If you saw the TV movie “Pirates of Silicon Valley,” you probably have a negative view of how Bill Gates and Steve jobs get along. Certainly if you look at the ongoing rivalry between Apple and Microsoft, you’d get the distinct impression that these aging veterans of the technology wars are dire enemies. However, if […]

Over the years, Microsoft has without doubt used every sales trick in the book with which to hawk its products. Back in the 1990s, for example, facing threats from advanced operating systems from NeXT and other companies, Bill Gates touted a formidable new technology called Cairo that would virtually destroy the competition. Over the years, […]

In recent weeks, with my various “Fear-Factor” commentaries, I’ve given Microsoft some well-deserved lumps, and you readers have joined in the fun in our Comments section. Surprisingly, no Microsoft supporters have chimed in to disagree, and I know for certain that you readers are not strictly Mac users. So I figured it was time to […]

I suppose a company’s life-cycle might resemble that of a living creature. Some die rapidly, often without achieving success. Others attain the pinnacle of success, grab the brass ring and discover the end of the rainbow. A precious few, such as Microsoft, come to dominate their industry. You can almost think of them as invulnerable, […]