Microsoft Still Loves Yahoo, Even Without Bartz (MSFT, YHOO)

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At a meeting with financial analysts this afternoon, an audience member asked Microsoft executives if the changes at Yahoo would affect the two companies' search deal.

CEO Steve Ballmer gave a pretty definite "no." Here's what he said:

There are hundreds of millions people every day using Yahoo services....We talked with Tim Morse and our partnership will remain strong, no matter where they want to take their business.

Microsoft's Online leader Qi Lu -- who formerly worked in search at Yahoo -- clarified that the contract remains in place regardless of who's in charge, and said that the leadership change does not alter how Microsoft is working with Yahoo's engineers, ad sales teams, and platform teams.

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Microsoft Can Only Keep Growing The Hard Way: By Clawing For Market Share (MSFT)

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Email Zip Microsoft Can Only Keep Growing The Hard Way: By Clawing For Market Share Matt Rosoff | Sep. 14, 2011, 7:59 PM | 490 | 7 A A A   x Email Article From To Email Sent! You have successfully emailed the post.

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See Also: Ballmer Lays Out The 7 Most Important Products For MicrosoftSteve Ballmer Just Gave A Shout-Out To ZuneMicrosoft Still Loves Yahoo, Even Without Bartz
Steve Ballmer and other Microsoft execs just finished talking to financial analysts for three hours, and while they tried to paint an optimistic picture -- as they always do -- it was really clear that Microsoft has no big ace in the hole to drive growth this year.

Instead, it's going to keep doing what it's been doing for the last decade -- trying to dominate the markets it already owns, and clawing market share away in other areas.

Take a look at what Ballmer mentioned in his speech as big areas of focus for the company's current fiscal year (which started July 1). None of these areas -- not one -- will add $1 billion to Microsoft's top line (let alone bottom line) in the current fiscal year.

The launch of Nokia Windows Phones. Microsoft thinks they can become a "very strong third ecosystem in the smartphone world." But recall that Microsoft only charges about $15 for each copy of the Windows Phone platform it sells. If the Nokia Windows Phones are a hit, Nokia will gather most of the revenue -- not Microsoft.The integration of Skype, which Ballmer hopes will clear regulatory hurdles in Europe in teh next few months. Skype is a "very very" real business, as Ballmer said -- but even so, it's only got $900 million a year in revenue. Microsoft is going to use Skype to boost other businesses -- Ballmer mentioned enterprise meetings via Lync, Xbox Live, and Windows Live. But as a standalone revenue source, it won't make much of a dent.Lync videoconferencing. Video meetings are a big trend, and his videoconferencing and IM app for corporations was one of the few product demos during Ballmer's speech. It's a fast-growing part of the Office family of products -- revenue was up 20% last quarter from the previous year. But it's also growing from a small base -- probably well under $1 billion at this point.Adding TV to Xbox Live. Neat idea if Microsoft can get the licenses signed. But the Xbox is a tiny part of Microsoft's overall business -- its division contributed only $1.3 billion in operating profits and $8.9 billion in sales last year. Microsoft's total operating income was $27.2 billion, and its total sales were just shy of $70 billion. Small potatoes.Windows 8. That's a cost center for FY'12, not a growth generator -- the product almost certainly won't be out until late calendar year 2012, or Microsoft's FY'13.Office 365. Office and its related products (Lync, Exchange for email, and SharePoint for collaboration) are the company's biggest and fastest-growing areas right now. Office 365 is the online version of these products. It's going to be important for helping Microsoft to make more money in China -- it's a lot harder to pirate a service than software -- and to capture more money from small businesses. But it just launched in April, and Microsoft declined to say how much uptake it's getting or what mix of Office revenues it expects to come from Office 365 this year. In fact, COO Kevin Turner -- the second-most powerful man at Microsoft -- noted that Microsoft actually made it easier to add Office 365 services to existing software contracts last year, and that's helping to drive growth. In other words, enterprise software is still the main driver here, and the transition to services will take a while.

Looking at all this, it's clear that Microsoft is not about to pull an Apple and come out with some great new product that makes revenue skyrocket.

Instead, it's going to ride the PC growth rate to keep selling Windows and Office, convince corporate customers to add new products, and try to take market share away from enterprise software competitors like Oracle (in databases), IBM (email), and VMWare (in virtualization).

That's not a sexy story, but it's allowed Microsoft to grow revenue pretty consistently at about 10% per year during most of the last decade, with the exception of the big downturn in 2008 and '09.

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600px wide (preview)400px wide (preview) 300px wide (preview) Blackboard Home » Edit » Microsoft Summary Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to... More » Edit » Nokia Summary Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki. Nokia is engaged in the manufacturing of mobile devices and in... More » Edit » Skype Summary Skype was founded in 2003. It’s based in Luxembourg, with offices in Europe, the US and Asia. It’s owned by an investor group led by Silver Lake and which includes eBay Inc, Joltid Limited and Skype founders Niklas... More » Edit » Steve Ballmer Summary Steven A. Ballmer is CEO of Microsoft Corporation and has worked with the company since graduating from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 1980. Bill Gates, who attended Harvard undergraduate with Ballmer... More » Edit » Windows Phone 7 Summary Windows Phone 7 is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and is the successor to its Windows Mobile platform. It is aimed at the consumer market instead of the enterprise market like its predecessor. It launched in... More » Edit » Xbox Summary The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor... More » Matt Rosoff is Silicon Alley Insider's West Coast Editor Contact: e-mail: AIM: mattrosoff Subscribe to his RSS feed | twitter feed
View his Google+ profile Ask Matt a QuestionRecent PostsBallmer Spot-Checks Financi...Microsoft Still Loves Yahoo...Steve Ballmer Just Gave A S... The Water Cooler
Receive email updates on new comments!cvszEmail7 Comments 0 0 Flag as Offensive kevin72 on Sep 14, 8:33 PM said: Or internationally. The vast majority of the world still doesn't have PCs or Tablets. Reply 0 0 Flag as Offensive pu$ybref on Sep 14, 9:10 PM said: @kevin72: At first, all my friends first getting on the internet wanted to video chat, then they got tired of that, then just texted, then got tired of that, most dont even talk on the internet anymore, just log on to play some youtube files, the novelty has worn off, GAME OVER DUDE. Reply 1 0 Flag as Offensive JohnCha on Sep 14, 8:45 PM said: Don't forget by extorting money from Android manufacturers with useless patents that they aren't even going to look at after they license them from MS. Reply 1 0 Flag as Offensive James Watts on Sep 14, 8:54 PM said: "Instead, it's going to keep doing what it's been doing for the last decade"

Working towards the lowest common denominator. Great move. Reply 0 0 Flag as Offensive lizhias on Sep 14, 8:54 PM said: ===== { w w w }{better-----wholesaler }{ us } =======

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--- -- (w w w ) ( cabikini ) ( c o m ) --- ---- -- Reply 0 0 Flag as Offensive Eko Zen Strive Prasetyo on Sep 14, 9:12 PM said: Oh I am sure Ballmer will claw things up, literally. He is crazy like that. Just look at him! Reply 0 0 Flag as Offensive jar jar on Sep 14, 9:25 PM said: So with Windows 8, Microsoft will charge $15 for the phone version.
$30 of tablet version, $200 for desktop version, and $1000 for server version.

So how is Microsoft going to maintain their profit margin, better start buying
arm chip manufacturer, flash memory.

One OS to rule them all. Reply Join the discussion with Business Insider
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Microsoft Follows Apple, Bans Flash From Windows 8 Tablet Software (MSFT, ADBE, AAPL)

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Looks like Microsoft is following Apple once again.

The Web browser in the tablet interface of Windows 8 won't support plug-ins, according to a post yesterday by IE leader Dean Hachamovich.

That means it won't run Flash.

The reasons are the same reasons Apple has refused to support Flash on the Web browsers on the iPad and iPhone. As Hachamovich wrote:

Running Metro style IE plug-in free improves battery life as well as security, reliability, and privacy for consumers. Plug-ins were important early on in the web’s history. But the web has come a long way since then with HTML5. Providing compatibility with legacy plug-in technologies would detract from, rather than improve, the consumer experience of browsing in the Metro style UI. 

That does not mean that Flash is out of Internet Explorer or Windows 8 entirely.

Windows 8 will be a two-in-one operating system. It will include the Metro touch-screen interface for tablets or other touch devices (Microsoft is talking up touch-enabled monitors, for instance). That's what Microsoft is showing off at its Build developer conference this week.

But every copy of Windows will ALSO include a more traditional interface that's meant to be used with a keyboard and mouse. It will look a lot like Windows 7, only updated.

The version of IE in that interface will still support plug-ins, presumably including Flash.

Still, it's another blow for Adobe: Microsoft has basically agreed with Apple that Flash has no place in the post-PC future.

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What Microsoft Did For Cantor Fitzgerald After 9/11 (MSFT)

When Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 of its 960 employees on 9/11, it wasn't expected to survive. 

The firm, which occupied space on the 101st-105th floors of One World Trade Center, also lost most of the "files, hard drives and technological capability that make a brokerage firm tick," reports the Los Angeles Times. 

But amazingly, within a week, the firm was back to trading online -- thanks to companies like Microsoft, which "flew out some 50 employees to help Cantor break into the password-protected computer accounts of all the workers who were gone," and Cisco Systems, which "sent a dozen 18-wheelers full of routers, cables and other hardware to Cantor's office in New Jersey." 

Cantor's reemergence may be one of the greatest comeback stories on Wall Street. According to the LA Times: 

At the same time that [CEO Howard] Lutnick was shuttling between funerals, he was also bringing on new employees to begin rebuilding Cantor. On the weekend before the memorial, Lutnick had interviewed and hired 35 people from temporary office space in midtown Manhattan.

The expansion has rarely stopped since then. Lutnick, who oversaw 2,100 employees before Sept. 11, when Cantor was known primarily for trading bonds, now oversees 4,500 employees and has grown his company into a full-service investment bank.

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Yes, Microsoft Did Change The World More Than Apple (MSFT, AAPL)

But in terms of sheer impact on the world? Microsoft wins, hands down. 

Microsoft gave the world two things:

Microsoft was the first real software company.Microsoft did put a PC on every desk and in every home. 

At the end of the day, it's that last part that matters. By shifting the value in computing to software, Microsoft commoditized computing hardware and made computing accessible to the masses. If this isn't one of the most significant events in history, nothing is.

Now, some people will say that Microsoft did this by copying Apple's innovations like the graphical user interface. Whatever. First of all, Apple famously copied those from Xerox PARC. Great artists steal. Second of all, by any meaning of the word, the person who changes the world isn't the one who comes up with the idea, it's the one who executes on it, and 1980s Apple failed to execute (a lesson well learned by Apple under Steve Jobs 2.0). 

The original Macintosh did show where the future of computing was headed, but it was also a commercial failure. 1980s Apple failed to understand the value of software, in particular third party software, which was lacking in the Macintosh. (This writer's mother bought two computers in the mid-1980s: the first Macintosh and the first IBM PC. There was a lot more software for the PC. So she kept buying PCs, to this day--though she has an iPhone.)

Microsoft, being a software company, built an operating system platform that let thousands of others innovate which, along with Moore's Law, made PCs cheaper and more valuable every year which meant more and more people could get access to them, in a vicious circle.

Being the first big, viable software company also meant Microsoft cleared the way for thousands of other software innovators, when it was in no way obvious at the start that a company could be viable making just software.

The hardware may have been ugly, and the software clunky (a big reason why Windows is buggy is because of Microsoft's amazing 20 year commitment to backwards compatibility, which makes PC software a cohesive environment, a tremendous service to users and the world, for which it gets no credit. With less software to support, Apple can afford to wipe the slate clean every ten years, a strength born of weakness.), but it was the software that millions of people used, and loved.

Nowadays Apple is so huge and efficient that it can afford to make the best products at the best prices. But when the personal computer revolution happened, the Macintosh was a Mercedes and MS-DOS was the Model T. The Model T might have been ugly, clunky and cheap, but being cheap it also changed the lives of millions and transformed the world in a way that the early auto pioneers, amazing and necessary though they were, didn't.  

Now, Apple may yet get its revenge. The mobile computing revolution, with smartphones and tablets, will be at least as big as the desktop computing revolution, and Apple is seriously taking the lead. Android has a good chance of disrupting iOS, but Apple also has a great chance of remaining the dominant mobile platform. Maybe 20 years from now we'll look back and see Apple had an impact at least as big as Microsoft in the 1980s. 

But if we're looking now, Microsoft clearly had a bigger impact on the world than Apple. The fact that we all love Apple products and they're gorgeous doesn't change the fact that the company that actually made the world realize the magic of software, and made computing accessible to almost everyone on the planet, is Microsoft. 

Related: My Apple Story ?

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Microsoft Finally Admits Windows Media Center Is A Dud (MSFT)

Microsoft has admitted that people just don't use the Media Center interface in Windows all that much.

Media Center gives people a special remote-controllable interface for watching TV and video, listening to music, and viewing photos.

It was introduced as a special version of Windows XP almost a decade ago, and later put into the high-end versions of Vista and Windows 7. PC makers sold a lot of copies of Windows with Media Center, and it has a devoted and vocal fan base.

But toward the end of today's post on the Building Windows 8 blog, Windows chief Steven Sinofsky shot down comments from Media Center enthusiasts who claimed that lots of people use it.

In fact, only 6% of Windows users ever open Media Center, and most just look at it for a minute or two. As Sinofsky wrote:

Our opt-in usage telemetry shows that in July, Windows Media Center was launched by 6% of Windows 7 users globally with the heaviest usage in Russia, Mexico, and Brazil (frequency and time). However, most people are just looking around; only one quarter (25% of 6%) of these people used it for more than 10 minutes per session (individual averages), and in 59% of Media Center sessions (by these 6% of users) we see almost no activity (less than a minute or two of usage). TV was the most common scenario we observed, and not surprisingly, traditional media (DVD and CD) are less common (and declining over time) than streaming and file-based content. By comparison, Media Player (66% of Windows users in July) and IE (88%) are popular rendering engines for all types of media content, including an increased volume of "premium" and streaming content.

Sinofsky insisted that Microsoft is still committed to Media Center, and it will be released in Windows 8 in some form. But it won't be in the early test versions -- including the build that Microsoft is showing off at its BUILD developers conference later this month.

In the same post, Sinofsky also addressed the feedback Microsoft has gotten about some parts of the Windows 8 interface, like the Windows Explorer, and said that the company is already making some changes based on that feedback.

Whether or not you agree with all the design choices Microsoft is making, this blog is proving to be a very interesting spotlight into how Microsoft works.

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Microsoft Just Got Sued For Knowing Where You Are And Where You've Been (MSFT)

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Security researcher Samy Kamkar says that Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 can transmit your location without your permission, writes Declan McCullagh of CNET.

It's the Camera application that seems to be the specific problem -- it sends the phone's location, including latitude and longitude, a unique ID, and nearby Wi-Fi access points -- to Microsoft.

This all happens even when the user hasn't given the app permission to behave in this manner.

It's Apple's Locationgate all over again.

Now there's a class action lawsuit in progress.

This could be an easy fix -- there's no evidence that a single customer has been harmed due to location tracking, and there's still the user option to completely turn off location services. That should disable the transmission of any geolocation data to Microsoft.

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The Difference Between Microsoft And Apple (MSFT, AAPL)

  Microsoft showed off the upcoming improvements in the file explorer for Windows 8 on its blog this morning, and the post highlighted the main difference between Microsoft and Apple.

It's not just about complexity, which Apple hides and Microsoft defiantly does not. (As MG Siegler pointed out in this excellent graphic.)

More revealing is the fact that Microsoft collected data from hundreds of millions of users (anonymously) to figure out exactly how they use Windows Explorer today. Then, they analyzed this data in painstaking detail -- for instance:

The top 10 commands represent 81.8% of total usage. Additionally it shows us that people overwhelmingly use Explorer for core file management tasks - the top 7 commands (72.2% of usage) are all for managing/manipulating files.

And:

54.5% of commands are invoked using a right-click context menu, and another 32.2% are invoked using keyboard shortcuts (“Hotkey” above) while only 10.9% come from the Command bar, the most visible UI element in Explorer in Windows 7 and Vista.

They used this data to figure out where to start. The team is pretty proud because "The commands that make up 84% of what customers do in Explorer are now all available on this one tab."

Never mind that the rest of the tab is filled with icons that will be rarely, if ever, used.

Then, they asked customers what they wanted to see. "Customers have a lot of suggestions for how they’d like to see Explorer evolve."

This is exactly the opposite of Apple's approach.

From Steve Jobs:

It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.

There's also:

You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.

This approach has become so ingrained at Apple, they embedded the quote in one of the icons in OS X Lion.

And then there's this gem:

The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste.

So which approach is better?

The market will decide.

See also: The 13 Best Quotes By Steve Jobs.

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