Mr. Softy

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July 2008
- Bloomberg, Gates Take On Smoking
  
  newser | Associated Press | Jul 23, 08 1:20 PM CDT
  
  Microsoft founder Bill Gates and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg are pooling their piles of money and pouring $375 million into a global effort to cut smoking. The two philanthropists—who have a combined worth of more than $70 billion—say the new effort will target developing countries where tobacco use is highest. More »
- Yahoo Snubs Microsoft-Icahn Takeover Bid
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jul 13, 08 6:20 AM CDT
  
  Yahoo has rejected another takeover push, this time from Microsoft and investor Carl Icahn, the Wall Street Journal reports. The bidders gave the Internet giant less than 24 hours to decide on an offer that would sell its search component to Microsoft and the rest of the company to Icahn in a move that would have required Yahoo to dump its current board. More »
- FTC Rejects Call for Internet Privacy Law
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jul 9, 08 5:23 PM CDT
  
  An federal official testifying at a Senate hearing today shot down calls for a federal law to regulate websites that track users' data for advertising purposes. The FTC doesn't think it's necessary to place a rule on the books—one that could quickly become obsolete—and instead encouraged "meaningful, enforceable self regulation," reports the Wall Street Journal . More »
- Oil Drops, but Rally Fades
  
  newser | MarketWatch | Jul 7, 08 3:38 PM CDT
  
  The markets saw modest losses today after a rally spurred by a drop in crude prices sputtered over capital concerns at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, MarketWatch reports. The Dow fell 56.58 to 11,231.96, the Nasdaq dropped 2.06 to 2,243.32, and the S&P 500 fell 10.59 to 1,252.31. More »
- Microsoft Will Sell Office By $70 Subscription
  
  newser | Associated Press | Jul 2, 08 1:44 PM CDT
  
  Microsoft will start selling its Office software package on a subscription model in mid-July, the AP reports. Instead of paying around $200 for Office, consumers can pay $70 a year, with no additional cost for new versions. In addition to the Office programs, the subscription bundle—named “Equipt”—will come with Microsoft’s OneCare security software. More »
- Microsoft Preps a New Run at Yahoo
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jul 2, 08 8:18 AM CDT
  
  Microsoft is back in pursuit of Yahoo, the Wall Street Journal reports, with the company in talks with both News Corp. and Time Warner as potential partners for a restructured deal to buy the search giant . Yahoo has been in Microsoft’s sights for nearly six months, but initial efforts to buy the entire company collapsed, and Microsoft has since been looking instead to acquire the search business and spin off the rest. More »
June 2008
- Reflective Gates Waxes Nostalgic
  
  newser | Fortune Magazine | Jun 26, 08 9:00 PM CDT
  
  Pictures of Bill Gates the child in a football uniform and alongside Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in their high school computer room are among 15 shots in an exclusive Fortune photo essay. Gates himself narrates the slideshow chronicling Microsoft’s roots, through its founding and 1986 IPO. Other shots show the first Microsoft business card and Gates signing autographs for Harley-Davidson fans in 1991. More »
- 'Bogus Bill Gates' Winds Down Career
  
  newser | Network World | Jun 22, 08 9:19 AM CDT
  
  The Washington man who made his living doing dead-on impressions of Bill Gates is following the billionaire into retirement. Steve Sires has been impersonating the Microsoft chairman for a decade, and charging $2,500 for an appearance. But as the 52-year old Gates is winding down his career, so is his look-a-like, reports Network World . More »
- Tech Firms to Fix Monster They Created
  
  newser | New York Times | Jun 14, 08 11:25 AM CDT
  
  Google, Microsoft, Intel, and IBM are partnering are on a new initiative to help workers distracted by emails and instant messages improve their productivity, the New York Times reports. The Information Overload Research Group, a nonprofit launching next month, will devise cultural and technological solutions to reduce the digital deluge that’s costing firms $650 billion a year in productivity. More »
- Dissed by Vista, Businesses Return the Favor
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jun 11, 08 12:45 PM CDT
  
  Microsoft's strategy of marketing Vista to consumers has turned off its other core constituency, the Wall Street Journal reports: business. Certainly, technical issues and a fat price tag have decimated the number of companies planning to install it: Just 26% of IT departments say they expect to install Vista by 2010, down from 68% last year. More »
May 2008
- Life After Gates Will Take Some Adjustment
  
  newser | MarketWatch | May 29, 08 3:05 PM CDT
  
  Microsoft and CEO Steve Ballmer are facing a scary, new post-Bill-Gates world, Therese Poletti writes on MarketWatch. On a panel at the All Things Digital conference earlier this week, Ballmer and Gates fielded questions about Microsoft’s failed Yahoo bid and unpopular Vista operating system. “Ballmer and indeed Microsoft face many challenges on the road ahead,” comments Poletti. More »
- Protester Eggs Microsoft CEO
  
  newser | Associated Press | May 21, 08 9:51 AM CDT
  
  Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was in Budapest this week to give a lecture to Hungarian university students, but the talk took an unexpected turn when he was pelted with eggs. Unlike Bill Gates, who was hit in the face with a cream pie a decade ago, Ballmer was able to dodge the attack. The protester shouted that Microsoft had stolen money from the Hungarian people, hurled three eggs, and was calmly escorted out. More »
- Microsoft Puts Universe on Your Desktop
  
  newser | New York Times | May 13, 08 2:55 PM CDT
  
  Stargazers got a new toy today, when Microsoft unveiled WorldWide Telescope, a free new program that gives armchair astronomers an unprecedented look at the stars. The program brings Internet space programs to new heights, rendering complete 3D models of thousands of galactic destinations, the New York Times reports. More »
April 2008
- AmEx Leads Dow Rally
  
  newser | Bloomberg | Apr 25, 08 3:39 PM CDT
  
  Stocks were mixed today as financials rallied but Microsoft dragged down the tech sector. Nevertheless, all three major indexes recorded back-to-back weekly gains for the first time since February, Bloomberg reports. The Dow closed up 42.91 at 12,891.86, the Nasdaq dipped 5.99 to 2,422.93, and the S&P 500 rose 9.02 to 1.397.84. More »
- In Q1, Yahoo Beats Estimates
  
  newser | San Jose Mercury News | Apr 22, 08 4:09 PM CDT
  
  Yahoo posted an increase in net income and reported sales that beat estimates in the first quarter, the company reported today. The jump in profit to $542.2 million translates to 37 cents per share, up from 10 cents a share a year ago—a number reflecting a onetime $401 million gain related to the Alibaba deal, the San Jose Mercury News reports. More »
- Microsoft Weighs Subscription Model for Office
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Apr 18, 08 3:10 PM CDT
  
  Microsoft is considering introducing a subscription-based business model for its Office suite of applications in the US, the Wall Street Journal reports. The firm said it was launching a beta testing program, “Albany,” and expected to make the subscription generally available by the end of 2008. Microsoft’s Office is facing some competition from Google and Yahoo, who offer free web software that performs similar functions. More »
- Yahoo Investor Calls Microsoft Threat a Blunder
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Apr 9, 08 11:28 AM CDT
  
  Yahoo received a tepid endorsement from its second-largest shareholder yesterday as its takeover battle with suitor Microsoft continued to heat up, the Wall Street Journa l reports. Legg Mason, which holds a 7% stake in Yahoo, said it would back an independent Yahoo before it would sell its stake at a reduced price—and Microsoft's CEO "blundered" by threatening to go that route. More »
- Windows XP Will Live On, But Only in Low-Cost PCs
  
  newser | Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Apr 4, 08 5:15 PM CDT
  
  Microsoft is going to keep Windows XP on the market—but only for a few users and not for the sake of those unsatisfied with its successor, Vista. The company will stick to its June 30 deadline for withdrawing XP from stores but will supply the older operating system for at least two years on low-cost computers such as the Asus Eee PC and Intel Classmate, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. More »
March 2008
- How Yahoo Would Improve Microsoft
  
  newser | MarketWatch | Mar 18, 08 6:24 PM CDT
  
  Yahoo today restated its opinion that Microsoft’s $44.6 billion buyout bid underestimates the online giant’s “combination of unique assets,” but for the first time stated publicly the strengths it would bring to the Microsoft merger, MarketWatch reports. In an investor presentation for the SEC, the company argued it would take Microsoft "from sub-scale position to strong positions in search and display." More »
- Free Tool Offers Web Security
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Mar 7, 08 11:12 AM CST
  
  A new free system designed to protect Web surfers from dangerous code is taking on the software security giants, reports the Wall Street Journal . Developers say Haute Secure, the brainchild of ex-Microsoft security experts, blocks Web pages embedded with malicious code. The public can download the program free, and companies who want their Web sites scanned for problem code will pay a fee. More »