SFExaminer. Microsoft will spend $6.8 b a year on R&D in 2004 (they have routinely spent ~$5 b a year prior to this). Perhaps I am missing something, but I haven't seen anything new in Windows over the last 4 years that justifies this research budget. If a tenth of this budget was spent acquiring innovative ISVs (independent software vendors), we would have real improvement. Perhaps Microsoft's approach to this is like IBM's: to build a patent machine that they can use to pummel competitors. -or- Perhaps we will see these innovations in Longhorn.
“Longhorn is a bit scary. We have been willing to change things,” Gates said…