Why Vista Sucks: Part #3765

Today, I get an update from Microsoft. Here's what the update says:

Oh goodie. Let's see what the update is about. Oopsie... Here's what I get now, in case MS decides to fix this link in the future:

Not available? Doesn't MS Windows group talk to its own website group to make sure an article gets published before it gets pused to Windows Update?

Microsoft-Yahoo Deal

The tech industry is abuzz with the news about Microsoft's Unsolicited $44.6 billion offer to buy Yahoo! with both stocks and cash. The keyword there is "unsolicited". This was one of those rumors that kept showing up every few months and it finally materialized. This deal has been analyzed in every which way possible by every analyst out there. But here's my two cents on it:

• Microsoft could not afford not to make this deal. They have tried the past 3 years to come up with an search & advertising alternative to Google's but haven't been going anywhere. They have a huge amount of cash - something like $35+ billion. They had to show their investors that they are doing something with all that money and hence, voila, Yahoo!.
• Yahoo could not afford not to accept this deal. As Saul Hansell put it "An Offer Yahoo Can't Refuse". They have not been able to convert their 500 million visitors into revenues and their stock isn't going anywhere in the last 3 years. Their management is basically a musical-chair. On top of all that, Microsoft is offering 60% premium above the stock's closing price on the day the deal was made public. This is so that no other company can beat that deal (except maybe Google, who wont be able to buy Yahoo anyway for anti-trust reasons). It is what is known as 'Checkmate' in Chess. Well played, Microsoft. By going public with the deal, Microsoft is putting pressure on Yahoo's board and investors to make its move.
• Microsoft-Yahoo merger would not and could not work in the long term. There are just too many roadblocks - differing work cultures, too many competing product offerings, overlapping user base and above all, the management-by-committee that's running Microsoft would drive core Yahoo folks running for their life. Couldn't agree more with Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet.
• And finally, has any mega tech merger been successful? AOL-TimeWarner, HP-Compaq, Oracle-PeopleSoft and eBay-Skype have all been unable to boost the acquiring company's revenues by any reasonable amount.

It'd be interesting if Yahoo refuses this deal and Microsoft launches a proxy bid for Yahoo, a la, Oracle-Peoplesoft. Grab your popcorn, people!

Bill Gates' Last Day at Microsoft

The video below is a parody that Bill Gates himself showed in his last CES Keynote speech yesterday. It's pretty funny and you've gotta hand it to someone who has the guts to parody themselves in front of the world!



Bill's Last Day: The CES Keynote video

Remember MS-DOS?

Good old times, huh?

When you suddenly find yourself out of work

If you are the type who keeps himself/herself busy all-day every day and suddenly find yourself out of work, the prospect of sitting at home doing nothing is a daunting one. You end up doing some hilarious stuff at home. Jim Allchin, the Windows Chief who's leaving Microsoft after 16 years is going through that now. The best line for me:

• 7:45 AM: Went to check email. Only two pieces.
• 7:46 AM: Checked network connection to see why I am not getting any email. Everything working perfectly.

Read the whole thing here. It's hilarious and you never know - one day you might go through the same thing :).

Why in the world?

I wonder who in Microsoft comes up with these absurd product names. The latest example is Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade Limited Numbered Signature Edition.

My only question is: why in the world would anyone buy this?