FourEyesSquad

In a bold move by Microsoft (probably to secure their position as number 1), they decided to cut the price of retail boxes of Vista in 70 countries. Analysts didn’t see this one coming, and they are scratching their heads a bit over it; one called it “very unheard of.” The price cuts vary by country — they’re largest in the developing world where piracy levels are high — and they don’t apply to OEM copies of Vista, which account for 90% of sales.

In the United States, Microsoft will reduce prices for Windows Vista Ultimate, the company’s top-end operating system, to $319 from $399 for the full version and cut the price for an “upgrade” version to $219 from $259 for consumers who already run Windows XP or another edition of Vista.

It also cut prices for upgrade versions of Vista Home Premium, its mainstream product, to $129 from $159. The price cuts vary by country.

In emerging markets, Microsoft will stop selling “upgrade” versions of Vista, because, for many customers, it will be the first purchase of a genuine copy of Windows. The company will instead sell Vista Home Premium and Home Basic, a stripped-down version, at the upgrade prices.

The announcement comes on the heels of sales data that showed a 30 percent drop in money spent for software at U.S. retailers in January, according to market research firm NPD.

Microsoft said the announcement is unrelated to the sales data, which the company said could be a result of inventory build-up after the holiday shopping season.

Though it may seem odd to some, to people from the 3rd world countries where the piracy level is at an all-time high. This move is very promising specially if the other software companies *ahemAdobeahem* would follow suit.

Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers.

- Steve Ballmer, CEO, in a letter to Yahoo’s board

Familiar much?

The past year we’ve seen (and feared) the growth of the search giant that is Google while it acquires one budding startup IT company whose product compliments Google’s after the other. It seems that everyone must do their best to please Google otherwise it’ll put its axe on the webmasters’ heads.

Microsoft’s MSN and Yahoo have been tailing Google for several years now and it sees that they just couldn’t get ahead. So what to do? Microsoft finally gave an offer to Yahoo’s board of directors — the proposal sent represents $31 per share (a 62% premium over yesterday’s closing price) or about $44.6 Billion. Steve Ballmer, CEO and big fan of developers, says, “We have great respect for Yahoo!, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market.”

The deal, of course, rests with the two coming to a “merger agreement” and Microsoft (and Yahoo to a limited degree) having the time to conduct the required due diligence. If Yahoo accepts, will this finally be the Google killer?