14 DAY TRIAL // On Monday, Microsoft published a press release on the official site to present the statistics for MSN Shopping for the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday. "MSN Shopping recorded 21 percent more visits compared to the same period in 2005. Site visits on "Cyber Monday" increased 63 percent from 2005 and consist of more than double the number of visits to the site on "Black Friday" this year. Increase in traffic is believed to be due to MSN Shopping's improved selection, handcrafted gift guides, popular Sales and Deals page, and tighter integration with MSN and Live Search," Microsoft said.
This year, the giant's online shopping service is forced to compete with more powerful rivals, Google releasing its Google Checkout feature, a service that allows users to buy all kinds of things fast and easy. Despite Microsoft's statements that MSN Shopping was a success, Reuters said that the leader position in online shopping was earned by eBay, a well-known online service based on users' bids.
"Gifts for Him," "Gifts for Her," and "Stocking Stuffers" were the popular MSN Shopping gift guides over the weekend. Jewelry, massagers, picture frames and beer-making equipment were among the most popular items. The most popular video game was "Madden NFL 07," and the most popular toy was the Marshmallow Fun Company Marshmallow Shooter," the giant also added.
On Tuesday, the giant announced that a new corporate vice president of worldwide service will be named and will take his role effectively starting January 5, 2007. "Microsoft Corp. today announced that Maria Martinez has been named corporate vice president of Worldwide Services, effective Jan. 5, 2007. Martinez will continue in her role as corporate vice president of the Communications Sector at Microsoft through the remainder of the calendar year. Martinez will work with Rick Devenuti, who recently announced his plans to retire from his role as senior vice president of Worldwide Services, as she transitions into her new role," the giant said.
It seems like the holiday season comes with huge staff reorganization. You might know that Yahoo lost two of the best executives and Yahoo China's president announced his departure. So, it looks like things are going pretty well for the giant, a fact also sustained by the new vice president notice.
"Martinez comes to the Microsoft Worldwide Services organization from her current role as the corporate vice president of the Communications Sector. Microsoft's Communications Sector works with service and content providers around the globe, addressing the specific needs of wireline and wireless telecommunications companies, cable operators, hosting service providers, and media and entertainment organizations.
Before joining Microsoft, Martinez served as CEO of a startup software vendor in the San Francisco Bay Area. Before that, Martinez was a vice president at Motorola Inc," the giant also mentioned.
On Wednesday, a day before the most important moment in the giant's history - Vista release, Microsoft published a press release to announce all the details about the conference that will bring Vista to business customers. "Microsoft Corp. will host a news conference and live webcast to announce the availability of the Windows Vista operating system, the 2007 Microsoft Office system and Exchange Server 2007 for business customers with volume license agreements. Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer will celebrate this historic product launch, which coincides with Microsoft's 20th year as a publicly traded company, by ringing the bell to open the NASDAQ market," the giant said.
Microsoft also said that the new operating system would be presented by Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, Chris Liddell, CFO of Microsoft and some other executives. The conference hosted at Times Square in New York in NASDAQ MarketSite event, will begin at 10:35 a.m. on Thursday, November 30.
On Thursday, the most important event in the giant's history took place in New York, being represented by the launch of Windows Vista. At a press conference at NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square, Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer announced the business availability of the Windows Vista operating system, the 2007 release of Microsoft Office, and a host of other new product offerings designed to enable businesses to thrive in a world of instant communication, expanding information and constant change.
According to Ballmer, the new versions of Windows, Office and Exchange Server 2007 "are the result of an unprecedented collaboration between Microsoft and its customers. Real-life scenarios guided product development through feedback from customers who volunteered to let Microsoft watch them work in more than 1 billion user sessions. During testing, customers from around the world downloaded more than 5 million beta versions of the products and provided valuable feedback and suggestions," the giant said.
"Industry analysts expect these products to represent more than $250 billion in partner revenue opportunity in the next 12 months. No set of product releases in history has ever offered this level of opportunity for the industry as a whole," Ballmer said.
On Friday, Associate General Counsel Rich Wallis released a statement in response to the beginning of a state class-action lawsuit in Iowa. "Consumers in Iowa and elsewhere overwhelmingly chose Microsoft products because they receive great value from these products. Compared to other key staples of the information era - Internet access, cell phones, cable TV - Windows costs a fraction as much and lasts for the life of your computer.
And the cost of Windows has stayed low and relatively unchanged for years, even as we've added hundreds of new features. We're confident the record will clearly show that Iowa consumers and businesses have received great value at a fair and reasonable price - products that enable them to communicate with family and friends, manage their businesses, and access the Internet to enrich their lives," the giant said.
Week's Conclusion: well? Vista is out there waiting for you. As Microsoft said, it is one of the most important moments in the company's history. Let's hope the new operating system won't disappoint us and that it will represent another success for the giant.
