Soft Advice?!

Three Steps to a New, Improved Microsoft!
Parting advice for Bill Gates.
Stephen Manes

From the September 2006 issue of PC World magazinePosted Wednesday, July 26, 2006
On June 15, in case you didn't notice, Microsoft announced that Bill Gates will "transition out of a day-to-day role in the company" in 2008, though he'll remain as chairman. Bill, no one can complain about your new focus on philanthropy, but over the next two years, how about showing your customers a little love?

It'll be easy! Just insist that Microsoft adopt this mantra: "Stop Making Crap." Here's a simple three-step process:

1. Quit kidding yourself. Do some soul-searching and publicly disown the longstanding public-relations fantasy that Microsoft has something to do with "innovation." Your business has always been about taking others' ideas and selling them with a Microsoft badge. Period. After CP/M came DOS; after Mac came Windows; after Palm came Pocket PC; after Netscape came IE. And those are just the most obvious examples.

2. Insist on quality and security. Microsoft ads say "Your potential. Our passion," but the real motto should be "Do the Minimum." Whenever I pick up a Microsoft product, I expect stupid or dysfunctional design. You rarely disappoint me.

Quality? In just the last few weeks, I've encountered a show-stopping defect in ActiveSync, Windows Mobile dialog boxes that are unreadable because nobody redesigned them for the aspect ratio of the Motorola Q phone's screen, and an entire platform--Ultra-Mobile PC--that's one of the worst computing experiences ever, right down to a Tablet PC tutorial no one bothered to update for the new devices. Windows Media-based audio players continually fail to challenge Apple's iPod because Microsoft's software sucks.

Security? A continuing bad joke, right down to the Windows Genuine Advantage antipiracy program that Windows Update dubs a "critical security update." It's critical only to the company's profit margins, by ensuring that users are running a legit version of Windows--except, as sometimes happens, when it's wrong.

Oh, and quit bragging about how many testers you have. It's tiresome and irrelevant when most of them appear to be taking a permanent lunch break. Embrace the idea that quality and security have to be built in, not tested in.

3. Shake up the talent. Nobody in a position of authority at Microsoft ever seems to get fired. Many should be. How many times can a product jettison features and miss deadlines before its handlers get the boot? How many security flaws can pop up before their creators walk the plank?

And if you want to innovate, find innovators. CEO Steve Ballmer is a longtime apologist for whatever Microsoft is doing at the moment. The résumé of new Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie includes the disappointing Windows CE operating system, the voice-recognition-now-and-then-enabled AutoPC, and Web TV, plus the laughable Trustworthy Computing Initiative. New Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie is a smart guy and by all accounts a brilliant programmer, but his crowning achievement to date is Lotus Notes, a product whose user interface is despised by the folks I know who have been forced to use it. Is all the hot blood working on Xbox?

Oh, and after the three-step process, here's step 4: Turn "Stop Making Crap" into "Start Making Wonders." But software has to run, not crash, before it can fly.

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A memorable day in my career

Till 4.30 pm on Tuesday 18 July 2006, it was just another day in my life and then, in our office there was a short meeting called by our top management who broke the news that our Board had accepted a proposal to admit Bank Muscat International as a shareholder of our Company with 40% stake.

So the day which started normal grew into a great and memorable one by evening.

The news means we are on way to take a leadership position in the market place with much more ammunition to compete for increased success.

Pleased post the news as it appeared in Oman Observer (http://omanobserver.com) below.

Business news

BankMuscat Intl plans to take 40pc stake in National Finance
By A E James
MUSCAT — The board of National Finance Company has accepted a proposal from BankMuscat International (BMI) to acquire a strategic 40 per cent stake in the company. As per the understanding, National Finance will issue 4.83 million additional shares at a price of RO 1.850 per share to the Bahrain-based BMI through a private placement route. “The board has approved the proposal in view of BankMuscat International's standing in the region. It will help the company to generate additional business,” said Robert Pancras, General Manager of National Finance.

“The proceeds of the issue will be used for expanding our business,” he added. Pancras said with the issue of additional shares, the paid up capital of the company would go up to RO 12 million from RO 7.2 million now. The additional capital will also help the company to comply with the stipulation of the central bank to raise paid up capital to RO 10 million within three years. “This will help us to raise the paid up capital much before the three year period,” he added.

But Pancras said that the proposal is subject to the approval from regulating authorities and shareholders of his company. If everything goes well, BMI's representation in NFC's board will be proportional to its shareholding in NFC. On the financial performance, he said the company has a strong relation with local customers, especially in automobile and small and medium enterprise (SME) segments. BMI, whose 49 per cent stake is held by Muscat-based BankMuscat, will invest RO 8.94 million to become a strategic stakeholder of National Finance. Shares allotted to BMI will be locked in for a period of three years.

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Best Buy July 03 2006

BEST BUY RECOMMENDATION

(Note: The shares recommended here are purely from my personal analysis as a hobby and I do not take any responsibility for the outcome of the decisions of the user based on my recommendations)

Recommendation for 03/07/2006

Buy Adani Exports. Current Market price is Rs.130 in cash. Buy more aggressively once it crosses Rs.135 decisively.

Targets Rs.238 & Rs.265 (Holding period 1 to 3 months)

Disclosure: I do not hold these shares or their derivatives.

Previous Best Buy


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