Tag Archives | Microsoft

What if…Microsoft Had a Windows App Store?

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 28, 2009 at 6:18 pm

Windows 95I continue to think of my iPhone not as a phone but as a personal computer. Which is why I continue to be so nonplussed about Apple’s barring of some applications on the grounds that they compete with its own apps, and others at (reportedly) the behest of AT&T. The moves may well serve Apple’s short-term goals. Long term, though, I think they’ll make the iPhone a weaker, less useful platform. That’s not in the interest of iPhone owners, Apple, AT&T, or (come to think of it) anyone except Apple’s competitors.

All of which got me wondering: What if an Apple-like App Store had been the been the only sanctioned way to acquire software for other major computing platforms? Like, for instance, Microsoft Windows? And what if, in this alternative universe, Microsoft’s policies and actions had mirrored those of Apple today?

It would have changed everything–and not for the better. After the jump, a speculative FAQ about the Windows App Store.

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Yahoo-Microsoft Deal: It’s Nearly Official. Thank Heavens.

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 28, 2009 at 5:07 pm

BinghooMultiple reliable sources are reporting that Microsoft and Yahoo have finalized a deal to work together on search and advertising, and it’ll be announced tomorrow. It’s not the merger that Microsoft wasted an immense amount of time on last year, and it’s apparently not as sweeping an arrangement as some folks thought the company would strike. But it’s still a big deal.

For consumers, the major net effect will apparently be that Bing (or some variant thereof) will power Yahoo’s search. Unless you love Yahoo’s current engine or hate Bing, that’s nothing to fear, and it won’t have a major impact on your life. (Or any impact at all if, like the majority of folks, you do your searching at Google.)

For Yahoo, it’s yet another new search strategy. (Once upon a time, the company outsourced search to Google, then decided it was a core part of its business and built its own search engine; now it’s once again something it’s decided it can outsource.) For Microsoft, it helps scratch the must-take-on-Google itch that the company’s had trouble taking care of.

I still think that when the history of Microsoft is written ten or twenty years from now, it’ll be obvious that  search engines and Web advertising  were distractions that kept the company from focusing on its real businesses–operating systems, programming tools, productivity software, and a few other related related areas. For now, though, both Microsoft and Yahoo can end their odd tango and move ahead with a partnership. And we tech journalists who have spent a year and a half writing about all this get more time to devote to other, more concrete matters. Like, for instance, the existence or nonexistence of an Apple tablet that’ll be released either in September or sometime next year…

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Microsoft’s Netbook Problem

Posted by David Worthington on July 24, 2009 at 2:15 pm

The persisting popularity of netbooks has been a major drain on Microsoft’s Windows client licensing revenue. The worldwide economic downturn has driven many people to purchase cheaper machines, but I believe that the netbook’s ascension also reflects changing consumer tastes.

Windows client licensing revenue fell $1 billion from last year, and Microsoft’s unearned revenue from multi-year license agreements has flatlined.

Unless Windows 7 proves wildly popular, the company’s prospects for restoring its Windows business to its past luster appear to be grim. I expect that the company will experience a cyclical earnings bump that will crest near where previous Windows releases have in the past, but growth will be less substantial.

That is because there are simply too many alternatives, with the Web acting as the great equalizer. I access Gmail just as quickly on a netbook running Linux as I would on a higher end laptop powered by Windows. And even though netbook hardware is wimpy by current standards, netbooks are as powerful as high-end machines were on the not-too-distant past

Not everyone is a developer or a gamer. I believe that the netbook meets the “good enough’ threshold for most people, and there is a decent assortment to choose from on the market.

Many of those people may have been compelled to purchase a netbook by financial reasons, but it is highly possible that many will be satisfied enough  to purchase another netbook in the future. It could mean a permanent change in consumer buying behavior.

Microsoft seems to understand that, because it is downplaying netbooks at every chance it can get, and is attempting to direct customers toward more expensive alternatives. But the industry has failed to create really compelling products that would “wow’ me into paying more–so far.

I am reminded of my late grandmother, who was a child of the Great Depression. She wouldn’t spend money needlessly, and would reuse what she had (including tinfoil). People are experiencing varying degrees of hardship during this recession, and it is not unreasonable to expect that their spending habits will be permanently altered.

Consequently, if Microsoft does not see its market share slide, it will see its revenues fall. It cannot charge as much for a copy of Windows on a $400 machine than it would have traditionally done on more expensive systems. The Windows cash cow is slowly beginning to dry up.

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Microsoft to Offer Choice of Browsers–In Europe

Posted by David Worthington on July 24, 2009 at 1:15 pm

Today, the European Commission (EC) announced that Microsoft will permit Windows 7 users in European countries to select their default browser from a ballot screen when they configure their machines.

The news comes as a bit of a surprise, because, last month, the company said it was going to strip Internet Explorer from European versions of the operating system, and was originally strongly opposed to idea of providing a ballot screen.

Microsoft was compelled to make the change as a remedy for the EC’s Microsoft vs. Opera antitrust case that began in 2007. The company had a contingency plan to ship Windows 7 in January if it was unable to reach an agreement with the EC.

The settlement will no doubt keep Windows 7 on schedule for its fall debut. Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on Wednesday.

The EC has clearly learned from the failure of previous mandates. There was no demand for the Windows Media Center free edition of the OS that the EC mandated Microsoft sell in Europe. I’m glad that the ballot option was chosen over no browser at all.

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Microsoft Corrects Laptop Hunters Ads. Sort of.

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 24, 2009 at 8:03 am

Lauren and SueLast week, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner said he was turning cartwheels in the hall over Apple’s apparent request that Microsoft stop running “Laptop Hunters” ads that quoted out-of-date pricing for Macs. This week, Microsoft is rejiggering at least one of the ads to…stop quoting out-of-date pricing for Macs.

As Ad Adge reports, Microsoft has tweaked the “Lauren and Sue” commercial to remove a reference to a the price of $2000 MacBook Pro that no longer costs that much. Good. But the company doesn’t seem to have done a sweep for all info in the ads that’s no longer true: The ad with a shopper named Sheila that Microsoft posted on YouTube still has her saying the best MacBook Pro under $2,000 has only 2GB of RAM and shrugging in disbelief and/or contempt. But after Apple’s last round of price cuts, you can get a MacBook Pro with 4GB of RAM for $1499.

I dunno why there’s any controversy here: Of course Microsoft should update its commercials to reflect the facts of the current PC-vs.-Mac situation. It’s not about the Microsoft-Apple war, it’s about accuracy. Anybody want to argue otherwise?

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Bill Gates, Tech Blogger

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 23, 2009 at 4:52 pm

Bill GatesGizmodo, which published a fun series of stories about 1979 tech last week, has followed up with a post by a guy who was there: a retired tech exec named Bill Gates. Gates says that Microsoft was still in the process of figuring out that the BASIC programming language was going to be important in 1979, which surprised me. By 1979, Microsoft had been doing BASIC for four years, and a lot of us had already cut our computing teeth on various forms of Microsoft BASIC.

The conventional wisdom usually seems to be that it was the debut of MS-DOS on the IBM PC in 1981 that made Microsoft into a monolith, but I’ve never bought it. The PC industry may have been tiny in the mid-to-late 1970s, but Microsoft was already smack dab in its middle, thanks to Gates and Paul Allen’s incredible prescience in realizing that computers would be everywhere and they had a chance to get Microsoft software onto virtually all of them. I’ve often thought that even if Digital Research or some other company had ended up being the primary supplier of operating systems for the IBM PC, Microsoft might have ended up as a gigantic company–just through some other route.

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The Windows Cash Cow Takes a Beating

Posted by Harry McCracken on July 23, 2009 at 2:52 pm

Windows LogoMicrosoft has announced its fourth quarter financial results, and for those of us who are Microsoft customers rather than shareholders, the most striking factoid may be this: The company’s revenue from Windows took a hit of more than a billion dollars compared to what it reaped a year ago. How come? Well, the crummy state of the worldwide economy didn’t help, but another factor was the ongoing popularity of netbooks. They typically sell for less than a $400, and usually ship with a copy of Windows XP that Microsoft can’t charge as much money for as it’s used to getting for Windows. No wonder we haven’t heard Microsoft (or much of anyone else in the PC industry, including netbook manufacturers) wax enthusiastic about netbooks.

The industry keeps predicting the imminent downfall of netbooks, which will supposedly be killed by more powerful thin-and-light notebooks which just happen to cost more. Starting in three months, those thin-and-lights will ship with versions of Windows 7 which Microsoft will be able to charge more for–and it seems like a safe bet that Windows 7 will help Microsoft’s financial statements look a little rosier in general once the OS ships. But I persist in believing that it’s also entirely possible that $400 (and $300) netbook-type computers are here to stay, and could make up a significant part of the laptop industry from here on out. If consumers buy ’em, there’s little or nothing that PC manufacturers and Microsoft can do to stop them. And if netbooks stick around, they’ll have a profound effect on Microsoft’s fortunes whose real impact is yet to be seen.

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Microsoft Finishes Off Windows 7

Posted by David Worthington on July 22, 2009 at 2:49 pm

Windows 7 LogoWindows 7 has been released to manufacturing, according to a report by Mary Jo Foley on her blog that’s been confirmed by a Microsoft post. Windows 7 is due for commercial availability on October 22nd, which means that PC manufacturers have three months to test the final version of the OS, manufacture the first Windows 7 systems, and get them onto store shelves.

News about the release was synchronized with CEO Steve Ballmer’s keynote address at a Microsoft sales conference, according to the report. For those are you who are keeping track, the build number is 7600.16385, and it was compiled last Monday, July 13. In other words: Microsoft has delivered Windows 7 on schedule.

Microsoft took preemptive action to avoid antitrust troubles with the European Commission last month, stripping its Internet explorer browser out of European editions of Windows 7. Microsoft had a contingency plan to ship Windows 7 in January in the event that antitrust actions delayed its release.

Yesterday, the company outlined when Windows 7 would become available for different categories of customers. Business customers, developers and IT professionals will receive first dibs, and be able to download Windows 7 early next month.

It will be interesting to see whether Windows 7 provides a stimulus to global PC sales, which have been slumping in the midst of the worldwide economic downturn. My prediction is that there will be a modest bump in sales– these things happen in cycles.

Windows 7 is a big improvement upon Windows Vista, but the hoopla of days when people lined up to buy OS’s is over. There are simply too many alternatives, and the Web is the great equalizer.

My trusty old Windows XP computer accesses the same Web services that someone on a Windows 7 PC uses, and my iPhone keeps me connected when I’m away from my desktop machines. If I buy a new PC I’ll opt for Windows 7, but the functionality that it delivers will not dramatically alter my daily experience with personal technology. Do you agree?

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It’s Official: Microsoft to Offer Windows 7 “Family Pack”

Posted by David Worthington on July 22, 2009 at 2:17 pm

Households that have multiple computers will be able to buy Windows 7 at a discount, Microsoft revealed in a blog posting yesterday–confirming recent rumors. “We have heard a lot of feedback from beta testers and enthusiasts over the last 3 years that we need a better solution for homes with multiple PCs,” according to the blog entry. The license is limited to installation on three PCs in select markets, it noted. In comparison, Mac OS X family packs permit end users to install the operating system on up to five Macintosh computers.

“I’ve been one of those people nagging on that. Glad to hear it. Anything you can do to make it easier to buy the product helps facilitate its acquisition. Apple has already done this for some time,” said Michael Cherry, a Directions on Microsoft analyst. “Multiple computer families is a factor– particularly with netbooks coming along.”

Likely customer demographics will be families that have children or teenagers, he added.

It makes sense for Microsoft to offer greater value to families. The message of its recent “I’m a PC” advertising campaign is value, and its licensing policies should be consistent with its marketing.

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Report: Microsoft Days Away from Yahoo Search Deal

Posted by David Worthington on July 17, 2009 at 7:07 pm

A cadre of Microsoft executives is in Silicon Valley to iron a search and online advertising deal with Yahoo, All Things Digital’s Kara Swisher is reporting.

The executives include senior vice president of the company’s Online Audience Business Group Yusuf Mehdi, Online Services Group president Qi Lu, and Online Services senior vice president Satya Nadella, according the report. The terms of the deal allegedly involve Microsoft paying Yahoo billions of dollars upfront to run its search advertising business; Yahoo will receive certain guaranteed payments.

Some sticking points have involved who will have control over data, and traffic acquisition cost rates, the report says. However, I thinkthat Yahoo will take the deal: Despite its new technology initiatives, its market share is slowly decaying.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Bing search engine has been received favorably, and it has managed to steal some market share away from Google and Yahoo. It is still too soon to tell whether a trend if developing (it launched last month), but Microsoft’s $90 million advertising campaign won’t hurt its chances at popularity.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is like a pit bull–he never lets go after he sets his jaws around something. There has been a persistent campaign to strike a deal with Yahoo. All Things Digital says that it could happen as soon as next week. Now we wait.

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