This kinder, gentler Microsoft is one of the two main legacies of the [antitrust] case. The other is the consensus that antitrust laws do in fact apply to high-tech companies. Though the law moves slowly — and sometimes can only deter via the possibility of after-the-fact sanctions — companies are not immune to its discipline just because they are in high-tech markets.
Freedom to Tinker on Microsoft
20 May 2008
2 April 2008
I think the giant is awakening. That’s something, and potentially constructive. However, my concern is that the breadth of that change is still too limited and the overall pace of change is grossly inadequate. Like Nero fiddling while Rome burned, Ballmer seems to be content with half measures while MSFT does - or at least while the first embers, which had already been apparent for years, now threaten to turn into something much more serious. Worse, management may be getting desperate about that situation - hence the recent ill-advised and fiscally irresponsible YHOO bid.
MSFTextrememakeover on Microsoft
3 March 2008
“Do the right thing for the customer”. Now there’s a concept. So will anyone senior get fired for having seemingly done the wrong thing for customers, thereby damaging perceptions of Microsoft and its most important product in the process? Of course not.
MSFTextrememakeover on Customer Service
Microsoft has just released a new beta of its MSN Toolbar. Wait, wasn’t it the Windows Live Toolbar in the last release? It’s starting to look like Microsoft might have an identity crisis…
Downloadsquad on Microsoft
2 March 2008
I guess if I go to Hell one of the first punishments will be “Here’s the Exchange protocol documentation. Please write a server that works against this protocol.” Probably followed by something much, much worse, “Here’s the Sharepoint protocol doc-” “No! Just gut me or do something with fire ants and a poker already!”
MiniMSFT on Microsoft Protocols
23 February 2008
Ballmer is like a small child, who having been told not to put their hand on a hot element, continues to do so anyway. Only in this case, it’s our hand that repeatedly gets burned.
MSFTextrememakeover on Ballmer
18 February 2008
yahoo… Sorry, I can’t get up the enthusiasm to put the exclamation point into Yahoo anymore.
Mini-Microsoft on Yahoo
14 February 2008
Last but certainly not least, the new calculator. Low and behold this incredible piece of software engineering and revolutionary user interface. With now two lines of numbers, it’s pretty much game over OSX and Ubuntu.
I Started Something on Windows 7
3 February 2008
This [the Yahoo! bid] is a de-facto admission by MS that they are unable to compete on the web.
Reddit (Comment) on MS-Yahoo Deal
26 January 2008
The OS-engineering world is pretty small. A surprising number of Windows employees have worked at Apple in the past. And vice versa. Are these guys stealing?
Shipping Seven on OS Stealing