Why would you be excited about the special dividend? They pay it out, the stock price goes down at the same time. May mean you have to pay tax before you anticipated. At any rate, it is a clear admission that MSFT is a mature company and can't find productive uses for the cash in R&D. This is the end of the growth curve for Microsoft (actually ended some time ago).
Guess you missed the part about higher quarterly dividend and $30B stock buyback. I expect that to more than offset the $3/share special payout.
It's amazing how the Msft bashers are so blinded by their hatred that they lose common sense. Msft is a mature company, as any co with 25K+ would be. There is no "clear admission". Anyone with a brain knows that already. Each time msft records a small percentage increase in sales that increase is equivalent to entire other companies.
I know people working on new products who would be surprised to hear that.