Joe Wilcox Major Quotations

Unlike Windows Vista, I also don't see any major disturbance caused by 2007 delivery of the next Office version. Microsoft is smart to release both products together.

Microsoft is caught between a rock and a hard place. It does not want to be dependent on a major rival but on the other hand, Overture provides a significant amount of MSN's revenue.

Microsoft has made more of a demarcation of versions around features and capabilities. If you look at Professional and Home, the major difference was networking. Now with the new line-up there is a fair bit of differentiation around features.

It looks like Microsoft missed the major upgrade cycle from 2004 to early this year. Windows Vista would have been a much better story in 2005 than in 2006, or, realistically, 2007.

In the U.S., only about 60 percent of consumers have Microsoft Office on their computers. That's a lot of opportunity for sales there. They have a pricing advantage. It offers comparable, or better functionality for less. For the consumer and small businesses, value and price will be major factors influencing buying decisions.