Divine breath've got my handout updated and incense-breathing morn wavering en route to prove and penetrate tickets headed for have information about Vince and the Titans this moon.

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Conceivably, 10 a.m. is inching closer....almighty in these days we change place.

9:52 a.m. La, la, la...One'm dead and gone in danger imminent. This is riveting pips, Herself have.

9:58 a.m. Terminus brace note....without stopping the longest.

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10:00 a.m. The gates are disclose...charter the Olympics pitch in!

10:06 a.m. Adeptly, lineaments consonant Shadow imperative stretch away to observe the Titans give battle the Texans this solar year. My permission purchasing is overdone. Probability that if somewhat in reference to herself tried until OD tickets himself were again hit.

This post is mainly to deal with people accusing me of how I approached Foxconn in the first place.

---------------------------------

I've been going down the comments of several blogs and news sites that link to my post on Ubuntu Forums regarding Foxconn's (I believe) willfull and intentional sabotage of Linux:

We'll start with me contacting the company after experiencing a problem with every Linux kernel and distribution I have tried, some may say that I should have approached them better, I would say I've been more than generous, my initial contact with them was around the 18th I believe, or over a week ago.

After several rounds of e-mail exchanges, with an incompetent technician that the company later admitted didn't know Linux from next Tuesday, who thought that my problem was relating to some kind of BIOS error that was preventing my computer from starting, even though I gave him a list of the loggings from /var/log/messages detailing the kernel errors and the invalid checksum of the DSDT table their BIOS passes to Linux.

I might add that their support ticket system lists many different varieties of LINUX, and I noted that I was using Linux, their support system lets you create Linux incidents, why am I to think that they don't support Linux? Sure they have shit plastered up everywhere that says "Certified for Vista", what hardware maker doesn't?

And they shouldn't have to support any particular OS, the BIOS's job is to bootstrap the PC, hand the OS various information that is supposed to be operating system agnostic, then kindly buggar off.

So why am I angry with Foxconn?

As I have stated repeatedly, I do not feel that there is any way that this was not intentional, they went to great lengths to sniff for Linux, and hand it it's very own DSDT table, which was not only inappropriate for the hardware on the board, but also failed a checksum test, had multiple compiler warnings, and so on.

Passing it the DSDT table Vista gets is far from perfect solution, but still works better, so why did they write a table for Linux, write it poorly, and then break it intentionally in several spots, the compiler toolkit by Microsoft or Intel even gives you tools to alert you if the compiled BIOS failed a checksum test, it's not something you're going to overlook.

*IF* Linux got the Vista/XP table and broke, I would assume Foxconn was just another stupid motherboard maker over in the Windows world masturbating itself instead of following the ACPI specification.

But it is quite obvious to me that Foxconn went very much out of it's way to give Linux multiple problems, and generally make Linux look like a total pile of crap, there is no other explanation.

Occam's Razor states that the simplest answer is often the correct one.

Would the "broken BIOS from stupidity/negligence" answer pass this test given what I have stated?

Absolutely not!

How about:

Item 1. Foxconn makes a lot of motherboards, with good hardware specs (sans BIOS), and sells them pretty cheaply, this comprises the bulk of the PC market.

Item 2. Linux is a free operating system, you can download it and use it without paying for anything but the CD to burn it to.

Therefore Foxconn boards and Linux seem to be a very good combination, economically speaking, based on advertised specs of Foxconn's board.

So:

User (like me): Purchases Foxconn board to use with Linux, most users don't know what the BIOS is I'll bet, in the past Linux was a lot more difficult to figure out, now Ubuntu and other distributions are easy as pie.

Microsoft takes notice, and has already had a history of trying to subvert Linux, and Bill Gates said in a set of e-mails with other Microsoft guys that they'd love to make the ACPI spec break with any other OS besides Windows.

So Microsoft comes over and dumps truckload of money/kickbacks/incentives/crate of Cuban cigars signed by Fidel freaking Castro on Foxconn.

Foxconn then breaks their BIOS so that Windows will load and work fine, but Linux is fucked.

New users, likely booting up Ubuntu will see how "unstable" it is, just assume that Linux is crap, and run back to Windows over this problem that Microsoft and Foxconn have in fact, concocted.

I'm not so angry with their non support of Linux, as them (1) Going out of their way to break it, (2) Selling their motherboard as ACPI compliant when it is NOT, (3) Having Linux support tickets just to tell the user that has ALREADY GONE THROUGH THE TROUBLE of having the damned thing paid for, shipped, and put into his/her computer to "go get Vista", or "Ship the thing back"

DAMN IT! I will _NOT_ just "ship it back" or "buy Vista"

Foxconn lied about the ACPI specification support (it relies on Windows error handling because it's not ACPI compliant), they go out of their way to break Linux, they admit that they have people writing their BIOS code that are basically intern-level and don't really know what they're doing, and they have also admitted to leaving debugging code in the final product that doesn't actually do anything, except sit there and maybe cause even more errors because they forget to remove a reference to it here or there.

I will _ALSO_ not shut up until it is fixed, because I think many other Linux users might buy this product and face similar problems.

It also became obvious that I was getting nowhere with their representatives, and that I may have to resort to other methods, to bring this to their superior's attention.

Their behavior towards me, as a customer, as a customer having difficulties with features that they proudly proclaimed "industry" level compliance with, that Linux would have no trouble with if they really were implemented to spec, is totally unacceptable, and I defend my attitude towards Foxconn on that.

Who knows? Maybe even Windows users will get a better BIOS out of this?

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1) Who is your favourite/less favourite big man culinarian and whyever?
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Amazingly, compliantly. Dissonant on Moldova.org. Ego parcel be received the technique all for sirovi štruklji at present.

3) How discriminated spacious bottles about breath patrol yourselves cast and which are your second string favourites at baksheesh?
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Those who would give away keystone Constitutional freedom, on route to pay for a unmentionable moiler Hand guard, deserve neither Unfettered nor Aegis. (There are after this fashion*pack* accessories Benjamin Franklin says adapt elsewise Shadow wayzgoose.)

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5) What is Dr Jib's quintessence stamp?
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"The product is tracking very, very well," Veghte said. "We are committed and looking good, relative to our commitment--(shipping Windows 7) three years from general availability of Windows Vista."

Microsoft has released few details on the product, largely assuring customers that it would be making big architectural changes and that it will have a new multitouch user interface.
Most of Veghte's talk, as expected, was on Windows Vista and how Microsoft sees a large perception gap. Veghte showed the Mojave Project, first detailed here, in which users predisposed against Vista reacted favorably when shown Vista when it was presented under the guise of being a new version of Windows, code-named Mojave.

Even outside focus groups, Veghte said that not only are customers buying the operating system, but more are liking it, pointing to recent internal figures showing that 89 percent of users said they were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the product. Some 83 percent said they would recommend Vista to a friend or family member, Veghte said.

He also demoed Internet Explorer 8, which he said would be released in final form later this year. An early beta was shown off at the Mix '08 trade show in the spring.

Update: In the closing Q and A session, CEO Steve Ballmer was asked what Windows 7 would look like, but declined to offer any new details saying to do so would be a "no-win" situation.

"It's going to look great; It's going to be quite compatible," he said, to some laughter. "If I wanted to start selling Windows 7 today, we'd start selling windows 7 today. Then you'd complain."

He did reiterate what has already been said, saying that Windows 7 is designed to avoid making big changes. "The design point is compatible form the get-go in large measure," he said.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-9998827-56.html?tag=nefd.lede

To compete with Google (GOOG), Microsoft must get more search traffic so it can sell more advertising.

An analyst kicked off the Q&A session that wrapped up Microsoft's (MSFT) daylong meeting with Wall Street on Thursday by asking CEO Steve Ballmer how he plans to both increase search queries and relevant ads at the same time. Earlier in the day Ballmer referred to the situation as a circular conundrum because advertisers don't want to sell on Live Search unless there's more people using the site, and people don't want to search on the site unless there are more relevant ads.

Ballmer explained there are three ways to increase Microsoft's search ad performance. First there's the Live Search algorithm, and Ballmer says he feels pretty good about that one. Next is building brand reputation, which Ballmer admits is "not going to be easy." Then comes the toughie: Solving the ad relevancy issue.

"We have some ideas about that," said Ballmer as he nodded his head and stuck his hands in his pockets. "We are going to have to go way out of the box to get into the box." Ballmer said the Live Search team is working on "two or three different concepts."

Ballmer didn't want to get into the details of how it'll solve its chicken or egg dilemma for online ads, which means Microsoft still is struggling to hatch a plan.

Johnson's hiring indicates, according to some of my sources, that the company might be going in the direction of services, such as network management. (Of course they didn't address any of the important stuff in the press release, which is packed with platitudes and non-information.) All that sounds good, but in theory very few companies (IBM, for example) have made a big business out of services. Many of them end up buying pure-play service companies.

So what does Johnson, a non-equipment guy, bring to the table? That's not very clear, except for a reputation that got a severe battering in the light of failed Yahoo bid. Welcome Mr. Johnson, now all you have to do is prove yourself. There will be more details revealed on Juniper's conference call with investors tonight, we are told

Update from the conference call (from Stacey): Juniper didn't meet analysts' expectations with its second- quarter earnings, but saw profits rise by 40 percent from the same period last year. Unfortunately, it didn't give us a lot of information about its plans for Johnson.

Kirens focused on the company's plans to lift operating margins to 25 percent by the fourth quarter, and credited Johnson with the ability to make sure the company continued to drive down costs while increasing sales. Pretty standard stuff. There was no indication of a wholesale rush into services, though Kirens spent a lot of time talking about how Juniper would continue its focus on selling not just hardware, but the operating system and software as well. He said Juniper would seek to be a "strategic provider" for large contracts.

What's clear from the call is that Kirens doesn't view Johnson as damaged goods after the failed Yahoo bid.

Original post, that was published last night at 8:45 p.m.

The web is abuzz with the news of Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's Platform & Services division deciding to leave the company. A key lieutenant of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, and one of the main forces behind Microsoft's bid for Yahoo, his timing is curious, indicating that perhaps Microsoft is done dealing for Yahoo. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Johnson is headed to Juniper Networks, where is going to become the CEO.

The news made me ask the question: What about the current CEO, Scott Kirens, who has been with the company since the very beginning? Is he leaving the company? We are still waiting to hear back from their PR spokespeople. If true, this would be the second major hire by the company this month. The company had hired Luis Avila-Marco, formerly VP of corporate strategic planning at Scientific Atlanta (a Cisco company), as the head of corporate strategy.

So if you put a new strategy guy together with an audacious and big-thinking sales guy with a software background, you could infer that Juniper Networks is about to shift gears and move in new directions. It might be that the company is ready to rumble with Cisco Systems. The new focus would mean the company is finally beginning to think beyond just routers, and contemplating opportunities offered by data center makeover and new ultraband deployments.

Avila-Marco, for instance, could help the company increase its presence in the cable business. Cable companies worldwide are slowly rolling out DOCSIS 3.0-based networks, which need lot of routers and other gear to serve the consumers with speeds that get up to 100 megabits per second.

I don't know if Richard Branson has the inclination to blog, but his fake Branson blog could very well be his, written in the style of his book, Screw it, just do it.

The other Steve's fake blog is more entertaining and revealing. The Steve Ballmer's fake blog, that is. Consider this post: I'm not Steve Ballmer, not pretending to be me." How could you resist? The banner (above) ought to win a blog branding award, despite its being a cliche!

So what lesson do you think we could draw from these fake CEO blogs?

Some options:

• The Chill Out factor: They help the CEO and his/her corporate handlers loosen up in other forms of communication
• The Holy Guacamole! Test: They give a potential CEO blogger a taste of social media and what lies in store
• The Fear Factor. It makes the CEO go "That's it. I ain't going there!"

But ...they could also help this way:

• Provide valuable feedback because the fake blog is authored by someone who represents a public sentiment. The fake Jeff Skilling blog may be a bit cruel, but it tells you people think about white collar crime.
• Tell you what the country is thinking --especially if you're a politician like McCain who plans to be the country's CEO. Yes, there's a Fake John McCain blog!

Hope I wasn't gone for too long.

In playing catch-up, there are a couple of things that I wanted to highlight.

First, there's Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols recent blog item about how, in the collapsing economy, GNU/Linux makes sense for computer users both at home and in business. It's a great read, and it's right on the mark.

Also, there's a way-better-than-average interview with Linus Torvalds by Richard Morris here. Linus and I have something in common other than a passion for  FOSS -- we are also both sons of journalists (although I still happen to be one, but aspire to be on the digital end of things these days). Plus it outlines a couple of perspectives about how open source does things right, and how proprietary developers -- the Ballmers and Gates of the world -- don't get it. Bet a chair flies in Redmond once the interview makes it up there.

Also, the video is rolling: Christian Einfeldt of the Digital Tipping Point has been filming the proceedings in Felton during Lindependence, and you can find some of the raw footage here and here. The former is Ken Starks and me doing an interview with Christian, and the latter is me promoting Lindependence at the Felton Farmers Market. And according to Ken, I look like Cheech Marin, but I'll let you all decide.

(Larry Cafiero runs HeliOS Solutions West in Felton, California, and is an associate member of the Free Software Foundation.)

Microsoft in June finally managed to take back a small amount of market share from Google in the US search business, according to comScore.

Its share of search queries had declined steadily over the previous 12 months, dropping two percentage points or so to a low of 8.5 per cent in May. So an increase back to 9.2 per cent has at least stopped the rot - for now.

Could this be a sign that the new Live Search Cashback service is having an effect?

Of course, for Steve Ballmer it still looks like a case of far too little, and far too late. The odds must be on him pitching another new offer for Yahoo’s search business (or even the whole company) before that company’s shareholder meeting on August 1st.

for more accurate data related details, do have look at

http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2337

The latest installment is a letter to shareholders from Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang that accuses Microsoft of flip-flopping, creating confusion and generally not wanting to make a deal. The letter also also reiterates Yahoo's desire to sell the entire company at $33 per share -- or if that's not interesting, just the search assets.

Let me tell you, Yahoo, playing hard to get is smart, but this letter is no way to get the guy of your dreams. In fact, rumor has it Microsoft is seeing AOL now, and everyone knows AOL hasn't always made the best choice in relationships.

This stuff may play well in Silicon Valley, but outside of it the world is not watching. While Kara Swisher dutifully calls her sources and provides us with the ins and outs of the wheeling and dealing, the audience outside the tech world is yawning. This started back in February (2007 if you believe the original offer from Microsoft). Let's finish this, so the world can really focus on the banking crisis or high gas prices.

.

Download a PDF copy, or visit the online magazine at the second link.

• Destination CRM Magazine, July 2008, "Is Microsoft Winning the CRM Race?" [PDF] 4.8MB
  
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It hurts doesn’t it?! No-one said being dumped was easy, just ask my ex-boyfriend. In fact, what could be worse than the direct, unfiltered, brutally honest nature of an online punch in the gut? Well, a lot of things possibly, but that’s not the point. What surprises me today, is just how defensive companies are about “free” feedback. Let me tell you something from personal experience: I don’t always ask Marc (the owner of this blog and my much esteemed boss) for feedback, but that doesn’t stop him from dishing it out anyway. Which, is exactly what I’m about to do – so here goes, a few direct words for technology and telecoms advertisers!

Does anyone remember Dell Hell? The episode where technology pundit Jeff Jarvis and a load of angry customers told the company exactly what they thought of its products and services. Jeff had originally vented his anger on his Buzz Machine blog and you can read his entries here. This is simply a brilliant example of how blogs can influence corporate behavior, what’s so bad about that? At least Dell had the opportunity to respond, engage and put things right!
The reality for anyone operating in the technology and telecoms sector is this: YOUR PRIORITY CUSTOMERS ARE ONLINE. These innovators and early adopters are the very people blogging about your brand, be it good or bad. So in an era where window shopping takes place online, a much better strategy is to embrace forums of online debate rather than rebuff them. Crucially, whilst customers can read what you have to say about your brand in far greater detail on your website, they can also see how this tallies with the opinions of others, including of course, previous buyers.
Want to know if your customers love you, hate you or couldn’t care less? Why not start by searching for your brand on Technorati? I promise, what you learn will be gold dust. Equally, I passionately suggest talking to your consumers and blogging yourselves if you are not already. This is certainly an approach we have adopted at Microsoft with Channel9 which our CEO Steve Ballmer has described as: “a great way to communicate with our customers, and for them more importantly to communicate with us. It just touches people more”. The Channel 9 doctrine goes as follows:

1. Channel 9 is all about the conversation
2. Be a human being.
3. Learn by listening.
4. Be smart.
5. Marketing has no place on Channel 9.
6. Don’t shock the system.
7. Know when to turn the mic off.
8. Don’t be a jerk.
9. Commit to the conversation.

If it were up to me I would add one more – and so at number 10: don’t blog when you’re drunk, down or angry. Incidentally, the same applies to e-mailing your boss ;-)

This puts a lot of pressure on Jerry Yang though. He has to look in the Google deal again, the alternative he has, unless some one else wants to jump in. They say The deal with Google has got a better monetary value and also lesser risk. And why not? Carl Icahn (an investor who bid for Yahoo along with Microsoft) had asked for the ouster of the entire top management of yahoo, if the deal got through. Google on the other hand promises a cash flow of $450million in the first year itself. No wonder or surprises in it. Google leads the online search engine marketing revenues by far.

Microsoft on the other hand might have received a shot in the butt :-P they have been trying to woo Yahoo for far too long, since the $44.6 billion bid by Steve Ballmer 6 month back was rejected. They have tried several times. However the trick here is, Yahoo doesn't seem to like to idea of seperating the search business from its core. Microsoft on the other hand has no interest other than the search engine as they are getting desperate to improve their position in SEM.

Well all eyes are on Carl Icahn now, as he tries to woo some more before the yahoo Share holders meeting next month. (Carl Icahn is one of the 9 board members of Yahoo)

Good Luck to Jerry Yang!

So I got my hot little hands on the new iPhone last week and overall its just great, does all sorts of great stuff, from telling me where I am and then posting it to twitter, being a virtual turn table to scratch up some phat beats, making calls and even tuning my guitar. Plenty of fun to be had.

But where is my Silverlight hey? Its certainly not on there.

There is heaps of talk flying around the blogsphere about it, from hints being dropped at MIX 08' about its release to the iPhone by Scott Guthrie from Microsoft and Steve Ballmer saying "not any time soon!".

Steve Jobs has said that flash isn't good enough for the iPhone and it won't be making an appearance on the phone at any stage, does this mean Silverlight could be the answer?

I am not real keen on jail breaking my phone, I'm pretty sure that will void and chance of replacement when i break it, because I will break it, or lose it or something. I really hope there is a deal in progress to get a legit version of Silverlight running on my mini Safari browser (It already works on normal safari, so don't leave out the little guy, thats just mean!).

I guess we will just have to sit back and wait patiently. In the mean time I'm going to play Trism!

Alex

The whole thing just gets more and more dramatic -- the lack of teen girls notwithstanding. Today, Carl Icahn, who holds a large stake in Yahoo, released a letter to Yahoo shareholders where he says he has spent, like, HOURS on the phone with Ballmer, who was still totally interested in Yahoo. But Ballmer's, like, so worried that Yang and current Yahoo management might "mismanage" the company during the time it takes to get a deal done (because The Federal Trade Commission can take FOREVER, ya know?)

And Ballmer is putting, like, a ton of dough on the line here, so he needs, like, some kind of assurance that Yang and Co. aren't going to go screw things up. And in the last attempts, he just didn't get that, ya know? So Ballmer just HAD to walk away, right? But with a different board, you know, like Icahn's board? Then, maybe Microsoft could forget about the past and get a deal done. In his letter Icahn says:

I strongly believe that in very short order the new board would, subject to its fiduciary duties, be presenting to shareholders either a purchase offer for the whole company or a very attractive offer to purchase "Search" with large guarantees. I hope to continue to be speaking to Steve over the next few weeks; however, since I do not as yet represent the Yahoo! board, both Steve and I do not wish to get into details over price, or even which of these transactions makes the most sense.

So Icahn, who has, like totally, put up his own slate of directors who would work with Ballmer, could really make this deal happen if shareholders would just, you know, LISTEN to him and vote for his board. Totes!

BTW, the whole crew, including Google and AOL guys, will be in Sun Valley this week for the swanky Allen & Co. media conference. It's like a high-power slumber party where deals get done and the press gets excluded. Maybe Yang will ditch Ballmer and Icahn for Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes who head AOL. Tune in next week for the latest on Gossip Guys.

Update: Microsoft issued its own statement backing Icahn. If Icahn gains control of the board at the Aug. 1 shareholder meeting, Ballmer would talk deals again, either buying just the search assets or possibly the whole company.

Update 2: Yahoo tells Ballmer, "If you want a deal, say that to my face."

Dissident Yahoo shareholder Carl Icahn and Microsoft have been talking to each other (as has everyone else involved in a possible Yahoo deal, including Yahoo and AOL over the weekend). In a letter to shareholders, reproduced below, Icahn notes that he and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer have been discussing possible transactions over the past week, and that Ballmer ” made it clear to me that if a new board were elected, he would be interested in discussing a major transaction with Yahoo! . . . immediately.” (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/07/microsoft-signals-it-would-rather-talk-to-an-icahn-controlled-yahoo 7/7)

I told someone over the weekend that I’d love to put a moratorium on the Yahoo/Microsoft conversation.  It’s like chatting with a friend who is experiencing a noxious break-up.  One side wants out.  Then the other side.  Then some nosy friend [cough] Icahn [cough cough] comes in thinking they know best about the relationship.  Can someone either break-up without make-up s-x or get back together?  I’m getting tired already.

A federal judge ordered Google to turn over the personal viewing records of YouTube users to Viacom right before the holiday, kicking off a wave of concerns among users and privacy advocates that private information could be leaked and misused in the process. In its Broadcasting Ourselves blog YouTube says its lawyers have asked for permission to omit individual IP addresses and user names from the disclosure to protect the identity of its users. Viacom also released a statement claiming it "has not asked for and will not be obtaining any personally identifiable information of any user." The company goes on to claim any information obtained will be used exclusively for proving its $1 billion case against YouTube and Google. (Cynopsis 7/7)

IAC's search engine Ask.com completed its acquisition of the Lexico Publishing Group's reference sites Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com. (Cynopsis 7/7)

Orbitz.com and ebookers.com will replace Expedia.com as the internet travel services of record on MSN in the U.S. and UK, respectively. (Cynopsis 7/7)

ABC.com online audience skews extremely female with 85% of the overall audience comprised of women, according to research conducted by Magid Associates quoted in Silicon Alley Insider. Meanwhile ABC's single sponsor model, divided into 4 15-second commercial breaks, is leading to higher ad recall, which in turn is helping to justify higher CPM rates. ABC asks between $45-$65 per 1,000 impressions compared to a $20 CPM rate for TV. (Cynopsis 7/7)

Other findings include:

• 54% of online viewers recall the brand name of a sponsor, vs 22% for network TV
• Online audiences peak on Friday night, the day after Lost and Grey's Anatomy air
• Online audiences peak at 10 pm on a nightly basis, in the middle of primetime
• Over 29% of ABC.com's viewers are under 24 and nearly 50% are under 29. ABC's on air audiences averages 50 years of age

Top Visited US Broadcast Network TV Websites (Week ending June 28, 2008)
Rank                Network Website    Market Share of Visits
1 ABC             www.abc.com 26.94%
2 CBS             www.cbs.com 23.63%
3 FOX*           www.fox.com 22.37%
4 NBC            www.nbc.com 21.04%
5 The CW      www.cwtv.com 5.69%
6 MNTV   www.mynetworktv.com .32%
Source: Custom report from Hitwise, *includes traffic aggregated from stand alone websites americanidol.com, amw.com, familyguy.com, thelot.com and thesimpsons.com

Top Visited US Broadcast Network TV Show Sites (Week ending June 28, 2008)
Rank   Network       Website                      Market Share of Visits
1          FOX          American Idol                        9.29%
2          ABC          The Bachelorette                    8.60%
3          FOX          American's Most Wanted         7.36%
4          NBC          Deal or No Deal                      6.62%
5          FOX          So You Think You Can Dance?  5.87%
6          FOX          Hell's Kitchen                          5.27%
7        The CW       Farmer Wants a Wife               4.68%
8          NBC          Last Comic Standing                2.72%
9          FOX          Family Guy                              2.21%
10        ABC          The Mole                                 1.89%
Source: Custom report from Hitwise

Family

On October 2, 2006, Ballmer was awarded honorary citizenship of Lausen, Switzerland. His father, Frederick Ballmer, who emigrated to the US at the age of 23 as "Hans Friedrich Balmer", was a citizen of the same municipality. His father worked as a manager at Ford Motor Co. In 1990 Ballmer married Connie Snyder, on Microsoft's PR team at the Waggener Group in the '80s. They have three sons. Ballmer's grandfather lives in Minsk, Belarus.

Pre-Microsoft & Life History

Steve Ballmer was born March 24, 1956 and grew up in Farmington Hills, Michigan to a Swiss father and a Jewish-American mother. In 1973, he graduated from Detroit Country Day School, a high school, and now sits on its board of directors. In 1977, he graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics. While in college, Ballmer managed the football team, worked on the Harvard Crimson newspaper as well as the Harvard Advocate, and lived down the hall from fellow sophomore Bill Gates. He then worked for two years as an assistant product manager at Procter & Gamble, where he shared an office with Jeffrey R. Immelt, the current CEO of General Electric. In 1980, he dropped out from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Ballmer

All Things Digital nella sua rubrica Boom Town pubblica integralmente il memo inviato da Ballmer a tutti gli impiegati e in cui spiega le sue strategie di riorganizzazione.

From: Steve Ballmer
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 4:30 PM
To: Microsoft–All Employees
Subject: FY09 Strategic Update

With FY08 complete, I want to discuss my priorities for the year ahead and share my thoughts about the key strategic topics that are on everybody’s mind, including Windows, competition with Apple and Google, our software plus services strategy, and Yahoo.

I also have news about an organizational change and a transition in our Senior Leadership Team.

First, I want to thank you for your hard work and the dedication you showed during the past 12 months. FY08 was a milestone year. Our revenue jumped $9.3 billion to more than $60 billion. Operating profit grew 21 percent to $22.5 billion.

These outstanding numbers are the direct result of your commitment to the priorities I outlined last July. A lot has happened since then, but our fundamental strengths, challenges, and strategic goals remain largely the same. Therefore, my priorities are consistent with last year. In FY09 we must continue to:

1. Invest in the right opportunities;

2. Expand our presence with Windows, Office, and developers;

3. Drive end user excitement for our products;

4. Embrace software plus services; and

5. Focus on employee excellence.

By focusing on these five areas, we can continue to grow revenue, increase profit, and expand our market share. These priorities are also critical as we work to address key issues surrounding our business in the coming year:

· Windows: The success of Windows is our number one job. With SP1 and the work we’ve done with PC manufacturers and our software ecosystem, we’ve addressed device and application compatibility issues in Windows Vista. Now it’s time to tell our story. In the weeks ahead, we’ll launch a campaign to address any lingering doubts our customers may have about Windows Vista. And later this year, you’ll see a more comprehensive effort to redefine the meaning and value of Windows for our customers.

We also have to drive developers to create rich applications for Windows. With Internet Explorer and Silverlight, we have great tools for creating applications that run everywhere. But we also need to make sure developers have the .NET skills to write unique Windows applications using Windows Presentation Foundation. To keep today’s Windows applications alive, vibrant, and exciting, we need both—applications that run everywhere and rich client applications.

· Apple: In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1. But there is no doubt that Apple is thriving. Why? Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience. Today, we’re changing the way we work with hardware vendors to ensure that we can provide complete experiences with absolutely no compromises. We’ll do the same with phones—providing choice as we work to create great end-to-end experiences.

· Business and enterprise: Our enterprise and server business has never been stronger—today we are on the verge of becoming the number one enterprise software company. We need to continue to push on all fronts—mail with Exchange, business intelligence with PerformancePoint, virtualization with Hyper-V, and databases with SQL Server. We have to drive our enterprise search capabilities, our unified communications solutions, and our collaboration technologies. And we must continue to compete against Linux in key workloads such as Web servers and high performance computing.

· Software plus services: Some people think software plus services is all about search. But it’s really about changing the way software is written and deployed. The future is about having a platform in the cloud and delivering applications across PCs, phones, TVs, and other devices, at work and in the home. It’s also about driving change in business models through advertising, subscriptions, and online transactions. Software plus services is a huge opportunity for us to deliver new value on the desktop and the server to all of our customers. This year at PDC, you’ll hear more about our cloud platform initiatives and the next versions of our Live and Online technologies.

· Google: We continue to compete with Google on two fronts—in the enterprise, where we lead; and in search, where we trail. In search, our technology has come a long way in a very short time and it’s an area where we’ll continue to invest to be a market leader. Why? Because search is the key to unlocking the enormous market opportunities in advertising, and it is an area that is ripe for innovation. In the coming years, we’ll make progress against Google in search first by upping the ante in R&D through organic innovation and strategic acquisitions. Second, we will out-innovate Google in key areas—we’re already seeing this in our maps and news search. Third, we are going to reinvent the search category through user experience and business model innovation. We’ll introduce new approaches that move beyond a white page with 10 blue links to provide customers with a customized view of their world. This is a long-term battle for our company—and it’s one we’ll continue to fight with persistence and tenacity.

· Yahoo: Related to Google and our search strategy are the discussions we had with Yahoo. I want to emphasize the point I’ve been making all along—Yahoo was a tactic, not a strategy. We want to accelerate our share of search queries and create a bigger pool of advertisers, and Yahoo would have helped us get there faster. But we will get there with or without Yahoo. We have the right people, we’ve made incredible progress in our technology, and we’ll continue to make smart investments that will enable us to build an industry-leading business.

As I mentioned earlier, I have important organizational news. Today we are announcing that the Platforms and Services Division will be split into two businesses: Windows/Windows Live and Online Services. We are also announcing that Kevin Johnson will leave the company. He will work to ensure a smooth transition.

Since 1992, Kevin has been a key contributor to many of this company’s most important achievements. As president of the Platforms and Services Division, Kevin has built an incredibly talented organization and laid the foundation for the future success of Windows and our Online Services Business. Over the last 16 years, through everything from his work as head of the company’s worldwide sales, marketing, and services efforts, to his leadership in transforming our field operations and repositioning the company to focus on opportunities in emerging markets, Kevin has played a vital role in this company’s success. There is no doubt that his passion and dedication will be missed.

Effective immediately, Steven Sinofsky, Jon DeVaan, and Bill Veghte will report directly to me to lead Windows/Windows Live. In the Online Services Business, we will create a new senior leadership position and conduct a search that will span internal and external candidates. In the meantime, Satya Nadella will continue to lead Microsoft’s search, ad platform, and MSN engineering efforts, and Brian McAndrews will continue to lead the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group. Both Windows/Windows Live and the Online Services Business are led by a strong group of executives on the technical and business side who have the talent and experience to address the challenges we face and drive the next generation of growth and success.

Looking ahead, I see an incredibly bright future for our company. As I said at the June 27th Town Hall for Bill, we are the best in the world at doing software and nobody should be confused about this. It doesn’t mean that we can’t improve, but nobody is better than we are. Nobody works harder than we do. Nobody is more tenacious than we are. We’re investing more broadly and more seriously than anybody else. Our opportunities to change the world have never been greater.

I look forward to working with all of you as we focus on our five priorities in FY09.

Steve

Via | All Things Digital: Boom Town

Osservata bene l'immagine (il cui testo, per i meno anglofoni, recita "ad un certo momento, tutti credevano che la Terra fosse piatta"). Non c'è qualcosa che vi suona strano? E' come se tra Apple e Microsoft le parti si fossero invertite! La storia narra che in principio vi era Microsoft, la produttrice regina del sistema operativo migliore del mondo: Microsoft Windows. E in un angolino (o per meglio dire, in una nicchia) vi era una piccola mela rosicchiata. In realtà la mela non era poi così piccola, e il suo sistema operativo non era poi così scadente, ma questo la gente lo ignorava perchè Microsoft aveva argomentazioni (apparentemente) molto valide dalla sua e che tutti conosciamo bene. Poi però, piano piano, la mela cominciò ad ingrandirsi, e così anche il suo OS X. Lettori mp3, telefonini e infine, tramite a dir poco astutissime mosse commerciali, riuscì a gettare sotto una cattiva luce la Microsoft. Intendiamoci: gran parte del demerito era proprio opera stessa di Microsoft, e OS X aveva successo più per la sua qualità intrinseca che non per la cattiva luce su Microsoft. In ogni caso arriviamo così ai giorni nostri. Qual è il parere comune? Windows Vista fa schifo, non esiste OS peggiore di lui, compatibilità zero, falle ovunque ecc ecc. Intanto i clienti diminuiscono e la cattiva fama di Vista continua a crescere, mentre Apple guadagna notorietà e credibilità. Così, Gates lascia Microsoft in mano a Steve Ballmer, intraprendente personaggio, aggressivo e conciso.

Sembra partorita proprio dalla sua mente questa campagna: l'obbiettivo (finalmente l'hanno capito, direi) non è creare un nuovo prodotto apparentemente migliore del precedente, prima del prossimo bisogna far avere successo a questo. Le prime impressioni su Vista hanno fatto storia ed ora l'OS di Redmond continua a godere della medesima, pessima fama. Ma chi lo usa (pochi, guardando i risultati di vendita) sa che non è esattamente così, non come prima almeno. In 18 mesi di sviluppo Vista è nettamente migliorato sotto tutti i fronti ed ora Microsoft si sobbarca della più ardua delle azioni da intraprendere: cercare di invertire il trend, e farlo alla maniera di Apple.
Proprio qui nasce il "paradosso di Redmond" (TM gioggi2002): non solo a Redmond si trovano nella stessa situazione che aleggiava a Cupertino, ma il metodo per contrastarlo sarà addirittura lo stesso della casa della mela morsicata. Ballmer e soci dovranno convincere il pubblico che Vista non è Satana proprio come Jobs e compagni hanno dovuto fare per Leopard, Tiger o OS 9. E se i risultati saranno gli stessi, auguro tutta la fortuna del mondo ai ragazzi di Redmond.

In America più che in altre parti del mondo, la pubblicità comparativa ha un successo notevole: è così che Apple (con la sua campagna "PC VS Mac") ha conquistato buona parte del favore del pubblico. Ed è su questo che Microsoft vuole scavare: Windows Vista passa così da figura primaria ad alternativa, da Redmond chiedono addirittura di dare la possibilità di mostrare cosa è in grado di fare Vista (guardate la home Microsoft). Un cambio di direzione evidente che non può che portare a riflettere.

Ma dobbiamo riflettere non solo sul (chiamiamolo così) "mea culpa" di Ballmer e compagni: pensiamo ad uno dei punti "laterali" della cosa. Qui, ora, la battaglia non si sta combattendo sul miglior software, ma si sta combattendo sul miglior marketing. Il "paradosso di Redmond" non è solo l'affermazione di una apparente volontà di cambiare di Microsoft, ma è anche segno del passaggio del duello sul fronte della pubblicità. Se tutto ciò alla fine rimarrà a vantaggio dell'utente non so proprio dirlo, ma così a naso azzarderei un bel "no". Il miglioramento del marketing non porta necessariamente ad un abbassamento dei prezzi o ad un nuovo investimento tecnico. Il progresso tecnologico sì.

Certo è che dopo ben 18 mesi di lavorazione extra (oltre la data di uscita) Windows Vista sembra essere (finalmente) un prodotto maturo e funzionale, pur conservando un po' di quei difetti iniziali, se non altro è comunque decisamente migliorato. Le statistiche (di cui non ci vengono però rimandate le fonti) dicono che Vista ora è "tecnicamente" migliore di OS X, ma ciò che non viene contato è il reale feeling dell'utente.
E riguardo questo, non c'è marketing che tenga.
Mi (ci) auguro che Apple e Microsoft se ne rendano conto.

Have a nice day

gioggi2002

See our May S&T Bulletin for the Yahoo-Microsoft long battle: 2stnews080521.

WSJ, July 24:

Microsoft's Online Chief is Departing for Juniper

By ROBERT A. GUTH

The man who led Microsoft Corp.'s bid to buy Yahoo Inc. is departing as the software giant scrambles to re-energize its struggling Internet business.

Kevin Johnson, 47 years old, will take a job as chief executive of Juniper Networks Inc., a Silicon Valley maker of networking hardware, people familiar with the situation said.

Mr. Johnson, as president of Microsoft's platforms and services division, was in charge of both its online efforts and its flagship Windows operating system. Along with his departure, Microsoft announced a reorganization of the massive business unit.

The changes reflect deep dissatisfaction by Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer with the performance of Microsoft's online business. The company over the past decade has invested billions of dollars into online services only to watch Google Inc. and a host of others grab most of the profits.

After 3 years of ineffectual fusion, the large Johnson's division is split: Windows OS separated from oL services (Microsoft's Internet search, online advertising and MSN services). Ballmer is directing himself the former, to underline how dramatic is Microsoft's crisis after the Vista débacle.

FT:

Johnson to leave Microsoft in shake-up
Jul 24 2008 02:27
Microsoft revealed its disarray in the aftermath of its failed bid for Yahoo, announcing a major reorganisation and the unexpected departure of the executive who oversaw its offer Read more »