The Second Coming of Apple

[Agathon]

Apple is OK for the foreseeable future.

Microsoft are the ones that should be worried, they're being attacked from multiple sides. I don't think they'll be able to dethrone Google for a start.

More bad news for them is that even my mother uses Firefox now (and was pleasantly surprised that internet browsing didn't have to be ****). It's hard to say just yet, but if Firefox becomes viral, that is the end of MS browser domination, no matter what they do – they're too far behind now.

[Urban Ranger]

Supposedly MS is going to put in a new version of MSIE for "Shorthorn."

[Skanky Burns]

This thread is stupid. Throw rocks at it.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Supposedly MS is going to put in a new version of MSIE for "Shorthorn."

Oooh, clever nickname!

that was the best you could do?

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Comrade Tassadar
Yesterday Apple announced the piece of technology that would grant it a near monopoly on worldwide computer sales: An iPod that not only lets you listen to music and take pictures, but surf the internet too! Now reduced to only $5000 USD (or 5500 Euros, or 6000 pounds)!

LOL APPLE WILL PWN MICROSOFT NOW LO%L PRAISE~!

Imran, just because you dont use anything to surf the internet doesn't mean others won't. And at 5000, this is a steal

This is REVOLUTIONARY! Apple and Linux will soon have combined markethsare of 101% Microsoft doesn't stand a chance!

Post of the week

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Oooh, clever nickname!

that was the best you could do?

Do you know how it came about?

[optimus2861]

Originally posted by Agathon
Microsoft are the ones that should be worried, they're being attacked from multiple sides. I don't think they'll be able to dethrone Google for a start.

Which would do what harm to MS, exactly? Their Q4 results this year showed a 9% increase in revenue from Windows sales to $2.7 billion (of which $2.0 billion is profit), and a 23% increase in revenue from Office sales to $2.87 billion (of which almost $2.0 billion is profit) over the same period last year.

If that's being "attacked" I wish I could get some of it .

[Kuciwalker]

I really want some of that

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by optimus2861
If that's being "attacked" I wish I could get some of it .

You know, according to Bill Parish, if Microsoft count employee stock options as expenses, they will be having some staggering losses*.

Since FASB is going to change that soon, I would be very, very careful wrt MSFT now.


* extrapolated from the linked article.

[Agathon]

Supposedly MS is going to put in a new version of MSIE for "Shorthorn."

Another joke from the clowns at Redmond.

[Agathon]

More laughs

Brussels blow to Microsoft upheld

A European court has turned down an appeal by Microsoft to delay hard-hitting sanctions from the European Commission.

The US software giant went to the European Court of First Instance to try to get the penalties for abuse of monopoly suspended.

Microsoft wanted to delay the opening up of aspects of its Windows software system to rivals, and a record EU fine.

The court dismissed Microsoft's plea "in its entirety".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4117217.stm

At least the Euros know how to deal with corrupt businesses.

[Urban Ranger]

Eurocoms

[optimus2861]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
You know, according to Bill Parish, if Microsoft count employee stock options as expenses, they will be having some staggering losses*.

I'm skeptical of that analysis for one whopper of a reason: the Clinton DOJ was all over Microsoft in its anti-trust investigation during that time period. If there were also serious accounting irregularities going on, and DOJ got whiff of it, don't you think DOJ would have pursued that as well, or passed it on to the SEC?

The counter-point to this is that Enron & Worldcom/MCI were cooking their books during the same time period and sort of flew under Clinton's radar to blow up under Bush, but then neither of those firms were being pursued for anti-trust.

[Agathon]

The counter-point to this is that Enron & Worldcom/MCI were cooking their books during the same time period and sort of flew under Clinton's radar to blow up under Bush, but then neither of those firms were being pursued for anti-trust.

I don't think that this is so much the problem as it is a matter of the company's sole real asset being its monopoly. Only Office and Windows really make money, and the appreciation of the latter (apart from clowns like Asher) runs the gamut from resentment to hatred.

Every day it seems there is some new security exploit for Windows and Redmond does virtually nothing, seeming content to sustain its bloated corpse on users' misery.

Now they want to muscle in on home entertainment. God help us.

But as I said, they are being attacked from multiple sides by Google, OSS, etc. I wouldn't be using Office 2004 if someone hadn't gifted it to me, as free alternatives are now good enough (and in the reliability stakes actually better). Firefox is a manifestly superior browser to IE and is gaining some momentum and Longhorn now looks like it is going to be a service pack to XP with prettier graphics.

[Kuciwalker]

I don't think that this is so much the problem as it is a matter of the company's sole real asset being its monopoly. Only Office and Windows really make money, and the appreciation of the latter (apart from clowns like Asher) runs the gamut from resentment to hatred.

Office isn't a monopoly. There are plenty of other systems that work on Windows, and can read Word files.

And I guess you've forgotten about things like the Xbox...