Microsoft Reports Record Revenue 289
jones_supa sends this AFP report:
"Microsoft soared to record revenues in the last quarter, confounding Wall Street forecasts on the back of strong demand for Xbox consoles, Surface tablets and Internet cloud services. The U.S.-based technology titan reported net income of $6.56 billion on revenue that hit a record high of $24.52 billion in the quarter that ended December 31. ... Sales of Surface tablets more than doubled from the previous quarter to hit $893 million, and Microsoft sold 7.4 million Xbox videogame consoles, with 3.9 million of those being new-generation Xbox One.
Bing's share of the Internet search market grew to 18.2 percent while its share of the online search ad market grew about a third, according to Microsoft. Meanwhile, money made from selling Windows software to computer makers slid by three percent due to continue soft demand by consumers for personal computers, according to Microsoft."
Wow. (Score:5, Insightful)
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I was about to post "Imagine how much they could make if they did things right" but you kinda stole my line :-)
Re:Wow. (Score:5, Funny)
Obviously a lot of people want to learn how to breakdance. That's what Surface tablets are for, right? I watch a lot of tv commercials
Re:Wow. (Score:5, Interesting)
Obviously a lot of people want to learn how to breakdance. That's what Surface tablets are for, right? I watch a lot of tv commercials
I've got one (the original PRO), it's great for a portable device. Full on windows that can actually run real programs yet shaped like a tablet. I've got an ipad and a Samsung galaxy tab that were used for a couple months but then were relegated to dust collection. Man can only play so much angry birds...
I prefer taking it to meetings over my laptop.
And remember. It's just an intel Core i5 computer with an SSD and 4gb of ram shaped like a tablet. If you don't like win8, then install Linux, or whatever OS you want on one.
It's not even close to perfect, but it's the best attempt at a tablet I've seen for sale.
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It's really just a touchscreen laptop with a crappy keyboard. Yes, it's more functional than most tablets, but there are more powerful laptops about the same size and weight with better performance, etc. They're pretty much functionally equivalent,aren't they?
Re:Wow. (Score:4, Insightful)
It's really just a touchscreen laptop with a crappy keyboard. Yes, it's more functional than most tablets, but there are more powerful laptops about the same size and weight with better performance, etc. They're pretty much functionally equivalent,aren't they?
Technically speaking, the surface pro doesn't come with a keyboard at all. You're probably thinking of the "touch" and "type" covers that are sold. I don't care for either. This is pretty much the same story for every other tablet I've seen for sale. Specifications wise, it is almost identical to my HP Elitebook 8470p laptop.
I added a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. It does come with an excellent pen, which I use for taking notes in meetings.
Not a good replacement for my desktop computer, but it does quite well in most situations where a laptop would be used. The only exception I've found is on airplanes. Need a keyboard with an attachment stiff enough to support the screen. I imagine you'd have the same problem in a car, but I'm rarely in a car if I'm not the one driving it.
If you're comfortable disassembling with a heat gun you can upgrade the SSD. It's mSATA I think. The ram is soldered on and there is no room for upgrading unfortunately. In my opinion, only 4GB of ram is this device's biggest weakness.
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It sounds like you're agreeing with me. You'd be happier with a lighter laptop.
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Why would you want a touchscreen and pen input on a laptop?
You use a touchscreen as a poor substitute for a keyboard and mouse... and a laptop already has both.
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You're 100% correct, but those laptops are quite pricey. Right now at work I use just such a small, lightweight laptop, but it's a top-price executive model that I only got because it's 5 years old now. Still, it is a bit larger and heavier than a tablet, and I could see the tablet appeal if I had to haul it all over the place.
But the real appeal of tablets is simply ending the fight over what's on TV. If you have kids of a certain age, you're going to spend most of your evenings where you can see them,
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Right. You should breakdance with a desktop.
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Yeah and that blond girl comes with the car I purchased right?
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If Microsoft knew what they were doing, Intel would also be doing much better. At least Intel is looking to break into mobile with or without Microsoft. The new lines of low power chips look promising.
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Like an advancing glacier...
Re:Wow. (Score:5, Funny)
I assume that the company you run made more than $6.5B last quarter.
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and how much of your cloud runs on Azure?
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and how much of your cloud runs on Azure?
It's not a leap year so it will be fine.
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Office 365, Win Server, Skype ... not all 100k staff at Microsoft should be judged by a misguided Win 8 start screen.
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Right. Just the top management.
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Exactly right. Balmer? Out. Julie Lawson-Green, queen of Metro? Out of Windows. Looks like they were judged by that horror (well, it's fine on a tablet/xbone) and found wanting.
Still, the new guys have to actually be better for that to matter. Time will tell.
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I'm not currently a MSFT stockholder, but if I were this would make me happier. Still, I'd be concerned that their high-margin businesses seem to be declining while their hardware businesses are on the increase. Their current stock price is supported by margins over 70% - going mainly hardware will push them down, if they are lucky, to Apple-like levels of 30%, or Dell levels much lower than that if they go for the low end. In other words, revenue HAS to increase simply to maintain income as they see more h
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You want to focus on future revenue growth, not on margins.
First it is natural for margins to fall for growth companies. When young they have the market to themselves. Their success draws competitors that push margins down. Also, hopefully, when they are young they pursue the top tier opportunities. As they get bigger they expand into lower tier opportunities. Hopefully still profitable but they don’t carry the mouthwatering margins.
Second, hardware companies will always have lower margins. With softw
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You want to focus on future revenue growth, not on margins.
Maybe for a startup, but MSFT is a big old mature company. They are almost a conglomerate, really. I think you need to analyze their hardware and software businesses separately. Like I said, I'd be thrilled that their hardware business is starting to perk up, but losing revenue in the higher-margin software business is something that I'd be very concerned with. I agree with most of your points, except that you seem to think that margin is unimportant - it is certainly not the only thing to look at, but at
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Notice they're heading for an Apple-like model? Hardware margins will be fine when they only allow MS software to run on their hardware.
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Imagine what these numbers would be if they actually knew what the fuck they were doing.
Maybe they don't need a CEO. When Ballmer leaves just convert the office into a pet daycare annex.
They do... Server prices went up last year. (Score:2)
They do know what they are doing. The cost of licenses went up by a good chunk of change (think 20% or so.) Because most businesses rely on MS for day to day use, that additional 20% in license revenue definitely didn't hurt revenue gains.
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Ah fuck ... that was a great laugh !
After man years of reading /. I gotta give you a 2 thumbs up. Funniest thing I've read in a while. Nice man.
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Looking at the hardware specs of the Surface Pro 2, I've actually considered it as a viable replacement for my desktop since I can use a keyboard/mouse and connect it to a full sized 1080 display. The only annoying issue is the limited RAM - 4GB if getting the 64/128GB drive and 8GB on the 256/512GB units. Now if they offered all of them with 8GB of memory, you'd have a decent unit even with a 64GB drive. Don't kid yourself that it's enough space as the OS alone uses half of that (32GB) which makes the micr
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the OS alone uses half of that (32GB)
Holy bloatware, batman.... 32GB for Win 8.1? Is it really that much?
Re:Wow. (Score:5, Informative)
Despite the fact that this is a tablet with known hardware and limited upgrade capabilities (basically only USB devices...nothing PCIe), the Windows 8 install includes every driver and every feature of Windows 8, ready and waiting in case you need it.
So, even though you probably don't want to run IIS, manage an Active Directory domain, or run an NFS server on your tablet, you're still devoting disk space to those "just waiting" features.
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Why not, you know, just buy a laptop? It'll cost less, it'll probably have a 1080 display built in, and you can, you know, upgrade the RAM.
Price Drop (Score:3, Funny)
XBox saves the day (Score:3)
Looks like for microsoft to preserve profitability it may have to continue to branch out of its core competency, windows. Perhaps it's following in Apples footsteps in a sense, branching away from personal computing to consumer electronics.
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That's the short game strategy.
Long game, they're kinda headed in the same direction as Caldera/SCO. You remember them?
Big companies like IBM are 'hardening' their market position in certain areas, not acquiring. Oracle is doing similar - though acquiring assets, they're stripping them of their value to integrate it into their core product offering/identity products.
PCs have become commodity, yes, and the new boom market is in mobile/platform apps and data. MS is moving that way, but it seems they've not mo
Strategy? (Score:5, Interesting)
That billion dollar write-off on the Surface tablets doesn't seem so bad now does it...
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I TOO CAN HAVE RECORD REVENUE IF !! (Score:3, Insightful)
I pay you a dollar for every 90 cents you give me !!
Surface COGS: 935 m
Revenue 850 m
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Considering they had a 6.5 billion dollar net income, I'm sure their executives and shareholders are crying into their money about your one comment that literally accounts for less than 1/24 of their overall revenue streams....
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As opposed to, like, Starbucks, or Daimler, or Apple, who, in their obvious obsession with quarterly profits, charge premium profits for every good sold from day one, and thus all quickly went out of business.
Mis-read? (Score:3)
Meanwhile, money made from selling Windows software to computer makers slid by three percent due to continue soft demand by consumers for personal computers
Yes, I too have been both softly demanding and loudly demanding a personal computer OS from Microsoft, yet all they want to push is some tablet OS unsuited for business work on a personal computer.
At least they aren't acting surprised about their choice.
Good for them. (Score:3, Insightful)
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Or perhaps you are referring to Obama's QE-Infinity where they simply print $80B per month (devaluing every $ you have in your pocket) until well-- forever?
Imagine government printing tons of money and burying it various places and asking the private sector to dig for it and deposit whatever money they find in their bank account. You would think this is the most asinine stupid idiotic moronic thing to do, right? And you would probably thing gold is the real money and all this paper money printed by the government is not worth anymore than toilet tissue.
But people spend enormous resources to find gold buried in the earth and promptly rebury it in various bank
Noooo (Score:4, Funny)
The year of the death of the linux desktop :-(
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Valve disagrees.
Good to hear (Score:5, Insightful)
It's always good to hear that the world's largest software firm has a higher revenue than the world's largest advertisement firm.
Regardless of whether it is MS or not.
Surface in the Enterprise (Score:5, Interesting)
Are we running this on iPads or Android tablets? No.
Why?
Because the software in question, along with pretty much everything else we use is designed to run on either Windows or Linux.
I could draw a conclusion here that Surface tablets will make in roads into the Enterprise for exactly this reason. Yes, yes, I know there are thousands of iPads in Enterprises right now, with all manner of executive and administrative staffers trying to look important at work with their tablet, while busily updating their FB status. However, I feel that because of MS's entrenched position in the Enterprise the Surface is more of a "work" device than an iPad or Android tablet.
Re:Surface in the Enterprise (Score:5, Interesting)
Now, I lost some faith in the Surface when I saw it have a BSOD just after 8.1 rolled out, but it only happened to him once.
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iPads and Android tablets are actually quite terrible from a productivity standpoint.
You should tell that to the executives who's job is email and reviewing spreadsheets. Or the thousands of nurses we employ using clinical applications with a touch based interface.
iPads are not general purpose computers. If you're using applications specifically designed for them, they're fantastically productive devices. They were not designed for spreadsheets. The sooner people realize that productivity is more than Microsoft Excel, the sooner we can get past this "tablets aren't any good for prod
Pro vs. RT (Score:2)
We have recently purchased a Surface to test with some LIMS software we use, which currently runs fine on W7. We were told it wouldn't run on 8. It has been discovered that it does in fact run on 8 and runs fine on our Surface.
Windows 7 supports only the Win32 API; Windows RT 8 and Windows RT 8.1 support only the new WinRT API. It is impossible for one program to run on both Windows 7 PCs and Surface RT unless it is written in an interpreted language and runs in an interpreter available for both platforms. By Surface did you mean Surface Pro, which supports both Win32 and WinRT applications?
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By Surface did you mean Surface Pro, which supports both Win32 and WinRT applications?
Correct.
My mistake that I realized after posting and I knew I would be caught. Yes, Surface Pro is what I meant.
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Nobody, and I mean NOBODY designs environments to run on either Windows or Linux.
I'm trying to figure out whether you're using some subtle definition of 'environment' or 'nobody' that I don't understand, or just a retard.
you know what this means (Score:4, Informative)
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Of the hundres of people I know, very
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Re:you know what this means (Score:4, Informative)
This guy agrees with you, anyway.
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs... [yahoo.com]
Dubious revenue is more like (Score:3)
I find it extremely hard to believe that a company whom has failed on so many fronts can post a "record revenue". Let's face it; Windows Phone, Vista, Metro, Xbox One -- all have been either utter failures or fell seriously short of expected sales. If a company can produce "record revenue" from a year like that, then management has problems bigger than just Ballmer.
Revenue != Profit (Score:2, Informative)
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Thanks for that insightful analysis stewsters.
The summary says they brought in 6.5 billion in net profit. That means they aren't going out of business any time soon.
Reading comprehension, D- (Score:5, Informative)
Taking in money doesn't necessarily mean anything unless you can actually make money.
$6.66 billion net. $24.52 billion gross.
Hmmm... (Score:2)
Re:Rumers..demise..exaggerated. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Just because someone has a preference you don't agree with doesn't make them a shill.
Not to mention that you're just resorting to an ad hominem attack instead of arguing a legitimate counterpoint.
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Re:Rumers..demise..exaggerated. (Score:5, Insightful)
> I'm a .NET developer so I'm a Fanboy because nothing else comes close for enterprise development.
Wow. That's a real head-shaker.
.Net for enterprise development? (Score:2)
Hmm...
I have heard from reliable sources that .Net is easier to develop in than Java.
However, Java has a much big set of libraries, is cross platform, and has a very effective Just-in-Time complier (that compiles frequently used code into native machine code based on the current run time profile) that comes free. It also can effectively use large quantities of memory and multiple cores. So in practice, Java is better suited to large enterprise applications than .Net - especially as .Net does not run on Li
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... unless your 'enterprise' (damn, I hate that term) is ... you know ... multi-platform?
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So A, B, C, D and E :)
Re:Rumers..demise..exaggerated. (Score:5, Interesting)
No, Java's the only other real contender for modern "enterprise" software (the backend - much of the JS on the client sadly comes from Java libraries). I've spent years writing code in both Java and C#, and these days C# wins hands down.
For years they were leapfrogging one another - whichever language had the most recent major release was a bit better, but not enough to really matter. But Java hit the rocks a few years back and has been sinking ever since. It had stumbled before Oracle, when C# got modern list processing with LINQ and a lambda operator, and Java missed the boat. And with the death of Sun, they never recovered.
The single biggest missing piece for C# right now is the lack of official support for writing Android apps in C#/Visual Studio. There are commercial solutions for that, but without official blessing it lacks the power of "no one has ever been fired for buying IBM". Maybe the new bosses at MS can get wise to that - it's not like they don't make money off of Android sales.
Re:Rumers..demise..exaggerated. (Score:5, Insightful)
I know, I didn't throw in enough mindless "Micro$hafts" or invoke Clippy enough. I'll try harder next time.
I'm a .NET developer so I'm a Fanboy because nothing else comes close for enterprise development.
You're fanboy for the wrong reasons. Microsoft is the classic bully. They take a standard and change it enough to be a pain in the ass for everyone else to integrate with. Then you have to explain to management that MS is doing something a little different that causes problems. Inevitably, a fanboy like yourself will pipe up and say that if everything were Microsoft, we wouldn't have this problem, when in fact because things are Microsoft, we have the problem.
I'm not trying to be a jerk, but my experience is that most people who program using MS tools are clueless. Not because their stupid, but because Microsoft makes all the decisions for them. Web services aren't a good idea until MS came out with the VS Web Service Wizard.
There's a reason Microsoft's address is One Microsoft Way.
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I don't mean to be a jerk either but frankly most of the people who bash MS in the developer arena don't know what they're talking about. I've done a _lot_ of UNIX development in bash, Perl, C, Java, and other languages. And I've also done a shit-ton of development in .NET. I know what I'm talking about in both arenas. Most UNIX guys don't have the slightest concept of how to develop in or support Windows in a professional environment. It would befuddle them to think you can do more with Powershell tha
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You're fanboy for the wrong reasons. Microsoft is the classic bully.
Clearly you've never had to work with Oracle (and frankly, Sun was never roses and sunshine either). In a space dominated by C# and Java, MS is the well-behaved nice vendor by comparison.
There's a reason Microsoft's address is One Microsoft Way.
Better than being stuck in One Infinite Loop. I can now say my car can drive an infinite loop in 10 minutes - how's that for high performance?
Re:Rumers..demise..exaggerated. (Score:4, Insightful)
ActiveX was not a good idea.
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I know, I didn't throw in enough mindless "Micro$hafts" or invoke Clippy enough. I'll try harder next time.
I'm a .NET developer so I'm a Fanboy because nothing else comes close for enterprise development.
I'm a .NET dev too, so I do understand your appreciation of the tools et al. I also have a WinPhone. But I'm not afraid to call MS out when they screw up (I assume you're the same ;)).
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Calling the poster a shill is the easy way out
Hence why I didn't call him a shill.
Jailhouse lawyer. (Score:2)
Hence why I didn't call him a shill.
Who do you think you're kidding?
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Hence why I didn't call him a shill.
Who do you think you're kidding?
Anyone who's completely unable to appreciate subtlety and nuance, like you.
Re:Rumers..demise..exaggerated. (Score:4, Insightful)
Their heart was in the right place by trying to make one unified interface to help them in the mobile business, but it's just an epic fail.
How can it be right to push for a fundamentally flawed idea?
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A simple example of why this is wrong: Let's say you have a simple Yes/No question to ask. For tablets, the right thing to do is blank out the screen, put the question more-or-less in the middle, with two large icons to poke. For desktops, it's a standard Yes/No dialog box. For phones, you're better off with the question across the top, and then the Yes and No buttons taking up almost the entire screen.
That's 3 different interfaces with 3 different interactions that are easy to pull off because you're inter
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Too bad you used IE to post this or you would have spelled rumor correctly in the title.
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Wonderful. Can you tell my why SQL Server 2008 won't install if Windows 8 is using Japanese as the language of the OS? Once you've done this, SQL Server bugs out and refuses to install no matter what hte lanugage is. I would have thought by 2008 MS would have figured out internationalization. I have never seen such a fundimental an issue like this before. I ended up having my whole machine re-imaged on me.
I'm not impressed with how much of my personal time this wasted.
Re:Rumers..demise..exaggerated. (Score:5, Funny)
If you choose Japanese, you need to install SQR Server 2008.
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I would only point out two broad areas where Microsoft seems to be a little weaker than some of its big competitors: innovation and quality control.
And I'm finding it hard to make a case for innovation. I could argue that they don't come up with new ideas, they borrow ideas that already work for someone else, but that's not really a sin in my book. Who was it that said "good artists borrow from other artists, great artists steal?
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I would only point out two broad areas where Microsoft seems to be a little weaker than some of its big competitors: innovation and quality control.
Maybe they can hire away Tim Cook from Apple to solve their innovation problem. ;-)
Regarding quality, I guess I'm in the minority in terms of being quite impressed with their quality overall. Sure, they make dumb UI mistakes like Metro, but considering how complex most of their stuff is, I think it works extremely well overall. For example, I think the fact that plug-and-play works as well as it does is a small miracle. It's a wonderful luxury to just plug something in and it magically works. (Which is
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It's not a viable desktop.
It's a Partridge Family Bus crash.
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They have the money, the culture, and the people to write very good software when they don't make otherwise bad decisions (like Metro Everywhere). That's why I bought an Xbox One instead of a PS4, not because I hate Sony but because Microsoft is fundamentally a better software company and I expect more and better features from them.
Good to hear! I take it you are also satisfied with your Zune, PlayForSure music bought in their online store, Kin smartphone, or perhaps Windows Phone 7?
Sorry, you may prefer their stuff, but the reason(s) you list are ridiculous and just factually contradictory to their own behavior. Within the last decade they've thrown several of their own products and customers under the bus.
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They are actually putting some effort in and also slowly changing the culture in the applications that surround their platform and are far worse offenders than MS ever were. So we don't pile on in the hope that they will get on with it and reach what every other multiuser system on the planet was doing with security in the 1990s. Considering the slow moving third party ecosytem around the platform, and tha
Pro pricing and RT restrictions (Score:2)
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Cost is a legitimate concern, but that's hardly a reason to claim it's a horrible product any more than Apple's products (which I do hate, but admit aren't terrible) are.
But, uh, Apple products have the Apple logo on them.
Apple, for good or bad, is a premium brand that many people consider to justify a high price. Microsoft is a cheap crap brand.
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I've got enough trouble dealing with standard SD cards in my camera and the only Micro-SD I have to deal with is so small I'm afraid my dog will swallow the damn thing if I drop it on the floor. Human Factor idiots. Not all of us have the small hands of a child so a standard SD slot makes far more sense.
At this very moment I am busily searching for a MicroSD card in my rug. The damned thing popped out of a Samsung tablet. I wish my dog had found it, at least I would be able to eventually recover it.
If I find the damned thing, it's getting painted international orange.....
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