Given the timing, Yahoo will no doubt be Topic No. 1 on Thursday as Wall Street analysts descend on Microsoft's Redmond campus for the company's annual Financial Analyst Meeting, better known as "FAM" -- an all-day marathon of presentations from Steve Ballmer and other top executives. But even without the Yahoo deal, there would be no shortage of stuff to discuss, and fun to be had.
OK, so this part isn't exactly fun, but cost-cutting will be at the top of the list. Microsoft chief financial officer Chris Liddell previewed his FAM message in an interview with Dina Bass of Bloomberg News, saying that the company's newfound frugality won't be temporary.
“This is not a crash diet where you stop eating for a couple of quarters -- this is a new diet regime where you slim down and stay slim,” said Liddell in the interview, practically echoing like the "lean, mean" mantra of the anonymous Mini-Microsoft employee blogger.
Other hot topics are likely to include Microsoft's Windows Mobile application strategy; the upcoming Windows 7 operating system; the future for the Xbox 360 and Zune; PC sales and the impact of netbooks; the prospects for Microsoft's Server & Tools Division in the downturn; and the upcoming Office 2010 and related Office Web Apps.
It's a good bet that we'll also hear more about Project Natal, the company's motion-sensing technology for video games, and how it could be expanded to work with traditional software programs.
The day is typically one of the more interesting of the year on the Microsoft beat, with the stature of an executive measured by the number of analysts crowding around to listen in the hallway during breaks between sessions. Back when Bill Gates was a full-time Microsoft executive, it wasn't uncommon to see analysts surrounding him in a circle at least five or six rings deep.
One of our favorite pastimes at the event each year is chuckling over Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner's down-home business aphorisms, which are almost frequent enough at this point to warrant a drinking game. Our current favorite is this groaner: "The biggest room in our house is the room for improvement."
Mixing things up this year will be "BoomTown" blogger Kara Swisher of the Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD site, who noted yesterday that she was "headed to Seattle to annoy MSFT execs at annual analyst meeting."
In other words, it should be entertaining, not counting all that bleak talk about operating expenses and cost-cutting.
The event will be webcast via Microsoft's Investor Relations site, so you can tune in on your own, but TechFlash will be attending in person, so check back throughout the day for details and coverage.
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