Rants and Raves: The Good Side of Microsoft…that Doesn’t Help Us Consumers

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Good Side of Microsoft…that Doesn’t Help Us Consumers

Although I have spent a great deal of space here blasting Microsoft for their bungled attempts to put out a useful operating system (and a few other products), I was reminded by a couple of articles this week that Microsoft is indeed making lots of money. Most of their serious revenues are coming from the Enterprise side.

Microsoft is thriving in the business environment with some of their forward thinking products. Most of us have never heard of Windows Azure, SharePoint, Office 365, PowerShell, and Hadoop. These are for large and small businesses…and they continue to do very well with these and other Enterprise products.

Most of us are consumer users so these products mean nothing to us…but Windows 8 is only a small part of the Microsoft machine. So, those of us who would like to see some management changes to get Microsoft back on track in the consumer division, don’t look for anything soon. Microsoft is still very profitable. To read more, check out story #6.

There are a lot of news and information here for us poor, lowly consumers, so let’s get to it. -JRC

T-Mobile comes clean about 'uncarrier' service plan

T-Mobile USA's "radical" service plans promising no annual contracts aren't quite as radical as consumers might think, and the mobile operator will change its advertising and offer refunds in a settlement with the state of Washington.

Google Now 'talks' its way onto iOS

The mashup of personal assistant and predictive search known as Google Now gets approved for iOS (iPad’s and iPhones). But will it take attention away from Siri?

Which Tech Companies Protect Your Data From the Government?

The Electronic Frontier Foundation just released its annual "Who Has Your Back" report card, detailing the privacy policies of tech companies. Here's the rundown of who fights for your privacy in the face of government requests for your data—and who doesn't even bother.

Skype + Outlook.com

Here’s question I’ve received many times: When will Microsoft integrate Skype with its Outlook.com web email platform? Well, this week I’ve got good news to share: It’s happening in preview form, starting today.

Windows 8: A Six-Month Report Card

I don’t believe that Microsoft has ever shipped a version of Windows as incomplete/undone as is Windows 8 and yet the firm is not moving as quickly as I’d like to fix the very glaring issues with this release.

Apple versus Microsoft: the ticker tape tells the tale

If all you ever read is the tech press, you probably think Microsoft is doomed, and you probably can't understand why Apple's stock has plunged over the last six months. Maybe it's because the press is only seeing a tiny slice of the pie.

Apple’s iOS 7 Said to Be ‘Very, Very Flat’

iOS 7 is in for a major UI overhaul courtesy of the man himself, Jony Ive. While it may prove to be irritating for existing customers, the new “flat” UI apart of Apple’s next major iOS iteration will be attractive to those new to the platform.