There are plenty of people across the country as well as around the world who have something to say about the United States economy and Wall Street. The two have been skipping down the recession highway hand-in-hand for the past year and everyone sees it.

Executive pay is one of the things that gets a lot of people particularly fired up and you really know that the executives are making too much money when Bill Gates says they are.

Gates had this to say, “It was a bad milestone in controlling executive salaries when that $1 million cap went on. The compensation problem is a very interesting problem. I do think compensation is often too high, but it’s a very tough problem to solve.”

The cap he is talking about is a $1 million cap in executive pay that went into effect in 1993. Since the cap was put in place, companies have found other ways of showering their executives with gifts and other things such as lucrative stock options. The stock options were often worth FAR more than a year’s salary at one of the companies would have been.

The $1 million limit on salaries encouraged companies to instead give executives lucrative stock options, sending pay to vast new heights.

Gates also worries about the government’s control of AIG, “I do worry that when the government owns an entity like AIG that you can greatly devalue that entity by having it essentially have to behave as though it is part of the government. It is an unnatural situation when the government owns a lot of a private company. Unfortunately there is a view that it should exist for a long term. There is some devaluation of what that asset would have been worth if it hadn’t had to go through that kind of management structure. It is unavoidable.”

Bill Gates is one of the people who benefit from lucrative stock options with his company (which he stepped down from to focus on philanthropy). However, I do not see Microsoft taking down the entire United States economy like the banking industry did.

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Microsoft is having a hard time in 2009. This year has so far been the worst for the company in years. For the first six months of the year the company saw weak computer sales as well as frozen corporate tech budgets which led to profits declining by 29 percent.

However, things may be looking up for the second half of the year according to CFO Chris Liddell. He wanted to keep everyone’s hopes up after Microsoft missed expectations by $1 billion and the earnings slipped by a steep 29%.

The earnings topped off a fiscal year in which revenues for the company fell for the first time since 1986, when Microsoft first went public. For the entire year, it said that profits went down 17% or $1.62 a share.

Of course investors weren’t happy to hear the news, sending Microsoft’s stock price down $2, which is 7.8%, to $23.56 a share. In April, Intel’s CEO said that it had seen the worst PC sales and that they had “bottomed out” after the holiday season. Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell said, “we couldn’t necessarily see the bottom. I think that at least we are seeing signs now of the bottom,” in a response to Intel’s statement.

Liddell also made the statement that the remainder of the calendar year will be difficult for PC makers and the software giant because Microsoft’s success is directly linked to the PC industry which is expected to sell fewer computers this year than last. Right now, netbooks are still all the rage and if they are running Windows, they are running XP which means less profits for Microsoft. If Windows 7 comes out and is good enough, then they will begin making more money off the sales of the netbooks due to a higher royalty.

In hopes of stirring up a little demand for the products, Microsoft will be releasing Windows 7 on October 22 as well as a new Office suite in the first half of next year, but these alone will not help the company.

Once upon a time Microsoft was the company everyone wanted to own stock in because it seemed like a pretty safe bet. There was no other competition for them as far as operating systems. If there were other operating systems out there no one really ever paid much attention to them. Now, Microsoft is trying to stop Apple from taking more of the market share than it already has and is fighting with a pretty bad recession.

There is a heated rivalry between Apple and Microsoft that has been increasing in the past 8 years or so. Well, ever since the release of the iPod and Apple’s subsequent increase in market share since then. For awhile it was just a friendly rivalry between the two, but then Apple decided that its market share wasn’t growing fast enough and it decided to start hitting Microsoft where it hurt and begin poking fun of PCs with those “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” commercials.

While it took them a few months, Microsoft answered in a way that kind of hit Apple in one of its only weak spots, price. Now Microsoft is constantly running the commercials about someone walking into (usually a Best Buy) store, to buy a laptop only to discover their price range doesn’t include Apple products.

Reportedly, Apple wasn’t happy with those commercials and dropped the price on some of its products then asked Microsoft to stop showing them. Well, needless to say, Microsoft is still showing the commercials regardless of a $100-$200 price drop from Apple.

Now, Microsoft really wants to try to show Apple that it’s boss. Microsoft chief operating officer, Kevin Turner, said that the company is planning to open retail stores “right next door to Apple” starting in the fall. He also said that Microsoft is in the game for “the long term” and that it has hired a retail team.  It has hired a 25 year Wal Mart veteran to begin the process, but really hasn’t said anything until now since February about the venture.

Apple only owns 250 stores worldwide, so it shouldn’t be hard for Microsoft to infiltrate those markets. From my own observations, it shouldn’t be hard right now for Microsoft to buy buildings and space next to the Apple stores because so many retailers have been going out of business, there are plenty of empty retail spaces…even next to Apple stores.

Time passed and the talks fizzled. Until today…

Today Yahoo’s stock price jumped as rumors began floating around that Microsoft was coming back for a second go-around.

Yahoo jumped more than 7 percent today.

The difference now is that Yahoo has a new CEO and the stock owners are more than greatful for the continuation of talks between the two companies.

Apple is an image and Microsoft wants to show people that it can also be an image, an image that says I have a great computer and didn’t have to pay a fortune for it.

In the commercial from advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Lauren goes into an Apple store, quickly walks back out and reports, “For $1,000 they only have one computer available, and that’s a 13-inch screen. I would have to double my budget, which isn’t feasible. I’m just not cool enough to be a Mac person.” That statement is a direct hit against Microsoft’s longtime rival that implies you don’t get much computer for your money when you buy a Mac.

Last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer set the stage for the new ad’s debut when he said, “Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction. The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment — same piece of hardware — paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that’s a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be.”

Lauren was excited when she entered a retail store with a variety of PCs. She tries out a few keyboards and looks at the specs on a few others. Finally, the look of one PC draws her. She settles on a Hewlett-Packard model that meets all her qualifications — for under $1,000. The commercial ends with Lauren telling the camera, “I am a PC and I got just what I wanted.”

Everytime I see an Apple product I feel like I want it and I think that’s part of their marketing scheme. It’s “cool” to have a Mac or an I*something*. Other than their computers, look at their MP3 players, an iPod is $300. You can get a video player by Sony for much less…hmm.

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Problems have been following Yahoo since the failed buyout from Microsoft, which made investors angry.

The reorganization is expected to include a structure where executives like chief operating officer, chief technology officer and a new, more powerful chief marketing officer all report to Bartz, the blog said.

In addition, several sources suggested Bartz may abandon a recent restructuring that split the world into four operating regions, the blog said. Instead, one executive could head the United States and a second head up all international efforts.

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The stores are said to focus on direct competition with Apple. For example, Microsoft will have Gurus while Apple has the Genius bar…

I personally think this is a bad time to open a new retail chain, particularly an electronics one. Microsoft has an advantage over Apple that most computers sold in stores like Best Buy already come with Windows loaded on them and with a pushy trial for other programs like Works. Apple relies solely on its own computers to sell its operating system. Everyone already knows what Microsoft has to offer.

Perhaps a kiosk in retail stores would be a better idea. It would definitely be cheaper than opening an entire chain of stores that will likely not work out for the software giant.

Today, all over the world, 30 GB Zunes, for no apparent reason went into “brick mode.” Meaning, they went to the load screen, froze, and have been there ever since. What does Microsoft have to say to its customers who are going without music this New Year’s Eve?

From Zune.net:

Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used). The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue: a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year. The issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009. We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on. If you’re a Zune Pass subscriber, you may need to sync your device with your PC to refresh the rights to the subscription content you have downloaded to your device.

So far 10,000 websites have been compromised since the flaw was discovered and the number is growing.

Microsoft officials haven’t released a statement telling IE users to switch at this time. They say they are working on a fix for the problem.

“Security pros fear that the attack will soon spread beyond the theft of gaming passwords and into more criminal arenas, as the malicious code can be placed on any website and can be adapted to steal any password stored or entered using the browser,” says Christopher Null: The Working Guy on Yahoo! Tech

People need to switch from Internet Explorer as soon as possible to avoid this risk. Some of the choices are Mozilla’s Firefox, Opera, Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome.

I read most of my news on Yahoo News…I think I’m one of the only people who still have Yahoo as their homepage, just because I like to search and have the news on the same page. I couldn’t find this information anywhere on the site tonight. Maybe it was because this happened early in the day, but tonight…the information was absent…interesting.

Here’s a video about what happened today:

Change was needed at Sony. There were both external and internal forces leading the force for change. Externally, the marketplace created a need for change in Sony. Consumers began to see Sony as the past and Apple, as well as other brands, as the future. Internally, Sony had divisions in the company that would not collaborate to create new and innovative products. Also, when Stringer hired Schaaff, there was opposition to the decision. In an attempt to combat the opposition, at a 2006 management meeting, Stringer instructed all the young software engineers to the front of the room and all the older, senior executives to the back.

There are organizational changes going on currently at Sony. Starting with structure, while it is still departmentalized, many of the departments are beginning to work together to accomplish a single goal for the company. When Sony wanted to begin the PlayStation Network, a network where users could download movies to their PlayStation 3 system, Schaaff’s group, the PlayStation, and Sony’s film division all worked together to get the network online on July 15, 2008.

People are also changing at Sony. The attitudes that attributed to the division of its departments are being eliminated. When PlayStation chief Ken Kutaragi was critical of sharing power at the company, Stringer moved him into a different role in the company; Kutaragi later resigned altogether. Stringer brought in new executives whom he worked with over the years to oversee divisions such as mobile phones, PlayStation, and the Sony Reader (Sony’s attempt to break into the digital book market). These new executives were more accepting of change, and have been working well with Schaaff. However, one of Schaaff’s friends and also a former Apple executive, Ty Roberts said that “Tim [still] has to do things very gently.” Things must be done gently because if a large change happens very abruptly, some divisions could see sales drop further, or worse.

Over the past three years, a noticeable difference has come over Sony. The changes can be seen in its newest VIAO laptops (they are now sleeker, rounded, and have Apple styled keyboards), in its PlayStation 3 (with the integration of other divisions of the company), and in its mobile phones (breaking down barriers and opening up to Microsoft software). All that is left now is for Sony to accept the change as ongoing, and to manage and plan accordingly.

NOTE: This is about organizational change based on a November 10, 2008 BusinessWeek article titled : Sony Chases Apple’s Magic

Some of the users who have the pirated software are angry because they see Microsoft blacking out the screens as holding their computer ransom. This is where I believe when you download the software illegally, you assume the risks associated with it. If I download a movie off a p2p network and get a virus, that’s my fault. It messes up my whole computer and I have to PAY to get it fixed. That’s the risk I assumed by downloading that movie.

While the rest of the market seems strapped for cash technology companies with good credit ratings can still borrow money with favorable terms and still get the benefit of flexibility.

JESSICA MINTZ of the Associated Press reports more.

When I read the article announcing the launch of the Google browser, I had no idea that 75% of internet users still used Internet Explorer. I haven’t used it in 3 years, Firefox has had better features, so that’s what I’ve been using. Last week Microsoft came out with the beta version of IE 8, so Google acted pretty fast in getting Chrome out for download.

We’ll see how everyone responds to the new browser soon enough. I still haven’t jumped on the “Google bandwagon” but I’m willing to try out a new browser that isn’t supported by Microsoft.

He bought into Yahoo to try to back Carl Icahn’s attempt to get Yahoo to sell to Microsoft. Microsoft attempted to buy Yahoo for $47.6 billion.

Yahoo felt as though they weren’t being offered enough for their company, so no sale took place.