Microsoft's Market Value Hits a Dot-Com Era Milestone: $600 Billion (wsj.com)

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Microsoft's Market Value Hits a Dot-Com Era Milestone: $600 Billion (wsj.com)

Posted by msmash on Friday October 20, 2017 @02:40AM from the big-money dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Microsoft's value is returning to tech-bubble peaks. The software giant closed with a market value of $600 billion Thursday for the first time since January 2000, according to the Journal's Market Data Group. Shares rose 0.4 percent to $77.91, setting a fresh all-time high. For the year, Microsoft shares are up 25% and on track for their best year since 2013, as the firm continues its rebirth as a force in cloud-computing. The firm is the third-largest S&P 500 company in market value, trailing Apple (about $800 billion) and Google's parent company, Alphabet, (about $690 billion). In July, fellow technology and internet stalwarts Facebook and Amazon.com joined the trio as the only U.S.-listed companies valued at more than in the $500 billion. The last time Microsoft was over $600 billion back in 2000, it didn't stay there for long. The tech bubble would peak in March of that year, and the Nasdaq Composite Index wouldn't climb back to the level it reach that year until 2015.

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WSJ Paywall by bev_tech_rob · 2017-10-20 02:49 · Score: 1

Any other sources?

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You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....
1. Re: WSJ Paywall by thegreatbob · 2017-10-20 03:39 · Score: 1
  
  I want to believe I didn't first read that as 'SJW paywall', and I'll see myself out.
  
  --
  There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
2. Re: WSJ Paywall by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 07:59 · Score: 0
  
  I want to believe I didn't first read that as 'SJW paywall', and I'll see myself out.
  Ha ha yeah the inability of some people to accurately read a sentence is so noteworthy, so endearing, and just plain fucking awesome! I'm glad so many stories have someone like you saying something like that. It never, ever gets old!
3. Re: WSJ Paywall by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 10:45 · Score: 0
  
  Bright people can have dyslexia to, you know...
The heady days of the dot com bust... by ITapeFatCashews · 2017-10-20 02:49 · Score: 1, Interesting

Finally, after all these years, Microsoft is on its way to being a $1T company.
1. Re:The heady days of the dot com bust... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 03:00 · Score: 0
  
  Finally, after all these years, Microsoft is on its way to being a $1T company.
  the market is expanding faster than they are, so if anything they are falling further and further behind
2. Re:The heady days of the dot com bust... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 03:02 · Score: 0
  
  Finally, after all these years, Microsoft is on its way to being a $1T company.
  They'll just keep issuing more stock until they get there.
  Microsoft -- 7.7 billion shares outstanding
  Apple - 5.1 billion
  Alphabet - 692 million
3. Re: The heady days of the dot com bust... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 03:16 · Score: 0
  
  The value of the US dollar keeps tanking. Unbelievable how bad things have gotten.
4. Re: The heady days of the dot com bust... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 03:21 · Score: 0
  
  Thanks, trump!
5. Re:The heady days of the dot com bust... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 05:22 · Score: 0
  
  Issuing more shares doesnâ(TM)t change the value of the company. It lowers the share price.
6. Re: The heady days of the dot com bust... by Anonymous Coward · 2017-11-03 09:06 · Score: 0
  
  Why don't you tell us about your "underage sweet thing" you gross virgin pervert
Rev up those trading platforms by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 02:50 · Score: 0

Discount brokers would love to have your commissions
Not adjusted for inflation by llZENll · 2017-10-20 03:12 · Score: 5, Informative

Adjusted for inflation MS would have to reach a value of 877 billion to match the 2000 value of 600 billion.
1. Re:Not adjusted for inflation by ChrisMaple · 2017-10-20 03:39 · Score: 1
  
  At least 877 billion; my estimate is closer to 1 trillion, but I've had trouble finding good data.
  
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2. Re:Not adjusted for inflation by ByteSlicer · 2017-10-20 06:32 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  640B ought to be enough for anyone.
3. Re:Not adjusted for inflation by michaelwigle · 2017-10-20 09:25 · Score: 1
  
  I wish I had mod points. That's hilarious! Thanks for the chuckle.
4. Re:Not adjusted for inflation by epine · 2017-10-21 10:07 · Score: 1
  
  640B ought to be enough for anyone.
  That was funny.
  Now if only I had a nickel for every time I've had to suffer through "640K should be enough for anyone" comment I could have been rich for the rest of my life, instead of amused for five minutes.
  
  Give a man some fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
Shorts by MountainLogic · 2017-10-20 03:20 · Score: 2

Desktop OS market - on life support.
Laptop OS market - moribund at best
Server OS market - MS's one bright spot is a bubble fighting a better free alternative
Tablet OS market - does MS even have an offering?
Phone OS market - Yep, that went well for MS Office Suite - on life support as on line and free alternatives eat their lunch - anybody write documents?
Outlook - Please somebody put this out of its (and my) misery

$600B?? Time to short and profit!
1. Re:Shorts by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 03:32 · Score: 0
  
  Financial advice by an anti-ms troll. Nice !
2. Re:Shorts by CastrTroy · 2017-10-20 03:32 · Score: 2
  
  Desktop OS Market - Still the deFacto Standard
  Laptop OS Market - Still the deFacto Standard - Also, why would this be any different than a desktop OS, I want the same OS and applications running on as many devices as possible
  Tablet OS Market - See Laptop OS Market. You shouldn't have a whole different operating system for tablets.
  Phone OS Market - Probably won't be too many more years before you're basically running a full OS on your phone. We have the computing power at this point. I think this is where Microsoft is eventually headed.
  Outlook - Still waiting for someone to come out with a viable alternative.
  
  --
  
  Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
3. Re:Shorts by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 03:33 · Score: 0
  
  Desktop OS market - on life support.
  Laptop OS market - moribund at best
  Server OS market - MS's one bright spot is a bubble fighting a better free alternative
  Tablet OS market - does MS even have an offering?
  Phone OS market - Yep, that went well for MS
  Office Suite - on life support as on line and free alternatives eat their lunch - anybody write documents?
  Outlook - Please somebody put this out of its (and my) misery
  $600B?? Time to short and profit!
  You only forgot Xbox, which is doing Ok. Not amazing, not bad, just Ok.
4. Re:Shorts by Stormwatch · 2017-10-20 03:39 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Tablet OS Market - See Laptop OS Market. You shouldn't have a whole different operating system for tablets.
  Apple's success on tablets comes from realizing how absolutely wrong you are.
  
  --
  Circumcision is child abuse.
5. Re:Shorts by jellomizer · 2017-10-20 03:40 · Score: 1
  
  Desktop and Laptop OS Market: Microsoft is still the #1 player. Businesses are still using these devices even though the personal use market is shrinking.
  The Sever OS Market: Still in businesses there is a preference towards Windows Server and SQL server, Active Directory... Being that they are using still using Windows in the Desktop and Laptop Market for businesses. Staying in the same Vendor Echo system unfortunately makes life a bit easier, even though it makes some tasks much more difficult.
  Tablet Market: The Surface is a rather strong seller.
  Phone Market: Yea this is rather dead.
  Office: Which includes outlook. Is still rather strong, Most businesses will not switch off what they know, schools still teach with it.
  Microsoft has cornered the business market on their products, while the home market is much more competitive, Microsoft does good in areas where it doesn't need to be cool, or cater for Hipster values.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
6. Re:Shorts by Barlo_Mung_42 · 2017-10-20 03:46 · Score: 1
  
  Yep. People act like desktops / laptops are going away. MountainLogic also doesn't seem to understand that Office has made the transition to online. Office 365 makes a lot more money now than the stand alone version.
7. Re:Shorts by DaHat · 2017-10-20 03:47 · Score: 1
  
  That all greatly depends on the kind of work you do and for who.
  Does your mother need a full fledged Windows PC to do her day to day computing? Expand from that.
  It is horrifying at times to realize just how many can get by without the 'deFacto Standard' as you call it.
  Long ago a full Windows PC (or Mac) was the norm for running all of the apps/services someone would want... now you can most of the core things on a tablet or via a web browser.
  I work for a company where the only machines running Windows are those of the C# developers. The sales & support teams all run mac mini's or Mac Book Pros to access external wiki, bug tracking & salesforce instances. Most of what they do could be accomplished with a Chromebook!
  The one thing going for Microsoft is that when XYZ Corp is going to build their next big internal or external system, maybe they will put it on Azure and pay for a few Visual Studio licenses along the way... however that doesn't make up for the increasing revenue losses from the dumpster fire that is the Windows client future.
  People still choose Windows for two main reasons:
  1. Inertia
  2. Actual dependencies on platform
  #1 is slowing down, and the amount of new dependencies isn't going to keep #2 around forever.
  
  --
  Help Brendan pay off his student loans
8. Re:Shorts by Barlo_Mung_42 · 2017-10-20 03:51 · Score: 1
  
  Microsoft's success with Surface comes from there being room for both. Personally I fine a lot of value in being able to switch fluidly between tablet and laptop functionality which I can't do with an iPad.
9. Re:Shorts by DogDude · 2017-10-20 03:53 · Score: 1
  
  Go ahead and short. I'll buy those shares!
  
  --
  I don't respond to AC's.
10. Re:Shorts by MountainLogic · 2017-10-20 03:56 · Score: 1
  
  True about xBox and their enterprise division is also driving a lot of profits - for now.
11. Re:Shorts by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 04:06 · Score: 0
  
  Surface sales are a tiny compared to the iPad. It's a crappy Microsoft hack.
12. Re:Shorts by Billly+Gates · 2017-10-20 04:16 · Score: 1
  
  Haha.
  Windows on Desktop on life support? WTF. Go look around your office and tell me this? No really go ahead. GO walk into a BestBuy and tell me how many Linux desktops you see on those shiny new laptops and desktops you see?
  Server OS? Majority of servers run on Windows. I know this pisses off Linux guys here who are admins but outside of Silicon Valley most regular fortune 1000 companies MDFs have a few unix and Linux boxes and racks and racks of Windows based servers for Active Directory, SQL Server, Exchange, etc.
  Tablet OS? The suface is one of the best selling tablets and has been outside of slashdot for years now. In this echo chamber it failed but Surface Pros are popular in many companies. Infact it earned Microsoft billions in revenue.
  Sorry Apple and Google may have a larger market cap, but Microsoft is no slouch in Enterprise computing. I am not arguing its stock price is fairly valued. I think they all are over-valued in general. Has Facebook even made revenue yet? I know it took Amazon 10 years to *actually* make money!
  Microsoft love them or hate them have always made lots and lots of money where others just have a higher market cap with investors with little portfolio.
  
  --
  http://saveie6.com/
13. Re:Shorts by Billly+Gates · 2017-10-20 04:19 · Score: 1
  
  Tablet OS Market - See Laptop OS Market. You shouldn't have a whole different operating system for tablets.
  Apple's success on tablets comes from realizing how absolutely wrong you are.
  Do people still buy Apple tablets anymore? I thought this died down in around 2012 and 2013. I do see Samsung and Surface Pro tablets popular with professionals and around the office. Samsungs runs either Android or Windows depending on which model and all the Surface line obviously runs Windows.
  Sure Apple may still some some but they are losing steam and certainly not used in the enterprise.
  
  --
  http://saveie6.com/
14. Re:Shorts by barbariccow · 2017-10-20 04:32 · Score: 1
  
  My surface runs archlinux.
15. Re:Shorts by David_Hart · 2017-10-20 04:40 · Score: 1
  
  Desktop OS market - on life support.
  Laptop OS market - moribund at best
  Both of these are at, or near, saturation levels, but Microsoft still dominates on these platforms. Which means that while there will be revenue decline, it will likely be slow and steady.
  
  Server OS market - MS's one bright spot is a bubble fighting a better free alternative
  
  What "better free alternative"? Microsoft has only seen revenue increases as VMs took off. If LINUX is a valid cheap alternative that could save tons of money, why aren't companies replacing their Windows VMs with LINUX VMs? Because it isn't a valid alternative in most cases. In other words, it's hard to run your corporate software on LINUX/UNIX if it isn't written for it... Where it makes sense to do this (i.e. Databases, ERP, etc), it's already been done.
  
  Tablet OS market - does MS even have an offering?
  Not really,. Windows 10 and the Surface Pro are the closest but revenue is down across the entire Surface line (they don't break out the Surface Pro figures).
  
  Phone OS market - Yep, that went well for MS
  Already written off on the books, no longer relevant to their future financial success.
  
  Office Suite - on life support as on line and free alternatives eat their lunch - anybody write documents?
  Outlook - Please somebody put this out of its (and my) misery
  
  The Office Suite is not "on life support". As much as you want to believe that Office and Outlook are crappy products with "free alternatives" that are "eating it's lunch" and that are just as good, that's just not the case. The Integration of the Office Suite, Free/Busy, Skype presence, etc. are what enterprises run on and how they exchange documents with other organizations. Not one product out there offers the same feature set with this level of integration. In fact sales are up this year in this segment.
  One of the key segments that you missed is Cloud offerings. Microsoft's Cloud services are driving revenue today.
  Summary of the Q3 2017 results for Microsoft:
  https://arstechnica.com/inform...
  
  $600B?? Time to short and profit!
  By all accounts, feel free to do so. But the current overall financial situation is much more complex than presented. For every product where they are seeing declines or write-offs, they have segments that are expanding and growing revenue at a faster pace. Can Microsoft continue this into the future? The market thinks that they can.
16. Re:Shorts by chipschap · 2017-10-20 05:40 · Score: 1
  
  Outlook - Still waiting for someone to come out with a viable alternative.
  I keep promoting Gnus/BBDB for this role, and for some reason my idea doesn't get much traction :)
17. Re:Shorts by Stormwatch · 2017-10-20 05:41 · Score: 1
  
  Still the top selling tablet brand.
  
  --
  Circumcision is child abuse.
18. Re:Shorts by Stormwatch · 2017-10-20 05:53 · Score: 1
  
  The Surface is a niche in a niche. I understand your point, but most people don't care about having a tablet that is also a PC, they care about having a tablet that is a good tablet - with an OS and apps properly designed for this format, not desktop software that often doesn't work quite right.
  
  --
  Circumcision is child abuse.
19. Re:Shorts by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 07:00 · Score: 0
  
  you FIND a lot of value
20. Re:Shorts by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 07:04 · Score: 0
  
  Apple may still some some? WTF is wrong with people today?
21. Re:Shorts by mobby_6kl · 2017-10-20 07:27 · Score: 1
  
  I'm sure that's true. However anecdotally, I haven't seen an ipad in our office for a long time, but there are always a bunch of Surface Pro and Books around, maybe 15% of all laptops.
22. Re:Shorts by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 09:02 · Score: 0
  
  My surface runs archlinux.
  Why not Sabayon? I'm really satisfied with it on my laptop. It's basically a binary release of Gentoo. My desktop system does run Gentoo - I just didn't want to do all of the compilation on the much slower laptop. Still, under Sabayon I'm really impressed with how clean everything is and how nice Equo is as a package manager.
  One thing I've always appreciated about Gentoo and it's probably true of Arch as well - I just don't get the mysterious quirks and odd problems like I experienced routinely with more common distros like Ubuntu or Fedora. This particularly applies to things like audio, wifi hardware, and video drivers. I also like how convenient it is to compile your own kernel. Just a matter of my own tastes but to me this was always rather clunky in any Debian-derived distro.
23. Re:Shorts by Barlo_Mung_42 · 2017-10-20 14:54 · Score: 1
  
  I get your point but I stand by mine as well. The Surface is a successful niche that has spawned competitors in the market. It competes more with other laptops more so than iPads but it's still a tablet so it makes sense that it would have a full OS. They hopefully learned from WinRT that people don't want a stripped down windows.
24. Re:Shorts by thereitis · 2017-10-21 01:07 · Score: 1
  A few you forgot:
  
  XBox
  
  Kinect/virtual reality
  
  Azure cloud
25. Re:Shorts by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-21 12:16 · Score: 0
  
  LOL fools like you can hate Microsoft's success all they want. It is a Slashdot tradition. Just know that Microsoft will continue to be successful while your fat ass will die alone.
26. Re:Shorts by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-30 23:45 · Score: 0
  
  I do hope you were serious and shorted the stock last week. Your comment looks Dumber now than it did even then.
Market Value of others? by hduff · 2017-10-20 03:24 · Score: 3, Interesting

What is the market value of those companies that exist to fix Microsoft's mistakes and poor security choices?

--
"I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
1. Re:Market Value of others? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 04:38 · Score: 0
  
  What is the market value of those companies that exist to fix Microsoft's mistakes and poor security choices?
  Toxic waste cleanup can be a lucrative business
One of these is different by boudie2 · 2017-10-20 03:25 · Score: 1

Okay Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google. But I still shake my head and wonder how the hell did Facebook become a $500 billion entity. Really?
1. Re:One of these is different by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 03:34 · Score: 0
  
  You'd be surprised how valuable their unwitting userbase really is apparently.
2. Re:One of these is different by jellomizer · 2017-10-20 03:44 · Score: 1
  
  Services that was once covered by Email, Newsgroups, Instant messaging, Blogs, and Personal Web Sites. Have coalesced into Facebook. So Facebook really manages much of the worlds communication. So year it has some influence and money.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
3. Re:One of these is different by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 03:55 · Score: 0
  
  They're not different. Both Facebook and Google make you the product. They make their money the same way, ad sales and selling your data.
  Apple and MS produce a real product.
  Amazon redistributes real products.
4. Re:One of these is different by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 04:03 · Score: 0
  
  ^^^ big time this
  How many people still use mailing lists or use dedicated online forums? Maybe some of us old timers, but everybody else uses Facebook.
5. Re:One of these is different by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 07:03 · Score: 0
  
  So on other words, they've copied AOL's business plan?
  That worked so amazingly well right upto the point that it didn't.
6. Re:One of these is different by jellomizer · 2017-10-21 08:33 · Score: 1
  
  The problem was AOL implied that they were the internet. When people switch to broadband and realized many of the AOL features were actually free or not part of AOL they never bothered going back.
  AOL downfall was with the downfall of dialup. Its main money came from subscription. The services it offered were just good enough to be useful. While Facebook makes its money off of adds so hey ray harder o make heir features better to keep people on he site. While AOL was happier to get them to pay for services that they don’t use.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Good news by rmullig2 · 2017-10-20 03:28 · Score: 1

Although I am a committed Linux user I think it is important to have choices in cloud providers. Amazon appeared to be on the way to dominating that space the way Microsoft dominated the desktop. Good to see Microsoft transform itself for current technology trends.
1. Re:Good news by mysidia · 2017-10-20 03:49 · Score: 1
  
  Amazon is dominating that space the way Microsoft dominated the desktop.
  TFIFY.
2. Re:Good news by acvh · 2017-10-20 05:29 · Score: 1
  
  Amazon may be dominating from a pure infrastructure standpoint, but with every new feature added to Azure it becomes that much easier for an org using MS programs and OS to move somewhat seamlessly to the cloud. I know because I'm in the midst of doing it.
3. Re:Good news by mysidia · 2017-10-20 05:54 · Score: 1
  
  every new feature added to Azure it becomes that much easier for an org using MS programs and OS to move somewhat seamlessly to the cloud
  Existing MS programs and Operating systems are NOT cloud applications. What it sounds like you're referring to is Server Virtualization; or packaging up existing servers and virtualizing them on someone else's infrastructure -- also known as virtual private server hosting. Amazon can do that too through EC2 or the new vSphere on AWS.
  Virtualizing servers does not result in a cloud application, however ---- It results in a Legacy application running on cloud-hosted compute and storage; that's just a traditional on-premise-style app being run from somewhere else.
  Cloud Based applications are what are taking over, NOT Cloud-hosted-compute, and before too long.... no longer will people run such traditional OSes and programs they have to virtualize.
  Example: In the long run companies are not virtualizing their legacy business CRMs and running them on EC2 or Azure IaaS, instead they are switching to Pure Cloud-Based (SaaS) solutions such as salesforce that are built on top of the PaaS offerings of other cloud providers - Code + Service -- not virtualized X86 servers.
  Clearly Amazon's PaaS is the dominant player in this, when developers set out to build their new software FULLY leveraging cloud services, and not just hosted on remote compute; Azure's IaaS doesn't make them a dominant player here ---- Just a (Large) hosting provider for your legacy applications.
Linux is Dead by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 03:28 · Score: 0

Linux is Dead. M$ saw the light with Azure. They will pummel the server market, and they will rip apart Amazon. Google and Apple will own the mobile. Amazon everything else.
Note: I HATE WINDOWS 10. Have Ubuntu at home.
Trump by ghoul · 2017-10-20 03:39 · Score: 1

How valuable Facebook really is ,is proven from the fact that Facebook ads can influence an election and give us Trump as President. None of the other 4 (with maybe the exception of Google) have that kind of impact on the real world. An instrument of mind control which users sign up for themselves and is powered by user generated content which is also profitable . If the soviets had managed to come up with something like Facebook , the west would have lost the cold war.

--
**Life is too short to be serious**
1. Re:Trump by schwit1 · 2017-10-20 04:23 · Score: 1
  
  Trump won for many reasons. Facebook ads are near the bottom, if they had any influence at all. Russia's goal was to sow chaos and confusion, not to help any one candidate.
  The dems need to stop acting like an outside force caused Hillary's loss. It didn't. She lost because she has no redeeming value and the party had no message, and many voters saw that.
  The dems will continue to lose elections unless they come out with better/younger candidates and a message other than Trump is Hitler.
2. Re:Trump by ScentCone · 2017-10-20 04:34 · Score: 2
  
  proven from the fact that Facebook ads can influence an election and give us Trump as President
  Oh, come on. First, it wasn't just Hillary losing. Under Obama, the Democrats lost nearly a thousand legislative seats. Most of the governorships. Both houses of congress. They lost the White House because they put all of their resources into backing a wildly corrupt, incompetent, serially lying, awful person up as the standard-bearer for their party, and then were too scared of her future power over them to remind her that doing thing like calling half the women in the county deplorable and not even bothering to set foot in states like Wisconsin during the campaign were stupid. She lost because she was the perfect emblem of the Democrat party, and millions of two-time Obama voters turned their backs in disgust. But sure, you just keep telling yourself it was the Russians.
  
  --
  Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
3. Re:Trump by ghoul · 2017-10-20 04:35 · Score: 1
  
  The point is even if Facebook is towards the bottom of the list (and Google with its ranking of news stories as per their biases during a search is probably on the list too), besides Facebook none of the other tech giants have the kind of society altering (even to a small degree) influence that Facebook has. Hence its valuation. Plus Facebook is earning a ton of money from ads pretty much the same reason Google exists - earn money from ads.
  
  --
  **Life is too short to be serious**
4. Re:Trump by barbariccow · 2017-10-20 04:37 · Score: 2
  
  Maybe the green/libertarian party should buy $100,000 worth of facebook ads and win the next election then?
5. Re:Trump by DogDude · 2017-10-20 04:45 · Score: 1
  
  they put all of their resources into backing a wildly corrupt, incompetent, serially lying, awful person up as the standard-bearer for their party
  
  Are you fucking kidding?
  
  --
  I don't respond to AC's.
6. Re:Trump by ScentCone · 2017-10-20 05:31 · Score: 1
  
  No. She's demonstrably incompetent, she lies badly and regularly (about big stuff like mishandling classified information, and little stuff - everything from how she got her first name to her adventures in being "under fire" at airports), she and her husband enriched themselves to the tune of millions of dollars through selling influence while in public office, and she's almost universally disliked by most normal people who've ever had to work with her. So, why would I be kidding?
  
  --
  Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
7. Re:Trump by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 07:55 · Score: 0
  
  So when someone puts information on FB that can be seen as benefiting Trump somehow then that is 'rigging the election'; but when all the major news outlets are cheerleaders for Hillary and put out glowing praise stories about her while trashing her opponent at every step, then that is just good politics??? Just like during the campaign, that is what the left is selling, but the voters are not buying!!!
8. Re: Trump by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 07:55 · Score: 0
  
  So the answer to that is to elect someone even worse in ALL of those respects.
  Makes perfect sense.
9. Re:Trump by ghoul · 2017-10-21 01:37 · Score: 1
  
  I know lifelong democrats in California who did fundraisers for Bernie who ended up voting for Trump. Thats how bad a candidate Hillary was.
  
  --
  **Life is too short to be serious**
10. Re: Trump by ScentCone · 2017-10-21 02:09 · Score: 0
  
  Why, because you just can't stand a Supreme Court justice who actually respects the Constitution instead of trying to be a legislator? Because a general posture aimed at reducing the insanely economy-killing regulatory nightmare that businesses (and individuals!) have to navigate is a bad thing? Which corruption were you referring to ... the part where he didn't take other people's money to campaign, but used his own?
  
  Hillary Clinton, as part of the Clinton machinery going back decades, has left a trail of criminal corruption and sleaze from Arkansas through New York and right through the White House. She has nothing but contempt for the military people she wanted to lead, nothing but contempt for the people that feed the country, nothing but contempt for other women if they're not actively supporting her power crusade, and nothing but hunger for cash from the sorts of people who run countries where gays are officially killed for being gay and women are treated like property. She's an awful person.
  
  --
  Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
oh you and your newfanglymath by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 03:41 · Score: 0

if Bill Gates created a fresh company, no investors, would he raise it up as he did Microsoft in a series of value-added-resale purchases like modern Microsoft or would he have an original product to sell at market?
and then there is the age-old homespun mystery meat question given by my old friend Krikey Thomas, would Bill Gates by a Lexis for his favorite Mayor in the New York City Israel-Day Parade?
1. Re: oh you and your newfanglymath by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 03:44 · Score: 0
  
  I donâ(TM)t know, but he probably could spell Lexus.
2. Re:oh you and your newfanglymath by chipschap · 2017-10-20 05:38 · Score: 1
  
  I don't know the answer to your question, but it's interesting that the companies /.ers love to hate (myself included to some degree) are incredible financial successes.
  With power and money, does abuse inevitably follow? We rail at all three of these tech giants, often with very good reason, but they do whatever they want, because they can, and what customers have to say doesn't generally matter very much.
3. Re:oh you and your newfanglymath by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 09:16 · Score: 0
  
  I don't know the answer to your question, but it's interesting that the companies /.ers love to hate (myself included to some degree) are incredible financial successes.
  You mean like SCO? I could list plenty more.
4. Re:oh you and your newfanglymath by chipschap · 2017-10-21 06:10 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, of course there are small companies that draw /. hate, but my point was to emphasize the hate for very successful companies. I could have been more precise about that.
Thank you! by CustomBuild · 2017-10-20 03:47 · Score: 1

I came here to listen to the trolls explain how this valuation spells the death of Microsoft, and I wasnâ(TM)t disappointed. Keep plugging away at the delusion.
WTF? by hackel · 2017-10-20 04:13 · Score: 2

How the hell is Microsoft continuing to make money? I don't get it. They are hurting in every area as people bail on their garbage, proprietary software left and right. From the complete failure of Windows Mobile, to people's complete hatred of Windows 10, to people abandoning Windows entirely for Mac and Chrome OS/Linux. How is this even possible? Is it still just the same, old monopoly problem with them bullying manufacturers into pre-installing their operating system on all of their machines? Or is it the mega-corporations with incompetent IT staff that continue to insist on using their software on thousands of PCs? This is just incredibly sad news...
1. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 04:26 · Score: 0
  
  Probably a combination of OEMs choosing Windows, because Apple doesn't want competition for their own overpriced hardware and Linux is a nightmare to support, and corporations stuck with Windows because no one seems to be able to create a serious alternative to Office and Outlook.
2. Re:WTF? by DogDude · 2017-10-20 04:35 · Score: 0
  
  to people's complete hatred of Windows 10, to people abandoning Windows entirely for Mac and Chrome OS/Linux.
  
  That isn't happening. The whole "hatred" thing is mostly in your head, too.
  
  incompetent IT staff that continue to insist on using their software on thousands of PCs
  
  Right. Everybody using Microsoft software is "incompetent".
  
  --
  I don't respond to AC's.
3. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 04:42 · Score: 0
  
  Office 365 Subscriptions and cloud related activities
4. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 04:46 · Score: 0
  
  Two things come to mind:
  1) Patent extortion, like the ones for Android.
  2) They still have a solid foothold in the business sector, where they rely heavily on their rent seeking practices.
5. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 05:14 · Score: 0
  
  Simple. Office 365 and Azure licensing.
6. Re:WTF? by RatherBeAnonymous · 2017-10-20 05:23 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  How do they make money? That's simple: Azure, Office 365, Active Directory.
  While nobody was looking, Microsoft developed a powerful and flexible cloud computing platform in Azure that integrates with businesses Active Directory and local network. It has warts, but the product is improving rapidly.
  Office 365 solves business's email infrastructure woes, works well with all mobile devices, runs Sharepoint, gives all employees video conferencing tools to rival WebEx and Go2Meeting, provides all of the Office licensing they need, and does it for a very reasonable price.
  Active Directory makes it easy to configure and set policies on every Windows desktop and server in a way that settings only have to be done one time. I'm sure the same could be done with LDAP, but nearly as quickly and easily. AD integrates with Azure, Office 365, and a large portion of third-party services. As a result, businesses run Windows because it lets everything work together with very little fuss, and the employees are productive. And productivity is what it is all about.
7. Re:WTF? by westlake · 2017-10-20 05:35 · Score: 1
  
  They are hurting in every area as people bail on their garbage, proprietary software left and right.
  Maybe you should spend less time posting to Slashdot and more time looking at where Microsoft is positioned in the work place.
8. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 06:15 · Score: 0
  
  Almost all businesses still use Office, and a lot of them are moving to 365. Libre is definitely Good Enough for creating documents, but it still has interoperability issues with Office, and businesses would rather pay for Office than have their staff fart about trying to get Libre to work "right". Big businesses are used to the subscription model, and it's a hell of a lot easier to administer 365 than running your own Exchange server and juggling licensing issues manually. As long as MS is allowed to abuse their monopoly with effectively closed file formats, Office will be around forever.
  Although popular with the tech crowd, Macs made up about 7% of shipped PCs last year, down from 8% the year before. ~Everything else shipped with Windows, and MS got a cut from the sale plus whatever revenue they make from all the creepy tracking/ads. That said, I think Office is the golden goose these days, hence MS's pushing Office for Android/iOS/ChromeOS, when previously they've aggressively leveraged Office to sell Windows (to the extent that Office for Mac was developed solely to avoid anti-trust action, and was an abysmal second-rate port until relatively recently). Even Windows' once-dominant position in gaming has been severely eroded; most of the games I have on Steam now work natively on OSX. I wouldn't be surprised if Windows went entirely "free to play" in the near future.
  On the server side, Active Directory isn't anything special; there are lots of tools that fill a similar role for a Linux ecosystem. What there isn't is a single dominant tool that tens of thousands of linux admins are already familiar with and certified to use, so moving to a Linux ecosystem would mean choosing one and finding or training staff with a less common (and thus more expensive) skillset. Not a dealbreaker, but Linux for the desktop has enough deal-complicating factors that it's easier and possibly cheaper to stick with Windows.
9. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 06:47 · Score: 0
  
  License fees for patents for every Android sold. License fees for the now rented Windows licenses, with crippled settings in to the low cost versions. A near complete removal of cost centers ( Quality assurance).
10. Re:WTF? by DerekLyons · 2017-10-20 06:56 · Score: 1
  
  You left out a possibility - your view from inside your bubble might be cloudy and not correspond to reality.
11. Re:WTF? by thegarbz · 2017-10-20 07:48 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  How the hell is Microsoft continuing to make money? I don't get it. They are hurting in every area as people bail on their garbage, proprietary software left and right.
  Oh it's quite simple when you actually look at it rather than applying some of your wishful thinking to the situation.
  Where is Microsoft hurting?
  Not in Windows which still enjoys the largest market share of any desktop OS in the world.
  Not in Office where most moves away from traditional desktop Office has turned into recurring revenue in the form of Office 365, and sometimes both at once for the same user.
  Not in the enterprise where they are just finding new ways to up-sell people on yet more stuff (skype for business, sharepoint, etc)
  Not in Gaming where Microsoft seems to be making close to $2bn per quarter.
  Not in the Cloud where Microsoft has been closing the gap to AWS more and more every quarter and is now the number 2 service provider by a wide margin to number 3.
  Not in Hardware with their Surface line of products being highly profitable.
  Not in ... okay in Mobile they failed miserably.
  So maybe if you look beyond the Slashdot comments section you'll realise that MS isn't actually failing at anything that matters and are laughing all the way to the bank.
12. Re:WTF? by ljw1004 · 2017-10-20 08:01 · Score: 1
  
  How the hell is Microsoft continuing to make money? I don't get it. They are hurting in every area as people bail on their garbage, proprietary software left and right. From the complete failure of Windows Mobile, to people's complete hatred of Windows 10, to people abandoning Windows entirely for Mac and Chrome OS/Linux. How is this even possible? Is it still just the same, old monopoly problem with them bullying manufacturers into pre-installing their operating system on all of their machines? Or is it the mega-corporations with incompetent IT staff that continue to insist on using their software on thousands of PCs? This is just incredibly sad news...
  Correction 1: now that they've pulled the plug on Windows Mobile, they're no longer wasting money on it, hence more profit.
  Correction 2: it's some of slashdot that hates Windows 10, no one else.
  Correction 3: I haven't seen any clear trend of abandoning Windows for Mac/Chrome/Linux. My workplace is mostly mac laptops for development, but more and more people are moving to Windows because they want better laptops (cheaper, touch screens, pens, more ports, whatever).
  Correction 4: you don't seem to payed attention to any of their business-to-business offerings, like Azure, Office365, ... Microsoft do vastly more than just PCs.
13. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 08:15 · Score: 0
  
  That's a very informative post and sums up what's going on out in the real world.
  The key point though is (thankfully) they have more competition than in the 90's/00's. It's a static company that is no longer relevant for developing new and innovative technologies but does quite well in boring run-of-the-mill computing (yes, cloud is just boring infrastructure nowadays). And there's nothing wrong with making boatloads of money off that. They're simply capitalizing on vertical monopolies their legal dep't has created over the years given substandard products.
14. Re:WTF? by fatwilbur · 2017-10-20 09:15 · Score: 1
  
  You're completely missing the enterprise market where they are dominating and often have the best products: AD, SQL Server, Office, SharePoint, etc.
15. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 10:22 · Score: 0
  
  How is this even possible?
  Like in 2000, it's a bubble inflated by incompetents and speculators. Just like then, it will bust, soon....
16. Re: WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 13:07 · Score: 0
  
  Agree some of those products are best in market, apart from SQL Server and especially not SharePoint.
Are we in a stock market bubble? Another crash? by Futurepower(R) · 2017-10-20 04:33 · Score: 3, Informative

Title of the parent comment: "The heady days of the dot com bust..."

Recently I asked someone who works for an investment company if the U.S. stock market is in a bubble again. The answer was, "Yes, that's why we are buying stocks of foreign companies."

If, as in the years before 2008, stock brokers can convince a huge number of people that the stock market will continue to rise rapidly, the brokers can sell what they have for a huge profit, and there will be another crash, as in 2008.
1. Re:Are we in a stock market bubble? Another crash? by ITapeFatCashews · 2017-10-20 04:46 · Score: 0
  
  Title of the parent comment: "The heady days of the dot com bust..."
  
  Back then there was a lot of talk that Microsoft would be the first trillion dollar company. Apple is more likely to get that title in the near future. Or maybe not.
  
  If, as in the years before 2008, stock brokers can convince a huge number of people that the stock market will continue to rise rapidly, the brokers can sell what they have for a huge profit, and there will be another crash, as in 2008.
  A stock bubble is when your grandmother gives you stock tips. According to a recent WSJ article, ordinary investors are sitting on the side lines after being burned by two stock busts in a decade.
  https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-oh-why-cant-we-have-a-decent-stock-bubble-1508174136
Color Revolutions and Arab Spring by ghoul · 2017-10-20 04:41 · Score: 1

Its not just the US. Govts have been overthrown in Ukraine, Georgia and across the Arab world through the power of Facebook and Social Media. Social Media and Cell Phones are a very powerful and proven tool. America has been using it to cause mischief all over the world. Now the Russians beat America at its own game.
Facebook is powerfull in the same way as Hollywood was at one time - the Soviet Union fell because common Russians believed everyone in the US led the lifestyle they saw in Hollywood movies even though on average the Soviet system was more fair. Social Media is even more powerful because it is tougher to ban Facebook than to ban Hollywood movies. After all the people you are talking to on Facebook are your friends and family and you trust them more than the strangers acting in Hollywood movies.

--
**Life is too short to be serious**
Android Patent Litigation Market by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-20 12:54 · Score: 0

Tax on real innovation, priceless!
Never mind, an error was detected by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-22 12:43 · Score: 0

The calculation was done using Microsoft Excel, which had a bug.
Re: Are we in a stock market bubble? Another crash by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-23 09:27 · Score: 0

Christopher, my love,
I am deeply sorry. I didn't feel well lately but I am better now. I am sorry that I called you all sorts of names on /. and I feel truly ashamed of myself.
The python click script you wrote for me my sweet love for my pheromone revenue stream web site suddenly stopped to work.
Could you come visit me in my studio so we could look at it?
Update: I could go get you at work around noon and we could go have lunch at the Cafe Latte near by where we went last week and tonight we could have a look at that python click script you wrote for me my sweet love for my pheromone revenue stream web site.
Signed:
Bird sister
CREIMER CANCUN HONEYMOON! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-26 09:22 · Score: 0

If all my assets were liquidated, I would still have enough cash to buy a new car and head off to Mexico to find a chica to marry.
https://slashdot.org/comments....
You're aware that are some states in the U.S. that allow underage marriage as young as 14 years old?
https://slashdot.org/comments....
As for my comment, I've heard stories of engineers retiring at 50, moving to Mexico and marrying underage girls. Since I work with ex-military, the Philippines is a popular retirement spot for marrying underage girls as well. It's all about getting the most bang for your retirement dollars.
https://slashdot.org/comments....
That only works if you retire to Mexico, build a mansion (by local standards), marry an underage sweet thing and bequeath all your possessions to the village.
https://slashdot.org/comments....
CREMIER. LOVBLE IDOT OR DNGERUS PERV U DECIDE! by Anonymous Coward · 2017-10-30 11:34 · Score: 0

If all my assets were liquidated, I would still have enough cash to buy a new car and head off to Mexico to find a chica to marry.
https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=11064719&cid=55125199
You're aware that are some states in the U.S. that allow underage marriage as young as 14 years old?
https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=11064719&cid=55123829
As for my comment, I've heard stories of engineers retiring at 50, moving to Mexico and marrying underage girls. Since I work with ex-military, the Philippines is a popular retirement spot for marrying underage girls as well. It's all about getting the most bang for your retirement dollars.
https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=11064719&cid=55123241
That only works if you retire to Mexico, build a mansion (by local standards), marry an underage sweet thing and bequeath all your possessions to the village.
https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=11064719&cid=55122609