On 08/07/11 22:53, Mecki Foerthmann wrote: > Microsoft isn't struggling and they license Sharepoint only for named > users and still sell it!
Are you sure :-) (MS isn;t struggling, that is ...) They've had several very high profile reverses lately. The obvious example to me is the London Stock Exchange, where their system failed publicly and dramatically, and has been replaced by a new system that is both faster and cheaper. I can't name any more examples off the top of my head, but I know there have been a fair few. I'm seeing a bunch of reports that their behaviour is typical for a company spiralling into Chapter 11 - some estimates are as close as 2012! They're up against serious competition from Apple and Linux now - for the first time in many years they're actually having to compete, and compete hard. And although they look profitable, they have long had a reputation for massaging the figures. Except now it looks like the figures are coming home to roost. And their big problem is the mismatch between where the expenses are incurred and the income is made. From what I can tell, the American operation is running at a loss, but overseas operations are profitable. The problem is that overseas operations are in tax havens, so while it looks like they're making more than they're spending, the money is not in the right place. And as soon as they repatriate the money, they will incur tax liabilities that will drive them into the red. In other words - America is not profitable. Bankruptcy is inevitable if they don't repatriate profits. But if they do repatriate profits, Uncle Sam will want his cut, which they can't afford, so bankruptcy is inevitable... If you want to trust Microsoft and rely on them, fine. But what's the saying? "trust, but verify"? What will you do if MS's activation servers go down, and Windows et al stops working? Cheers, Wol _______________________________________________ U2-Users mailing list U2-Users@listserver.u2ug.org http://listserver.u2ug.org/mailman/listinfo/u2-users
