Bad Windows

Microsoft's detente with the open-source world is growing stronger by the minute. Steve Ballmer said today that he wouldn't consider an open-source-based business model a deterrent to buying a company Microsoft found interesting.

"We will do some buying of companies that are built around open-source products," Ballmer said during an onstage interview at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

A refusal to consider acquisitions of open-source developers "would take us out of the acquisition market quite dramatically," Ballmer said — a tacit acknowledgment of how thoroughly open-source development has reshaped the software market.

Read more at crn.com 

When I started at the new job in August, they gave me a pretty powerful laptop and since the company I work for is 100% windows, I decided to give Vista a shot. I've been using it exclusively for about 1.5 months, from the beginning of August to the mid-September, every day, 40 hours a week. I also installed Ubuntu at that time but didn't use it as there were a lot things to do in the beginning and I couldn't spend anytime playing with linux in the 100% windows environment.

I work as system administrator for a small brokerage firm and my primary task is making sure that all of the IT stuff is working, plus supporting the company's website. So in a typical workday I usually:

Read more …. 

The Dutch Consumers Association has called for a boycott of Windows Vista, after the software giant refused to offer free copies of Windows XP to users who are having problems with Vista.

A spokesman for the Consumentenbond says that the product has many teething problems, and "is just not ready". The association claims it received over 5000 complaints about Vista. Many printers and other hardware failed to work, the association says, computers crash frequently and peripherals are very slow.

On Thursday the association met Microsoft Netherland to discuss the problems. But offering XP to users is not a solution, according to Microsoft, which notes that many new peripherals are developed explicitly for Vista.

Read more at Channel Register 

There are success and horror stories behind Vista and the story of one mother falls somewhere in between.  Steve Ballmer attended an IT conference in Florida where he learned how one mother did not enjoy her experience with Vista and he was left to defend the company’s products.

ComputerWorld explains how Yvonne Genovese interrupted the conference and explained that her daughter had seen Vista on a friends’ computer and saw Vista Gadgets and decided that she just had to have them.

So, her mother bought Vista and installed it on her laptop, but within two days she switched it back to Windows XP.  She said about XP “It’s safe, it works, all the hardware is fine, and everything is great.”  She then asked Ballmer about Vista, “What should we be seeing that we’re not seeing?”

Read more at vista.blorge.com 

Microsoft released six security updates on Tuesday. Half the lot plugs holes in Windows Vista, while the remaining set fixes vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and other Microsoft software.

One critical update addresses a vulnerability in Kodak image viewer. Another, which fixes a vulnerability in Outlook Express and Windows Mail, is rated critical for earlier versions of Windows and important for Vista. Meanwhile, security bulletin MS07-060 addresses a vulnerability in Microsoft Word that's rated critical for earlier versions and important for more recent versions.

Read more at Sci-Tech Today

While in Britain last week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took a swipe at just about everything – from one of the world's largest Linux vendors to a social networking company he may end up buying. He insisted that Red Hat violates MS patents. He compared Facebook to GeoCities. He even accused Google of reading your email.

At the UK launch of something called the Microsoft Startup Accelerator Programme, the Redmond supremo badmouthed his archest of arch rivals as he discussed the ins and outs of online advertising models.

Read more at Reg Developer 

Crazy about the Windows Vista UI, but love Linux? Vixta could be your your thing. Vixta is a new Fedora-based Linux distribution featuring a surprisingly Windows Vista like look and feel. In fact, it’s so surprisingly like Windows Vista that Redmond based lawyers can’t be far behind – it’s a pretty blatant rip of the Aero interface.

Read more at GearLive 

After reading the feedback from our readers here and at various websites around the world in regards to my recently published article "How to Quit Windows & cope with Windows Withdrawal Syndrome", I have identified a few more fears which home users have when they quit Windows and switch to Linux.

I believe that Microsoft has gained a strong hold in our minds based upon many myths and fears which I already discussed in my above mentioned article. These myths are fears will haunt us for ages until we openly accept and adopt the freedom of Open Source, even with some of its apparent shortcomings.

Following are a few myths and facts which play a role in whether a home user shifts from Windows to GNU/Linux.

Read more at Raiden's Realm 

Security expert Bruce Schneier today wrote about the “Storm Worm” again. Go and read it and become very afraid if you are running the Windows operating system. Become even more afraid if you are responsible for a bunch of them, like in a company. And then get a clue and morph them all into something better, like installing any of the Linux/Unix/BSD variants.

Read more at wolfgang.lonien.de blog 

Broadline distributor Northamber has blamed “slow acceptance” of Microsoft Vista for an 11 per cent drop in annual turnover.

Revenues for its fiscal year to June 30 hit £182.2m, compared with £204.4m a year earlier. Pre-tax profits improved 37 per cent to £590,000.

Northamber admitted its top line was also hit by the weaker dollar as price deflation impacted key volume product areas.

The credit crunch and lengthening vendor lead times provided further obstacles during the period, according to David Phillips, chairman at Northamber.

Read more at vnunet.com