Saturday afternoon at 4pm, Steve Ballmer pulled the plug on the opportunity to walk away with Yahoo. This decision came after talks Saturday morning between both parties.

So what happened? Couple of things. Microsoft was getting pressure not to impose itself on Yahoo in fear its stock would plummet and it would spend too much time rebuilding its image. And Jerry Yang, co-founder and CEO of Yahoo refused to take a price lower than $37/share. Yang knew all along Microsoft would never up its offer that much, and he certainly wasn't going to give it in to Microsoft so easily.

Next Steps: It's going to be interesting to see what happens. Yahoo's stock at this moment of my writing is down 20%. It's going to be tough to bounce back because Yahoo hasn't announced a clear plan or other sustainable buyer. Those of you who own Yahoo stock hopefully bought low so you won't see an immediate loss. My suspicion at this point is that Microsoft waits until Yang comes crawling back, or at least waits a couple of months to see what happens. Overall I think the deal is inevitable, but it ill take some time to let the dust settle and then Microsoft will either lower it's initial bid offer or come back with the same dollar value.

Microsoft announced that Windows XP will still be available after June 30, 2008. Don't breathe a sigh of relief yet.

This announcement is only applicable to the cheapest computers (<$500) and will only be available on a home edition.

Those of you who think you can buy one and upgrade to Business version later to get around this are mistaken. You can only upgrade to a business version if you have a business version. And the full price of software gets expensive quickly!

Advice? Purchase what you really need.

Click here to view the announcement

It's always considered noble to watch a man go down with his ship. But in the case with Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo, I'm not sure I'd want to consider this noble.

As everyone is well aware, Microsoft made an unsolicited bid to Yahoo. Yahoo, who's arch rival is Microsoft, tried to sweep it under the rug hoping the bid would go away. When it didn't, 7 shareholder lawsuits erupted and Yahoo went behind the scenes to try and corner Google, Rupert Murdoch & AOL into providing a bid. They came up empty.

The Yahoo decides it will meet 1 time, where ultimately Yahoo kicked and screamed and Microsoft sat there and listened.

Time goes by, and Yahoo meets again, only because they know they're going to a proxy fight if they don't. Yahoo agrees to be sold if Microsoft raises the price. Microsoft stands their ground, and in the meantime secured a company who specifically handles proxy takeovers.

If you hear about talks with AOL, it's only to try and get Microsoft to up their offer. And the discussions floating around about the deal going south because of a new Ant-trust law in China taking effect in August? Won't make a difference for Microsoft. China's President loves Microsoft and Bill Gates, and does a lot to foster their economy. There's no way China's President would interfere.

Yang is pigeon-holed to Microsoft. It's only a matter of time before he goes down with the ship.

In case you hadn't heard, Bill Gates will be departing from a full-time post as Chief of Microsoft mid-year. His departure is evident by the keynote speech given at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January, where he shows video of his last day. It is a funny must see for everyone! On a side note, he does discuss the future direction on technology and its impact on our daily lives too. Click here to view the speech.

What does this mean for Microsoft you might ask? It will be interesting to see. There is no strong global business strategy as a company, and within the past 2 weeks 5 key execs have jumped ship and are in the process of being replaced. A few months can hold a lot of change, especially since Microsoft's fiscal year ends in June. Guess we'll have to see what the next steps are for them. One thing is for sure though: you won't see a downfall of Microsoft in the near future!

Hello! This update has been a long time coming. I knew I needed to make some updates, but when I realized it had been closer to 2 years, I was shocked. Sorry for taking so long to post something new. There is no real excuse, but we have been very busy these last couple of years with new clients, trainings and projects, and now I get to spend 2008 sharing more information with you.

The website has just been updated with all of the latest information available, so be sure to take a peek. Some of the changes include:
-General Information on Upgrading to Vista and Office 2007
-General Information on Microsoft CRM
-Archived Newslettes
-Sign Up Area for the Newsletter
-New Pricing

As a special thank you for those who sign up for the newsletter, you'll receive a FREE lifeline question ($25 value). We appreciate your interest and look forward to working with you.

So much is going on in the world of Microsoft, and I'll do a posting on that separately. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Welcome to the CenterPoint's Blog site. This area is designed to provide an official source for the latest company and industry developments. You receive information from us first hand!

My name is Melanie Gass, and I'm the President of CenterPoint. Most of the postings listed will be provided directly from me, so your source is direct. In today's changing times I felt it was important to give you the most up to date information not just on CenterPoint, but on the industry. My hope is for you to use this as a resource you can trust.

Feel free to browse around. You can always contact us directly by calling toll free at 888-576-0334, or reach Melanie directly at mgass@centerpointsolution.com

Best wishes to all and look forward to partnering with you!

Melanie