Homeless in Arizona

If I currently have a computer at home in my office that runs an older version of Windows, it is stupid to force me to install a newer version of Windows on a laptop computer I want to buy.

Why should I be forced to have two different computers that run two different versions of Windows?

Of course the answer to that question is that the crooks at Microsoft want me to throw away my old version of Windows so they can sell me a new version of Windows for both computers.

One guy I know who works on Microsoft computer says that the Microsoft stores that cater to business and industrial customers do sell older versions of Windows for business and industrial customers.

In those cases a business customer may have 100 or 200 computers which are running an older version of Windows and they want ALL of the computers in their office to be running the same version of Windows.

So Microsoft in this case wisely allows their business customers to buy old versions of Windows.

Of course my attitude if F*CK Windows!! I hope everybody moves to Linux.

Source

Windows 8: Make-or-break moment for Microsoft CEO

Ballmer can't afford to miss with new operating system

by Michael Liedtke - Oct. 24, 2012 06:53 PM

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer can't afford to be wrong about Windows 8.

On Thursday, Microsoft will unveil a dramatic overhaul of its ubiquitous Windows operating system. If it flops, the failure will reinforce perceptions that Microsoft is falling behind competitors such as Apple, Google and Amazon as its stranglehold on personal computers becomes less relevant in an era of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

If Ballmer is right, Windows 8 will prove that the world's largest software maker still has the technological chops and marketing muscle to shape the future of computing.

"This is going to be his defining moment," said technology industry analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy. Ballmer's "legacy will be looked at as what he did or didn't do with Windows 8. If Windows 8 is not a success, a lot of people will be looking for Microsoft to make a change at the CEO level."

Windows 8 is designed to run on PCs and tablet computers, heralding the biggest change to the industry's dominant operating system in at least 17 years. It also marks the first time that Microsoft has made touch-screen control the top priority, though the system can still be switched into the familiar desktop mode that allows for control by keyboard and mouse.

Ballmer sees Windows 8 as the catalyst for a new era at Microsoft. He wants the operating system to ensure the company plays an integral role on all the important screens in people's lives -- PCs, smartphones, tablets and televisions.

"We are trying to re-imagine the world from the ground up with Windows 8," Ballmer told The Seattle Times. He declined to be interviewed for this story.

Early reaction has been mixed. Some reviewers like the way the system greets users with a mosaic of tiles displaying applications instead of relying on the desktop icons that served as the welcome mat for years. Critics say it's a confusing jumble that will frustrate users accustomed to the older versions, particularly when they switch to desktop mode and don't see the familiar "start" button and menu.

Windows 8 will hit the market backed by an estimated $1 billion marketing campaign. The advertising frenzy is just one measure of how important Windows 8 is to Microsoft's future.

Ballmer's margin for error is slim after being consistently outpaced by Apple and Google in his nearly 13 years as CEO. During his tenure, Microsoft's stock has lost nearly half its value, wiping out more than $200 billion in shareholder wealth.

But the company's board hasn't expressed any public dissatisfaction with Ballmer, who is Microsoft's second-largest shareholder with a 4 percent stake worth $9 billion. Only Microsoft founder Bill Gates, owns more of the company's stock. Gates has a 5.5 percent stake.

Since Ballmer succeeded Gates as CEO in January 2000, Microsoft's annual revenue has nearly quadrupled to $74 billion and expanded into lucrative new territory with its popular Xbox 360 video game console, which has given the company a platform for delivering services to television sets. But Microsoft has been slow to respond to technology shifts and has made some costly missteps trying to catch up.

Ballmer, 56, has spent most of his life at Microsoft. He was attending Stanford University's graduate school of business in 1980 when Gates, a former classmate at Harvard University, persuaded him to drop out and become one of the startup's first 30 employees. He brought more business savvy to the operation just as the company began providing an operating system for IBM Corp.'s first personal computer.

Just two weeks before Ballmer took over, Microsoft's stock reached its peak price. The dot-com bust deflated that market value, and the company became locked in antitrust battles in the U.S. and Europe that distracted management for years.

On Thursday in New York, Ballmer will herald the arrival of the most important product of his reign. The market's response to Windows 8 may determine whether it turns out to be the opening act in his vindication or one of his final moments in the spotlight.