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Microsoft Asks Fed For Bailout

snydeq writes "Microsoft requested on Tuesday some $20 billion in bailout funds from the federal government, claiming that as the company controls an overwhelming share of the OS market, it is too big to fail. Low adoption rates for Vista, the ensuing ad campaign trying to convince people that they really do like Vista, and the increased need for development resources to rush Windows 7 to market to make people forget about Vista have necessitated the bailout, the company said. 'We want to make it absolutely clear that this is not a crisis of mismanagement,' said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a prepared statement. 'This is simply a crisis of dollars — a crisis of not having enough dollars coming our way.'"

29 of 346 comments (clear)

  1. They are, ghowever by geekoid · · Score: 5, Informative

    trying to use bailout money to build a bridge between their campuses.

    Yeah, that sounds like an AF joke, but I read it a day or two ago.

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    1. Re:They are, ghowever by GaratNW · · Score: 5, Informative

      The bridge in question connects one publicly accessible area to another publicly accessible area where there are limited ways to get across the freeway in question. While Microsoft accounts for about 40% of the expected traffic on the new bridge, they [i.e. Microsoft] are actually footing the bill for approximately half the cost of the bridge. Those bastards! Fleecing the public by paying half of something that is a publicly owned structure that will provide a few hundred jobs for 2 years, that they won't own but will be able to benefit from, and will encourage people to WALK rather than drive everywhere. How dare they. And it's a shovel ready project. Yah.. horrible idea.

      Oh sorry. Slashdot. My bad. Go on with your uninformed hating.

    2. Re:They are, ghowever by jonnythan · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's a bridge that connects two public roads and will reportedly do a great job lessening congestion on the other nearby bridge.

      Despite people billing it as a "Microsoft bridge" it's not. It's a public bridge on a public road. I think Microsoft is being kinda generous by offering to pay for a huge chunk of it.

    3. Re:They are, ghowever by zaba · · Score: 5, Funny

      You forgot blackjack. Actually, forget blackjack.

    4. Re:They are, ghowever by jonnythan · · Score: 5, Informative

      http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/31/bridge.microsoft/index.html

      "We're not a one-company town," [Mayor] Marchione says. "Our traffic studies show that Microsoft traffic would be about 42 percent of the bridge, yet Microsoft is paying for about 50 percent of the bridge, so we think we are getting fair value."

      Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith wrote: "As the largest employer in Redmond, Microsoft takes its responsibility to the surrounding community seriously. We have spent over $50 million to assist the City of Redmond and other local governments with street construction, transit facilities, water and sewer facilities and fire equipment."

      "Any time you can include the private sector in funding transportation projects, it's a win-win situation," Ennis explains. "The state has a monopoly on our roads system. Even if Microsoft wanted to pay for this project on their own, legally they are required to work with the public sector."

    5. Re:They are, ghowever by digitalunity · · Score: 4, Funny

      True, but the blow would only be in the MVP rail car and the hookers would stop to ask you if you want to pay extra to upgrade your experience, and when you're done she would ask you to fill out a survey about your experience.

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  2. Re:It's April 2 now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Funny things, time zones.

  3. 100% Real! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny
  4. Weird. by gbarules2999 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thanks to the bailout, 2009 is clearly the year of Windows on the desktop.

    1. Re:Weird. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Dont put windows on your desktop. Trust me, its just a distaster. It may seem like a cool idea, but all the crashes and breaking and the cleanup, its just not worth it.

      Oh, where you talking about the OS?

  5. Re:It's April 2 now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    -1 British

  6. The best April Fool's by line-bundle · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is by far the best april fools story posted today. I almost fell for it!

  7. Slashdot was useless today by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Today it's just useless.

    Today?

  8. haha by ADRA · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Too silly to be real; Too real to be fake; Too fake to be silly. So really, where does that leave the story?

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  9. wait a minute here... by je+ne+sais+quoi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Wait a minute here.... I read this story and I thought, well hey, a company tried to force on everyone a product that wasn't desirable for the consumer, waited a long time to deliver that product, and has a history of making some products that don't do so well, so is in deep trouble financially and might go under. Seemed pretty reasonable to me, isn't that how capitalism is supposed to work? If you don't make products that people want to buy, aren't you supposed to do poorly?

    But then I remembered this is an April Fools joke. Since it's not true, and Microsoft is doing just fine, I thought about why it isn't true: either A) Microsoft really is making products that people want or B) Capitalism isn't working here. Regarding A, I suppose MS does make more decent products than bad ones, but I can't help but think of Microsoft as the GM of the auto-world 20 years ago in that they have a much larger market share than the quality of their products warrants (suggesting B). So I wonder when the Toyota of the operating system world is going to come along and eat MS' lunch? It must be nice to be a monopoly.

    P.S. Please MS fanboys, try to remember that the troll or flamebait mods are not a substitute for an "I disagree that Vista was a failure" mod.

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    1. Re:wait a minute here... by je+ne+sais+quoi · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Well, continuing with my auto analogy, if Microsoft is the GM of the operating systems, that makes FOSS the VW microbus. Yeah sure it kinda works, but you spend half your time repairing it and the other half the time using it with parts broken. (Oh, and it's most commonly used by bearded hippies.)

      I joke, I joke! :) I actually think that a great way to stimulate the economy would be to make micro-grants (by gov. standards) to pay programmers to write FOS software. That way, the tax-payer gets a return on their investment by having better quality software that is freely available. Oh wait, that would be communism... (Incidentally, isn't that what the Google Summer of Code is?)

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  10. NEWS: Slashdot gets Federal Content Bailout by koterica · · Score: 5, Funny

    In a press release on Wednesday, Mr. Taco, the head of the online news site Slashdot, announced that the website had run out of stories.

    In a twitter based inquiry to take place tomorrow. congressmen are expected to ask Mr. Taco if he drove his own Internets to Washington DC.

    An anonymous source within the White House quoted President Obama as saying that "Things are tough. They may have to make do with LOLcats for a while."

  11. The US Government asks Microsoft for a Bailout by tjstork · · Score: 5, Funny

    Face with an ever increasing mountain of debt, the US Government today has asked Microsoft for a bailout. Under the terms of the bailout, Microsoft Windows licenses will be exchanged with holders of Treasury Bonds to help the USA reduce its debt.

    The Chinese Government expressed great interest in the deal. "We were thinking about using Linux, but knowing that we now have the rights to sell 5 billion copies of Microsoft products allows us to settle the debt the Americans have with us, and helps us become a software super power." Under the terms of the new arrangement, every house in China will receive their choice of Visual Studio Team System, Windows Server, or a lot of games.

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  12. Re:But it is true by westlake · · Score: 5, Informative
    We know that MS is getting a new federally funded bridge

    Redmond is getting a new bridge and Microsoft is paying half.

    Redmond has a population of around 46,000.

    Microsoft employs about 30,000 full time workers and owns or leases around 8,000,000 square feet of - presumably taxable - office space in or near the city.

  13. Re:It's April 2 now by nacturation · · Score: 4, Funny

    Funny, that. Just yesterday you were claiming it's April 1st when it was really March 31st. Stop living in the future, man!

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  14. Re:It's April 2 now by Achromatic1978 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Uhh, you realize that all April Fool's Jokes are meant to be done by 12PM on April 1?

  15. Re:It's April 2 now by Runaway1956 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Perhaps you have a city ordinance which specifies such a thing.  I live in Backwoods, Nowhere, and such ordinances don't apply here.  I may seek my amusement whenever and wherever I wish.  Hell, I can wait til next week to do my own April joke, and not worry about some silly rule about silly conduct.

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  16. Re:Slashdot was useless today by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Today it's just useless.

    You must be new here.

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  17. Re:It's April 2 now by palegray.net · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wouldn't that be (UTC) +1 British?

  18. Re:It's April 2 now by soren202 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Noon?

    Even I think that's a bit harsh. Many days, I'm still sleeping at such an early hour.

  19. Re:It's April 2 now by iminplaya · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's always April 1st in the United States.

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  20. Re:It's April 2 now by mqduck · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've never heard that in my life. But the One True Source of All Knowledge enlightens us:

    'Traditionally, in some countries, the jokes only last until noon: like UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, someone who plays a trick after noon is called an "April Fool".[1] Elsewhere, such as in Ireland, France, and the USA, the jokes last all day.'

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  21. Please Stop! by Rennt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    For the love of God - please stop with the font tags! I'll defend to the death (figuratively) your right to say whatever you like, but not your right to use small, ugly fonts to do it!

  22. Re:It's April 2 now by mad+flyer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nope, in France since we have Sarkozy, it's all year long...