This anti-Linux Microsoft “ad” hit the Web a few weeks ago, but I just came across it last night and thought it was funny.
It’s not funny because of its content but rather because some people actually think that it’s a real ad put out by Microsoft to discredit Linux, one originally placed on a page describing how to multiboot operating systems:
Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that it planned to cut thousands of jobs because of the current recession, in a move that underscores the difficulty even some of the most stable U.S. companies are having in dealing with these hard economic times.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker announced the job cuts Thursday as it released lower-than-expected quarterly earnings. In a highly unusual step, the company also said conditions were so uncertain that it could not accurately forecast its earnings and revenue for the coming six months.
According to recent IDC reports Microsoft does not own the enterprise market; favoring UNIX and Linux Operating platforms (read below). Although one needs to be reminded that it is not Microsoft’s primary market. It is the end-user that Microsoft is concerned with and it has been that same market that has helped Microsoft get to the position it is currently in. But does that really matter?
Thanks to the many pioneers out there, such as Google, modern day computing had experienced a paradigm shift; and away from locking the computer down from outside threats and installing and running every application/service locally. Everything is slowly moving towards the cloud. In all reality, the only tool that is really needed is the web browser. Almost everything is done or can be done on the internet. What matters of course is what is running behind the cloud.
Back in 2002, Jim Allchin was co-president of Microsoft’s Platforms and Services Division and was, in his own words, “scared” of the momentum behind Linux, as noted in an email [PDF] sent to several of his direct reports.
Why scared? Because Windows was starting to lose to Linux:
My conclusion: We are not on a path to win against Linux. We must change some things and we must do it immediately. The current white papers, etc. are too high level and they are not going to cut it.
So what did Allchin do? As court documents in the Comes vs. Microsoft antitrust suit demonstrate, and as Roy Schestowitz pointed out on his blog Sunday, Allchin started to buy facts. Lots of facts.
What do you do when you poo? It is the kind of question you might expect your ten year old son to ask his ten year old mates in the school playground. However, it seems that Microsoft has been asking pretty much the same thing in order to generate some much needed publicity for Windows Mobile.
Yep, people from Synovate on behalf of Microsoft Mobile Communications Business have been conducting a survey of mobile phone usage in the toilet amongst Australians.
Today we take a closer look at Comes vs Microsoft Exhibit PX08593 (September 2002) [PDF] and additionally we look at press coverage which appeared at the time. The journalists were not aware of what had been happening behind the scenes, but our recent posts about EDGI, as well as in the latest correspondence which we include in full in the Appendix, show what was negotiated. It explains why Sun and GNU/Linux were left out. Microsoft abused its monopoly and dumped software, then signed a memorandum of understanding which is essentially a competition-excluding contract.
Remember what a rough time Microsoft had with the European Commission’s (EC) competition directorate in 2007 and 2008?
If Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer thought those days of antitrust proceedings were receding into the past, he has another thing coming.
The EC has sent Microsoft a so-called “Statement of Objections,” or SO, indicating that it believes the company has illegally tied its Internet Explorer browser to its Windows operating system since 1996.
XAVIER School is demonstrating what most of us have long believed: an organization can safely dump Microsoft Windows and save millions of pesos by replacing it with Linux, a free and open source operating system.
The shift isn’t only about cost savings for the Jesuit-run school, which has developed a reputation as a high-quality preparatory school for college among affluent Chinese-Filipino families. It’s reflective of the progressive outlook at the 52-year-old school, which began upgrading its computer systems and network at the turn of the century.
“We began a massive upgrade in 2001,” recalls Pierre Tagle, IT consultant at Xavier. In that year, the school began replacing its aging co-axial cables with fiber-optic connections, upgraded its Internet access and started building up its inventory of new servers and personal computers.
LESS THAN A WEEK ago we unleashed the full text on EDGI (further discussion here and here) which exposes Microsoft’s way of dealing with Free software and GNU/Linux adoption. This merited at least one article in the Indian press which explained what EDGI was.
We decided that it would be constructive to continue sharing information about EDGI; in particular, we are interested in what it looks like from inside Microsoft. This will be — in some way or another — the second part of a series.
Read more at Boycott Novell
On December 15, 2006, the FSF launched its BadVista.org campaign to advocate for the freedom of computer users, opposing adoption of Microsoft Windows Vista and promoting free — as in freedom — software alternatives. Two years later, the campaign has nearly 7,000 registered supporters, the name Vista is synonymous in the public eye with failure, and we are declaring victory.