Joe Wilcox Microsoft Quotations

I wouldn't call it anti-competitive in the sense that Microsoft has made it very easy to change providers. On the other hand, Microsoft could have made it easier still... I don't see why it didn't avoid making problems for itself by making it drop dead easy to find another provider.

When I look at Linux, the playing field isn't level because Microsoft is the incumbent.

My concern is that Microsoft has introduced too much complexity, making more difficult the arduous purchase decision process. Microsoft is right to get information out earlier, because evaluating an Office purchase will be much harder for businesses this release cycle compared to Office 2003 or XP.

Shortages like this are one of the effects of Apple keeping announcements quiet. Many companies will begin moving product through the channel before an announcement. Sometimes you'll even see Microsoft software on store shelves before it's announced.

Old habits die hard. Microsoft would really need to communicate the benefits.

I think it's too bad in a way. I would have liked to see a new Windows Media version for the Mac, and have Microsoft take the media battle to Apple's home court.

Windows Live is just the first step. Microsoft is building out all of its existing products, cross-connecting different features around communications and social networking.

Microsoft has made more of a demarcation of versions around features and capabilities. If you look at Professional and Home, the major difference was networking. Now with the new line-up there is a fair bit of differentiation around features.

Microsoft hasn't done a good job of marketing and needs to improve ? and the timing is crucial,

Microsoft is at this juncture where it's the victim of its own success.

Microsoft is caught between a rock and a hard place. It does not want to be dependent on a major rival but on the other hand, Overture provides a significant amount of MSN's revenue.

Microsoft will more aggressively compete with longstanding partners because the company is at a crisis point. It has to find new reasons that'll convince customers to upgrade.

Microsoft would certainly benefit if say a Comcast or some other broadband providers with popular portals chose MSN as the default search.

Microsoft certainly looks after its employees, there's no question about that. They're hiring, they're adding staff.

Microsoft definitely is making progress. The UI is more refined, but by no means finished. Microsoft has finally reached the point where IE feels like a modern browser.

Microsoft didn't say how much source code would be licensed. Contrary to some news reports, I expect the amount of source code to be fairly limited.

Microsoft had tremendous success with larger businesses, but that market has become very saturated.

Microsoft has a good story to tell. It doesn't always do a good job telling it.

The real test for Microsoft is whether it can take search to the next level.

We've got new versions coming next year. And Microsoft has the tough sell of convincing existing business customers and consumers that what they have isn't good enough.

Unlike Windows Vista, I also don't see any major disturbance caused by 2007 delivery of the next Office version. Microsoft is smart to release both products together.

Corel is targeting the small-business market, which typically has 20 employees or less. This is a market that Microsoft has had trouble reaching because it's fragmented and has diverse business needs. Product loyalty is not as great and cost drives a lot of purchase decisions.

Assuming there may have been, or may be, talks between AOL and Microsoft, the timing of the (Yahoo-Microsoft) announcement may have been intentional to influence those presumed discussions. AOL has to decide does it want to work with the Microsoft camp, go its own way or form a strategic alliance with someone else.

It would be huge for Microsoft if it could dispatch its problems with Europe,

The three products launched today are the first wave of a tide of tightly integrated products. While some Microsoft executives have said that Microsoft bet the company on Windows Vista, the real bet is on integrated innovation.

The question to ask is: Who will care if Microsoft misses the date again. I've been saying since the (March) delay that from a sales perspective, January might as be July, that January release builds in room to move the date again, if needed.

When you introduce something new, it disrupts, and this increases things like help desk costs and employee downtime. So, to get to the benefits that come with this, they have to get past whatever retraining will be needed around the new user interface and any hardships around the new file format, which are always disruptive. These are two big hurdles Microsoft has to get around.

The rules are different for Microsoft than other companies.

There's no question that Microsoft needed to do something.

I'm sure it's not lost on Microsoft executives that the world's third largest computer company is from China. Microsoft has a problem: PC growth is highest in emerging markets like China, where software piracy rates are high. China deals could be construed as generating goodwill, which Microsoft would want to use to gain greater Chinese government cooperation fighting piracy.

If Microsoft hasn't significantly improved that experience, and made it as easy as Apple has, that's going to be a big barrier.

In the U.S., only about 60 percent of consumers have Microsoft Office on their computers. That's a lot of opportunity for sales there. They have a pricing advantage. It offers comparable, or better functionality for less. For the consumer and small businesses, value and price will be major factors influencing buying decisions.

If you run Windows on a Mac, it's another copy for Microsoft. Better yet, it's on a competitor's hardware. It would be like Microsoft taking it to Apple's home field.

How can Microsoft reasonably promise to do more in Europe when it presumably isn't doing enough in the US?

AOL has some great content that is broadly appealing to consumers. One thing that Microsoft lacks for MSN is a lot of good content.

The EU wants licensed code to be available for use in open-source and free software, a request Microsoft has resisted. I would be shocked if that position has significantly changed.

It's a classic example of what Microsoft will be doing as it looks at the Web 2.0 problem. Microsoft will offer some interesting and potentially cool services, but they will be tied back to the desktop.

It may be the technological equivalent to the shot heard 'round the world. If Massachusetts follows through with this plan, it will be a radical departure from how Microsoft and other businesses work with state governments.

It looks to me that Microsoft has added another layer of bureaucracy. At a time when startups are starting to show some real promise again, Microsoft now looks even bigger and potentially slower than it was before.

It looks like Microsoft missed the major upgrade cycle from 2004 to early this year. Windows Vista would have been a much better story in 2005 than in 2006, or, realistically, 2007.

There's a lot of hype right now about Web 2.0. This is a way for Microsoft to take control of the noise.