Rating: 
Summary: Reveals Core Strategic Strengths To Be Dealt With
Review: One must wonder if Bill Gates is an ardent fan of Michael
Porter as allowing "Microsoft Secrets" to be written looks
a lot like one of several communication strategies described
in Porter's 1980 vintage "Competitive Strategy". "Microsoft Secrets"
effectively communicates the development tools that they use
to match the moves of their competitors quickly. These tools
are powerful strategic competencies. Every ally or foe of
the Microsoft machine needs to understand them. The reading is slow and the structure is a bit repetitive. Not
a novel, not another, "Gee whiz look what Bill did", book.
However it is well organized and will serve as an excellent
reference work for a long time to come. I see it as a must for
any serious player in the computing industry.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: please send the introduction to my email addres
Rating: 
Summary: Well researched, but nothing exciting
Review: The authors definitely did a fine work by doing excellent research about Microsoft's product development and marketing. This book would prove to be very helpful to those who are coming from a non-technical perspective. It occasionally offers some valuable insights into Microsoft's strategies but it is quite dry for the most part even for a person who has plenty experiences in software development. The Microsoft 'secrets' are not exactly impressive. It would be impossible to know the true secret in a book, otherwise every software company would become a Microsoft (then again, not every company wants to). The book is a bit dated, but nevertheless offers the curious reader some insights into the development and marketing of Microsoft's past successful (and unsuccessful) moves. This book made Microsoft seems to be more fallible than its invincible image of every day praise.
Rating:
Summary: The Good But Not The Bad Nor The Ugly
Review: The GoodWhere do most of the worst business people come from? M.B.A. schools usually. Students with strong academic skills with the honored M.B.A. can do the accounting, statistical work, and market research analysis. But does that mean they have a "business mind," or good "business sense?" Absolutely not. (That's why a new test is being devised to determine the "common sense" abilities of MBAs). Gates is a perfect example of the many successful business people who didn't spend time in front of Ph.ds in ivory towers regurgitating "business theories and paradigms." A look into the technological and mainly business side of Microsoft, the author breaks down the organization into the "how's, why's, and what's" of MSFT. It's common knowledge that Gates is a genius in the technical realm, and MSFT is a behemoth organization that has the majority of market share. But how did Microsoft grow to where it is and thrive in this ever-changing and competitive industry? This book explains the business (more than technical) philosophy, model, and actual examples from products and projects. Interviews with former and current managers and employees are also included. Again, it's common knowledge that Gates is exceptional at business. Ask their competitors. Note that Steve Jobs had a better product that was on the market earlier but he lacked the business, marketing, and management acumen. Gates not only seeks out brilliant techno minds but considers their business sense equally important, and this is heavily weighed when he decides to hire prospective candidates. Those hired are also individualists who will challenge him and other superiors, and argue and debate with him, in the search for the best idea or model. An employee gets Gate's respect, the author writes, "when his employees yell back." If Bill is converted by their arguments as opposed to his, he likewise changes course, taking the best route. One of the most dangerous and damaging things to a company, and any organization, are "yes men." A company culture that rewards the "yes man/woman" mentality leads people to misrepresent themselves and their work, and the managers and ownership eventually become "out of the loop." This leads to uninformed decisions, cover-ups, resentment, and alienation that benefit no one. This is written for the laymen, but can be a bit dry. Things such as shipping strategies, keeping teams small on projects, constant self analysis and critiques, and the reliance on customer feedback, are some of the many interlinking factors of the organization. The company likes people and departments that are interdependent upon one another to be physically close to one another. I.e., in the same building or on the same property, so if there is a problem or a need for clarification, they can see each other face to face to discuss it, instead of swapping emails, voicemails, and engaging in converence calls from across the country. Again, it's common knowledge that a major tenet of MSFT is to find out where the industry is going in the future, become the leader, and provide products with such strong quality that they become the "industry standard." The author even provides some organization charts to pin-up on your wall. Not The Bad And The Ugly The point of this book was to focus on the positives. The strategies and models that make the company pre-eminant. What is not in the book is: the common claim that the company is a monopoly, engages in unfair business practices, and limits the choice of consumers by ramming its product down their throats. There have been numerous charges and lawsuits that MSFT treats employees poorly. This company hires a lot of temps, work them overtime, plays with them, and then discards them. For the positives, read this book. For information on the not-so-great things about this organization, there are plenty of other books to read.
Rating:
Summary: The Good But Not The Bad Nor The Ugly
Review: The Good Where do most of the worst business people come from? M.B.A. schools usually. Students with strong academic skills with the honored M.B.A. can do the accounting, statistical work, and market research analysis. But does that mean they have a "business mind," or good "business sense?" Absolutely not. (That's why a new test is being devised to determine the "common sense" abilities of MBAs). Gates is a perfect example of the many successful business people who didn't spend time in front of Ph.ds in ivory towers regurgitating "business theories and paradigms." A look into the technological and mainly business side of Microsoft, the author breaks down the organization into the "how's, why's, and what's" of MSFT. It's common knowledge that Gates is a genius in the technical realm, and MSFT is a behemoth organization that has the majority of market share. But how did Microsoft grow to where it is and thrive in this ever-changing and competitive industry? This book explains the business (more than technical) philosophy, model, and actual examples from products and projects. Interviews with former and current managers and employees are also included. Again, it's common knowledge that Gates is exceptional at business. Ask their competitors. Note that Steve Jobs had a better product that was on the market earlier but he lacked the business, marketing, and management acumen. Gates not only seeks out brilliant techno minds but considers their business sense equally important, and this is heavily weighed when he decides to hire prospective candidates. Those hired are also individualists who will challenge him and other superiors, and argue and debate with him, in the search for the best idea or model. An employee gets Gate's respect, the author writes, "when his employees yell back." If Bill is converted by their arguments as opposed to his, he likewise changes course, taking the best route. One of the most dangerous and damaging things to a company, and any organization, are "yes men." A company culture that rewards the "yes man/woman" mentality leads people to misrepresent themselves and their work, and the managers and ownership eventually become "out of the loop." This leads to uninformed decisions, cover-ups, resentment, and alienation that benefit no one. This is written for the laymen, but can be a bit dry. Things such as shipping strategies, keeping teams small on projects, constant self analysis and critiques, and the reliance on customer feedback, are some of the many interlinking factors of the organization. The company likes people and departments that are interdependent upon one another to be physically close to one another. I.e., in the same building or on the same property, so if there is a problem or a need for clarification, they can see each other face to face to discuss it, instead of swapping emails, voicemails, and engaging in converence calls from across the country. Again, it's common knowledge that a major tenet of MSFT is to find out where the industry is going in the future, become the leader, and provide products with such strong quality that they become the "industry standard." The author even provides some organization charts to pin-up on your wall. Not The Bad And The Ugly The point of this book was to focus on the positives. The strategies and models that make the company pre-eminant. What is not in the book is: the common claim that the company is a monopoly, engages in unfair business practices, and limits the choice of consumers by ramming its product down their throats. There have been numerous charges and lawsuits that MSFT treats employees poorly. This company hires a lot of temps, work them overtime, plays with them, and then discards them. For the positives, read this book. For information on the not-so-great things about this organization, there are plenty of other books to read.
Rating:
Summary: Good reading
Review: Written by people who have done it. Easy reading. Good information. I see our executives are set our direction from some of Microsoft's methods.
Rating:
Summary: There are reasons because MS is a 4 billion dollar company
Review: You have to admit: you can adore them or you can hate them, but if your work is related to the IT you should care about Microsofties. They shape our lives each day, with their software, their operating systems and their languages and so you should know about them. And, between the books I've read about this subject this is absolutely the best. Well written, informative and not too caring about pleasing Microsoft (as other books, from people working for MS, could be).
Beside the inside stuff (really useful, for example, if you plan to do a job interview with Microsoft) a lot of the technologies explained in the book for dealing with people, sofware development and organization could be adopted to your way of work, also if you're not Bill (but maybe you're planning to become one!).
Highly recommended
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