Microsoft joined the rest of the BloggingStocks universe today, closing down significantly. For MSFT, losing 57 cents took the stock down 2.4%, to $23.15, and it was despite an opening bell spike.

None of the market seemed to be much affected by individual company news today, although there was a lot of buzz today about Mr. Softie, with a number of MSFT watchers eager to see what Steve Ballmer will say tomorrow morning in his uncharacteristic chat with investors. And later this afternoon, news of pricing for Microsoft Vista ($450 is the word on the 'net) had lots of bloggers biting, wondering whether it was worth your while to pay more for your operating system than your computer (despite the bells and whistles everyone's raving over). Ryan Block at Engadget muses, "when you consider the fact that the single-license full install retail MSRP of XP Pro is still $300 US, it's not too drastically unrealistic. Don't get us wrong, we're not exactly endorsing snapping up operating systems that cost more than the machines they run on but, you know, it is Ultimate freaking Vista, dude."

The reports on Office Ulimate MSRP: $679. That's some expensive PowerPoint slides. Maybe I should sign up for pay-as-you-go. Dude. And that brings up an excellent question: if the geeks are willing to pay, will corporations follow suit?

As Microsoft shareholders let out a gigantic sigh that erased $2.8 billion in market cap, the company's stock flirted with its 52-week low of $24.00 during the afternoon. It finally closed just barely above that solid line, at $24.01.

Contributing to the terrible performance and two-and-a-half-times-average volume: the prediction by Gartner that Microsoft's latest and greatest (?) operating system, Vista, might be delayed another three months. According to one Microsoft employee, it's so not true, and Microsoft insists that it will still make the November 2006 (volume license customers) and January 2007 (everybody else) launch dates. Shareholders? Clearly are not drinking the Kool-aid.

Say it with me [long deep breath] ***SIGH***.