MS Copies Apple Again: Store w/"Guru Bar"

Can these guys come up with anything on their own? Do they even have an R&D department? They copy this and copy that from Apple. And then they lambaste Apple. Probably shouldn't criticize your unpaid, external R&D department there, Steve Ballmer.

All of this image and distribution re-imagining on Microsoft’s part is great news for one company: Apple. There’s no better sign that you have your main competitor on the ropes than when it resorts to parroting your moves. All Apple needs to do is continue to set the trend, and watch as Microsoft tries to follow it.

[From Microsoft Becoming Apple With First Retail Store, Online PC Sales ]

Ballmer: Macs are a $500 Logo?

This moron just won't get it, will he? Being notoriously WRONG about Apple (especially his blundering iPhone prediction), Ballmer continues failing to understand the nature of true innovation that his company must alway plagiarize and pass off as their own. There's a lot more under the hood with the Mac OS--far more than Windows has, including that latest OS X copy called Vista. The hardware is irrelevant; the little bitten apple logo is irrelevant, though admittedly stylish.

America is a consumer culture that buys a logo; Americans will also pay more if they GET MORE, dumb ass.

Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction," Ballmer said, via webcast. "The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be."

[From Ballmer: 'Tide has really turned' against Apple in computer market - TechFlash: Seattle's Technology News Source]

Ballmer to Apple: Don't Act Like Microsoft!

Yes, this is dripping with irony. Ballmer is actually asking Apple to delink it's software from hardware. I guess when a company is successful and you have no answer for their innovations, you should just accuse them of wrongdoing while ignoring your own transgressions.

Ballmer Pleads For Openness To Compete With Apple

"At the Mobile World Congress, Steve Ballmer took aim at Apple's closed iPhone ecosystem with an ironic plea for openness: 'Openness is central because it's the foundation of choice.' Ballmer has apparently forgotten his company's own efforts to vertically integrate hardware and software (Zune, XBox), its history of vertically integrating software (tying SharePoint into Office, IE, SQL Server, Active Directory, etc.), as well as years of illegally tying Windows to Internet Explorer that only the US Justice Department could undo.

Here's Ballmer's Sign

Here you go! I pointed out this stupid bumble months ago. Why not go ahead and admit this for OS X and the Mac. Here's your sign, Steve: "I'm stupid."

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, who once laughed off the iPhone, has now conceded to Apple's edge in the market while hinting at a very different future for his company's Zune players.

Ballmer told the Financial Times (registration required) that the iPhone and BlackBerry have "clear market momentum" in the smartphone business.

Shortly after the iPhone was announced at Macworld 2007, Ballmer lambasted the Apple handset as the "most expensive phone in the world" while noting that Microsoft sells "millions and millions and millions of phones a year" while "Apple sells zero."

[From AppleInsider | Ballmer changes tune on iPhone, says no Zune phone]

Ballmer: Vista will run on your Granny's PC!

Okay, I'm stretching it with that entry title. But you can see in this article that the doof, Ballmer, appears to be trying to market Vista to certain unsuspecting users, knowing it won't work for a lot of their systems.

Steve Ballmer Must Testify In 'Vista Capable' Suit -- InformationWeek:

Consumers Dianne Kelley and Kenneth Hansen sued Microsoft for consumer fraud last year. They contend that Microsoft intentionally duped customers by advertising as "Vista Capable" computers that lacked the horsepower to fully support all of Vista's features, such as its 3-D Aero interface. A judge earlier this year granted the case class-action status.

In requesting Ballmer's testimony, the plaintiffs entered into evidence e-mails -- unsealed by the court last week -- in which Ballmer appears to have been informed of changes to the Vista Capable definition that allowed inclusion of an underpowered Intel (NSDQ: INTC) graphics chipset.

Ballmer: Google Android no competition

We all know that Steve Ballmer emanates endless assertions of accuracy, such as when he said here that the iPhone was-a nuthin'. And we can also see how M$ failed to recognize Google as a threat in other ways, such as searching.

Let's hope Ballmer continues as CEO of M$, so that he continues screwing up...like he did with Vista.

Ballmer doesn’t see Google Android as competitor yet | Macworld:

Google’s Android mobile platform doesn’t “bubble up to the top” of Microsoft’s list of toughest competitors to Windows Mobile in the market for smartphone OSes, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said this week.

Speaking at an investor day hosted by Australian telecommunications carrier Telstra on Thursday, Ballmer said that it’s too early to tell if Android will ever be a serious competitor in the mobile market, where others have already marked considerable territory.

How to open .docx files on a Mac

MS always feels the need to throw its users curve ball with every new release, such as completely changing the interface of MS Office or migrating to an entirely new document format! Thanks Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates.

Here's a bandaid solution for the frustrated, though you'll most likely lose formatting. Best thing to do is download the converter mentioned at the end of mindplunge's post or upgrade to Office 2008 for Mac.

Open .docx files on a mac | mindplunge:

Ever had to open up a docx file on a Mac and you had no idea how to? Here is the simple solution:

• Change .docx to .zip
• Unzip it.
• Go to Safari and File > Open File…
• Navigate to the /insert_name_of_Word_file_here/word/document.xml and open.
• Read text.

Update:

Microsoft released a converter for the Mac last December. It’s still in beta but it does the job perfectly. Download Microsoft Office Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 0.2.1 (Beta) here.

Vista 'a work in progress'

A work in progress? You mean M$ releases unfinished products on its customers? Yes...products that they can't completely fabricate will take some time before they can, so use this garbage until the REAL Vista is ready.

Ballmer: Vista 'a work in progress' - Business - Macworld UK:

As users clamour for Microsoft to continue to support Windows XP, company CEO Steve Ballmer called the Vista OS "a work in progress" at an annual Seattle event on Thursday.

"It's a very important piece of work. We did a lot of things right and have a lot of things we need to learn from. You never want to let five years go between releases," he said.