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Microsoft Corp (MSFT)
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The Company develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a range of software products for many computing devices.
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Things have turned around at Microsoft. Windows 7 is a hit, I've been using it for a few months and the productive increase justifies an upgrade. The Xbox 360 is the best value gaming console on the market. The new Zune and Zune marketplace are actually better than Apple's offering. Expect the next version of the Zune to turn heads. Live is actually starting to look like a service and the new WPF is very promising for the enterprise.
Apple will never succeed in the workplace, why? because they lock you in and refuse to let you out. The iphone is the perfect example, no VMs, no interpreted code, only the appstore or nothing. Apple is the perfect example of the company everyone was afraid Microsoft was becoming in the 90s. A big goliath that wouldn't play well with others. Well, Microsoft is starting to play with everyone else and it can only be profitable to the shareholders.
well said!
I agree. I am a MCSE engineersince 1996 who never recommended Vista. I have been beta testing Windows 7 and have already told customers that this is worth purchasing. I have purchased Microsoft stock recently,paying a decent dividend compared to CD's. They have mostly succeeded because of their sales acumen, expect to continue.p.s. All the new 2008 server software is 64 bit, people will start buying servers again with 64 bit processors.
If you are interested into plays related to Microsoft success then you should look companies that fill the shoes of the software stripped from Windows7. Photo and email web services are the obvious gainers when the average Windows user starts looking for replacement software. Google and Yahoo obviously come to mind with their mail and photo services.
Windows 7 Yes can't wait to get it.,
XBOX! sorry P33 beats it hands down, and the ZUNE are you kidding, get an ipod from Apple.
I'm not so sure. I hear good things about windows 7, but Vista was a bloody disaster save for the blind MS fan boys or are just as blind as the Apple fan boys. I think they'll do ok with it, but they've really damaged their brand. It was already heavily tarnished due their monopolistic exploits, but combining that with a very poor product was a damaging combination. I say windows 7 will work out for them, but I just don't see it being the superstar that you are looking for.
As for Zune ... its a joke. Not sure if you have actually used one. I have. Not good. Bad reputation generally as well. This is a loser for them. They should cut their ties and walk away.
With respect to Xbox 360 ... its just ok. I have one of those too. As well as the other consoles. My kids, even the teenager, prefers the Wii and the playstation. I've tried them all. Like I say, the Xbox is just ok. The game selection seems pretty weak in comparison to the others. I don't think the MS gaming unit is ever going to be a profit center either.
Apple has an opportunity to sell loads more hardware if they just get more realistic about their pricing models. They are poised to take off. I hope they do. I don't like macs, but I like competition. We'll see what happens.
Microsoft is losing its value proposition to extremely powerful and fast hardware and connectivity, which reduces the importance of a fully featured OS. We are now in a place where Windows XP is "good enough" and inexpensive hardware is also "good enough." Companies and consumers, in my estimation, will slow their adoption of newer and faster hardware and newer software because it is simply no longer seen as an obstacle to their productivity.
Microsoft isn't going to die any time soon, but I don't see any boom times ahead.
We'll see what happens.
The online community with Xbox Live is much better then the PS3. The Zune doesn't have DRM issues and will work much better with the Windows 7 OS. the new Zune HD is just amazing. If Microsoft made it a phone the world might just fall in love.
Well said. I meant to include this link in my pitch but I'll put it here.
Geeklaw - Wii is still a great product, as is ps3. I own both a wii and xbox, my old roommate had a ps3. They are all fun, but I can't say with a straight face that xbox is losing the game war. Let me outline the exclusive hits for each console (excluding remakes for pc)
Xbox - halo 3, gears of war I & II, fable 2, mass effect, TES Oblivion, Bioshock
Wii - Zelda twilight princess, ummm...some mario game I guess, mariokart or mario galaxy
ps3 - resistance I & II, uncharted, metal gear solid 4
GTA IV, COD4, Guitar Hero/Rockband, and Assassins Creed were released for all consoles (i'm pretty sure) and so I don't think they can credit any particular one.
Also, xbox will soon be able to compete with wii's interactive style
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Microsoft-unveils-motion-apf-15406191.html?.v=4
Xbox live is coming out with downloadable games and possibly rentals, cutting out the retailer and decimating the used game market.
Zune is good for someone who already has a music library. The new DLNA features for zune, win7 and xbox should be a nice value
I have mixed feelings about the Bing rebrand but I do like they are forcing IE6 users to use it.
Very promising insight. I gave up on Microsoft when Vista came out... everyone (including myself) hated it. Besides vista I also noticed that my PC was getting slower and slower and slower just after only two years... not to mention infest of viruses all of the time, even with firewall, Norton, etc. Finally, I broke down and bought a macbook instead. Yes, I am happy that I never get viruses and it's WAY FAST! But there are some fall backs to Apple. Some that I didn't even notice until you pointed them out (big Goliath). I live in silicon valley and know the history quite well. I would like to put support behind Apple but I think its stock is overpriced. I bought Microsoft instead with hesitation... so far it's serving me well. Now I am even more optimistic with your mention of Zune and Xbox.
After e3 I think microsoft just killed the wii and will have direct access to the average consumer in the living room
Pretty cool, I know that it will require a decent size screen (40+) and the initial market will be for more the high end users but the announced integration with facebook and all those nifty 3d motion capture and voice recognition are going to pay off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urh-SAVlIbA
Stop surfing porn sites and downloading music off Limewire and you won't have any viruses. There is a reason you don't find Apple in corporate America, do you know what that reason is? I didn't think so. Thank you for the uninformed, Apple fan-boi comment.
In the console market PS3 is in last place....but I agree with the Ipod comment...
LegalizeMe: don't be ridiculous. First, even if the infection vectors were limited to porn and illegal downloads, the fact that OS X is less susceptible than Windows is significant. And, of course, the insinuation that those are the only vectors is obviously false; far more innocuous things - basic business functions - like email end up being transmission vectors.
Apple also shows up lots in "corporate America". I was Director of IT for a company that was slowly converting segments of the company over to OS X. I've spoken to lots of people in advertising, telecommunications, engineering, design, and so on that have significant OS X installations. I'd love to know why you think this can't happen. This threat to MSFT's OS business is quite real.
Of course, the threat is also quite long-term. MSFT has a ton of momentum, and even if Apple executes flawlessly and Google makes a good showing of ChromeOS, it's going to be a long time before MSFT can be discounted there.
The bigger threat for them is... well, everything else. They've continued to struggle to find reasons for people to upgrade Office, and the competition is making good inroads there - especially the free competition. The Zune has been a non-starter in the market to date, failing to offer any significant value beyond the iPod, and essentially killing the PlaysForSure market in the process (PlaysForMaybe?). The xbox is doing well against their most easily comparable competition (PS3), but is still getting trounced by the Wii. The next-gen consoles will likely see the same sort of split for the hard-core gamer (say MSFT getting 2/3), while Nintendo runs away with the much larger "everyone else" category.
MSFT's mobile strategy is particularly distressing. Since we were talking about games, it's worth noting that there's no "xbox mobile" - they haven't done anything to fight Nintendo for that market. Their WinCE platform, which looked very threatening 2-3 years ago, is in decline. They're now generating some split between WinCE and whatever they call the thing on the Zune, looking for developers on both platforms.