Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Apple Declares War on the Entire PC Industry
There is absolutely nothing coincidental about Apple launching new products today.
Monday, August 3, 2009
The Value Question: Is the Apple or Microsoft Family Pack the Better Deal?
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The Keyword to Microsoft’s Search Success
Too many people are wasting too much energy writing about the name for Microsoft’s new search engine—assuming there is going to be one, rather than made-over Windows Live Search.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
How I Came to Get a PC and Not a Mac
Microsoft’s “Laptop Hunters” commercials have generated lots of Mac vs. Windows PC debate. Surely there can’t be enough, so I’d like to generate even more. Quite unexpectedly, I’m a PC.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
“I’m a PC” Marketing Pays Off for Microsoft, OEMs
Microsoft and its partners are reaping big rewards from the $300 million Windows marketing campaign.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Office Goes to the Web
Microsoft made a stunning announcement during today’s Professional Developers Conference: a lightweight Web-based version of Office. Earlier in the day, Microsoft debuted Windows 7. Windows 7’s core feature focus is making content more easily accessible across devices, PCs or services.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Should You Pay Twice as Much for a Mac?
I recently got to wondering about Mac versus Windows PC pricing after seeing two HP notebooks on sale at the local Target. One of them, a 14-inch model, the HP DV2946NR, sold for $699.99 and packed 4GB of memory and a 320GB hard drive. Capacity for both features is twice that of the $1,299 MacBook—and shared graphics is 356MB compared with a meager 144MB for the MacBook. I wondered: If Vista notebooks are selling for so little and packing so much, how does this compare with Mac desktops and notebooks?
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Viral Vista: The “Mojave Experiment”
It’s the seventh inning, and Microsoft finally hits a marketing home run. Is it a gamer winner? If the competition were Apple, which surged to 8.5 percent U.S. PC market share in the second quarter, the answer would be yes. But Microsoft faces its toughest competitor ever: Itself. I spent some time this morning reviewing [...]
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Gates-Ballmer Succession Watch
Who should be Bill Gates’s technical successor at Microsoft? It’s not CEO Steve Ballmer, who at last month’s D6 Conference admitted, “I am not an engineer.” I’ll say. Steve is a marketing guy who has put other marketing guys in charge of Microsoft. Should it be Bill’s handpicked successors, Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie or Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer?
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Windows Becomes the Web
Live Mesh is so messy to explain, I can’t cover everything in this post. But simply: Microsoft is launching a synchronization platform that the company claims is technology-agnostic. That absolutely is not true. Live Mesh is Microsoft’s attempt to turn operating-system and proprietary-services platforms into hubs that replace the Web. It’s the most anti-Web 2.0 technology yet released by any company. Microsoft is building a services-based operating system that transcends and extends Windows and also the function of Web browsers. It’s bold, brilliant and downright scary.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Windows: A Monopoly Shakes
Windows’ enterprise adoption declined in 2007, with the gains going to Linux and Mac OS. Vista is a bust.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
If Google Gags, Won’t Microsoft-Yahoo?
Wall Street went bonkers Tuesday over a comScore report indicating that Google paid-ad clicks growth had literally collapsed. Is that good or bad for Microsoft’s Yahoo acquisition? The answer is complicated, in part because there remains uncertainty about the decline’s cause. If the problem is contained to Google, Microsoft could greatly benefit depending on execution. But if U.S. economic uncertainty is the cause, Microsoft could be buying Yahoo at both a good and bad time.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Whose Principles Are They?
Can Microsoft really put together the concepts “interoperability” and “principles?” That’s the question to ask following Thursday’s announcement about Microsoft’s so-called new “interoperability principles.” For quick clarification: The principles aren’t really new–the European Union’s Competition Commission required the principles’ framework, in response to Microsoft’s March 2004 adverse antitrust ruling. The timing also is suspicious, given the potential public-relations bang Microsoft could get about a week before a key vote will determine whether or not ISO adopts OOXML (Open Office XML) as a standard.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Is Yahoo Worth the Risk?
Forgive me for doubting Microsoft’s bean counters, but Yahoo is one hell of a risky acquisition. Better said: Microsoft is about to bet the company on Yahoo. It’s a winner take-all, loser take-nothing strategy. For a company that typically resists big acquisitions, Yahoo is a $44.6 billion potion that’s either heap big medicine or pure poison.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
What’s Google Doing on Vista (RED)?
Microsoft finally found a way to get Google Desktop software off Dell PCs. What’s that saying about a little charity going a long way–or starting at home?
Last week, Microsoft and Dell unveiled three (PRODUCT) RED, or (RED), computers. When people buy one of these computers, the companies donate money to the Global Fund. Little problem for Microsoft: As part of a previous $1 billion marketing agreement, Dell computers ship with Google Desktop software and other goodies. No problem: Microsoft representative Brandon LeBlanc has instructions for fixing up that (RED) PC, and in the process axing that dreaded Google software.
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