AfterDawn: News

Windows 7 still on track, investors pleased despite revenue decline

Microsoft Corp. has revealed a 32 percent drop in quarterly profit, but saw its share price rise on news of Windows 7 being on track for a fiscal 2010 release, and its ongoing cost cutting measures to fight the global recession. "While we would all like to think that our recovery will be soon and painless, we unfortunately believe that it will be slow and gradual," Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said on a conference call.

The company revealed it expected weakness in the personal computer, server and hardware markets to continue for at least another quarter, in contrast to Intel's belief that the worst is already over. The company's 6 percent drop in revenue for the March quarter was the first time in its history that it marked a year-on-year decline.



It has cut operating expenses by 9 percent. "It's good to see that they are controlling their costs because that's within their sphere of control. They can't really do a lot about demand," said Kim Caughey at money manager Fort Pitt Capital Group. "They have a nice product refresh cycle coming up, which should allow them to maintain their market share."

Microsoft is confident that the Windows 7 operating system is still on track for a fiscal 2010 release, which could technically mean as early as July this year. "The best of all possible worlds would be that it's ready for back-to-school, which is the July-August time frame," said Caughey.

Written by: James Delahunty @ 23 Apr 2009 20:29

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• 7 comments

• cart0181

  I can hardly wait! Then I can bypass the VISTA era completely. So, are they going to do VISTA--> 7 "Express Upgrade?" Then I wouldn't have to wait till the end of the summer.

  23.4.2009 22:47 #1

• varnull

  bloatware and lock-in finally starts to catch up with this anti consumer pseudo monopoly... in the same way as others have gone down now it's the turn of this lot.
  We have seen businesses make the same mistakes time and time again.. it's the reason apple have less "market" share for desktops than the uncountable free alternatives... they made the same mistakes in the mid 90's ... it boils down to this.. Why pay for something which then restricts what you can do and is deliberately broken by design" .. the public might be sheep but in a time when cash is tight they ain't totally stupid.

  23.4.2009 22:56 #2

• KillerBug

  Um...the downturn is microsoft's fault; they still have not fixed massive problems from Windows XP that prevent users from using the operating system as a media center; this has nixed their goal of taking market share from Tivo and other such dvr devices...and Vista is on it's way out!
  
  Despite their massive lie campaigns about Vista, even normal users know that vista is a terrible operating system full of bugs, and they are not willing to buy a new computer that is slower and less reliable than their current system.
  
  You know those Vista trial tents from the TV commercials? I went to one of them. Out of about 20 laptops, 2 were at the BSOD! Internet was slow, and many of the things they told me to try didn't work, or didn't work right! Most everyone that actualy went to the tent left with the distinct impression that giving vista a chance was a waist of their time.
  
  I doubt that microsoft will fix these bugs for Windows 7, and this time people will not be saying "Vista Sucks" they will be saying "Windows Sucks".

  23.4.2009 23:23 #3

• Hrdrk20

  Quote:news of Windows 7 being on track for a fiscal 2010 releaseI've been running the x64 Ultimate Version of Windows 7 beta for about a month and absolutely love it. All the programs I used with XP Pro such as DVDShrink, Poser 7 and Flaskmpeg work fine. Win 7 doesn't like MS Office 2007 and if you try and install it on a store-bought computer, it won't recogonize your graphics drivers.

  24.4.2009 08:05 #4

• ronfelder

  I'm using Vista Home Premium 64 bit version and have not a bit of a problem with it. My machine flies. I think the negativity is for nothing. Yes in the beginning there weren't enough drivers for it, but I remember that XP had the same problem when it first came out.
  
  Ron

  24.4.2009 17:06 #5

• bobiroc

  Quote:Quote:news of Windows 7 being on track for a fiscal 2010 releaseI've been running the x64 Ultimate Version of Windows 7 beta for about a month and absolutely love it. All the programs I used with XP Pro such as DVDShrink, Poser 7 and Flaskmpeg work fine. Win 7 doesn't like MS Office 2007 and if you try and install it on a store-bought computer, it won't recogonize your graphics drivers.I have Win7 running on a store bought PC (kinda). Its a Dell Optiplex GX620 and it recognized all the drivers. I downloaded Win7 Drivers for the manufacturers that have them. I also have Office 2007 installed and it runs fine. I am awaiting my technet renewal so I can download RC1.

  24.4.2009 21:11 #6

• bigE

  I found Vista much, MUCH better than the transition to XP. And this is coming from a guy who proclaimed he wouldn't switch to Vista for love or money because of my issues with XP. IMO, MS has done a bang up job for quite some time now, and for anyone to simply state "Apple rulz and MS suks" is just ignorant. Both have their faults. And Linux, no matter what distro, is still no user friendly enough for the masses. Simplicity wins, every time. Don't believe me? Look at Itunes, Apple Apps Store, Blackberry Messenger, X-Box Live. K.I.S.S. None of these are so much better than the competitors that they should hold considerable market share, but between simplicity (point and click) and marketing (*cough*iPhone*cough*) people automatically choose it.

  25.4.2009 01:39 #7