Comments on: What the Tellme deal says about Microsoft

The acquisition could help turn the software giant's talk about services into more than just idle chatter.

[fcekuahd]

What I don't understand:

How does Microsoft expect customers to adopt its new products and services when they're so unhappy with the Microsoft products and services they already have? Microsoft has an entrenched "monopoly" mindset, and they need a major shift in thinking if they want to win customers for new products.

[jmissild]

What I don't understand...

Microsoft gets a bad wrap about having bad software. I actually used to do Microsoft support and in almost every case the software or network or something was not configured properly and caused problems. No software is going to work as designed if all the pieces aren't configured properly. Most successful Microsoft shops take the time and effort to make sure things are configured properly. Not always, but most of the time Microsoft provides a very good value for the software they offer in terms of features and benefits.

[jessiethe3rd]

I guess you are speaking for yourself...

Does Microsoft offer up the best product everytime? No. Does Microsoft try to bring creativity to its stack? Heck yeah! Yes, Vista takes up more resources? Why? More capability built into the OS - sidebar and the wealth of other security features tend to help customers, not hurt them. With everyone getting hot and bother by security (and rightfully so) over the last 10 years Microsoft has changed the methodology for developing secure product. This is increasingly difficult to do when you are the largest target on a hackers list. Nothing is bullet proof - nothing ever will be bullet proof!

As long as Microsoft continues to create solid products with a unified user interface and a basic look across all products customers will win in the end.

MAK and KMS and Vista Keys, Office Keys in general work to thwart the mass amount of rampent anti-piracy in the industry. This is not a challenge that's unique to just Microsoft, it just so happens that Microsoft is so close to 100% market satuation they find themselves looking to recoup the vast amounts of lost revenue sooner then the competition out there.

With TalkBack I think Microsoft is continuing to make acquisitions which will help position itself against competitors like Cisco - offering more solution as services is a good direction - bravo to Microsoft for making the step - customers and the market in general are demanding it.

And as a side note, name one company who exists to not continue to drive its stock price up? Sure, not everyone is exactly happy that Microsoft is offering more options for customers to try and gain more business but let me know of a company that has a better track history of integrating new acquisitions within its business at such a rabid acquisition pace?

[aabcdefghij987654321]

I think you're in the minority

Most Microsoft customers are fed up with Microsoft.

[t8]

Google

Google

[t8]

Here in lies MS problem.

Do you milk your traditional business for billions at the risk of letting companies like Google become the online leaders, or do you cannibalize your own business and go full throttle into hosted applications thereby eating into your software market, but ensuring that you are a leader in the new paradigm.

Microsoft has obviously chosen to stick to their traditional business with a bit of online extension to appear Internet savvy.

Micorosoft's traditional business as lucrative as it is, is based around legacy products and so history repeats itself. This is what happened to IBM.

The Telco industry face the same dilemma. Do they avoid VOIP and milk the copper lines for as much as you can, or offer VOIP to compete with their traditional phone systems (thereby losing revenue) but ensuring your place when the paradigm inevitably changes.