You can leave your reading glasses behind for today's RCPU, as it'll be a short one. The main thing we're seeing is that Windows 7, on which Microsoft released pricing details last week, is gaining momentum. A discounted version is already a big hit on Amazon in pre-order, and financial types like its potential so much that analysts are predicting a bump in Microsoft's stock price.
It looks as though Redmond might even be reaching out to netbook users, with rumors abounding that Microsoft might even offer Windows 7 on a USB flash drive. The positive outlook for the operating system and for the company comes at a good time for Microsoft and partners both, as the economic downturn has taken a little bit of a bite out of Microsoft earnings of late.
And...that's all we have to say, really. Hey, it's Fourth of July week (that's the Independence Day holiday in the U.S. for our non-U.S. readers), so don't expect too much news in the next few RCPUs. In fact, with the dog days of summer about to take hold and grind the news cycle to a near halt, we're wondering which "evergreen" topics you'd like us to comment on, discuss or otherwise cover this summer. Send your suggestions to [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on June 30, 20091 comments
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down on Wednesday afternoon, but the NASDAQ finished slightly up, and positive earnings reports from Red Hat and Oracle sparked hopes that a tech-stock rally might be real. We can only hope.
Posted by Lee Pender on June 25, 20090 comments
Microsoft is more or less keeping part of PerformancePoint server alive for some customers...under certain conditions. It's complicated, actually. The details are here.
Posted by Lee Pender on June 25, 20090 comments
What does the Microsoft Partner Program have against suspense, anyway? The big Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference blowout will happen in New Orleans next month, and the partners of the year will be the guests of honor.
There's only one problem. We already know who they are! Microsoft this week revealed the winners and thereby ruined all the excitement for everybody except the partners who know that they've won.
Think about it -- this thing could have gone off like the Oscars (or at least like the Grammys), with nervous partners hanging on every word as some presenter from the Partner Program prattled on about the significance of a particular category and opined on the sacred art of partnering. We could have even had a video montage of each of the finalists -- salespeople out making deals, consultants implementing software, partner-company employees responding to urgent calls -- all set to overly grandiose "awards-show" music.
Then, the presenter would finally open a small white envelope...and some overjoyed representative of a partner company -- eyes welling with tears -- could approach the podium, begin a speech and quickly be spirited off by "get-of-the-stage" music and a lovely Microsoft assistant while desperately trying to say thanks to a third-grade teacher or a particularly influential sales trainer.
But, no. Microsoft is no fan of suspense, glamour or excitement. So, enjoy reading the list of partner of the year winners. Or, if you want to really make the Partner Conference worth attending, don't read it and just show up at the awards ceremony in New Orleans. It's your choice.
What would it mean to you to be a Microsoft partner of the year? Share the dream at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on June 25, 20091 comments
The founding father who didn't stick around in Redmond has done a lot of stuff since leaving Microsoft more than 20 years ago, but one thing he hasn't done in any serious way is sell software. Until now.
Posted by Lee Pender on June 24, 20090 comments
Microsoft's popular SharePoint Server is now a bridge of sorts between the Zoho online applications suite and Microsoft Office.
Posted by Lee Pender on June 24, 20090 comments
It's no secret -- in fact, it's extremely well-known -- that the most powerful torpedo that struck the Good Ship Vista and started its descent to the depths of the operating-system ocean was a lack of preparedness. Third parties didn't have drivers ready for the OS; nothing worked with it particularly well when it came out.
Whether that was Microsoft's fault or the fault of other vendors, the fact is that it put Vista into a hole that it never quite managed to climb out of. (Then, of course, there was the famous "Vista Capable" lawsuit, which is only tangentially relevant here -- but we just love posting the link to the story.)
Anyway, everything about Windows 7 seems to be going better than anything went for Vista, and that apparently includes OEM preparedness. Microsoft is on top of things this time, getting PC makers ready to push the new OS by issuing Vista-to-Windows 7-upgrade memos like the one published this week by Redmond columnist Mary Jo Foley.
Of course, the real issue is going to be XP-to-7 upgrades, and memos like the one in the link are completely standard stuff for the software industry. But Microsoft and its third parties did such a poor job with the Vista launch that we're taking nothing for granted with Windows 7, and we're hoping that a leaked missive here or there to PC makers is a sign that Redmond doesn't want to make the same mistakes with the forthcoming OS as it did with the last one. After all, Microsoft can't afford another OS disaster.
What are you doing to prepare for Windows 7? How is Microsoft helping you? Reveal all at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on June 24, 20090 comments
We wrote about six months ago about a company called Interactive Intelligence and a forthcoming UC-meets-business-process-automation product that sounded pretty unique and useful. Well, the product is out now, and if you want to read what we said (and how we still feel) about it, you'll just have to click here.
Posted by Lee Pender on June 23, 20090 comments
Steve Ballmer is, apparently, a man obsessed with and possessed by search. In case you missed it, the Microsoft CEO said last week that his company could sink as much at $11 billion into search over the next five years -- which actually turns out to be a lot of money, even for Microsoft. Ballmer says that part of Microsoft's problem in search (and in general) is that it's getting fat and lazy.
We agree, but we'd add that search is the windmill to Microsoft's Don Quixote. The software titan would be better off figuring out how to transition its old-school Windows and Office franchises into the cloud (something it has been trying to do with, we think, mixed success) and determining how it's going to deal with the rise of netbooks and mobile devices (something it has, we'd say, not done very well at all). Note to Microsoft: quit looking so hard for success in search, or at least in consumer search. This quest is taking you in the wrong direction.
Posted by Lee Pender on June 23, 20092 comments