http://abcnews.go.com/Business/SiliconInsider/story?id=88655&page=1
<snip>
"Great, healthy companies not only dominate the market, but share of mind.
Look at Apple these days. But when was the last time you thought about
Microsoft, except in frustration or anger? The company just announced a
powerful new search engine, designed to take on Google - but did anybody
notice? Meanwhile, open systems world - created largely in response to
Microsoft's heavy-handed hegemony - is slowly carving away market share from
Gates & Co.: Linux and Firefox hold the world's imagination these days, not
Windows and Explorer. The only thing Microsoft seems busy at these days is
patching and plugging holes.
"Speaking of Gates: if you remember, he was supposed to be going back into
the lab to recreate the old MS alchemy. But lately it seems - statesmanship
being the final refuge of the successful entrepreneur - that he's been
devoting more time to philanthropy than capitalism. And though Steve Ballmer
is legendary for his sound and fury, these days his leadership seems to be
signifying nothing.
"Longhorn's Delayed Release
"There are other clues as well. Microsoft has always had trouble with
stand-alone applications, but in its core business it has been as relentless
as the Borg. Now the company seems to have trouble executing even the one
task that should take precedence over everything else: getting 'Longhorn,'
its Windows replacement, to market. Longhorn is now two years late. That
would be disastrous for a beloved product like the Macintosh, but for a
product that is universally reviled as a necessary, but foul-tasting,
medicine, this verges on criminal insanity. Or, more likely, organizational
paralysis.
"Does anyone out there love MSN? I doubt it; it seems to share AOL's fate of
being disliked but not hated enough to change your e-mail account. And do
college kids still dream of going to work at MS? Five years ago it was a
source of pride to go to work for the Evil Empire - now, who cares? . . .
"For now, though, none of that is obvious. Microsoft is still the dominant
company in high-tech, the cynosure of all those things people love and hate
about computing, the defining company of our time. It is huge, powerful and
confident.
"But if you sniff the air, you can just make out the first hints of rot."
</snip>
--
regards,
Georges Toth