As the year winds down, financial analysts are predicting that Microsoft will pre-announce negative earnings for the first time since 2000 because of a flat PC market. But all things considered, 2008 was a pretty good year for the software giant.
Windows is still used on 90 percent of computers and Internet Explorer on 70 percent. Despite growing Web-based competition, Microsoft Office saw 20 percent growth in Q1 of fiscal 2009 and the company's server and tools division grew by 23 percent in Q1 2009.
On top of that, research from NPD Group this week shows that November retail sales for Macs fell 1 percent year over year while Windows PC sales grew 7 percent.
Under new cloud-minded chief software architect Ray Ozzie, Microsoft has been adapting to a changing Web 2.0 world. Cloud computing operating system Windows Azure, Windows Live, Live Mesh and Office Web Apps are a few examples of Microsoft's focused attempts to stay innovative.
More: http://www.pcworld.com/article/155836/article.html?tk=nl_dnxnws
Windows is still used on 90 percent of computers and Internet Explorer on 70 percent. Despite growing Web-based competition, Microsoft Office saw 20 percent growth in Q1 of fiscal 2009 and the company's server and tools division grew by 23 percent in Q1 2009.
On top of that, research from NPD Group this week shows that November retail sales for Macs fell 1 percent year over year while Windows PC sales grew 7 percent.
Under new cloud-minded chief software architect Ray Ozzie, Microsoft has been adapting to a changing Web 2.0 world. Cloud computing operating system Windows Azure, Windows Live, Live Mesh and Office Web Apps are a few examples of Microsoft's focused attempts to stay innovative.
More: http://www.pcworld.com/article/155836/article.html?tk=nl_dnxnws