "What is an operating system and what role should it serve?" asks
| Whitehouse. "The OS was originally intended as an abstraction layer between
| software applications and the computer's hardware. But with the new
| abstraction layer between the hardware and the OS provided by virtualization
| and products like Adobe's AIR that sit between the OS and desktop software
| applications, the role the operating system once played is becoming
| increasingly diminished."
|
| [...]
|
| Despite these new developments, Microsoft finds itself at a crossroads,
| according to legal studies and business ethics professor Kevin Werbach.
|
| "The platform for most uses of PCs today is the Internet, not Windows.
| Windows plays an important role in the ecosystem, but it's not the center of
| the world in the way it used to be. ... Microsoft needs to decide whether it
| cares more about the next 5 to 10 years, or the 20 years after that."
|
| [...]
|
| At a conference on April 7, Gartner analysts Michael Silver and Neil McDonald
| argued that Windows is collapsing under its own weight and suggested that it
| change radically to become lighter and modular so that customers only have to
| use features they need. For Microsoft, its ecosystem and its customers, "the
| situation is untenable," the two analysts stated.
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http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080526/BUSINESS/805260302/1003
Recent:
Is Vista to Blame for Windows Revenue Drop?
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| Microsoft said this week that Windows revenues during the first three months
| of 2008 were down nearly 24% from the same period last year.
|
| One analyst argued that the decline is more evidence that the company is
| having trouble convincing users of Windows Vista's value.
|
| "More than a year has passed since the rollout of Vista to both the business
| and consumer markets, and experiencing revenue declines so early in the
| product lifecycle is not a positive sign," said Allan Krans, an analyst with
| Technology Business Research.
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http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,145153-pg,1/article.html
Microsoft earnings post-mortem: The cash cows quiver
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| 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.
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http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1362
Feeling the heat at Microsoft
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| 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.
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http://www.news.com/Feeling-the-heat-at-Microsoft/2008-1012_3-6232458.html?tag=ne.fd.mnbc
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