XPIRED! But Vista may not catch up     
July 01, 2008
Source: ET Bureau

MUMBAI: After Bill Gates’ exit from Microsoft, it is now the turn of Windows XP to sign out. Windows XP (professional) is officially off the shelves, finally, with effect from June 30. Microsoft has been planning this phase out for a long time now, ever since Windows Vista hit the market in January 2007. 

But Vista has so far failed to create the same buzz and hype that the XP had. Analysts attribute this to a melange of things. “Hardware requirements for Vista is higher, you need a 2GB RAM to operate Vista smoothly,” says Gartner’s principal analyst Diptarup Chakraborti. Windows XP requires 256MB to 512MB, which all Mini notebooks and older PCs have. 

Microsoft is playing it safe by retaining the Windows XP (home) in the market as it can be used as an operating system (OS) for the mini notebooks. “Intel is pushing these mini notebooks and Microsoft does not want Linux to enter the market, so they have decided to delay the phase out of Windows XP (home) to 2010.” says Mr Chakraborti. 

However, the XP (home) has its limitations. It does not encourage management control and restricts a user to log onto any domain. 

Since its launch in January 2007, Vista has sold 140 million worldwide till date and 2 million in India. Microsoft claims most enterprises like Infosys, L&T, TCS, Satyam and other enterprises have already migrated a large number of their desktops to Vista. Mr Chakraborti, however, says many enterprises are willing to use XP and not Vista until windows 7, which is to be launched in early 2010, is on the shelves. 

“There was a marketing hiccup, where many manufacturers branded their systems as Vista capable, while they could only run the most basic version (Windows Vista Basic). This made users feel cheated, when they bought Vista systems which didn’t really have the power to run Vista in its full glory. For laptop owners, another concern has been battery life. The extra features in Vista tend to drain the battery much faster than almost any other operating system on the same system,” says an analyst who did not want to be named. 

“Consumers would prefer to buy Vista as it looks better than XP, but at what cost is the question. Your favourite applications may not run as they do not have drivers for them. Additionally, enterprise system engineers will have to be re-trained and software re-written for Vista,” says Frost and Sullivan Technical (insights) analyst Prithvi Raj. 

So, even after it’s done away with XP may stay ahead of Vista as most users look forward to Windows 7.

Yahoo questions how serious Microsoft was on deals    
July 01, 2008
Source: REUTERS

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo Inc on Monday sought to rally shareholder support in the face of a proxy battle with billionaire Carl Icahn, saying the activist investor had an "ill-defined plan" for the future of the Internet company. 

Yahoo detailed its rationale for rejecting a $47.5 billion takeover offer by Microsoft Corp, questioning whether the software maker was ever serious about a full-scale merger in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. "The record casts doubt on whether Microsoft was ever committed to a whole-company transaction," the filing states. 

Microsoft spokeswoman Jamie Moser fired back at Yahoo's allegations that the software giant was not earnest in pursuing the deal: "This is simply revisionist history," she said. Icahn is running a slate of directors to replace Yahoo's board and has called for the removal of Chief Executive Jerry Yang ahead of the company's annual shareholder meeting to be held in Silicon Valley on August 1. The activist shareholder has said the company should still offer to sell itself, though Microsoft has said it is no longer interested in a full buyout. 

"Icahn misrepresents the manner in which we negotiated with Microsoft," Yahoo said in an investor presentation it plans to make at the meeting. "Our board remains the best and most qualified group to maximize value for Yahoo stockholders." 

The company struck a similar tone in a letter to shareholders last week. Several major Yahoo investors said on Friday they are not sure whether they will side with Icahn in his proxy fight, including Legg Mason Capital Management, its third-largest institutional shareholder. 

Earlier this month, Yahoo rejected an alternate Microsoft proposal to buy its search business and a 16 percent stake in the company for $9 billion, plus annual advertising payments. "Microsoft proposed (a) last-minute 'hybrid' search-only structure, which does not benefit Yahoo financially or strategically and is based on flawed assumptions," Yahoo revealed in its filing on Monday. 

Instead Yahoo reached a nonexclusive pact with larger rival Google Inc on search advertising. Yahoo says that deal will add as much as $450 million in operating cash flow within the first year and allow it to build other money-generating partnerships as well. 

Youssef Squali, an analyst with brokerage Jefferies & Co, sided with Yahoo in many of its arguments, but said the most likely outcome at the annual meeting was that investors would elect some of Icahn's board nominees to pressure the company. 

"We believe that shareholders may want to confer a handful of board seats to Icahn's slate in order to maintain the sense of urgency and accountability to the current board," he said. Yahoo shares fell 2.9 percent to $20.72. The stock is down sharply since Microsoft withdrew its offer to buy Yahoo or to strike a partial deal to invest in it and buy its Web search arm. 

It now trades less than $2 above the $19.18 level where it stood before Microsoft's original bid. The stock has fallen from a high near $30 in February -- when expectations were high that Yahoo would eventually accept Microsoft's Jan. 31 offer of $31 per share in cash and stock. Microsoft withdrew its offer to buy the company in early May.

eBay fined for selling fake Louis Vuitton goods online     
July 01, 2008
SOURCE: ET 

PARIS: A Paris court on Monday ordered Internet auctioneer eBay to pay 40 million euros ($63 million) in damages to Louis Vuitton for selling fake luxury goods online. 

The commercial court also barred eBay from selling four perfume brands, Christian Dior, Kenzo, Givenchy and Guerlain, in the ruling intended to send a strong message about copyright protection. 

eBay, the world's largest online auctioneer, immediately announced it was lodging an appeal and rejected the view that the court decision was a victory for copyright law. 

"This decision is not based on combating counterfeit material. It is based on LVMH's desire to protect its commercial practices and exclude competition," said a spokeswoman for eBay in Paris."This is being done at the expense of the consumers and sellers to whom eBay is always offering opportunities," she added. 

eBay was ordered to pay 19.28 million euros to LVMH and 16.3 million euros to its sister company Christian Dior Couture for damage to their brand images and causing moral harm. It must also pay 3.25 million euros to the four perfume brands for sales in violation of its authorized network. 

LVMH hailed the decision as a major coup against illegal sales on the Internet. 

"It is a major first, because of the principles that it recognizes and the amount sought," Pierre Gode, an aide to LVMH president Bernard Arnault, told AFP. 

Describing eBay's anti-counterfeit measures as "empty", Gode said the court decision was "important for the creative industry" and that it "protected brands by considering them an important part of French heritage." 

LVMH, the world's leading luxury brand, was seeking 50 million euros in damages from US-based eBay Inc. and its Swiss subsidiary eBay AG for the auctions of fake goods and unauthorized sales of perfumes. 

The commercial court found that eBay had committed "serious errors" by allowing the sales of fake LVMH goods and violating the sales distribution network set up by Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior Couture. 

The court issued a cease and desist order to eBay, barring it from running ads for the perfume and cosmetic brands or face a fine of 50,000 euros per day. 

A full transcript of the decision is to be posted on the eBay sites in English and French within the next three weeks, the court ordered. 

The ruling came amid a flurry of legal action against the online giant, which claims to have some 84 million active users in 39 markets worldwide. Earlier this month, eBay was convicted by a French court of selling counterfeit goods and ordered to pay 20,000 euros ($30,000) in damages to French luxury group Hermes. The court ruling, which marked a first in France, found eBay directly responsible for the sale on its website of three Hermes bags including two fakes, for a total of 3,000 euros. 

France's traditional auctioneers took legal action against the online auctioneer in December, accusing it of encouraging trade in pirated and stolen goods.A council representing the auction industry also accuses the Internet trader of breaking a French law of 2000 that requires all auctioneers to be approved by the state. 

According to eBay, the total value of items sold on its trading platforms in 2007 was nearly $60 billion.