Joe Wilcox

If Windows Vista were a person, it would have an inferiority complex. Not since Windows ME has a Microsoft operating system seen such cool business reception. Indeed, research shows that many enterprises hope to leapfrog Vista altogether. Two recent events should have opened the gates holding back enterprise adoption of Windows Vista: the release of […]

Bill Gates isn’t really leaving Microsoft; he’s just shifting how much time he spends there. In late May, I chatted with Gates over cocktails before he and CEO Steve Ballmer made their final public appearance together at the D Conference in Carlsbad, Calif. Gates said he spends about 80 percent of his time at Microsoft […]

Yahoo: Be My Valentine Yahoo: Be My Valentine – Microsoft There’s nothing like a lover scorned. Microsoft wants to be the beau, but Yahoo is playing hard to get. Stalker Microsoft plans a shotgun wedding. We think this matchup can only lead to divorce or, worse, domestic violence. Besides, it would be a Microsoft marriage […]

Microsoft Influencers on the Rise Microsoft Influencers on the Rise – On the Rise: 1 Stephen Elop, incoming President, Microsoft Business Division (in transition to replace Jeff Raikes)Todd Peters, vice president of marketing, Mobile Communications Business (Microsoft announced his hiring in January)Tony Scott, CIO (The former Disney technology chief assumes a similar role at Microsoft […]

The 25 Most Influential People at Microsoft Among Microsoft’s 70,000-plus employees, there are many influential people. Twenty-five is too small a number to capture the best of the best among a large group of creative people. But Microsoft corporate culture also is very staid and insular, with a top-heavy power structure. Therefore, for this list, […]

SAN DIEGO—Raging wildfires have forced some local technology companies to close their offices, including Qualcomm and Sony Electronics. Risk is greatest for employees homes than for the businesses. Sony Electronics closed its U.S. headquarters on Oct. 23 for a second day, sending home nearly 2,500 employees from its 71-acre campus in Rancho Bernardo. Fires ravaged […]

Microsofts new Surface product and technology platform surfaced May 30. Introduced by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at the D Conference, in Carlsbad, Calif., Surface has been a long time coming. The first product, a 30-inch display table, is designed for commercial use. The product uses cameras and software to detect human gestures, objects and devices […]

The April 25 release of a feature-complete Windows Server “Longhorn” beta is a monumental milestone for Microsoft, perhaps more important than the launch of Windows Vista. As the nucleus of Microsofts enterprise product strategy, Longhorn will likely pull deployments of other products, including Vista. However, uncertainty about the release of the first Vista service pack […]

With its impending purchase of voice-search platform provider Tellme Networks, Microsoft took a key step in its broad-ranging effort to use voice technology as an interface for accessing information and services. The move, announced March 14, could foreshadow similar purchases as the Redmond, Wash., company pushes its software-plus-services concept. “We see voice and speech recognition […]

On Feb. 22, a San Diego jury delivered a stunning blow to Microsoft—a $1.52 billion patent judgment in favor of Alcatel-Lucent. The judgment was about one-third of what Alcatel-Lucent had asked for. The judgment, the largest patent award in history, came one day after Microsoft presented oral arguments before the Supreme Court, in a separate […]