MESSAGE
| DATE | 2003-06-05 |
| FROM | Michael Richardson
|
| SUBJECT | RE: [hangout] Internal Memo
|
I Quote Dan Arico
"One OS to rule them all, One OS to find them,
One OS to bring them all, and in the Darkness bind them,
In the land of Redmond, where the Sales Reps lie."
-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Williams [mailto:jdave23-at-express56.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2003 9:46 AM
To: hangout-at-nylxs.com
Subject: [hangout] Internal Memo
According to CNET (http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-1013124.html?tag=lh)
Steve Ballmer recently sent this company-wide memo to MS employees.
Grab your pom-poms, boys and girls -- rah rah rah, go team go!
In this environment of lean (information technology) budgets and
concerns about Microsoft's attention to customers, noncommercial
software such as Linux and OpenOffice is seen as an interesting, 'good
enough' or 'free' alternative.
Noncommercial software products in general, and Linux in particular,
present a competitive challenge for us and for our entire industry, and
they require our concentrated focus and attention.
IBM's endorsement of Linux has added credibility and an illusion of
support and accountability, although the reality is there is no 'center
of gravity,' or central body, investing in the health and growth of
noncommercial software or innovating in critical areas like engineering,
manageability, compatibility and security.
There is always enthusiasm in our business for new concepts. So-called
'free software' is the latest new thing. We will rise to this challenge,
and we will compete in a fair and responsible manner that puts our
customers first. We will show that our approach offers better value,
better security and better opportunity. While the noncommercial model
may lead to many flavors of software, getting broad, consistent
innovation requires coordination across many technology components. In
the event of needed enhancements or fixes, the Linux development
community, no matter how well intentioned, simply cannot advance Linux
the way we can--and must--innovate in Windows.
Information is the lifeblood of business, and software is what gives
people and businesses the ability to harness it. Software is what
enables us to collect, manipulate, access, store, share, analyze and act
on information. It enables companies to constantly hone their
competitive edge. So, contrary to the idea that we're entering a
'post-technological era,' I believe that taking software to the next
level will be one of the biggest sources of value creation for
customers, and that Microsoft is well-positioned to enable this and to
benefit from it.
Some other vendors sell against integration. We see and deliver unique
customer value because of integration. Microsoft needs to focus on
strengthening the customer value in our end-to-end technology
platform--client and server operating systems, client and server
applications, and programming tools--which all integrate seamlessly and
scale from the enterprise to the desktop to wireless mobile devices.
These systems are better for users, developers and IT people because of
the common architecture for development tools, management, application
schema, interoperability, identity, data, etc.
Longhorn is our big bet on galvanizing the next big breakthrough--even
bigger, perhaps, than the first generation Windows release. Virtually
everything we're doing from a product standpoint will accrue to the
Longhorn wave. In addition to the Longhorn client, there will be a
Longhorn version of Office, Longhorn server enhancements, Longhorn
development tools, and a Longhorn version of MSN.
We will do the work and take the time required to get it right, because
it truly is the next quantum leap in computing, which will put us years
ahead of any other product on the market. We also must improve business
consistency. Customers love predictability, and rightly so. Licensing
6.0 was our hard-learned lesson about this. Our Trustworthy Computing
initiative is hitting its stride, and we have formed a group focused on
adding core security technologies to all our products. Our customers are
still hit with security vulnerabilities, and we have spent a lot of time
learning from Slammer what we need to do better. We are improving our
approach to fixes, and our new integrated software update and
distribution services will provide more businesses with the tools they
need to deploy updates easily.
We should look at communicating about new product design to customers
earlier through online design discussion. For some products it makes
sense to publish regular builds of new products online, for community
feedback. We will learn good ideas from wherever they come, and if that
(publishing of software for community feedback) sounds a little more
like the way the noncommercial software community works, if we see good
ideas there that we think we can adapt and still deliver the kind of
value to our customers that we believe commercial software companies
should deliver, then we will use good ideas.
____________________________
NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
____________________________
NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
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