Microsoft

The verdict for Office for Mac 2008? OK, but not great

I installed the new version of Microsoft Office for Mac on Saturday and spent a bit of time with it on my flight to Boston on Sunday. (Check out the official CNET review here.) While I like the cleaner interface and some of the new fonts, overall I feel like the applications are much slower. I also found out the hard way that the default save state of .docx screws you pretty much immediately if you aren't careful. (To Microsoft's credit, you can easily change this in the preferences.)

I mainly used Word as I was afraid that … Read more

Microsoft stock: Bull or Bear

This morning I received Jason Maynard's (Credit Suisse) note on Microsoft's outstanding financial performance. I never find it surprising when Microsoft makes its numbers. It's a well-known fact that company is great at cash management, (though innovation is a whole other story.) Over on Motley Fool there is an interesting point/counterpoint on the demise or not of the MSFT stock.

Dueling Fools: Microsoft Bear

This was supposed to be Microsoft's final feast, the major last hurrah for its Windows Vista operating entry and its Office 2007 suite of applications before the inevitable embrace of cheaper open source operating systems and Web-based apps. Very true, Vista has failed to wow, but the impact of that hasn't been felt yet. As the Bull retorts, early adoption doesn't really matter as it's the long tail (ugh) of Windows that keeps paying the bills.

… Read more

Gates' speech on creative capitalism creates stir

It remains to be seen how much Bill Gates' plea for creative capitalism changes the face of business, but it has certainly sparked a considerable amount of discussion at Davos and elsewhere.

It is common for the topic of the poor to come up at the gathering of the mega-rich known as the World Economic Forum. But the notion that businesses themselves are responsible, at least in part, for solving poverty has gained increased attention at this year's forum, according to reports coming out of the Swiss ski resort town.

According to Marketwatch, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced … Read more

Improved massage chair is just what I need

As a tech writer, it's not uncommon to see a press release or a photo of some new gadget and have an instant sensation of "I need that."

But, I'm not sure the words have ever been more true than when I saw the info on Inada's latest massage chair, the Sogno.

I've been in a colossally bad mood today, for no particular reason. But I am sure 15 minutes (OK, 30 minutes) in this baby would do the trick. It uses an infrared body scan to determine a particular individual's central acupressure … Read more

Microsoft updates Vista SP1 test build

Microsoft said on Thursday that it has released another updated test version of Windows Vista Service Pack 1.

The company said that the new version, dubbed "Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh 2," has been released to about 15,000 beta testers. The code is not being made available publicly, Microsoft said.

The product is still on track to be finalized this quarter, Microsoft said, while offering its standard caveat. "The final release date is based on quality, so we will continue to track customer and partner feedback from the beta program before setting a final date," … Read more

Microsoft sees IT spending remaining healthy

While many businesspeople are worrying about a possible recession, Microsoft says it sees its part in the economy remaining strong.

In a telephone interview on Thursday, Colleen Healy, Microsoft's general manager of investor relations, said that the company booked a greater amount of future revenue than it had expected, taking in about $500 million more than planned in its "unearned revenue" column. That comes on top of the record results for the quarter that ended December 31.

"From our perspective, we are expecting IT spending to remain stable," Healy said. "Software, in particular, remains … Read more

Microsoft earnings sail past estimates

Whatever form of capitalism it is that Microsoft is practicing, it seems to be working.

Reporting second-quarter results Thursday, the company said it earned $6.48 billion, or 50 cents per share, on revenue of $16.37 billion for the three months ended December 31.

Analysts were looking for about $16 billion in revenue and per-share earnings of 46 cents per share. That's at the high end of what Microsoft forecast back in October. Investors have also been keenly interested to hear what Microsoft has to say about its own outlook as well as its sense of the broader … Read more

Microsoft claims Vista more secure than XP, OSX and Linux

After a few days off from blogging it's always nice to see that Microsoft has provided some fodder. Today it's an impressive array of lies, damn lies, and statistics about security. They even made some nice charts!

You don't need my commentary...the Gizmodo guys nailed it:

In every category, Vista is either the lowest, or tied for the lowest. And since your argument seems to boil down to the logic: the less vulnerabilities, the less fixes, the more secure, Vista wins. Of course, from what our tiny brains make of the case, such an argument doesn'… Read more

Gates seeks 'creative capitalism'

UPDATE: The actual speech is available for viewing.

Few people have benefited more from capitalism than Bill Gates.

But these days, Microsoft's chairman is seeing first-hand the failures of the market system and is now calling on businesses to take greater responsibility for those left out in the cold by the free market.

In a speech Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gates is calling on companies to think more broadly about how their products can benefit society.

Much of Gates' work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has centered on two particular shortcomings of … Read more