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Amid record profits Microsoft has serious cause for concern. It is coming off the high of the fastest-selling operating system in its history -- Windows 7. That OS sent its profits soaring and convinced some that Microsoft was no longer on the retreat.

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But part of Windows 7's success was due to how poorly received Vista was. With Windows 8 landing reportedly in 2012, the company may have significant difficulties in convincing the average consumer to upgrade to its latest and great OS.

Other than the Windows brand, Xbox and Microsoft Office are the company's other two major successes in the consumer sector. But the Xbox trails Nintendo's “family friendly” Wii and the Office team is getting seriously nervous about growing consumer interest in OpenOffice.Photos Steve Balmer and Bill Gates ..

On the other hand, Bing has failed to gain even 10 percent of the search market in most metrics, despite a massive ad push and a deal with Yahoo. Zune remains a tiny player in the MP3 market, having failed to become a true competitor in terms of sales to Apple's iPod line. And Microsoft's smartphone empire, once a major player, is in rebuilding mode after the disastrous Kin and ill-received Windows Mobile 6.5. It is placing its hopes on Windows Phone 7, but that phone enters a packed market.

Internet Explorer, Microsoft's browser, has long led the market, but has seen a steady decline in recent years, which may allow Firefox and Chrome to eventually reach its formerly insurmountable market share peak. Microsoft's key hope here is a new product, Internet Explorer 9.

So while it seems that CNN Money's recent headline, "Microsoft is a dying consumer brand", is a bit sensational, it is a claim that is grounded in some reality.

One of the key points in the article is that aside from the struggles of many of Microsoft's consumer "expansion" business units, it is also bleeding executive talent, like many other struggling firms (HP, Yahoo, etc.). States the report, "Microsoft's executive suite is in turmoil. CFO Chris Liddel, entertainment unit head Robbie Bach, device design leader J Allard and business division chief Stephen Elop have left within the past year. Ray Ozzie joined the exit parade last week."

The report praises Microsoft's recent efforts, but concludes in cautionary fashion, "Microsoft just has to hope [they're] not too late."

Much like the Romans or Greeks, Microsoft has built a mighty empire, a key part of which are expansions into new arenas -- in Microsoft's case phones, video game consoles, and internet services.

But much like the Roman empire fell, Microsoft appears dangerously close to losing its expansions to hungrier parties. But much like Rome, it will likely hold on to its central holdings (Windows, Internet Explorer, Xbox, and Microsoft Office) for some time, even if its other efforts fall into commercial purgatory.

The talent gap is absolutely a concern for Microsoft. And equally concerning is the fact that the company is being led by Steve Ballmer. Mr. Ballmer, while a brilliant tactician in some regards and a man with obviously enormous love for the company, has failed to execute a strategy to turn around the company's struggling units -- or one that works at least.

To succeed, Microsoft may need to move on without Mr. Ballmer. But who to pick to lead the world's largest software company, perhaps the most powerful technology company in the world? The leading candidates have already left the company. That means that, essentially, there's no easy answer to Microsoft's leadership issues and that the ongoing risk to the company is tremendous.

Is Microsoft's consumer brand "dying"? Not yet, in our minds. But it lacks the hunger that it once did. And it most certainly sorely misses the leadership of its founder and chief visionary -- Bill Gates..
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From Tunde Oyedoyin, London A 10-year-old Nigerian girl, Adeoti Ogunsola, described as "charming," by her head teacher, attempted taking her life last on Sunday, as Immigration officials were making plans to deport her and her mother from Britain for the second time this year. advertisement A couple of months ago, Miss Ogunsola, a pupil at the St. Mary's Catholic Primary School, Gillingham, Kent, was detained at the Yarl's Wood immigration centre in Bedfordshire, before being released. According to Friday's edition of the London Evening Standard, which featured the story, the 10-year old made the attempt on her life at the Tinsley House Immigration removal centre at Gatwick airport, where she was detained alongside her mother, Clementina, who was asleep at the time. The paper also disclosed that Ogunsola, who was taken from the custody of her aunt and brought to the removal centre on October 15, eventually won a last minute legal battle on Thursday, when a High Court Judge stopped the family's deportation. However, both mother and daughter had been returned to detention, pending a judicial review next Wednesday. Though the paper didn't make it clear why Miss Ogunsola attempted the suicide, quoting a child psychotherapist's report, it stated that the girl's "mental state would deteriorate if she was detained again and she might attempt (again) to kill herself." But lobbyists, including Bernadette Long, the head teacher of her school, had campaigned that the pair should be allowed to remain in the country. "Adeoti is a charming, friendly, and intelligent little girl. She is passionate about her education and hopes to become a doctor," Long said, in a glowing testimony. But she noted that the detentions had started to take their toll on the aspiring doctor. "Her recent experiences while being detained have impacted on her and she has become very anxious about what will happen if she goes to Nigeria," Long said. However, the UK Border Agency doesn't seem to give a hoot about the girl's condition. David Wood, on behalf of the Agency said: "When the independent courts find a family has no need for protection, we expect them to return home. "If they refuse to leave, we have no choice but to enforce their removal and this can include detaining children, but only as a last resort."
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