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Finally, some good news in a bad econmy!

Thagarr

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I know it would take many profit losses like this to actually make Microsoft realize that people are fed up with their bloated, way overpriced and buggy software.... but it's a start!


<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->As analysts predicted it might, Microsoft on Thursday reported the company's first ever year-over-year sales decline for the quarter ended March 31.

The software maker said fiscal third-quarter sales totaled $13.65 billion, down 6 percent compared with $14.45 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Its per-share earnings were 33 cents per share, although that included severance and investment impairment charges that reduced earnings by 6 cents per share.

Analysts had been projecting sales of $14.15 billion and per-share earnings of 39 cents, down from 47 cents a year ago, according to Reuters Estimates.

Microsoft had said in January that the crystal ball for the company was cloudy and at the time announced its first companywide layoffs, with plans to chop 5,000 jobs over an 18-month period.

"While market conditions remained weak during the quarter, I was pleased with the organization's ability to offset revenue pressures with the swift implementation of cost-savings initiatives," Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said in a statement.

The company noted that software sales to large businesses were stable during the quarter, but that weakness in server and PC sales hit its Windows, server and Office units.

Whereas Intel and EMC have been somewhat optimistic that things may have reached bottom last quarter, Microsoft's comments were less hopeful.

"We expect the weakness to continue through at least the next quarter," Liddell said.

The company didn't have much to say on several closely watched topics. The company did not give a specific sales or earnings outlook for the coming quarter, instead only noting what it expects as far as its operating expenses.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Rest of the story here :
<a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10226242-56.html?tag=mncol;txt" target="_blank">http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10226242...l?tag=mncol;txt</a>
 
<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/w00t.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":woot" border="0" alt="w00t.gif" /> Take that you dirty rats! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />
 
Definitely not. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />
 
<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />
 
Yeah, 13.65 billion is still a lot of money, but the point is it's the first time Microsoft has lost money over the previous year. It looks like that is a trend that is going to continue, Microsoft will never learn.... most businesses and a lot of consumers still use XP, Microsoft's solution? Windows 7 "XP Mode!"

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><b>Windows 7 to have an 'XP mode'</b>
by Ina Fried

Microsoft is trying to make it easier to sway users of Windows XP onto the latest version of its operating system.

For some time now, the company has been quietly building a "Windows XP mode" that uses virtualization to allow Windows 7 to easily run applications designed for Windows XP. According to sources familiar with the product, the application compatibility mode is built on the Virtual PC technology that Microsoft acquired in 2003, when it scooped up the assets of Connectix.

By adding the compatibility mode, Microsoft is aiming to address one of the key shortcomings of Windows Vista: its compatibility issues with software designed for Windows XP and earlier versions of the operating system.

Details of the Windows XP mode, previously known as Virtual Windows XP, were first published earlier Friday by the Windows SuperSite blog.

The technology has not been part of the beta version of Windows 7 or previously disclosed by Microsoft, but is expected to be released alongside the upcoming release candidate version. Microsoft said on Friday that it will release it to developers next week and publicly starting May 5.

According to the SuperSite report, written by bloggers Paul Thurrott and Rafael Rivera, the XP mode won't come in the box with Windows 7, but will be made available as a free download for those who buy the professional, enterprise, or "ultimate" versions of Windows 7. The site also has some screenshots of the mode in action.

There had been rumors of a secret user interface, but until Friday, no mention of the XP mode.

Update: Late on Friday, Microsoft confirmed XP Mode in a blog posting.

"Windows XP Mode is specifically designed to help small businesses move to Windows 7," Microsoft's Scott Woodgate said in the blog. "Windows XP Mode provides you with the flexibility to run many older productivity applications on a Windows 7 based PC."

According to the post, "all you need to do is to install suitable applications directly in Windows XP Mode which is a virtual Windows XP environment running under Windows Virtual PC. The applications will be published to the Windows 7 desktop and then you can run them directly from Windows 7."

Microsoft said it "will be soon releasing the beta of Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC for Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate."<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Original story here :
<a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10227533-56.html" target="_blank">http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10227533-56.html</a>
 
Microsoft needs to address the fact that Vista sucks. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/yes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":yes" border="0" alt="yes.gif" />
 
<!--quoteo(post=316061:date=Apr 26 2009, 04:43 PM:name=Old Salt)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Old Salt @ Apr 26 2009, 04:43 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=316061"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Microsoft needs to address the fact that Vista sucks. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/yes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":yes" border="0" alt="yes.gif" /><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/slap.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":slap" border="0" alt="slap.gif" /> ZOMG NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Vista is God's Personal Gift to Linux.
 
<!--quoteo(post=316066:date=Apr 26 2009, 07:01 PM:name=rupertlittlebear)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (rupertlittlebear @ Apr 26 2009, 07:01 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=316066"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Vista is God's Personal Gift to Linux.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/24.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rofl" border="0" alt="24.gif" />

... if only there were some good pirate games for Linux! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":?" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" />
 
Perhaps Windows should just come bundled with Linux. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />
 
Windows 7 eh? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> Probably another piece of shit. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />
 
<!--quoteo(post=316191:date=Apr 27 2009, 10:52 AM:name=Deep One)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Deep One @ Apr 27 2009, 10:52 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=316191"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Windows 7 eh? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> Probably another piece of shit. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
More like 4 pieces

(Microsoft cannot count to 7)
 
<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />
 
Ouch. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />
 
I use vista whenever my XP has been infected. And it looks really damn pretty. But who wants to only use half of their ram on their programs Vista sucks up 1gig of ram itself while idle! Windows needs to concentrate on making their OS use LESS memory not more!
 
Aye Dreadlord, Vista is nothing but bloated eye candy. Designed just to make consumers upgrade all their hardware and software. Microsoft has always been bad at managing memory, but Vista is a new low even for them. I have been seriously considering moving back to Linux for good lately, there are only two things stopping me, #1 is the lack of games. There have been a few good ports to Linux the last few years of some older games though, so it's a start. The second is the lack of driver updates by hardware manufacturers to support Linux, though there are a few that are doing it. Those are the two things that keep me stuck in windows. One of the reasons I looked at OGRE 3D as a possible game engine, if we had decided to try our hand at making a game, was because it is built to support multiple platforms. For an open source engine, it really is a nice piece of work.
 
Fight the vista.. burn it, spit on it, chew it, spit it out.. and squash it. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/pirate3.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p2" border="0" alt="pirate3.gif" /> Vista is the shits. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/yes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":yes" border="0" alt="yes.gif" />

*Does another tactical nuke drop*

<img src="http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc220/Cylon13/Explosion.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /><img src="http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc220/Cylon13/Explosion.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /><img src="http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc220/Cylon13/Explosion.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /><img src="http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc220/Cylon13/Explosion.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /><img src="http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc220/Cylon13/Explosion.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" />
 
Not again... <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />
 
<img src="http://blaugh.com/cartoons/070130_the_vista_ultimate.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" />
<img src="http://www.macwallpapers.eu/bulkupload/Tg//Tiger/Black%20Mac%20Tiger%20Desktop%20Funny%20Vista.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
<img src="http://englishrussia.com/images/toilet_vista/1.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
 
<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />
 
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