Microsoft

Microsoft's worst emails of all time

The Seattle Post Intelligencer has collected and ranked the all-time worst (read: most incriminating) Microsoft emails of all time, and a dandy list it is, too. For heavy email users like me, it's also a reminder that some things are better left unsaid...or at least unwritten.

Perhaps my favorite of the bunch is Jim Allchin's 2004 blast against Windows...and in favor of the Mac:

I am not sure how the company lost sight of what matters to our customers (both business and home) the most, but in my view we lost our way. I think our teams lost sight of what bug-free means, what resilience means, what full scenarios mean, what security means, what performance means, how important current applications are, and really understanding what the most important problems [our] customers face are. I see lots of random features and some great vision, but that doesn't translate onto great products.… Read more

High time for Intel to get serious about graphics

When a high-ranking executive at your strongest partner openly thinks your technology "barely works," perhaps it's time to make that a higher priority.

A series of internal Microsoft e-mails discussing Intel's 915 and 945 integrated graphics chipsets in unfavorable terms made its salacious way around the Internet this week. Microsoft is currently being sued over its Windows Vista upgrade programs, which were designed with pressure from Intel, but over the objections of the PC industry, to include support for a graphics chipset that couldn't run Vista's Aero interface.

In February 2007, just after Vista … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 671: Vista Price Patch 1

Episode 671

Microsoft cuts Vista price http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/29/vista_price_cut/ http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9882510-56.html

iPhone/iPod SDK: Apple to approve, distribute apps, limit add-ons http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/ iphone-ipod-sdk-apple-to-approve-distribute-apps-limit-add-ons/13537 http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/29/ iphone-software-development-to-be-locked-down-by-apple/

Bluetooth not working after iPhone 1.1.4? Simple fix: http://www.iphoneatlas.com/2008/02/28/ bluetooth-not-working-after-iphone-114-simple-fix/

Mac OS X secretly cripples non-Apple software http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/2339246

Wii outsells the PS3 4-to-1 in Japan, Sony execs “not psyched” http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/29/ wii-outsells-the-ps3-4-to-1-in-japan-sony-execs-not-psyched/… Read more

More on the Vista price cut

In looking at the reasons behind Thursday's price cut for Windows Vista, it's easy to blame the OS itself. After all, plenty of critics have panned it, users have grumbled and even Microsoft executives themselves were slinging arrows that the software wasn't ready for prime time when it launched last year.

But, it's important to note that this cut doesn't affect the bulk of the PC market, where folks get Vista as part of a new PC. Rather, the cut is limited to the comparatively small number of folks who buy a boxed copy of … Read more

Microsoft's Vista price cut: Much about about...emerging markets

Microsoft is cutting the price on its Vista between 20% and 40% from its price as of the beginning of this year. While most copies of Windows aren't sold via the retail channel, Microsoft is apparently hoping to reduce the disparity between hardware costs and its software. When you can buy a new PC for $400, it hardly makes sense to drop another $400 for an increasingly irrelevant operating system. (All operating systems, not just Windows, in terms of perceived customer value.)

But the bigger reason appears to be an effort to make Windows more appealing to emerging markets, … Read more

Yahoo to extend proxy slate deadline?

In the next two weeks, observers of the Microsoft-Yahoo courtship will get a telling signal as to whether it's headed for a shotgun marriage or a friendly embrace.

Yahoo has the option of extending the March 14 deadline for shareholders to nominate an opposition slate of directors for its next annual shareholder meeting, though it is expected to maintain a hard deadline.

"It's unlikely but not out of the realm of possibility to extend the date to nominate directors," said Bruce Goldfarb, chief executive of proxy solicitation firm Okapi Partners. "I don't see the … Read more

Microsoft enviro chief: Software integral to clean tech

Microsoft's chief environmental strategist, Robert Bernard, spoke publicly for one of the first times this week, giving some insight into Microsoft's "green" strategy.

Bernard was named to the position about four months ago after working with Microsoft for 10 years on partnerships with other IT companies.

While other IT companies have launched "green IT" initiatives, Microsoft has been relatively quiet.

For example, IBM's Big Green Innovations, launched last year, is focused on data center energy efficiency but also includes consulting activities, such as advising companies on how to reduce carbon emissions within their … Read more

Vista price cuts show how much trouble Microsoft is in

Ever since Microsoft released Vista to the masses, most people knew just how bad the operating system was. Instead of offering the kind of functionality already found on Linux or Mac OS X and the stability that we had come to welcome in XP, Vista was nothing more than a beta release on day one, and very few improvements have been made to change that.

To make matters worse, most companies and individuals are more than happy to keep XP running, and even Apple has been able to capitalize somewhat on the issues people have had with Microsoft's latest operating system.

Obviously realizing that there is some trouble afoot, Microsoft on Thursday announced price cuts on its most expensive versions of Vista and said those discounts will range from 20 percent to 48 percent. Ironically, those discounts are designed to coincide with the release of Vista Service Pack 1, which according to Microsoft, will usher in a slew of security fixes and improvements that should make the Vista experience much better.

And while I applaud Microsoft for finally dropping the price on its ill-fated software, the price drop looks more like a PR move than something that will have an impact on consumers and, most importantly, shows just how much trouble this company is in with Windows.… Read more

So why did mighty Microsoft turn so wimpy?

Time was when Microsoft inspired dread in the tech industry. With a few exceptions, most rivals and partners did their best not to get on Bill Gates' bad side.

So why did Microsoft agree to a two-tiered Vista upgrade program that its managers knew was a mistake? The trove of e-mails released in connection with a pending class action lawsuit paint a Microsoft strangely unwilling to stand up to pushy Wintel partner Intel.

Check out these juicy passages highlighted by Todd Bishop at The Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

"We are caving to Intel," wrote Microsoft's Mike Ybarra in a … Read more

Microsoft chops Vista retail prices

In what may be an unprecedented decision, Microsoft said Thursday that it plans to lower the retail prices for several flavors of Windows Vista.

For those in the U.S., Microsoft is cutting prices only on the higher-end versions of Vista, and only for the upgrade version used to move from XP or another copy of Vista. The suggested price for Vista Ultimate drops to $219 from $299, while Home Premium falls to $129, from $159.

Other developed markets will also see price cuts, while in emerging markets, Microsoft is eliminating the distinction between full and upgrade versions of Home … Read more