The bad news continues in the tech sector (and probably every other sector) this week. Joe Wilcox gives a good roundup, and notes that Microsoft has lost $40B in the last month (they’ve closed at a 52 week low). But what’s a spare Yahoo capitalisation or two amongst friends? <g>

Joe sticks to not owning shares (due to potential conflict of interest reasons). We have no such qualms. Perhaps not just now, but very soon we’re going to be out buying up Microsoft and whatever other trashed (but quality) stocks we can afford. Although some no doubt have different opinions.

Eric Lundquist (linked to by Joe) predicts that Tech stocks will turn around in 2010. That’s pretty soon my friends (in fact there’ll probably be a new Visual Studio edition out by then).

Oh, and interest rates may be easy, so now may be a good time to be borrowing to invest for some.

Disclaimer: We are not financial advisors, stock pickers, economists or anything like that. We are simply ignorant, emotion-fuelled onlookers. Just like you. You’ll need big ones to invest in this climate – don’t come crying to us if you lose all your dosh.

There’s been a few stories around Microsoft’s hiring plans for the coming months and year. Most have centered around Steve’s comment, whereby he (Microsoft) stated it will continue to grow, but will make ‘adjustments’ as necessary. This has been further backed up by statements from Lou Gellos in which he stated the following:

Microsoft will continue to grow and add thousands of new jobs this year, but given the current economic environment we are taking the prudent step of reviewing our hiring plans and will make some adjustments as appropriate. We are optimistic about our prospects for growth and will continue hiring the talent we need to ensure our ongoing success.

(Source: Seattle Times)

However, the Seattle Times further noted they’d been contacted by a few Microsoft employees who indicated that there were now hiring freezes in their department. Note: Microsoft has denied this as a general statement, although in specific scenarios it may well apply.

Surely this is prudent given the uncertain economic times. Microsoft plans to expand, but has always been extremely focused on making money (ie they are a business with shareholders!). Thus, they should exercise caution when it comes to hiring, especially in areas of the company that deal with sectors (eg financial services) that are likely to be hit hardest.

Whilst the US administration rushes to put the rescue package in place, it was good to see Microsoft make a simple thank you press release by Brad Smith.

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 3, 2008 – Congressional passage of the financial recovery package is a critically important step to bringing back economic stability in the U.S. and around the globe. This crisis affects more than just the U.S. financial sector, it affects every corner of the world economy, and today’s vote will help re-instill confidence around the globe. Microsoft is pleased to see members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate come together to pass this important legislation. I particularly appreciate the support of the Members of the Washington State delegation who cast their vote today to help preserve jobs in all sectors of the economy of Washington state and across the U.S.

Announcing you have expanded the routes on your bus service won’t get you many front page articles, but perhaps it should. Hiding away at the end of this report is the note that the Microsoft bus service has reduced Microsoft single-occupant vehicles from 66% to 62%.

This is a good thing. Amid the concern over all those fucking big data centers sucking up all the power and water in the world, little tidbits like this are welcome news.

The DevSta challenge has commenced (as of 3 hours ago).

DevSta is a competition for developers to build something from scratch in under 200 hours (and 8 minutes to be precise).

Here’s the brief (PDF) that was announced this afternoon:

The Challenge
We live in an era of constant re-invention – where what we’ve created in the past inspires what’s happening now – or what’s to come. For this reason – your DevSta {Challenge 2008} is to explore the link between “old school” and “new cool”! This could be as simple as re-inventing something “old” in a new way – or perhaps taking
something new, and tackling it in an “old” way. To get into the “old school/new cool” mindset, think Buddy Knavery and games like Pacman, Lemmings and Space Invaders. Your entry needs to be technically innovative, relevant to the theme and must meet the following criteria

Yes folks, if you look after a development team at work then you may want to check a little closer and see what they’re really working on!

As usual with Microsoft competitions these days there’s a shitload of prizes.

Company sponsored studies are by their very nature completely unreliable. It’s like trusting the medical advice the tobacco companies spun in the 70s.

So, take this latest ‘analysis‘ with a grain of salt. In it Microsoft finds that (amazingly!) it aint cheaper to use Linux than it is to use Microsoft (at least over a 5 year time span). Skills shortage is the main reason attributed (p7) with Linux professionals earning 12.5% more than equivalently experienced Microsoft professionals. Mary-Jo has the rundown.

Of course the numbers only apply to large deployments, so don’t go thinking it impacts any home consumer environment.

When it comes to deploying large numbers of computers to emerging markets (ie poor countries who desperately need to be given access to the right tools for internet-izing their people) why you’d want to go for Linux anyway is beyond us, surely you’d want an operating system that has all the cool Aero graphic capabilities.

Holy fuck, check out this great list of Microsoft software and services available to almost everyone (some are limited to students for example). It’s an impressive list.

Of course if Google or Apple had a list this full and comprehensive they’d get applauded on all the tech sites. But sadly Microsoft often doesn’t get the recognition they deserve.

Go get some.

Joe Wilcox makes the excellent point that Microsoft has tons of ‘stuff’ around photos – everything that is, except a strategy.

The list of software ‘stuff’ includes Image Composite Editor, Photosynth, Windows Live Photo Gallery, Expression Media, Pro Photo Tools and HD Photo. Strangely, he misses that bastion of photographic manipulation functionality: MS Paint.

This is a set of online solutions stitched together to help businesses move their IT infrastructure over to Microsoft.

From the BPOS site, here’s the summary:

The Business Productivity Online Suite is a set of Microsoft hosted messaging and collaboration solutions including Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Office Live Meeting, and Microsoft Office Communications Online.

It is part of Microsoft’s Software + Services model.

Mary-Jo Foley over at Microsoft Watch notes that the service suite is expected to be released next month. However, Microsoft Online Services blog post she links to seems to have been pulled.

On Wednesday the PDC blog announced that Windows 7 would be demonstrated at PDC in October.

Windows 7 is the next version of Windows after Vista. Attendees will be given a pre-beta (whatever the fuck ‘pre-beta’ means) build of Windows 7.

It will be demonstrated by Steven Sinofsky who is the Senior Vice President of the Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group. He writes a long boring blog here. Don’t worry, we read it and let you know of anything worth knowing.