tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post8075487005412563382..comments2024-03-18T12:52:48.117-07:00Comments on Mini-Microsoft: Microsoft FY12Q1 ResultsWho da'Punkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18205453956191063442noreply@blogger.comBlogger177125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-88439079732240064532011-11-12T05:54:23.716-08:002011-11-12T05:54:23.716-08:00Excellent hiring decisions from 2-3years ago comin...Excellent hiring decisions from 2-3years ago coming back to haunt MS India. Dynamics team has ensured we lost all three important CRM deals in FY12... Third failure in 5years. How come we never get this business right?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-62957191368423444132011-11-11T22:02:53.229-08:002011-11-11T22:02:53.229-08:00For all you complainers,,,,You folks should all wo...For all you complainers,,,,You folks should all work in MSIT....Where you work with feel like being in the Apollo launch room. Talk of lack of Vision, direction and leadership...there seems to land grab and empire building and a$$ kissing -- We are currently restructuring an exercise that is not rooted in reality and with no business value.<br /><br />For an organization and drains billions of dollars, the operations and the IT teams are the inefficient and most badly planned organizations ever. I wold fire KT in a heart beat as I dont think he has shown any results for the time he has been at MS or held these teams accountable. <br /><br />Well that would need a more courage from the LT....that is another story... who is counting the costs of reorganizations...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-74892476182267460862011-11-10T06:18:04.761-08:002011-11-10T06:18:04.761-08:00From the Seattle Times: "Microsoft has named ...From the Seattle Times: "Microsoft has named Yusuf Mehdi chief marketing officer for Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division, which includes the Xbox and Kinect brands. Previously, Mehdi spent 10 years in Microsoft's Online Services Division, where he led an 1,800-person engineering team to develop and launch Microsoft's entry into search and online advertising, according to his company bio. More recently, he led the marketing rollout of Bing."<br /><br />So now he can lead Interactive Entertainment to the same financial successes experienced by Online Services/Bing? That's super exciting!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-8710621558406920162011-11-08T07:32:40.177-08:002011-11-08T07:32:40.177-08:00Little OT but when did they start adding even more...Little OT but when did they start adding even more interviews to internal transfers.<br /><br />I seem to remember this being 5 people from start to finish. Now sop seems to be 6 plus ASAP. <br /><br />What is the reasononing behind addin another 2 people (and hours) into the decision processAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-65118614295945034222011-11-08T07:00:36.313-08:002011-11-08T07:00:36.313-08:00Entire ST Team Chopped Off...Way to go Saravana an...Entire ST Team Chopped Off...Way to go Saravana and Soma..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-73354347539245742102011-11-07T14:00:35.066-08:002011-11-07T14:00:35.066-08:00mini - where did you go? any comments about the up...mini - where did you go? any comments about the upcoming annual shareholder's meeting. any questions stockholders might want to ask?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-65599018743300778932011-11-05T15:39:22.250-07:002011-11-05T15:39:22.250-07:00Quit Microsoft for Amazon last month. Best decisi...Quit Microsoft for Amazon last month. Best decision I ever made. Now I'm on a team that actually ships software, I make 10% more, and my commute is much shorter. I highly recommend moving away from the toxic culture at Microsoft...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-59253535247304961462011-11-05T09:02:29.570-07:002011-11-05T09:02:29.570-07:00To all the iPhone/Apple fans here. iPhone/iPod may...To all the iPhone/Apple fans here. iPhone/iPod may have taken the western world by storm but in the largest hand phone markets read India/China... iPhone has a piddly share even in the smartphones segment. the battle has only just begun and its going to be a long one. Windows Phone may be late for the western markets but its just in time for the almost 1.5 billion mobile phone users in Asia.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-35763211133541595322011-11-05T07:33:37.838-07:002011-11-05T07:33:37.838-07:00At least 5 let go in stb yesterday, stealth layoff...At least 5 let go in stb yesterday, stealth layoffs continueAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-28197089436011114292011-11-02T17:16:08.952-07:002011-11-02T17:16:08.952-07:00Is anybody else depressed about the ads Microsoft ...Is anybody else depressed about the ads Microsoft is blasting over Hulu? Sorry but the people in marketing just don't "get it." (As if they ever did...)<br /><br />The ads for IE9 basically just show some people going to web pages, as if you can't do that with EVERY OTHER WEB BROWSER. Google's ads for Chrome were entertaining and had a clear message, namely that Chrome is super fast. Try harder, Microsoft.<br /><br />Also the ad with the dancing dad ("TECH NO") seems meanspirited to me, and also isn't emphasizing anything that you can do with Microsoft products that you can't do with any other smartphone/laptop/etc. combination.<br /><br />Apple has had so many iconic ad campaigns, it drives me nuts that Microsoft can't produce a single thing that isn't confusing crap.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-18941590752534328992011-11-02T09:16:48.194-07:002011-11-02T09:16:48.194-07:00Windows 8 tablets will just be one of 3 or more eq...<i>Windows 8 tablets will just be one of 3 or more equally viable alternatives. Even with the Windows brand behind it, that's most likely less than a 25% market share for the first few years, or in the best case scenario a 50% market share after 2-3 years. That's still a far cry from the 90% share Windows desktops and laptops enjoyed until a year or two ago. And that means a market share collapse like nothing it has ever seen. Margins will come crashing down with all this. First Windows, then Office, then everything else.</i><br /><br />This may happen sooner than most people think:<br /><br /><b>Report sees Android tabs passing iPad in 2014</b><br /><br />http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2011/11/02/report-sees-android-tabs-passing-ipad.html?ana=yfcpc<br /><br />"Analyst Jack Gold projects that Android tablets will make up about 50 percent of the market in the 2014-2015 time frame, with the iPad only 30 percent and tabs running on Microsoft Corp.'s <b>Windows operating system having 10 percent.</b><br /><br />Despite that overall edge, he believes Apple will have an edge in tablets used by <b>businesses and organizations</b>, with 40 percent of that market, compared to 30 percent for Android and <b>15 percent for Windows.</b>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-16052903637100179862011-11-01T19:57:20.138-07:002011-11-01T19:57:20.138-07:00Take a look at this article about Microsoft's ...Take a look at this article about Microsoft's decision to kill the Courier Tablet project. http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/microsoft_killed_courier_tablet_because_it_wasnt_windows/<br /><br />Ballmer couldn't make up his mind and had to ask BillG. No balls to make up his own mind. As a result both Allard and Bach quit out of disgust.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-10828666910826838082011-11-01T16:06:24.545-07:002011-11-01T16:06:24.545-07:00This "It's not Windows." thing is lo...This "It's not Windows." thing is looking like a pathological cognitive inflexibility.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/microsoft_killed_courier_tablet_because_it_wasnt_windows/" rel="nofollow">Microsoft Killed Courier Tablet Because it Wasn’t Windows</a><br /><br />(a) <i>Microsoft killed its Courier tablet project mainly because it strayed outside of the company’s two main businesses, Windows and Office, in a way that was perceived as a threat to those businesses. According to an in-depth report from CNet, it was Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates who steered Steve Ballmer towards nuking the project.<br /><br />For those not familiar, Courier was the code name for a journal-like tablet that was being developed by Microsoft. According to the CNet report, the project was headed by J. Allard, the man who had led the development of Microsoft’s popular Xbox console gaming platform, and the 130-person team was months away from having the device ready for market.</i><br /><br />(b) <i>According to CNet’s report, there were two competing visions of how to do a touch tablet within Microsoft. One was the above-described Courier, while the other was a traditional Windows OS-based approach headed by Steven Sinofsky, the head of Microsoft’s Windows division, that was still at least two years away from being ready (it will be closer to three before it ships).<br /><br />When faced with these two visions, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer did what Steve Jobs would never have done, he went looking for the opinions of others, specifically the opinion of Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates.</i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-61133786287440107012011-10-31T17:04:00.044-07:002011-10-31T17:04:00.044-07:00Fascinating shift in attitude and content for the ...Fascinating shift in attitude and content for the comments on this post. I've been reading mini's blog & comments for each earnings report for years. As the iPhone progressed in the marketplace the mood shifted from "Apple is clueless" to "We can beat Apple". In the first ~150 comments I read today, next to nothing. <br /><br />Instead, the comments reflect an increasing flow of product talent to the exits. People are talking about corporate tax rates, parking cash overseas & how Ballmer is insulated from reality by his enormous fortune. One commenter strikes a particularly sad chord when he notes that after making a $5.7 Billion profit, they're making substantial cuts to health care benefits.<br /><br />Buy Yahoo? No, probably not this year. Ballmer will string that out until 2012 as a smokescreen to cover abysmal sales & losses from the Nokia / MSFT phones in the first quarter. Windows 8 adoption? Unpredictable, but it's hard to imagine anyone in the corporate world wants to pay the cost of upgrading with little or no increase in productivity. Will Win 8 make anyone a more efficient typist? Certainly not.<br /><br />Later in the thread the MSFT dead weight appears, still tied to the paradigms of the 20th century, spewing blatant falsehoods like: "Trust me when you are exhaling your last breath Microsoft will still be churning out inovations." <br /><br />And there's this:<br /><br />"I'm definitely tired of all the voodoo product designer engineering "this guys a visionary/genius" crap ala Steve Jobs."<br /><br />I'm almost speechless. Steve Jobs pulled the rug out from under Microsoft over the past decade. He screwed MSFT so badly in the marketplace that it's almost impossible to recover. Using "voodoo" ... (biting tongue & moving on).<br /><br />Siri Voice control is about to hit every product in the Apple line, including the Apple TV which hits in a year or so. Microsoft product technology hasn't even reached the level of the iPhone 3 as of today.<br /><br />Saving the most telling disconnect for last: <br /><br />"When iOS is arguably the most successful gaming platform in history...<br /><br />Reply<br />"You need game sales and an online presence to claim you have gaming ecosystem. I don't see any of that in their annual report. <br /><br />I don't see any information on IOS being the must successful gaming platform but I do think Windows 7 X64 is the best gaming OS."<br /><br />To the replying person: Have you worked for Ballmer so long that it's driven you crazy? Did someone drop you on your head last week? <br /><br />There's a really HUGE statement in Apple's financials & future budget estimates just released. They expect to DOUBLE iOS device sales in the coming year (Source asymco.com). Every one of those devices is loaded with game apps by almost everyone who buys one. Forget the 30% commission on sales, the apps drive the device sales. Microsoft has no presence in this key 21st century technology. None. Zero. <br /><br /><i>Unlike almost every other commenter on this blog I sign my name to my comments. You can search back for years and decide for yourself what weight you choose to give to these words. I am a semi-retired developer, manager & product integrator who made a very comfortable living in the 1990's working almost 100% with Microsoft technology. You couldn't pay me to recommend it today, unless you're willing to throw 7 figures on the table as a Nokia-style bribe. </i><br /><br />-KeithXKeithXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05956175169903906369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-83517096405965215472011-10-30T19:13:21.746-07:002011-10-30T19:13:21.746-07:00Despite what everyone says about Microsoft, it is ...Despite what everyone says about Microsoft, it is still ranks 1st as best place to work<br /><br />http://www.greatplacetowork.com/best-companies/worlds-best-multinationals/list-of-the-25-best-from-<br /><br />and 72nd as best company to work for.<br /><br />http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2011/full_list/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-56732425431708461212011-10-30T17:55:01.137-07:002011-10-30T17:55:01.137-07:00"Even if trimming of payroll is "by desi..."Even if trimming of payroll is "by design," SLT should be careful, otherwise, these SLT themselves will be on the chopping block too. Given the importance of W8, let's check out the developer site for both app and devices, one is "non-pulic" one has '90 look and feel. Is this how W8 can churn out amazing app and tablets in a year? Who should be responsible for these sad state of affair? These guilty parties are still giving out 3, 4, 5 when them themselves should be fired on the spot!"<br /><br />I love whoever this guy is from W8 store that keeps coming back again and again to grind his axe because he got a shitty review. <br /><br />Here's some free advice: No one who gives a flying fuck about your situation reads this blog. You clearly don't have enough influence to affect your own situation, and the IQ of your comments, coupled with your broken english makes it pretty clear you got the rating you deserved.<br /><br />If you're as good as you think you are, leave the org and find any of the 1,000's of great positions in the company. If you're not that good, but still think you're getting a bum deal, then leave MS. If, as I suspect, you suck, and you're at the company on a foreign work visa, then either stfu, or leave.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-87447643973668994832011-10-30T00:19:24.788-07:002011-10-30T00:19:24.788-07:00"I got a 5. I received an offer equivalent to..."I got a 5. I received an offer equivalent to my MS package - with a higher guaranteed base by 15% - at another local company, because other former MS employees who knew actual work quality, regardless of review ratings, were there. I was historically a 1/1+ who due to exhaustion from a big project had slipped to only being in the top 25% of the team that year, instead of its top 1-5%. And I guess someone hadn't liked that. Fortunately I had a great network at MS, and former colleagues knew I was worth snapping up when on the market."<br /><br />When you got it, you got it, does not matter some piece of shit giving you a 5. Let those principals, especially PM principals try to get interviews, let alone receiving multiple offers. <br /><br />At the Narita "Google Desk" to use free Wi-Fi, flight is delayed, over three hours "at the desk", breakdowns are: one third smartphones, one third iPad or touch devices and one third PCs. Just glancing over PC's sign on screens, all of them are XP's. No Vista or W7 appeared in three hours. Some in Windows would argue that there is "great potential" for W8 upgrades, really?<br /><br />There is no migration path out of XP and these 1/3 of Google desk users who are using PC do not have a PC that can do Metro or touch. I wish I'm wrong and hope that HP can come back and do a good iPad killer. The question is when? Do HP have the design chop to come up with one, for that matter any of our OEMs---especially when the couldn't even finalize and certify their W8 system 3 weeks before back Friday 2011. This is just brilliant, Windows spent too much time saving the old woods, handing out 3, 4 and 5 when the market is passing us by at light speeed.<br /><br />One can almost cry....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1458018147714519002011-10-29T20:29:42.257-07:002011-10-29T20:29:42.257-07:00"Gotta hand it to Ballmer. He's pretty cr..."Gotta hand it to Ballmer. He's pretty creative. A decade ago when the stock was $27 and the targets in the $40s, he couldn't get the stock to meet it. So he worked hard for a decade to lower the company's prospects so that now the target and dead stock price are in alignment."<br /><br />Whoa partner! Do you remember why the stock got to 27 10 years ago? I was there and I can tell you that when Win2000 was released, MSFT was at around 120. This was during the winter; by spring, the company was adding to stock options of all employees because they were deep underwater. Hint: no, this was not Bush's fault, or Ballmer's.<br /><br />The truth shall make you free.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-9218810603118775562011-10-29T20:23:57.081-07:002011-10-29T20:23:57.081-07:00""Microsoft makes a few dollars off of A...""Microsoft makes a few dollars off of Android phones thanks to Google infringing MS IP, probably knowingly like they did Oracle's."<br /><br />"There, fixed it for ya."<br /><br />Regressed. Closed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-35506211596423859482011-10-29T14:44:21.887-07:002011-10-29T14:44:21.887-07:00"Steve Ballmer, Please Retire"
A stock ..."Steve Ballmer, Please Retire"<br /><br />A stock that has now been on the decline for ELEVEN YEARS should get you fired, not retired.<br /><br />MS's Board is an embarrassment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-28869187543088626902011-10-29T10:20:44.983-07:002011-10-29T10:20:44.983-07:00"As he reiterates a buy."
Yeah, I thoug..."As he reiterates a buy."<br /><br />Yeah, I thought that was kind of funny too. But his call for management change was surprising. When asked for specifics he demurred. But it certainly sounded like a call for Ballmer's removal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-53692980486379878942011-10-29T10:15:40.307-07:002011-10-29T10:15:40.307-07:00"It's not vendetta, it's just that I ..."It's not vendetta, it's just that I get nothing out of being a sheeple"<br /><br />LOL. I recall reading your original comment here at least a year ago. Only now you've modified it to reflect the barrage of criticism you received then, making it appear your motivation is rational business judgment instead of the original spite. <br /><br />When someone leaves MS and goes to work for someone else in IT, they should be selecting the best product fit period. In fact even when they're working for MS they shouldn't be recommending a MS product unless they believe it is in fact the best option. But your original comment, combined with this one, shows that this isn't about product merits. You're just bitter and vindictive. <br /><br />Frankly, you sound like someone with a really fragile ego, particularly the need to tell us how great you really were despite your ranking. MS isn't unique in having some great people get gone while some terrible people have stayed. Shit happens in large companies. Just ask Bob Muglia. And you're fooling yourself if you think your new coworkers can't see through your product choice motivations as easily as I can.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-32388351797913144892011-10-28T23:04:48.150-07:002011-10-28T23:04:48.150-07:00Microsoft has a product to connect up the Mainfram...<i>Microsoft has a product to connect up the Mainframe: Host Integration Server. And our company uses it everywhere for our ATM network.</i><br /><br />HIS and its predecessor SNA Server actually <b>made money</b> for Microsoft. Cusomers actually wanted to buy these products, even without marketing. But in the mid 2000s, the HIS product group was shifted in under BizTalk - a product which has never covered its costs, and which few customers want. Today, you can no longer buy a stand-alone copy of HIS. You need to buy a BizTalk license; then throw away all the BizTalk bits and just select the "HIS" setup option. There was no technical or business justification for this;, it was pure politics and empire building, of the worst kind. The HIS team had to answer to CSD GMs and CVPs who didn't know what CICS or IMS are, let alone build products for them. Now HIS is a shattered remnant of its former self: a demoralised team, most of the star devs have long since left, and the product has ossified. It was a disaster for the product group members, a blow for customers, a loss for shareholders, and a victory for head-up-ass corporate politics of the Ballmer Era. It is a tragic emblem for everything wrong with Microsoft.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-50556026567626127522011-10-28T19:04:27.416-07:002011-10-28T19:04:27.416-07:00For the trolls and all the internal "victims&...For the trolls and all the internal "victims", from the internal "protagonists", enjoy: http://m.prnewswire.com/news-releases/great-place-to-work-unveils-worlds-best-multinational-workplaces-132755163.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-8722431050996247492011-10-28T16:40:33.967-07:002011-10-28T16:40:33.967-07:00Post PC move has been felt "downstream",...Post PC move has been felt "downstream", Inventec just laid off over 400 due to reduced PC orders. Hon Hai is surviving on iPad and iPhone orders.<br /><br />Let's hope that Nokia sells tons of Mango, otherwise, $20 a share here we come.<br /><br />"Not Windows HDX PM"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com