Office Pro Plus 2007 Ballmer on why breaking up is

A quick compendium of Microsoft-related news from about the Internet that I haven;t had time to blog in full:
CEO Steve Ballmer is nonetheless not getting the thought that Microsoft really should break itself up voluntarily to turn into a lot more agile. Ballmer didn;t such as the idea when Goldman Sachs recommended it lately, and he still doesn;t, he informed people attending the Microsoft shareholders meeting on November sixteen. Ballmer created the situation that Microsoft;s main competition all supply plays that span PCs, TVs and phones, and Microsoft needs to keep its present framework to carry on to present cross-group synergies. Ballmer also mentioned that a number of Microsoft;s products, like Office,Office Professional 2010, are neither consumer-only nor enterprise-only (creating it difficult to complete a split along consumer/business lines). Ballmer did be aware that whenever the break-up suggestion comes up, he gives the notion a “proper, disciplined look.”
Microsoft is adding Windows Azure support to its Windows Server High Performance Computing (HPC) platform. Service pack (SP) 1 for Windows HPC Server 2008 R2,Office Professional, due out before the end of calendar 2010,Office 2007 Product Key, will add the capability to “burst” workloads to the Azure cloud. This seems to get Microsoft;s HPC cloud play. I;m thinking there will be far more coming along those lines once Microsoft announces officially its plan to make its Dryad distributed-computing stack available on top of Windows HPC Server. (A first test build of that capability was/is slated for November, last we heard.)
Here are additional details on how HPC Server users can connect with Windows Azure, courtesy of Microsoft developer division chief Soma Somasegar.
Microsoft is nevertheless advising Windows Phone 7 customers not to use microSD cards that aren;t supplied with their phones (even though some users have been trying like heck to complete so). Here;s the latest official statement on the matter from a Microsoft spokesperson:
“Windows Phone 7 does not support swapping microSD cards in and out. SD cards inserted into a Windows Phone 7 device are integrated into the device’s file system and are intended to be a permanent modification to the device. Once an SD card has been integrated into a Windows Phone 7 device’s file system, it will no longer be readable or writable on any other device. This behavior is by design and is intended to ensure a consistently high-quality and secure end-user experience.”
There;s nonetheless no official word on which microSD cards can be swapped (as it seems some can be). Update: Sandisk is now listing Windows Phone 7 compatible microSD cards.
Microsoft has sold 1 million Kinects in the first 10 days it was available via retail. (Only four million to go before December 31,Office Pro 2007, 2010, if Microsoft;s predictions of 5 million by year-end hold true.) While the Kinect is a sensor for the Xbox,Office Pro Plus 2007, it;s lots a lot more (to Microsoft, at least). It;s one of the first examples of a natural user interface (NUI) from the company that seems to resonate with the public. It;s also Microsoft;s latest favorite example of company innovation.
The Kinect also is going to become key to Microsoft;s Live and advertising strategies, going forward, as company execs advised Wall Street not too long ago. I also tend to agree with Forbes; Oliver Chiang that Microsoft;s ultimate goal with Kinect is to cement the position of Xbox as an entertainment hub. I;m wondering whether we;ll see Microsoft offer different hubs (PC vs. Xbox) to different customer segments in the future… or whether it;ll be a contest between Windows Client and Entertainment & Devices as to which business unit becomes the main focus for Microsoft;s three-screens-and-a-cloud vision.