It's remarkable to see how the iPhone has been so impactful that it's pretty much made its own category of device.

Quoted: Despite such worries as data security, IT staffs are beginning to support Apple's device—especially if the CEO starts carrying one.

Quoted: Apple makes it easier for companies to reverse their iPhone opposition in part through upgrades to the software that make the device more business friendly. A version due in June, iPhone 3.0, will add security and management features expected to make it more attractive to large companies. "It's too early for iPhone to be a serious competitor to BlackBerry in the enterprise, but a year from now it will be," says Ted Schadler, vice-president and principal analyst at Forrester Research (FORR) who on Apr. 14 published a report on iPhone use by enterprises.

Wow. Great write-up of Windows 7...

Quoted: Windows Client division is now best example and model for every other Microsoft division to follow. Windows 7 Beta 1 is remarkable resurrection. From the crash called Windows Vista comes a phoenix. Management clearly is the difference between Seven and Vista.

Quoted: Under former Platform and Services division president Jim Allchin's leadership, or lack of it, Windows ran to ruin. Windows Vista is a management, development and marketing disaster. The product has done irreparable harm to Microsoft's corporate identity and to the Windows brand. Windows Vista is a failure by every milestone that matters: Performance, compatibility, usability and adoption.

Quoted: Now contrast Vista development to Windows 7. The management team has done what a year ago I would have asserted as impossible: Fix Vista's problems and reinvent Windows. Seven is a solid and exciting product, even in beta.

Quoted: Only focused, disciplined management could produce from the Vista train wreck a better locomotive. Seven is much more dramatically different than the modest makeover I expected.

It's about freakin' time Microsoft did something to improve their situation at retail. I've written before about how depressing it is to walk in to a place like Best Buy only to see just about every PC in some embarrasing condition of disrepair. There is usually some kind of error dialog, or 'can't connect' or security warning on the screen.

Best Buy has also started baking blatant ads in to their Wallpaper, and even more recently putting strange orphan windows with movie trailers or something else that conjures images of another kind of 'trailer'... specifically the double-wide kind.

Compared to the retail experience at the Apple Store, if the Apple Store is like Nordstrom, buying a PC is like shopping in the 99¢ store.

Quoted: NEW YORK - As part of its new $300 million marketing campaign and image makeover, Microsoft Corp. plans to deploy its own customer-service representatives at retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City to help people with their PC purchases.

Quoted: These gurus will be answering questions about PCs and Microsoft products, as well as giving demos of how the company's products work together — help designed to get them thinking Microsoft.

Quoted: The move is more likely to strike up comparisons with the rival that has portrayed Microsoft as unhip and out of touch — Apple Inc., which runs "Genius Bars" in its stores to answer questions about Macs and iPods. The Genius Bar also offers technical support on already-purchased products, which the Microsoft reps will not do.

There was criticism of the Seinfeld choice before the ads even came out. Now the 1st bizarre ad has only fueled the critics.

Quoted: Faced with Windows Vista’s image problem, Microsoft has been working for more than a year to change the experience of buying and using computers that run its software.

This is a glimmer of light for Microsoft marketing... finally something that should resonate with people and help public perception.

Quoted: People have been talking about Microsoft’s “Mojave Experiment” all day. What did they do? They demoed a “future operating system” to end users, got their feedback, usually positive, and then told them it was actually Windows Vista.

Quoted: This is the first marketing in some time that made me think Microsoft’s marketing department had a clue about how to deal with its perception problem. Amazing to me that it took so long.

Ah, shucks...

Quoted: Apple suffered extensive network gridlock Friday morning, as many of the six million users of the original iPhone tried to upgrade to new software while the first buyers of the new iPhone 3G were trying to activate their purchases.

Quoted: The setback was a classic example of the problems that can follow when complex systems have single points of failure. In this case, the company appeared to almost invite the problems by having both existing and new iPhone owners try to get through to its systems at the same time.

I'm inspired by BillG's ambition and the revolution he drove with Microsoft, and his philanthropic endeavors post Microsoft.

Quoted: As Bill Gates moves on, it will be up to his successors to master the challenges of the Internet or watch Microsoft’s wealth and stature in the industry steadily erode.

Quoted: Mr. Gates and his company have fundamentally shaped how people think about competition in many industries where technology plays a central role. Today, there are more than one billion copies of the Windows operating system on PCs around the world.

As for what's next...

Quoted: Mr. Mundie said Microsoft is preparing for a widening world of both cloud computing and “client” machines, not only personal computers but also cellphones, cars, game consoles and televisions, all running Microsoft software.

“The next big platform is the union of the clients and the cloud,” he said.

A completely browser-based set of creative authoring tools. This will be interesting to keep an eye on.

Quoted: Aviary is a suite of web-based applications (RIAs) for people who create. From image editing to typography to music to 3D to video, we have a tool for artists of all genres.