Microsoft Pri0

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December 1, 2008 6:51 AM

Microsoft news roundup: Five things Microsoft got right; More Kumo domains registered; Morgan Stanley cuts target; Vista SP2 in April?

Posted by Benjamin J. Romano

The oft-quoted analysts at Kirkland-based Directions on Microsoft have come out with a concise look at five things Microsoft got right in its first 30 years, and business lessons that can be taken from each. Here they are, in brief:

-- Software Is King, Lesson: "Question the rules. Change the game."
-- Outsource Your Sales Force, Lesson: "Create win-win partner situations to grow fast."
-- Technology for the Masses, Lesson: "Don't neglect your customers' most important need: a better price."
-- Developers, Developers, Developers!, Lesson: "Make it easy for partners to customize your product."
-- The Long View, Lesson: "Business isn't a sprint; it's a marathon. Be persistent."

Other items of interest this morning:

Mary Jo Foley points to a handful of new domain names registered by a Microsoft proxy, all of which contain the name Kumo, which could be what the company rebrands its Live Search service. See this Nov. 23 LiveSide.net report for more background on the possible rebrand to Kumo.

Morgan Stanley analysts cut their price target on Microsoft to $26.50 a share after meeting with the company's CFO, Chris Liddell. According to a brief report at TheStreet.com, that meeting suggested to the analysts "that business has deteriorated since the company last gave guidance in October."

Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista could be released to manufacturing in April 2009, according to a source quoted by TechARP.com, a Malaysian site (via The Register).

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