Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Google Apps project has gained steam (and customers) since its introduction a few years ago. Although it's not yet a true competitor to Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Office juggernaut, it is making headway.

The "software as a service" camp is doing nothing but speeding up, as small and large businesses would like to offload expensive software installations and just use the Internet as a vehicle for getting things done across boundaries and time zones. Microsoft, though, is not capitulating just yet.

Continue reading Microsoft cuts software as a service prices to match Google Apps

Microsoft cuts software as a service prices to match Google Apps originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Although Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has much of the business world wrapped around at least some of its software, the largest software company in the world is mostly known for its consumer products. Names like Windows, Zune, Windows Mobile, Sidekick, and Xbox are household terms (well, in gadget households perhaps).

Still, with all those names, why hasn't Microsoft formed some kind of overall consumer ecosystem so that all these products fit, work, and play together seamlessly?

Continue reading Microsoft is not competing in the most efficient manner possible -- why?

Microsoft is not competing in the most efficient manner possible -- why? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) made the decision to use competitor Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Bing search technology soon to power the internet searches across its vast empire. That doesn't mean that Yahoo! still won't compete with Microsoft aggressively. After all, Yahoo!'s agreement with Microsoft is only to use the software giant's Bing search technology in the back end -- not in the customer's face.

Yahoo!'s Prabhakar Raghavan indicated that "It is our belief that the battle has moved beyond the back end ... what we do with it, how we paint it, how we render it, that's entirely up to us." This confuses the issue a bit but what he is saying is that Yahoo! will use Microsoft's technology, but will still heavily compete with the company in terms of customer-facing search market share. The thoughts of a Microsoft-Yahoo! full-frontal assault on Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) market-leading share won't really be positioned that way after all.

Continue reading Yahoo! still intends to compete with Microsoft on internet search

Yahoo! still intends to compete with Microsoft on internet search originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has grown plenty of enemies in the past five years due to its unprecedented growth and customer uptake. Put simply, Google produces products people want to use, and as such it has grown to a fantastic size (in product use and revenue).

Google's audacity in wanting to scan in books and make them available to anyone in digital form, though, has been a thorn in the company's side.

Continue reading Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo! all fight Google over potential book sales

Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo! all fight Google over potential book sales originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Microsoft set to escape government oversight in 2011

Microsoft set to escape government oversight in 2011 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Microsoft's new Office product to compete for free with Google Docs

Microsoft's new Office product to compete for free with Google Docs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Microsoft's Bing has Google running scared? Yeah, right.

Microsoft's Bing has Google running scared? Yeah, right. originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Microsoft to spend $100 million marketing new search engine?

Microsoft to spend $100 million marketing new search engine? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 26 May 2009 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Microsoft's Windows 7 coming this summer

Microsoft's Windows 7 coming this summer originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 May 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Verizon talking to Microsoft about iPhone rival partnership? Here we go again.

Verizon talking to Microsoft about iPhone rival partnership? Here we go again. originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Microsoft Office seeing enhanced competition with free OpenOffice

Microsoft Office seeing enhanced competition with free OpenOffice originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Microsoft's Ballmer slams IBM's potential purchase of Sun Microsystems

Microsoft's Ballmer slams IBM's potential purchase of Sun Microsystems originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Google's Android a sleeper threat to Microsoft?

Google's Android a sleeper threat to Microsoft? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft's newest Windows Live services: its best yet originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of a feature on companies and products that our bloggers think are in need of a makeover. See all 26.

When Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) released its Windows Vista operating system product almost two years ago, the market was initially excited. That excitement turned to boring indifference as customers, both business and consumer, realized that this was just another update to Windows. Nothing revolutionary, or even evolutionary (in many minds). The problem was this: Windows Vista was a huge change under the hood, but where its users interact with it, it seems like a boring reinvention of an operating system from half a decade ago.

But Microsoft doesn't just make operating systems. It's into the office productivity business (Microsoft Office, anyone), it's big into the mobile business (Windows Mobile), and it's tried desperately to compete with Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) in the web search advertising business (which has largely failed). So, the company, which continues to make a ton of cash every quarter by selling Windows on all those global PCs that are sold, has no debt and a ton of cash under the mattress. It's still a boring company with a business model that's being made rapidly outdated by the internet and web-based competitors. Should it take its cash, return it to shareholders, and close up shop? Though this was suggested of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) some time back, that company roared back (maybe you've heard). Can Microsoft?

Continue reading Makeover needed: Microsoft

Makeover needed: Microsoft originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft's "Seinfeld/Gates" ads were good, but not good enough originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple's iPod/iTunes ecosystem could be called a monopoly. It commands the lion's share of the digital music player and downloading market and customers just can't stop buying the hardware and software. Does that make Apple a monopolist? After all, by some measures, Apple's market share is now larger than Wall Street darling Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). Does Apple's 11% share of the PC market make it a monopolist? Does this smaller market share even suggest that? On the surface, no. But Apple's influence extends way beyond that hardware market share figure. Its control of entire market segments would suggest Apple may resemble what Microsoft looked like 10 years ago.

Continue reading Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT): A monopolist role reversal?

Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT): A monopolist role reversal? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft to open $400 million data center in Iowa originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft's Windows XP going away after June 30 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has been around more than 30 years now and continues to make money hand over first every quarter. Its growth has slowed to levels representative of a mature company, but the power the computer software maker has over the flow of the world's information is very formidable. Then you have Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), a company just a decade old but with power that rivals Microsoft in many ways. In a sense, Microsoft provides the river, and Google provides the current.

That's probably not what Microsoft executives had in mind, but that's reality. The two companies are uniquely different cultures: Microsoft is a standard, dyed-in-the-wool, buttoned-down corporation and Google operates in an organized chaos type of way, much like a start-up software company. The difference is that Google's revenue and growth is slowly reaching where Microsoft's is, and it's only taken a fraction of the time.

Continue reading Battle of the Brands: Microsoft vs. Google

Battle of the Brands: Microsoft vs. Google originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 01 May 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.