InvestIdeas

wow....maybe lost money on bridge game with his old buddy warren

***********

14 May 2008 19:59 GMT

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates sells shares
NEW YORK (AP) - Bill Gates, the chairman of software company Microsoft Corp., sold 3 million shares of common stock, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings Tuesday.

In Form 4s filed with the SEC, Gates reported he sold the shares Friday for $28.96 to $29.55 apiece. Following the sale, Gates holds about 823.1 million shares, or roughly an 8.8 percent stake in the software company.

Insiders file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their companies' shares. Open market purchases and sales must be reported within two business days of the transaction.

so, bill gates decidedly to go fishing permanently.... everyday try diffeent buffet lunches with his fren, warren

....retiring from his position in msft....

it was announced on 30 Jun08, that MSFT will no longer support or further develop on XP o/s... Vista will be the de facto o/s until Windows 7 comes on line several years later.

so, folks who wish to continue using MSFT o/s henceforth, will have to use Vista.

Personally, I do not like Vista. I didnt like it for it's instability when it was launched almost 2 years ago, and I still don't like it now.

I need to explore using another o/s (besides apple) and for once since 1980s, I should seriously consider disentangling myself from being held hostaged by MSFT.

kennynah wrote:it was announced on 30 Jun08, that MSFT will no longer support or further develop on XP o/s... Vista will be the de facto o/s until Windows 7 comes on line several years later.

so, folks who wish to continue using MSFT o/s henceforth, will have to use Vista.

Personally, I do not like Vista. I didnt like it for it's instability when it was launched almost 2 years ago, and I still don't like it now.

I need to explore using another o/s (besides apple) and for once since 1980s, I should seriously consider disentangling myself from being held hostaged by MSFT.

I'm using MSFT XP and Firefox. Both are pretty stable and fast, compared to Vista, which is slow..very very slow. Is this the beginning of the end of the giant MSFT?

i've never tried linux o/s .... dunno whether compatible with most apps or not...

me recently switched to using FF3(browser) and Thunderbird(email) but still XP o/s

kennynah wrote:i've never tried linux o/s .... dunno whether compatible with most apps or not...

me recently switched to using FF3(browser) and Thunderbird(email) but still XP o/s

Me too, though I've no intention of starting Linux. The pain of switching is too much for me to bear at this moment, so unless the advantages is overwhelming, I'll stick with the suckier MSFT XP. Thunderbird I'm using now too. I find that sometimes, Thunderbird can't send the message across and I've to click 'sent' many times before it can be sent through (there are times that this wouldn't work too). Not sure if you encountered the same problems too?

FF3 is the great piece of software, for free. There are many extensions to it.

These are the ones that i'm currently using (maybe you can share with me yours too, might bring more productivity )
1. check4change - periodically checks for changes within a webpage (**)
2. FEBE - backup firefox data periodically (*****)
3. Fission - progress bar in the address bar (safari style)
4. IE Tab - enables one to use the embedded IE engine within firefox (*****)
5. Reminder fox - displays and manage reminders and To do list
6. Save session - save whatever bookmark one is using and opens up next time firefox is reloaded
7. Smart bookmark - hides bookmark's names in the bookmarks bar (*****)
8. Splash - adds a splash screen when loading firefox

The stars are my rating to it. Unrated means optional, cosmetic purpose only

Thunderbird can't send the message across and I've to click 'sent' many times before it can be sent through (there are times that this wouldn't work too). Not sure if you encountered the same problems too?

oh yes...encountered this issue too...but not too frquently enuf for me to jump ship ...yet


7. Smart bookmark - hides bookmark's names in the bookmarks bar (*****)
i can understand the need for some privacy

add-on:
i installed the language translator....very good stuff

kennynah wrote:Thunderbird can't send the message across and I've to click 'sent' many times before it can be sent through (there are times that this wouldn't work too). Not sure if you encountered the same problems too?

oh yes...encountered this issue too...but not too frquently enuf for me to jump ship ...yet


7. Smart bookmark - hides bookmark's names in the bookmarks bar (*****)
i can understand the need for some privacy

add-on:
i installed the language translator....very good stuff

Haha, no lah, not privacy. It's the little icon bookmarks above the tabs but below the Reload, home, address bar. Without the names, there's more space to store my bookmarks there, so using one mouse click will get me to the bookmark. Saves me lots of trouble.

Microsoft's Profit, Sales Jump
But Outlook Fails to Impress
By JESSICA HODGSON and ANDREW EDWARDS
July 17, 2008 5:36 p.m.

Microsoft Corp.'s fiscal fourth-quarter profit surged from a year-ago period that was weighed down by Xbox-related charges. Revenue rose 18% as the company continued to benefit from demand for PCs despite a gloomy U.S. economy.

However, bottom-line results and guidance for the current quarter came up short of what analysts had predicted, amid weaker than expected sales of business applications, sending shares down more than 5% after-hours.

The software giant reported net income for the quarter ended June 30 of $4.3 billion, or 46 cents a share, compared with $3.04 billion, or 31 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue climbed 18% to $15.84 billion.

The core business is doing quite well, but Microsoft is being impacted by the economic environment," said Andy Miedler, an analyst with Edward Jones. He expects Microsoft shares to remain weak in the medium term, against a weaker economic outlook and with the company's ongoing battle to acquire some or all of Yahoo Inc. remaining a concern for investors.

Charly Tracey, Microsoft's director of investor relations, said Thursday that lower than expected earnings per share were largely a result of strong hiring, and higher than expected investment in the company's online services business.

Sales at Microsoft's client division, which makes the Windows operating system, rose almost 15%, beating the Street's expectations and going some way to reassure investors following fears that sales of Vista, the latest incarnation of the Windows operating system, could be under pressure. Revenue at Microsoft's server and tools division, which saw significant product launches in the last year, rose 22%.

However, sales at Microsoft's business division, which makes the Office desktop applications, missed expectations, growing at around 14% against previous guidance that it would grow at around 16%. Analyst Jeff Gaggin, of Avian Securities, said the lower sales may prompt fears that Microsoft's Office products, which include word processing and spreadsheet tools, may be getting outdated.

In online services, one of Microsoft's smallest but potentially most important divisions, sales rose 24% but the unit still posted a loss of $488 million. Microsoft has been investing in its online services, including search and advertising, to gain ground on Google Inc. Microsoft's research and development spending grew 24% to $2.41 billion.

Looking forward, the company expects fiscal first-quarter per-share earnings of 47 cents to 48 cents on revenue of $14.7 billion to $14.9 billion, compared with Wall Street's view of 49 cents on revenue of $15.04 billion.

"Despite difficult economic conditions, we will build upon the momentum exiting fiscal year 2008 and expect to deliver another year of double-digit revenue and earnings growth in fiscal year 2009,'' Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said.

The software giant has also continued to rattle its saber at Yahoo, after calling off a take-over bid that began earlier this year. The company's Internet strategy - and by implication its failure so far to strike a deal with Yahoo - is expected to weigh on the stock long-term.

I can help them reduce their bottom line. Fire their entire Internet Explorer division.