Six months after Microsoft's introduction of Vista, we learn that the excitement generated by its launch is definitely driving PC sales. Sales of PCs running Windows XP, that is. Apparently, Windows XP is just so darned good that people can't give it up. Meanwhile, Office sales brought in enough money to offset the billion bucks that Xbox repairs are costing the company. That other hardware product, the one that comes in brown and has a name that sounds like the Gatekeeper from Ghostbusters, is somewhat overshadowed by its competition. Or as CNET blogger Don Reisinger puts it, "the very products keeping Microsoft afloat are quickly becoming its albatross."
In this fickle world of technology, where "What Have You Done for Me Lately" is the mantra of the masses, it becomes relevant to ask, what is Microsoft's hottest product these days? What's Redmond's Greatest Hit of 2007?
Maybe it's Keith Olbermann. His show "Countdown" is MSNBC's hottest property, and MSNBC is the fastest-growing cable news network. But no, it can't be that, because Microsoft is bailing out of MSNBC. Apparently Microsoft has noticed that cable news appeals to the same demographic that still relies on land-line phones.
While we're on the subject of phones I'd better admit that I haven't bought an iPhone yet. I know, I know. But I'm snagged on Blackberry thorns. My T-Mobile contract has as many months to run as the Bush administration. Choosing a cell phone is as weighty a decision as voting for a Congressperson, since you're more or less stuck with your pick for the same duration.
Sorry, nonU.S. readers. I know you think Americans are living in the Dark Ages regarding politics and cell phones.
When it comes to web technology, though, we're all over it. It's amazing what you can do with a little JavaScript and XML, judging by this service offered by Netflix:
Gender: Male (change)
Only the brash or dissatisfied male will click that change button without at least putting a book in his lap. But I digress.
Could Microsoft's Greatest Hit of 2007 be Silverlight? Microsoft's "cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web" was profiled in this magazine last month, and I'm certainly not going to differ with the author of that piece about the importance of Silverlight. Let's call it a maybe and keep looking.
Could Microsoft's definitive Greatest Hit of 2007 be pirated Microsoft software in China? I'm having trouble following the logic here, but in a recent article in Fortune, David Kirkpatrick explains that, after 15 years and billions of dollars wasted, Microsoft has finally figured out how to work with the Chinese. They hired Henry Kissinger to advise them and apparently his advice was: Let them pirate your software. They'll love you for it.
Gates saw the light. Kirkpatrick: "Gates argued...that while it was terrible that people in China pirated so much software, if they were going to pirate anybody's software he'd certainly prefer it be Microsoft's." Microsoft, you see, is so big that they really can lose money on every copy of Windows or Office and make it up in volume.
Of course, this article is from the same magazine that picked Enron as the most innovative company in America in the year that it was also recognized for the biggest business scandal and the biggest bankruptcy in American history.
So we keep looking.
That table-top PC? Not mass-market enough. Tablet PCs? They'll help XP sales, but even if they are a hit, they'll be a hit of 2008. Digital and audio codecs? We're talking Microsoft here; its hot product of the year can't be a codec.
Could Microsoft's Greatest Hit of 2007 be its HD Photo format? I think not. Being recognized as a standard is the opposite of hot. It's like being frozen.
Speaking of frozen (cheap shot alert), maybe Microsoft's hottest product is Al Gore. MSN claimed that its streaming of Gore's Live Earth seven-continent concert had the most simultaneous viewers of any online concert in history. Yep, I think that's it: Microsoft's Greatest Hit of 2007 was Al Gore.
Apple board member and Google advisor Al Gore.
Michael Swaine
Editor-at-Large
