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"Sadly, there's nothing new to see in this build."

Well, that sucks.

"There is more coming."

If there is nothing new in the RC then I'm left to assume that the "more coming" must be in the post-RC builds or in the RTM. If Microsoft is waiting until the RTM to introduce something dramatic then that could either turn out really good or really, really bad.

"Sadly, there's nothing new to see in this build."

Of course not.

The whole point of the process is to make tweaks during the beta based on beta tester feedback and stabilize for release. And stabilizing means the changes become fewer and more minor as the product development cycle progresses and the product matures.

The bar to make changes after RC is very, very high. Don't expect the release to be significantly different from the RC. The whole point of a Release Candidate is that it is a Candidate for Release. What gets fixed from this point on are things big enough that they'd block shipping this version. Remember that any change in code contains the risk of breaking things. You don't make changes lightly this far along.

And that's a good thing. It's precisely what a beta and RC are for. Tuning, finding compatibility issues in the vast number of hardware and software combinations that exists out there in the billion user ecosystem around the world and fixing the issues that come up in the beta.

While it's fun to expect surprises, stability and compatibility sure beat the "it works in the lab and we'll fix the issues after we ship" methodology that happens when keynote surprises take precedence over the good of the users.

To use the old ad phrase, "the best surprise is no surprise".

And, hey, Paul, if there were big last minute changes, think of all that rewriting you'd have to do and all the new screen captures you'd have to get Raf to put together.

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The flashy, UI-stuff is nice, but I think MS learned it's lesson the hard way: If the underpinnings aren't more than solid, than the rest is merely fluff.  As my H.S. algebra teacher taught me, triple checking is never a bad thing.  

On the other hand - they've got to get this thing out and out soon....

I plan to wait for the official plebian release.  (For one thing, I don't have a bitTorrent client and don't want one.)  

And it only goes on my laptop, which is back to its proper role as pure sandbox.

But I will look at the pictures and read the review when they come, of course.

 --John (death to the stupid fish image) Baxter

As for those who think Microsoft *must* include surprise features in RC so they can be fully fleshed out in *public* Windows 7 testing.  Why *pubic*?  They could just as well have created a private Windows 7 test group for this.  And who knows that could have been going on for months already.

I think this *new stuff*, perhaps touchscreen UI is likely an additive feature.  There is no way they would throw away all the usability data they got since Windows 7 Beta.  Perhaps its something along the lines of Orgami or HP's Touchsmart.  I think touchscreen users, especially in certain environments ie kitchen, would appreciate a simplified dashboard.  That said, if this what they want to deliver..shouldn't this be done via Media Center?  I think so.  

...I take back my comment about using Media Center for dashboard.  I think it would need to be more multi-touch based.  It would be cool if they were to include some UI elements of Surface Computer into Windows 7.  Perhaps an optional Windows Desktop experience based on Surface.

A nice surprise would be Aquarium screen saver.

Well, it's early Friday afternoon  EDT and still no RC on Technet. I was wondering if I'd be installing it this afternoon and weekend. In Redmond it is still early in the day so it might show up yet. if not, probably Monday or Tuesday. I don't do the torrent thing so I will have to wait ..

.. I'm waiting .. lol

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Like Mike said. To add, it take some time to create it, so why would you expect any major changes on the past few days or weeks? You liked what you saw on the first beta, so just enjoy. [Don't have a cow, man]

Doc

why can't I get a snarky paul report on Microsoft's revenue drop?  he was all over apple's.  Apple may have 2% of the US market but they had 60% of Microsoft's revenue for the quarter!  I know, I know, it's the one guy somewhere that bought mobileme subscriptions for secret santa parties.

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Win sales are probably down because everyone is waiting for Win 7

..and the economic downturn slowing PC sales too.

The silence on this site in regards to MSFT's quarterly results is deafening. Nothing from Paul. Why? Are things so bad in Redmond that the WinJihadists don't want to talk about it?

Pathetic.

BladRnr: "The silence on this site in regards to MSFT's quarterly results is deafening. Nothing from Paul. Why? Are things so bad in Redmond that the WinJihadists don't want to talk about it? Pathetic."

windowsitpro.com/.../microsoft-earnings-stumble-sales-fall-for-first-time-in-23-years.html

Yes, pathetic is definitely the word I'm thinking of right now.

@kenmcnamee

With all respect, you misunderstood what I asked. Paul had no *comments* about the results. None. What was published on that site, WinInfo Daily NEWS, was exactly what it was: news.

He had commentary about Apple's results on THIS site, Windows Supersite. But nothing HERE about MSFT's results.

Commentary is not news, and vice versa.

windowsitpro.com/.../microsoft-earnings-stumble-sales-fall-for-first-time-in-23-years.html

Microsoft has peaked.  They are like IBM all those years ago, to big, to fat to know what is wrong.  They need to plan the lowering of their market share in a way that is not climatic for them.  

I can see them 10 years from now being like the new IBM, smaller player focused on a specific market segment, after the stumble some more and look bad for a while.

Some serious cutting of stuff not making money needs to happen say like Zune/360 for starters.  How much have they poured into these 2 only to come away this quarter with a 31milllion dollar loss.

1. It's one quarter. If you can predict the future of the company based on one quarter's results, hat's off to you, Nostradamus.

2. I've seen comparisons to GM elsewhere and my guess is that robertsjoe or ocean or cesjr will try it here. Microsoft is still making money.

3. It's the economy, stupid. For those of you who follow only two companies - your beloved Apple and the evil Microsoft, the economy isn't really doing all that well, you know? Lot of companies reported lower profits. Lot of people lost jobs.

BladRnr: You're right that the article regarding Microsoft's earnings was mostly just a recitation of the numbers but that's pretty much what his Apple earnings post was too, with maybe a couple of non-newsie comments.

community.winsupersite.com/.../mac-market-share-in-q1-2009-3-36-percent-apple-earnings-strong.aspx

I'm really just at a loss in understanding what you're expecting. He said Microsoft's earnings were down for the first time in decades and gave a couple of reasons why. What else do you expect him to say and do you expect that whenever he has a comment about anything that he must publish it in every possible place just so you don't miss it?? Come on, you're really picking nits here.

@shark47

I agree. One quarter does not make or break a company, unless you're GM or Chrysler, perhaps. Yes, MSFT is making money. Good for them in this economy.

It's just the lack of willingness to talk about MSFT's quarter here. Everyone was trying to make excuses for Apple's earnings yesterday on THIS site. Today, after MSFT just had the worst quarter in 23 years...nothing. Dead silence. So Paul doesn't even want to discuss it?

Shark that's not the point, the point is the standard should be applied equally.

As to your point #2, don't know, but the usual culprits sure pointed out how "Apple" was "failing" for their report...

Seems to me that certain people operate on two sets of rules.

@kenmcnamee

Once again, with all due respect, it's the double-standard that I perceive. How am I nitpicking? Apple's results were discussed here (on a Windows-centric website, no less) to death where most wanted to make excuses for Apple's success. I would call that nitpicking.

Why not MSFT's worst quarter in 23 years? And Apple, ATT, Amazon and Netflix all had great quarters, so no one can blame the economy wholly for MSFT's quarter.

The Media Streaming stuff looks interesting.  I kind of wonder where the internet media streaming fits in with a Windows Home Server though.

How does that work with multiple computers in a network that are all set up as media servers?  Are we expecting more UPnP phun to get this to work?

"And Apple, ATT, Amazon and Netflix all had great quarters, so no one can blame the economy wholly for MSFT's quarter."

Again. It's one quarter, dude. And Apple, ATT, Amazon and Netflix are anomalies. Most companies are struggling in this economy.

"As to your point #2, don't know, but the usual culprits sure pointed out how "Apple" was "failing" for their report..."

I don't know. Any company that manages to grow in this economy is doing extremely well, in my opinion. I work for a consulting firm and we're having a pretty tough time.

Remember how I was mentioning the Gigabyte T1028?

Here's the reason why I want one:

blogs.msdn.com/.../ink-input-and-tablet.aspx  (with videos!)

Shark- your analysis is one that people are going to take issue with, whether they are in Apple's or MS' camp... there are some that do not need to be named (simply because its obvious) that who were falling all over themselves yesterday to explain why Apple should be harped on for what was an unbelievable quarter in the economic climate. Yet MS has some tremendously bad news for MS' level of performance and its the sound of crickets.

No one in their right mind wants anyone to lose their jobs regardless of their platform ideologies...

Sorta takes the wind out of the argument that reporting or even blogging is equal here.

I understand why our useless main stream media doesn't get why MSFT had a slow qt. But people who read this blog and others like it aren't surprised are they. I'm building a new machine this year, guess what I'm waiting for Win 7, I'll probably upgrade at least 2 other machines as well, I expect Q4 (calender) will be huge for MS.

"I'm building a new machine this year"

The Core i5's will be out in a short while.  They're the mainstream version of the Core i7's that'll have options for cheaper, non-enthusiast-level motherboards.  A Core i7 920 is a good deal for someone that wants a decent multimedia machine....up until they realize the motherboard costs as much as the processor.

Perhaps the 360 and Zune should go if they are perpetual big revenue losers. I certainly don't see a halo effect from the 360. After all, it is a PC gamer replacement. Does MS actually sell games? If so, is there a profit?

@shark47

No disrespect, but you are still missing my point. Apple got shafted by most of the people on this site yesterday, including Paul. All I read was, "They only have 3% worldwide market share." As if that matters when a company had their BEST non-holiday quarter ever.

Then when MSFT has their worst quarter in 23 years, nobody wants to discuss it. Would that be fair? Would that be honest? Or is there a perception to belittle everything Apple does, right or wrong, while giving a pass to MSFT?

Does anyone see the double-standard here?

BladRnr: I just don't understand your outrage at Paul posting something on one Windows site and not on another Windows site. I really don't see the double standard in that but if you want to believe there is then go ahead.

"Or is there a perception to belittle everything Apple does, right or wrong, while giving a pass to MSFT?"

Ask Leo Laporte the opposite the next time he laughs at anything Microsoft on MacBreak Weekly.

>from the 360. After all, it is a PC gamer replacement

Gaming is just the gateway. I think Microsoft plans were (and still are) to turn the Xbox into more of a living room appliance over time. They have been marginally successful with movie and TV downloads and Netflix interop. The MCE extender stuff is great for those that actually know about it.

I just think they've done a bad job at getting past perceptions that it is more than a gaming machine. Sony has had similar troubles with the PS3.

But over time, I would not be at all surprised to see Xbox evolve into a more fully functioning set top box. The living room has always been a big area of future contention. And MS wants to be there as the platform of choice.

I'd hope to see the 360 become more PC-like, in fact. Keyboard and mouse option, Web browser, e-mail, telephone integration, and so on.

On Topic: Of course there's not big changes in the RC over what's been shown in the interim builds since 7000. That's the goal. If there had been big changes at this point, it would mean something had gone wrong.

@kenmcamee

So you see no problem in Paul dissing Apple's numbers after a stellar quarter but silence (other than news I could have gotten anywhere. In fact, he took down the link on the WinInfo Daily News site on the home page. It says "no news today.") when MSFT does poorly? I'm sorry. I just don't buy it.

@Waethorn

I'm not talking about Leo Laporte. I'm talking about Paul Thurrott. And all I ask is that he be honest and fair. If he chooses not to, fine. It's his site. More power to him. But I think he should come clean about the fact that he has a grudge against Apple, as do most of the people on this site. And that he will look the other way when MSFT has bad news to report. Then we will all know that it's more of a Windows fan site than an honest look at all things MSFT.

Peace.

Time to begin deciding if I should upgrade my English Lab again.

@Dude1313 - "Sorta takes the wind out of the argument that reporting or even blogging is equal here."

I have asked this before and was never provided an answer...where has Paul EVER claimed to be fair on this blog or WinInfo? Maybe I missed it.

--tayme

@kenmcamee

EDIT: I meant to say he took down the link on the WindowsSupersite home page. Sorry. Under WinInfo Daily News, there's "no news today."

"Nothing here about MSFT's financials. Move along."

BladRnr: "So you see no problem in Paul dissing Apple's numbers."

What follows is the full text of Paul's post about Apple's numbers. To a non Apple fanboy, I think it sounds like Paul is very impressed by Apple's performance and calls them recession-resilient. I think your idea of "dissing" is far different than mine.

================================

Mac market share in Q1 2009 = 3.36 percent, Apple earnings strong

Apple has announced its earnings for the first calendar quarter of 2009, and while no company is likely recession proof, Apple is certainly recession-resilient. The company posted revenue of $8.16 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.21 billion, which is huge. Mac sales were a much better than expected 2.22 million units, and though that's down a pretty meaningless 3 percent, year over year, it's enough for 3.36 percent worldwide market share. (In the year ago quarter, the Mac accounted for just 3.26 of all PC sales worldwide.)

US market share, of course, is harder to gauge since Apple doesn't break out US numbers explicitly. Looking at IDC (1130 units) and Gartner's (1135) estimated sales figures for the US, Apple's Mac has about 7.49 percent market share in the US. That's a bit more vague of an estimate, of course, but it seems reasonable.

Either way, the Mac's in great shape, despite the economy.

More impressive, perhaps, is the iPhone. Sales of the iPhone more than doubled year over year, with Apple selling 3.79 million units (according to AT&T, 1.6 million of them in the US).

iPod sales were up an inconsequential 3 percent, suggesting that the new iPod shuffle hasn't been a fast seller. It's rare for Apple to completely replace an iPod model in the first quarter (they usually go after the full lineup each September) but it doesn't look like it made much of a difference. Maybe the next shuffle could be bigger and have a real UI.

"@shark47

No disrespect, but you are still missing my point. Apple got shafted by most of the people on this site yesterday, including Paul. All I read was, "They only have 3% worldwide market share." As if that matters when a company had their BEST non-holiday quarter ever.

Then when MSFT has their worst quarter in 23 years, nobody wants to discuss it. Would that be fair? Would that be honest? Or is there a perception to belittle everything Apple does, right or wrong, while giving a pass to MSFT?

Does anyone see the double-standard here?"

Oh, yeah. It's so clear. Compare the comments about Apple yesterday and the Microsoft press release thing he put up on Wininfo.

And, shark, on that "just one quarter" thing. Yes, agreed, certainly, one quarter is not a trend. Of course, Paul wants to trumpet the one quarter decline in Apple sales, which have increased 100% in the last 20 quarters. No comment on that contradiction from anyone else here yesterday, but now that Microsoft has had (and I love the phrasing), its worst quarter in 23 years, we're all over that "just one quarter" point.

Well, fine, but let's apply the logic uniformly, eh?

Tayme-

I have no issue if any company gets taken to task by anyone, the funny thing is that there is to separate standards as to how this is done (and I'm not just talking about Paul). Apple gets grilled for what is by all accounts a outstanding quarter and MS having their worst one (or one of their worst) in 22 years and there is nothing pointing that out.

My point is that if anyone is going to use one set of standards and grill a company for having a pretty darn good quarter (apple) and then cherry pick the things one doesn't like to bolster the argument... But when another company (MS) has one of their worst and there is no mention about it.

This is no different then trumpeting the UK MS ads as "unassailable"  when in the past school trips to the Apple Store are "despicable".

Like what you want (that's anyone), dislike what you don't, my issue is with consistency (or lack thereof).

In reading your responses over the years, your viewpoint and mine are a lot closer then I would have ever guessed. And the ones that we aren't on the same page... I at least respect your logic, not all here I would say that about.

@kenmcamee

Once again, that was news, mostly. Yes, I give him credit for the lack of snarky commenting. But why the emphasis in the title about their worldwide market share? That is nit picking. No one cares. Market share has nothing to do with Apple's profits. It's like reminding everyone, "Well, yeah, they had a great quarter, but their market share is puny." That is so inconsequential when it comes to Apple. And it was posted in the BLOG, not WinInfo Daily News. If it was news, it should have been posted there. He just set everyone up on the blog site to have their way with Apple. And surprise, he got what he wanted: excuses for Apple's great numbers from the WinJihadists. And again, today, nothing to blog about in regards to MSFT's numbers. Why? Because he wants to look the other way and pretend it didn't happen ON THIS SITE.

I guess we just agree to disagree. Fine. Have a great weekend. It looks to be 80 degrees here in Ohio.

"No disrespect, but you are still missing my point. Apple got shafted by most of the people on this site yesterday, including Paul. "

Here are some of Paul's comments about Apple's earnings:

"Either way, the Mac's in great shape, despite the economy."

"More impressive, perhaps, is the iPhone. Sales of the iPhone more than doubled year over year, with Apple selling 3.79 million units (according to AT&T, 1.6 million of them in the US)."

Sure. They got shafted by Paul! I really don't know what you guys expect from him. Did you expect him to sing songs in Jobs' praise?

I thought Paul's item on the Apple quarterly results was straightforward and refreshingly free of snark.  He gave credit where credit's due, and more power to him.  Some of the commenters, not so much.  But that's hardly unsurprising, is it?

It doesn't bother me that he didn't comment on the Microsoft results here.   It's his blog and he can write about what he wants, I reckon.

BladRnr: Have a good weekend too. But, seriously, I hope you also grow a thicker skin over the weekend. It can't be good for your health to get that worked up because someone on a Windows-focused blog says something slightly negative about Apple - while at the same time saying a bunch of complimentary things. I mean, really, nobody should care that much about a company. If someone on a blog says something negative about you, do you think anyone at Apple is going to rush to your defense?

@shark47

Blog does not equal news. I expect him to fair with MSFT's numbers if he wants to talk about Apple's in a blog. Where did he discuss them on his BLOG? He didn't. In fact, no one here is talking about them. How coincidental for Windows Super SIte! Give MSFT a pass. Worst quarter in 23 years. Oh well.

And I didn't expect him to sing the praises of Steve Jobs. But most of what he commented on was irrelevant. Market share? Why is that important? Because it's the only thing he can rub Apple's nose in, when Apple could care less.

I'll make it simple so everyone understands: Paul, what are your COMMENTS on MSFT's financials? Where did they go wrong? What should they do to increase their performance next quarter? What do you think Windows 7 will do for them in the near future? How should they respond to the netbook trend? What changes should they make with the Entertainment Division (since it lost $31M)? How does XP affect their number next quarter?

It doesn't take a lot to ask questions that seem obvious. Paul's the Windows expert, right? So I'm asking the expert. Seems fair.

*crickets*

@BladRnr:

Leo was on MacBreak and TWiT Weekly trying to dismiss the whole Mac botnet thing as heresay.  Of course, I could do the same thing about Conficker.  April 1st came and went and the only fools were the ones that thought that Conficker was serious enough to worry about on that day (or the ones that left their systems insecure and got infected).  Repeatedly, Leo has said "I like Vista" on Windows Weekly, but on MacBreak, the Mac cronies put down everything Microsoft and Leo is cracking jokes about it all too.  How's that for a double standard?

@kenmcnamee

Same to you.

That thick skin, however, has nothing to do with the fact that here we are on a Windows (fan) site and no one is talking about MSFT's financials. What's everyone afraid of? Actually admitting there is something wrong in Redmond?  I have NOTHING against MSFT. I use Office everyday. I just think, once again, for everyone here to pile on Apple when they have a great quarter and then say nothing about MSFT after their disaster speaks volumes. The lack of honestly speaking about MSFT's faults is comical. How does MSFT get better if the fan base wants to bury their head in the sand? I'm all for free enterprise. I wish MSFT was innovative. I wish they would get their house in order. I wish them the best, honestly.

Sorry to go on. Cheers.

As long as the RC is stable, functional, and has everything we've seen up till now, Microsoft will have done its job. While the earnings are disappointing, I completely disagree that they are "peaking like IBM." IBM is doing pretty good. I talked to one of their engineers who is making a pretty good amount of money. So if anything IBM withstood assaults from both Apple and Microsoft, and is moving on with its own game plan. IBM has plenty of its own business and so does Microsoft.

I'm just can't wait to try the RC for myself and see where this is going.

Ken, you can use as much logic and clear though as you like. Any of the hardcore Mac heads here don't give a damn. They resort to ad hominem personal attacks because they can't make eloquent arguements dispassionately. Yet they ignore all of the pitfalls of what Apple does in order to worship a product and a corporation. To me, My PC is just another tool that I use to accomplish task, get information, and entertainment. Nothing more or less.

If Paul's commentary is so biased and so wrong, why even respond to it? If it was so bad and so highly unbalanced and wrong, why even put any attention to it at all? Simply because they got nothing better to do than look down upon people.

I just wish Paul would put an ignore feature on here. There'd be a ton of them I'd block just on principle.

@Waethorn

So you are admitting Paul has a double-standard when it comes to MSFT? Great! Then we agree!

@subzerohitman721

I thought I was very respectful in my comments. I wished Ken a great weekend. We agreed to disagree. Where was I insulting to him or anyone else?

Could we all agree Paul is an expert on most things Windows? Expert, as in, he could run circles around my IT knowledge, and I do it for a living. I give him all the respect in the world in that regard. Seriously. He is an Iron Chef in the IT world.

That being said, I would think people come here for his expert advice, knowledge and opinions, based on his experience and skills. That's what I expect. However, in this scenario, where is there room for snarky comments about other platforms, companies or anything other than MSFT? See that's what turns me off. If we saw a serious, get to the matter attitude in all things here on this site, then we wouldn't have the bitterness to have to defend platforms.

That's all I'm asking. Paul, be real. Tell it like it is. No one is going to belittle you because you have something negative to say in regards to MSFT. It's life. Nothing or no one is perfect. But to turn the other way in the face of reality just cuts into your credibility. It makes you appear to be less than honest. If we can't expect the truth and opinions based on the truth all the time, then what can we expect from you?

Once again, I meant no disrespect to anyone. Including Paul.

Cheers.

Actually, Thanks to "IBM clones" there were alternatives, so not many actually needed IBM. However, many companies cannot live without Microsoft [sort of locked-in, but by third party apps]. That's why I don't think that they will follow the same path.

"That thick skin, however, has nothing to do with the fact that here we are on a Windows (fan) site and no one is talking about MSFT's financials. What's everyone afraid of?"

Lol.BladRnr I find it hilarious that you are worked up about the reporting of Microsoft's financials on a random Windows website. Get out much?

Hey Waethorn I too was excited about the core i7's until I couldn't find a motherboard under 200 bucks. Some people just don't need tri-SLI.

"I expect him to fair with MSFT's numbers if he wants to talk about Apple's in a blog. Where did he discuss them on his BLOG? He didn't. In fact, no one here is talking about them. How coincidental for Windows Super SIte! Give MSFT a pass."

It's his decision what he talks about.

"Worst quarter in 23 years. Oh well."

So what? Anyway, I doubt this is the worst quarter in 23 years. It's the first time revenues have fallen, but this is far from being the worst quarter in 23 years.

"No one is going to belittle you because you have something negative to say in regards to MSFT. "

I guess you don't read this blog that often, in that case. Maybe you only read the articles where he is critical of Apple.

news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10227175-56.html

The fat lady is singing!!!!!

"The fat lady is singing!!!!!"

OK, robertsjoe. This is the end of Microsoft, if that makes you happy?

"The fat lady is singing!!!!!"

I'm glad that the economic recession is making some people happy. I guess there's some people that don't care if they lose their jobs as long as Microsoft does badly.

@BladRnr:

Why no mention of Apple's 1600 job cuts so that they saved money on salaries?

@hammy:

Wait for the i5's.  They'll be good.

They will have HyperThreading too, so that quad-core will look like an 8-core to Windows (Windows can't really tell the difference between HT and multi-core - the CPU does the work of balancing the load).  I personally built another i7 system today.  <$1500(CDN) for a quality tower with enterprise-grade WD RAID Edition 3 drives, an EVGA X58 board, single EVGA GTS 260 "Super-Superclocked" 896MB card, and 6GB of DDR3-1333MHz RAM, backed by a 3-year parts and labour warranty.

Only a few days left before your prediction that Windows 7 would ship in April comes true. You were wrong again, Paul.

@shark

"I'm glad that the economic recession is making some people happy. I guess there's some people that don't care if they lose their jobs as long as Microsoft does badly."

Ballmer is happy about the recession,

""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."

Helpful. The trouble is, he's wrong. The helpful economy is driving all the WIndows vendors the bottom end machines where Microsoft makes almost no money. Apple of course, is not in that trap.

Isn't strange that one can think that a company making almost 3 billion dollars in profit, had a bad year? What have we done to ourselves! I'm actually being serious.

@BladRnr:

Why no mention of Apple's 1600 job cuts so that they saved money on salaries?

Because they didn't do it, despite the breathless "blog" pronouncements

macdailynews.com/.../20915

"Isn't strange that one can think that a company making almost 3 billion dollars in profit, had a bad year? What have we done to ourselves! I'm actually being serious."

That's true, but as people have pointed out, a quarter isn't a trend. However, the long term trend is ominous for Microsoft:

" MSFT's market cap used to be $586B! It's now ~$180B. Apple's used to be $17B. It's now $112B."

Apple is now 2/3 the size of Microsoft, where it used to be 3% of Microsoft's size. I think we at last have an answer to Paul's paranoia and how Apple can be both a trivial annoyance and a looming threat. Come to think of it, it isn't paranoia at all.

Funny how you can have 3% marketshare and 67% of Microsoft's market cap.

Did they fix the problem that when one wants to install on drive D that drive d becomes drive c rather than remaining drive d?  I have greenware installed on drive C with shortcuts that can be shared between multi-boot OSes... but does not work when win7 make drive d a drive c and the original c has to be added as a drive d.  I have over 150 greenware apps that I can install on a multi-boot just by adding a new toolbar, of an existing folder set of shortcuts on drive C, to the taskbar.

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Regardless of Apple vs MS, my point was that in today's economy, many business have gone bankrupt, yet some people are not impressed with 3 billion dollars in profit during today's economy. remember Circuit City or CompUSA? They're gone! Kudos to Apple for success.

Can someone please post the official SHA1 hash for x32 and x64 of Windows 7 RC1.  Thanks.

"That's true, but as people have pointed out, a quarter isn't a trend. However, the long term trend is ominous for Microsoft:"

Ooh, long term trend. Someone here has seen the future, because as far as I know, this is the first quarter where the year over year revenue has dropped.

Regarding market cap, that's not necessarily an indicator of future performance. You're seriously using Wall Street to make predictions? After the last couple of years, I thought people would be smart enough to avoid doing that. Oh, well!

Got the 64-bit RC through torrents, activated with my beta key no problems there. I'd forgotten how much I loved Windows 7 :P

just installed the x86 RC, the difference from the BETA is just awesome.

:)

"Regardless of Apple vs MS, my point was that in today's economy, many business have gone bankrupt, yet some people are not impressed with 3 billion dollars in profit during today's economy. remember Circuit City or CompUSA? They're gone! Kudos to Apple for success."

I agree. I don't think it's a big deal that Microsoft's revenue has gone down. The economy isn't really helping at this point. Companies like GM and Chrysler are struggling to stay afloat and will probably end up declaring bankruptcy. I think what is a big deal is that companies like Apple and Amazon have managed to grow in these conditions. I was at a client site recently, where seven of the thirteen people in the room had iPhones and the rest BBs or WM phones. That's pretty impressive.

Microsoft doesn't have anything new going on until the second half of the year. I think the next quarter will be bad too but things might just pick up after that. Windows 7 will finally be out, Windows Mobile 6.5 is actually shaping up to be a decent release, the new Zune will be out (and obviously won't have as big an impact).

I know a lot of people are excited about the possibility that this quarter has marked the beginning of the end of Microsoft, but it's too early. One quarter does not make a trend. Sorry to burst your bubble, fellas, but the fat lady isn't singing yet.

If anyone has an Acer laptop with the Tuba Cinebass booster in it and it becomes non-functional after installing Windows 7, download the Vista audio driver for your notebook from the Acer website (if it's labelled as 32-bit don't worry it should have the 64-bit driver packaged with it too). Once you have installed this the booster should start working properly again. Now you are free to update to the latest Realtek driver if you like. There's obviously some sort of file or setting applied when installing the driver from the Acer website but it stays enabled just fine when you uninstall it and update to the latest Realtek driver.

Hope this helps someone!

@shark

"I know a lot of people are excited about the possibility that this quarter has marked the beginning of the end of Microsoft, but it's too early. One quarter does not make a trend. Sorry to burst your bubble, fellas, but the fat lady isn't singing yet."

You're right, and that's why I quoted statistics that cover 5 years rather than a single quarter.

While I have no love at all for Microsoft, I am also not delusional. Microsoft's position as the dominant player (in raw numbers, at least) in desktop computing is assured for a long time. I am happy to see that they are now in a position of declining influence, or at least they perceive that they have competitors (hence the ads), because that will rein in the hubris that still infects parts of the company (Ballmer being the leading example.).

FWIW, I feel the same way about Apple. Competition for them from Microsoft is a good thing.

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I still can't believe their so ontime for the RC release, Gone are the Vista days i guess.