Bonum Certa Men Certa

More Microsoft Products May be Axed After Microsoft Exodus, Other Trouble

Memphis



Summary: Microsoft's spin after an exodus is explained and shown; Microsoft has begun suing Windows users for money and further limiting the available options

Last week we saw another wave of Microsoft exodus [1, 2, 3] (rumours of more layoffs exist too) and Microsoft uses "reorg" is a typical euphemism, as we previously explained in [1, 2]. Whenever large numbers of major departures are announced, the word "reorg" comes up. The term is usually being used by Ina Fried and other such PR folks (same two years ago when the mobile unit was abandoened). Here are more new examples of "reorg"/"reorganize"/"reorganization" in new headlines [1, 2, 3]. The term which Mary Jo Foley uses in her headline is "org[anisation] chart".



"Shake-Up" is the word Murdoch's press uses in the headline and the same word is used in the headline of John Carroll from Microsoft (he stopped working there) and an article by Microsoft boosters like Preston Gralla (maybe his editor changed the headline). They are spinning it as through it's a good piece of news rather than a disaster for Microsoft.

Here is another example of the word "shakeup" being used in the headline:

Microsoft Shakeup Ballmer's Last Chance?



[...]

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer put his credibility, and possibly his career at the software maker, on the line Tuesday with a bold reorganization of the company's struggling hardware unit.


It's not just about Ballmer. We'll come to this in a moment.

When many departures are announced at the same time and the company fears investors' wrath that's just the type of reaction one ought to expect. It's called "damage control" and the above is just a survey of headlines. The side blog of Murdoch's press calls this a "reboot", which is a term Ballmer used on various occasions, e.g. to describe post-Longhorn Windows development.

Microsoft's stock fell some days ago after Barclays had lowered its views on Microsoft.

Microsoft (MSFT) is trending modestly lower in afternoon trading, down 1.08%, after Barclays Capital cut its target price on the stock while maintaining its "buy" rating.


Here are some other negative articles about Microsoft's stock [1, 2, 3], coming at roughly the same time as when it fell behind Apple in terms of market cap. Some pro-GNU/Linux sites celebrated this. Other sites went further [1, 2, 3], with the headline of a longtime Microsoft watcher saying: "The Windows era is over".

Here is a chart comparing Apple and Microsoft (MSFT). Apple customers will spend a lot of money on Apple's stuff, whereas some people won't pay Microsoft anything and they would pay absolutely nothing if Microsoft forced them to because Free software like GNU/Linux is available (Apple's customers are people who choose by price tags and labels). In terms of market share, thanks to the less wealthy countries, GNU/Linux might already be ahead of Mac OS X. Here is Steve Ballmer's presentation slide from last year (referring to desktop):

Ballmer's slide on Macs and GNU/Linux



Let's go back to the main topic though. More "reorg" reports are appearing. It's that euphemism again.

Microsoft Ready To Reorg Marketing Big Time, Analyst Says



Evidently, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive officer, has had enough. Maybe that's why Microsoft in February appointed David Webster chief strategy officer, and Gayle Troberman chief creative officer, -- both new roles -- after somewhat of a reorganization earlier this year.

Webster was previously general manager, brand and marketing strategy. Troberman serves as general manager of advertising. Both report to Mich Mathews, senior vice president of corporate marketing. The new appointments and strategy will allow marketing team to work across campaigns to unify the message for the Microsoft brand.


Microsoft's mobile business is a disaster and it's not entirely clear who will take over and how. There is a big vacuum. Novell had similar problems in the channel before John Dragoon took over it, just like Steve Ballmer does in this case. It's not just a couple of departures because this chain goes a while back (Enrique Rodriguez [1, 2] for example).

Might Microsoft just cancel some more of its products? It seems possible, based on CRN.

Microsoft has problems in its mobile business, but it's clearly not afraid of jettisoning the old way of doing things and starting over with an entirely new approach.


Microsoft tried "an entirely new approach" with Sidekick and with "KIN". It failed miserably. IDG has the following new articles:

Microsoft Admits Windows Phone 7 Slide Was Wrong

Microsoft Risks Becoming Mobile Market Also-Ran

Redmond has its share of problems in the rapidly evolving consumer tech market. While Microsoft continues to dominate in its two core, and highly profitable, software markets with Windows (desktop operating systems) and Office (productivity software), it has failed thus far to match the success of key rivals Apple and Google in the mobile arena.


If You Have Multithreading in Windows Phone 7, Do You Need Multitasking?

Microsoft’s decision to block multitasking for Windows Phone 7, at least in the initial release, unleashed complaints from some developers and pundits. It was a step backward! The Apple-fication of Windows Mobile and so on.


With multitasking lacking, how can Microsoft even compete on technical grounds?

Here is another new report: "Microsoft May Cut Zune Streaming Music Price, Executive Says" (is anyone even using it?)

Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, may cut the monthly fee it charges for streaming music on its Zune portable player, senior product manager Terry Farrell said in an interview.


CNET's corner for Microsoft boosters ("Matt Rosoff is an analyst with Directions on Microsoft") has this headline: "What should Ballmer do with Zune?"

“Some sites are trying to personify the problem by naming Ballmer, but it's not a one-man failure.”Zune too is a dead/dying product, but "KIN" might depend on it now. Looking around at some other devices, Vista 7 keeps failing in tablets [1, 2, 3] and this new article states: "Microsoft: No Windows Phone 7 Tablet Devices Planned"

So how are they going to compete?

Some sites are trying to personify the problem by naming Ballmer, but it's not a one-man failure. In fact, a lot of people in this team have been shown for their abuses. Getting rid of Ballmer, as some new article suggests, would not solve the behavioural problems of Microsoft. It's a cultural issue in a changing landscape that injures this monopolist and leads to layoffs.

One author asks, "Why Does Steve Ballmer Still Have a Job?" [via]

Sure, Microsoft still has a dominant market share in PC operating systems and office applications, but it’s managed to take that massive competitive advantage and waste it everywhere else over the past decade.


Ballmer's mistake is that he is a bully and a liar. He even shows this, unlike Bill Gates who was doing the same things but at least hiding it. Here is Ballmer spreading the counterfeiting lie that Microsoft uses whenever it's down. Ballmer did this last week (original report here).

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is scathing of ongoing, rampant piracy in China in his latest comments, saying: "India is not perfect, but the intellectual property protection in India is far, far better than it would be in China." He added that "China is a less interesting market to us than India, than Indonesia".

Ouch.

These comments come on the same day that US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are actually in China, which may put pressure on both Governments to address this issue once again, as it potentially loses Microsoft, and numerous other US companies, hundreds of millions of dollars.


There is a lot of poor reporting, which is not analytical and is just echoing Microsoft's use of words like "piracy", along with unsupported, un-backed claims about "damages".

"It's easier for our software to compete with Linux when there's piracy than when there's not."

--Bill Gates



Extreme sensationalism is being used by InformationWeek ("Microsoft Says China Piracy Killing Thousands Of U.S. Jobs"). Microsoft is just chasing old business models where this notion of counterfeiting still exists. It's all about artificial limitations:

Microsoft says a Parallels virtualization product, aimed to help users upgrade their systems to Windows 7, will cause users to violate their software licenses in most cases, according to CNET.


Microsoft should sell services, not licences to merely run some binaries. Digital abundance cannot be fought against for much longer. That's why Microsoft's Encarta died and Microsoft's software may be next. Windows is no longer free (gratis) in China and this is probably going to drive China to GNU/Linux even faster. Microsoft was suing Chinese businesses for using Windows, but it's bouncing back at Microsoft's face:

Internet café fires back at Microsoft over lawsuit



A Chinese Internet café group being sued by Microsoft for using pirated software is accusing the US firm of attempting to shore up money in its intellectual property lawsuit.

The accusation comes about two weeks after Microsoft said it would nearly triple its compensation claim in regard to the café group's use of pirated Windows operating systems, bumping the damages sought to 1.58 million yuan ($231,000).


This Internet café is likely to just use GNU/Linux after the incident. The government in China has even begun encouraging this, but it's claimed that there is in-built surveillance in the distribution/s the Chinese government approves/endorses/enforces. There's nothing GNU/Linux can do to prevent them from doing this, but users can fetch/compile their own distribution of choice if they are permitted by the totalitarian regime. Microsoft is "enabling tyranny" in China and Ballmer defended this policy last week as well. To Microsoft, it's still all about money.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Slopwatch: A Cause for Hope, the Hype is Dying
For about a month we showed that becoming a slopfarm - for several weeks - resulted in utter failure and ruin for BetaNews
The EFF Sided With the Team That Strangles Women and Tells Women to Kill Themselves
They say that apathy and inaction are a form of a "stance"
Exemplary List of Things That Are Not Artificial Intelligence or Even Intelligence
The "age of AI" or "era of AI" or "AI revolution" mostly boils down to rebranding, just like "the cloud"
GitHub Copilot Can Cause the Bankruptcy of GitHub to Come Sooner and GitHub to be Shut Down Just Like Skype
Some publicly available information suggests that even for each paid subscriber for plagiarism (LLM 'coding') GitHub Copilot still loses more money than it makes
 
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025
Microsoft - Like IBM - Does the "Relocation" Tricks (Start Over Elsewhere, Then Get Sacked by Microsoft)
It is a "low blow" or a "dick move"
After the Free Software Foundation's Campaign to Raise Money Let's See Campaigns to Finish Off Microsoft (Vista 11, GitHub etc.)
Microsoft is in effect collapsing
Your Publications Have No Major Impact Unless or Until You "Get Some Heat"
we're on the right track
Links 11/07/2025: Censorship Worsening, 3D Printing Success Stories, UK and France Unite Around Nukes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Zorin OS and Scriptonite Updates
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Hardware, Russia, and China
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Intel Collapsing and Microsoft Resorts to Bribery to Push Slop Via Obligatory Education
Links for the day
"Nat [Friedman] and [the Serial Strangler From Microsoft] Were Always Exceptionally Close," Says Former Housemate and Colleague
Now Alex (hiding behind another name when that suits him) not only attacks women but also people who merely report what he did to women
New Letter From the European Patent Office Explains How the Office Plots to Grant Many Illegal Patents, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of 'Growth'
Open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) and Mr Aledo Lopez (COO)
Abuse of Process
5RB is employing people who help violent men
What Microsoft's Nat Friedman and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
"Get in da car; No time to explain, loser"
Microsoft and IBM Don't Have Much of a Future (They Mostly Pretend at This Point)
IBM and Microsoft are in some ways alike but in many ways different
It's Not Just Twitter (or X.com) That's Dying, Microsoft's Equivalent is Dying Also
Unable to find a business model
Wayland is Bad for the Planet
If you use Wayland, it'll take you longer to accomplish tasks and you will consume more energy (or battery life)
Legitimising Those Who Sabotage You
Microsoft is a very malicious company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 10, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 10, 2025
On Microsoft Layoffs
we might be looking at about 60,000 Microsoft layoffs since 2023
EPO Management Already Breaks Its Own Promise (Lie) on "Bringing Teams Together"
This gut-punching move happened just 2 days ago
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Occupation of 2025 and "Old Man Yells At Soundcloud"
Links for the day
Our Lawsuits Against the 'Cancel Mob' (Ringleaders) Helped Reduce Anti-Free Software Online Abuse
That's not to say that lawsuits are the best way to handle terrible people. But that can help.
Tomorrow is the Last Day of the Fund-Raising Campaign of the Free Software Foundation (FSF)
They will probably extend the date, as usual
Fixing Patents in Europe, Little by Little (by Transparency and Reporting of Suppressed Facts)
Tomorrow and throughout the weekend we shall focus some more on the EPO
The Two Lies Microsoft is Telling in "the News" This Week (to Distract From Layoffs and Decreased Interest in Slop/Chaff)
Microsoft is run by liars and frauds who SLAPP critics
Tux Machines Already Destroyed SLAPPs
Attacks on the mere publication of GNU/Linux news won't be tolerated
PCLinuxOS is Available for Download Again
PCLinuxOS is important to us also because its founder, back then the partner of Susan, helped create Tux Machines more than 21 years ago
Links 10/07/2025: Microsoft E-mail 'Services' Collapse Again, "Yet Another Strava Privacy Leak"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/07/2025: Automating Git Repo Updates and Small Web 'Zine'
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Leftovers
mostly Linux stuff
Audiocasts/Shows: Going Linux, FLOSS Weekly, and RHEL Clones
3 new picks
We Are Already Fighting - With Considerable Success - SLAPPs in the UK
we intend to tell the full story
Bullies With Pens and Papers (or Apple Macs With Templates)
Not all barristers are evil, but there are perhaps "rotten apples"
Slopwatch: webpronews.com, linuxsecurity.com, linuxjournal.com
a pile of trash disguised as 'articles'
Links 10/07/2025: Linda Yaccarino Divorces MElonazi Site, Wildfires Hit Syria
Links for the day
The History and the Policy of the EPO's Stance on Breastfeeding (Corporate Monopolies Versus Babies' Health)
"The Case for Introducing a Breastfeeding Policy at the EPO"
Gemini Links 10/07/2025: Inventing Chords and "Nightmare Boss"
Links for the day
Igor Ljubuncic Once Again Shows That for Technical Reasons Wayland Still Sucks, Performs Considerably Worse Than What Existed for Decades
That is aside from compatibility factors and other crucial factors
Links 10/07/2025: "Apple Vs The Law" and Twitter Became Full Nazi Bar
Links for the day
Unable to Find Anyone to Work as Their Media Lawyer, Brett Wilson LLP Will Continue Losing Female Staff
What sort of sick person would wish to join Brett Wilson LLP to carry this baton?
Microsoft-Sponsored Propaganda Site Has Removed False 'Hit Piece' About Dr. Stallman (With Fake and Misrepresented Imagery) But Only After 4 Years
So they only removed that page some time around 2025, i.e. about 4 years after it had been published
Always Check Your Inputs
Garbage in, garbage out. Or wrong assumptions, wrong corollary.
Dan Neidle Said That Tax Evasion Facilitator Mr Zahawi (Working to Silence Bloggers Through Brett Wilson LLP) Targeted Not Only Him (But The Others Kept Quiet)
"Mr Neidle said after repelling Mr Zahawi he was contacted by bloggers and tweeters who had received similar threats. They deleted their work “and in most cases never commented publicly on anything again”."
SLAPP Funding Transparency Urgently Needed in the UK and Elsewhere (in Practice, Not Just in Theory)
Writing about crime - including Microsoft crime - is not a crime
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 09, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 09, 2025
Elodie Bergot Still Doing Illegal Things at the EPO, Based on the Local Staff Committee Munich
They keep taking away from the staff while compelling the staff to do illegal things