Ex-Microsoft exec gets big bonus after joining Juniper
[...]
Johnson was set to receive a $5 million signing bonus when he arrived at Juniper earlier this month and a base salary of $800,000 a year.
Johnson owned roughly 1.5 million Microsoft shares as of Sept. 5, according to the filing, which would currently be worth roughly $39.3 million.
Ballmer: Microsoft Is Up-Front About Its Money Motive
There, he said it. Microsoft is interested in making money. That's what CEO Steve Ballmer said in reference to Microsoft's motivation in the mobile space.
More Microsoft Live Search Bribery
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Just using Microsoft online services isn't enough to get your ticket punched, though. You must run Internet Explorer (6.0 or higher) when you use those services. Even visiting getsearchperks.com with Firefox or Opera is a futile exercise; you will have to start IE to see what goodies the site has to offer. Oh, and if you sign up you'll have to install the Perk Counter toolbar to let Microsoft keep track of your tickets.
Microsoft Adds Incentives to Small-business Program
Microsoft has given small and mid-sized business customers more ways to earn cash to buy its software through partners by adding new products and product groups to its Big Easy program.
The four representatives that Microsoft Corp. lobbied earlier in the week after the House of Representatives failed to pass a massive Wall Street bailout bill did not change their votes today as a revised bill sailed through Congress.
Lighthouse1 has named former Microsoft executive Jeff Young as its president and CEO.
Microsoft hiring freeze? From recession to depression
Confusion arises over Microsoft's hiring plans. The company issued a memo that hinted at a freeze, one employee said, but a spokesperson denies a freeze.
Microsoft has instituted a hiring freeze, likely spurred by the worsening economic conditions in the U.S., according to a source close to the company.
Yesterday, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), the world's largest software company, said it was taking a look at hiring. That is probably code for the firm saying it plans to cut or level out expense growth.
According to Reuters, Microsoft said, "Given the current economic environment we are taking the prudent step of reviewing our hiring plans and will make some adjustments as appropriate."
Is Microsoft’s Xbox 360 studio Rare next on the chopping block?
A couple of days ago I wrote a story about how Microsoft announced the closure of one of its first party studio, Ensemble Studios. The stated reason behind this decision to close one of its studios was due to lack of scalability. In other words, Microsoft execs felt that Ensemble as a venture could not grow profitably. This raises an interesting question; could the same fate fall upon Rare as well?
Xbox 360 fans angry at Microsoft studio Rare for not listening to them
Microsoft’s first party studio Rare has been in the video game news recently due to some criticism it has received by Peter Moore, former head of Microsoft Game Studios.
It's hard to believe that any developer making a game based on Halo could be shut down for financial reasons, but that's the fate awaiting Dallas-based Ensemble Studios.
An unplanned outage hit Microsoft's Xbox Live service starting Tuesday night, leaving online gamers unable to connect.
The cut in the IT budgets of the revered investment banks like Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch due to their failure may lead industry giants like U.S. based Microsoft and California based Cisco to lose $4.3 billion in orders next year. While Cisco earns about three percent to four percent of annual revenue from the U.S. financial industry, Microsoft accounted for 22 percent last year.
Microsoft will be hurt by financial crisis, RBC analyst says
The devastating U.S. financial crisis will hurt software giant Microsoft Corp.'s bottom line this holiday season as shoppers tighten their purse strings, RBC Capital Markets says.
Does Google Apps pose a threat to Microsoft? No way, said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in April 2007. He made his point clear to attendees at the USA Today CEO Forum: "[Google has] come out with what I might call—what's the politically correct way of saying it?—they've come out with some of the lowest functionality, lowest capability applications of all time."
The room filled with laughter.
Ballmer—for one—is not laughing now. That hubris and short-sightedness is coming back to haunt him.
Microsoft is now taking the threat from Google quite seriously: In July 2008 COO Kevin Turner was dispatched to consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble to dissuade P&G from moving to Google Apps—and ditching Microsoft.
Rejected by Yahoo!, outgunned by Google and humiliated by Apple, Microsoft is fighting for its very survival
Yes, Microsoft has made a truckload of money on smart business decisions in the past. But these days, it seems like its just pissing its future away by releasing products that no one is actually interested in. If this is the brilliant strategy that Steve Ballmer is planning on using to take on Apple and Google as Gates fades into the sunset, he might want to reconsider.
Earlier this year, when Microsoft was making a play for Yahoo, I observed that the Internet is not in Microsoft's DNA. Ballmer's acknowledgement of Microsoft's slow move into search, and Mundie's demonstrations at EmTech indicate that it continues to struggle to establish itself as a true leader in Internet innovation
Microsoft's Hotmail hybrid struggles to life
The long-awaited merger of Microsoft "classic" and "full" Hotmail services has got off to spotty and painful start.
--Steve Ballmer
Comments
RyanT
2008-10-05 22:43:33
A classic sign of disruption as I mentioned previously - a disruptive product can be epitomised by "crappy products for non consumers" - Google Docs might be low functionality now, but if Google plays its cards right and slowly increases functionality while still keep the web based appeal intact, they've got a sure fire way of taking out Word.
Couple that with a failing games division, a lack of a Google competitor, and an OS that will become irrelevant going forward through diversification of devices and extra needed mobility and customisability, and they have a shaky future.
RyanT
2008-10-05 23:01:00
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/oct/05/media.microsoft.ballmer
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=windows&articleId=9116258&taxonomyId=125&intsrc=kc_top
http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2008/10/03/microsoft_search/
The software worlds business models are changing, and Microsoft is stuck in the 90's of OS and Office.
Roy Schestowitz
2008-10-05 23:14:40
David Gerard
2008-10-06 15:17:15
Roy Schestowitz
2008-10-06 16:14:44
Microsoft Gags Own Employees to Put Customers’ Life at Risk http://boycottnovell.com/2008/09/15/microsoft-gags-own-employees/
AlexH
2008-10-06 16:45:16
Where does that figure come from?
Roy Schestowitz
2008-10-06 17:06:46
I suppose you did not follow the URL above.
AlexH
2008-10-06 17:10:45
I've seen estimates of the actual customer return rate between 15% and 40%, hence me asking where your figure comes from?
I'm not a gamer, so I don't really care what Microsoft widdles its money away on, I'm just interested.
Roy Schestowitz
2008-10-06 17:20:17
Gamers Say Microsoft Understates Xbox Problems
"Game Daily BIZ, a gaming industry publication, reported that the anonymous source tallied that of the 300 consoles EA has received, 30-50 percent of them have failed."
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/08/xbox_gamers02.html
HTH.
AlexH
2008-10-06 17:36:47
I think a failure rate of 20-30% - which seems more reasonable to me based on the facts - is disastrous enough without having to pump it up. YMMV.
Roy Schestowitz
2008-10-06 19:24:25
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/21017/1063/
AlexH
2008-10-06 19:33:45
Roy Schestowitz
2008-10-06 19:37:09
Sony loses lots of money too, I don't doubt it. Earlier on I saw a report suggesting that both might quit this business at the end (after this 'generation').
AlexH
2008-10-06 21:22:21
I think I'm right in saying that until Playstation 2 or Gamecube (I can't remember which, but certainly pre-Xbox) it wasn't at all common for manufacturers to sell consoles at a loss for any period of time. Now, it seems virtually de rigeur for them to be loss leaders.
I wonder if Sony only care about Playstation because it's pushing blu-ray, which is probably going to bring in as much revenue as the games do if not more.
It's somewhat amazing Nintendo are still in the game at all - I think they got slightly lucky with the Wii and I don't think they can replicate that success. The current generation of consoles will probably be around with us for a little while, but then, I guess PS2 has been around for ages now.
Roy Schestowitz
2008-10-06 21:29:11
"Investors sent the Redmond, Wash.-based company's stock down $1.23, or 4.7 percent, to $25.09 in midday trading. The stock is still above its 52-week low of $23.50 set Sept. 19."
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D93L3JGO0.htm
it's down about 7% now.
AlexH
2008-10-06 21:38:02
What remains to be seen is who is going to come through this Christmas in some of the toughest trading conditions in many years. Consoles will be down, but I doubt by a large amount - children's gifts are the last to go in a recession.
Roy Schestowitz
2008-10-06 21:48:00
Regarding Microsoft, the weakening of software megacorps in general can advance Free software and further weaken an already-dysfunctional patent regime.