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At MIX08 Microsoft outlined one of its chief objectives-- catching Google

Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer delivered a wild keynote at Microsoft's MIX08 Web Developers conference.  It was filled with barking, screaming, and some interesting insight on Microsoft's plans.  One of the more interesting facets of the keynote was Ballmer's analysis of the Microsoft-Google rivalry and things to come.

Ballmer pledged even if its his "last breath" at the company that Microsoft would gain marketshare against Google in web advertising and the search market.  He said the easiest way for this occur would obviously be if Yahoo shareholders accepted Microsoft's $41.2B USD unsolicited hostile takeover offer.

Ballmer said of his personal efforts and those of Microsoft's, "So it may be my last breath at Microsoft, but we're going to be there, working away, building share."

Then Ballmer quipped, "In online, yeah, it's Google, Google, Google, and we're in the game. We're just the little engine that could."

Some may notice that Microsoft's offer for Yahoo has actually decreased down to $41.2B USD from $44.6B USD.  This is due to Microsoft's stock slide, as the offer is half cash and half stock.  However, at this point Yahoo shareholders may not care, as the offer still remains healthily above share prices.  Says Ballmer, "We've made an offer, and it's out there, baby!"

Ballmer said that if successful, Microsoft-Yahoo would look to eliminate overlapping services to stay competitive with Google.  He stated, "We shouldn't have two of everything. It won't make sense to have two search services, two advertising services, two mail services, and we will have to sort some of that through."

Host Guy Kawaski, former Apple employee turned capital-investor, wasn't afraid of bringing up some painful moments in Ballmer's history.  When he brought up Google, he feigned fear and told Ballmer, "Don't pick up a chair and throw it at me,"  referencing a lawsuit against Ballmer from an employee who left Microsoft for Google.  The employee claimed that Ballmer picked up a chair and threw it at him in anger.

CE Ballmer wasn't throwing any chairs, this time.  However his words serve as an interesting reminder on two key topics -- the decreased valuation of the Microsoft-Yahoo offer and Microsoft's do-or-die attitude in its battle against Google.

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Competition
By xRyanCat on 3/9/2008 7:16:03 PM , Rating: 2
Competition promotes innovation. However, I would rather the competition be between two companies with a bit more of an open philosophy. Google supports many Open Source projects and contributes a lot to the community, Microsoft... No so much. It's in Google's best interest to support as many platforms as it can, but Microsoft could get away with supporting only Windows.




By phxfreddy on 3/9/2008 9:44:50 PM , Rating: 2
........delay delay delay! And its exactly what Yang is doing. And he's doing a good job of using his aloof appearance to pull it off. To a former commenter....like it matters if MS is not open. He who is open gets the most action now days!....they have no choice !




Give me a break...
By sxr7171 on 3/11/2008 5:59:17 PM , Rating: 2
They've been saying for years that were working on a new search product to compete with Google search. They failed miserably with Windows Live or MSN search or whatever it is. If Microsoft buys Yahoo, they'll screw that company out of every ounce of actually intellectual property they had. They have a track record of buying companies for their technology and then stifling the actual technology. I'm still bitter about them buy Pacific Microsonics and HDCD and just killing it.

"little engine that could" - how f'king hilarious!




Chair throwing...
By oTAL (blog) on 3/12/2008 6:59:50 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
When he brought up Google, he feigned fear and told Ballmer, "Don't pick up a chair and throw it at me," referencing a lawsuit against Ballmer from an employee who left Microsoft for Google. The employee claimed that Ballmer picked up a chair and threw it at him in anger.


This is not exactly how I recall this story. Short search ensues... ok, here it is! From ZDnet:

quote:
"At that point, Mr. Ballmer picked up a chair and threw it across the room hitting a table in his office," Lucovosky recounted


I believe that while it may appear to be a small difference there is actually a huge difference between violence towards objects or violence towards people... could you please make a correction?




Google just works
By homerdog on 3/9/08, Rating: -1
RE: Google just works
By brenatevi on 3/9/2008 1:54:10 AM , Rating: 5
What? Uhm, the PC I'm using now is Windows XP, and it seems to work fine. Most corporate environments are Windows based. Yet, no Microsoft products work?

Nice going with the Hyperbole.


RE: Google just works
By Etsp on 3/10/2008 11:12:30 AM , Rating: 2
It really depends on the product. Some are pretty good, others, not so much. For example, the oxymoron "Microsoft Works"


RE: Google just works
By kzrssk on 3/10/2008 4:51:33 PM , Rating: 2
To the best of my memory, Microsoft Works always did work for me.


RE: Google just works
By eman7613 on 3/11/2008 11:30:16 AM , Rating: 2
I still use Microsoft Works, its the best one they made, its loads fast, no bugs, love it. On the other hand, some thing like Microsoft Math and system restore are very hit and miss as to whether or not they are going to work. Most of their stuff is bloated or slow or buggy or all of them, but by god when M$ dose something right it is excelent (but inevitably th'ell mess it up some in the next release like OneNote & their spyware program)


RE: Google just works
By homerdog on 3/9/08, Rating: 0
RE: Google just works
By weskurtz0081 on 3/10/2008 11:11:34 AM , Rating: 2
Change in the bios? You can change whatever you want in the bios, and maybe you should stay away from OEM copies (unless of course you are messing with BIOS settings on a store bought PC).


RE: Google just works
By homerdog on 3/10/2008 12:39:58 PM , Rating: 2
It sounds strange I know, but it's similar to an issue that I had in the past with an SP1 release candidate. Check it out, it's the first comment:
http://www.dailytech.com/Article.aspx?newsid=10329...

Anyway this is an interesting blog post and I had no right to vent my frustrations here, especially as the first comment. There are plenty of better places for me to rant :)


RE: Google just works
By sxr7171 on 3/11/2008 6:02:00 PM , Rating: 2
Honestly, Vista is a little turd. After you get it working you'll see even more stuff that is worse than XP.

To appease the MS lovers IMHO, Office 2007 is a great MS product. For a change.


RE: Google just works
By homerdog on 3/11/2008 6:17:26 PM , Rating: 2
Agreed about Office 2007. It took some getting used to, but now I'm loving it.

As for Vista, it's been really hit and miss for me. Aside from my activation woes I've been mostly satisfied, with the notable exception being the unpredictable file copy performance (stop calculating and start copying!).


"Game reviewers fought each other to write the most glowing coverage possible for the powerhouse Sony, MS systems. Reviewers flipped coins to see who would review the Nintendo Wii. The losers got stuck with the job." -- Andy Marken













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