Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Age of Transparency As the Age of Sinking Brands

If you do the crime, you'll do the time

To repeat something we alluded to at an earlier stage, Microsoft's brand name has sunk like no other brand name, according to one among very few trackers which are based on large, industry-wide surveys. It is indicative of one of two things (or both):

  1. Microsoft's product are no longer as satisfactory as they used to be, compared to self or compared to their competition
  2. Microsoft's image as a company has degraded


“...Microsoft's brand name has sunk like no other brand name...”Arguments can be made to suggest that Microsoft has suffered at both levels. With regards to (1), find examples in our off-beat posts about Windows Home Server and Windows Vista Service Pack 1. In order to avoid excessive and immature bashing, which leads to degradation of reputation, we tend to concentrate on Microsoft's ethical behaviour, which refers to point (2). We could provide many other examples to support point (1).

You will find an interesting new post that is somewhat of a rant right here. The reason why it's interesting is its focus on Microsoft as the example of bad behavior and the "do not imitate" model. It's mildly amusing.

Yes, it is still about Microsoft



[...]

So yes, Microsoft is still very much a factor in the development of Linux. Microsoft is the benchmark of what not to do, where not to go, and what to be better than. Microsoft is still a very large factor in where Linux is going today, and tomorrow.


In reference to the news about the Microsoft brand, Bill Beebe has put together a comprehensive summary of Microsoft's abuses over the years. Although it is not very broad or compelete, it is digestable enough to inform the reader of Microsoft 15-year-long abuse of the system -- an abuse so great which at the moment culminates in the ISO fiasco. Here are some portions of interest.

1993 - In August the Department of Justice opens an investigation into whether Microsoft is abusing its monopoly in operating systems.

[...]

Judge Jackson in turn responded by saying that "[Microsoft executes] proved, time and time again, to be inaccurate, misleading, evasive, and transparently false. ... Microsoft is a company with an institutional disdain for both the truth and for rules of law that lesser entities must respect. It is also a company whose senior management is not averse to offering specious testimony to support spurious defenses to claims of its wrongdoing."

[...]

2008 - February is a bad month for Microsoft. The Windows Vista Capable lawsuits are granted class-action status. The emails released due to discovery are damning to both Microsoft and Intel; they show that Microsoft executives knew they had a problem with Vista, and that even for them Vista was a sorry excuse. The European Union fines Microsoft a record $1.4 BILLION for defying sanctions imposed on it by the EU for anti-competitive behaviors. It's just the end of March, but 2008 is turning into a banner year for Microsoft bad news. Who knows how low their brand power will sink?


Needless to say, the abuses and total disregard for the law predate 1993, but scope was deliberately limited.

Now that Novell and Microsoft openly describe themselves as partners, one has to pause and wonder. Novell's business is poor enough as it is and Novell's brand might be affected in a similar way, particularly among those who matter the most, namely Linux professionals or enthusiasts. The deal with Microsoft may have pissed off all the people closest to procurement process. Affiliation with Microsoft was the last thing that Novell, a long-time Microsoft rival, actually needed. From fighting SCO they came to inherit a similar role. So, to summarise, Novell ought to learn here from Microsoft's brand dive. It could be pulled down by the weight of the partner.

Microvell



"The government is not trying to destroy Microsoft, it’s simply seeking to compel Microsoft to obey the law. It’s quite revealing that Mr. Gates equates the two."

--Government official

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

'India Today' is a Slopfarm, Sometimes 'Covering' "Linux" With Slop Images
New example of pure BS
Rumours of IBM Layoffs Again, This Time Marketing
It's "bad marketing" to talk about layoffs
Slopwatch: linuxsecurity.com and hamradio.my (in Planet Ubuntu) Are at It Again With LLM Slop About "Linux"
LLM slop does not save time
Bluewashing Ends DEI at IBM and at Red Hat (HR or Hiring Become Gender- and Race-Neutral)
All that "whitelist is racist" stuff is likely a thing of the past
 
Sierra Leone: Android Up to Record Highs, Windows Falls to Record Lows of Almost 5% (15 Years Ago It Was 100%)
This is what happens when about 83% of Web requests come from mobile
Margarita Manterola (marga, Google) & Debian DebConf13 Swiss venue intrigue
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 14, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, March 14, 2025
Gemini Links 14/03/2025: Grizzy Bear and Prime Beats
Links for the day
Links 14/03/2025: ProPublica Admitting That It Uses Slop (Foolish Move), RIP Mark Klein
Links for the day
Windows is Fast Becoming Insignificant to Zimbabweans
based on this survey, less than 1 in 6 Web requests may originate from Windows
The Fall of the Open Source Initiative (OSI): The OSI Does Not Speak For You, OSI Staff Speaks for GAFAM/Microsoft (the Paymasters)
they speak for proprietary software companies, but they wear "open" on their sleeve
Microsoft Money Used for Abuse of Women and Against Journalism in Support of Women (the Victims)
"Never interrupt your opponent while he is in the middle of making a mistake."
Links 14/03/2025: Chinese Tensions With Australia, Putin Turns Down Ceasefire
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/03/2025: Löjl and Docker Context Stuff
Links for the day
Links 14/03/2025: Scam Currencies in the US and Oligarchs (Including GAFAM) Controlling All the Major Policies
Links for the day
Antisemitic Attacks on Richard Matthew Stallman (RMS) in Wikipedia This Week
Did the man strike a nerve or what?
Links 13/03/2025: Intel Rotates Figurehead and South Korea Imports Karen People From Myanmar
Links for the day
Meanwhile at Microsoft Canonical...
Promoting proprietary surveillance by a company that actively attacks Linux in a lot of ways
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 13, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, March 13, 2025
Links 13/03/2025: Calculators and Spreadsheets, Returning to a Human Internet
Links for the day
Links 13/03/2025: Further Assaults on Science and Education in the US
Links for the day
Expect XBox to Be Shut Down Like Skype
"hey hi"-washing fools nobody
Truth Hurts (Especially Some Dishonest and/or Greedy People), But Reporting Truth is What Makes Journalism Valuable to the General Public and Helps Protect Society From Abuse by Sociopaths or Pathological Liars
When it comes to reporting, we're on the side of female victims, not the men who strangle them.
New Paper Reveals the Web (and Net) Drowns in LLM Slop, "Linux" is Impacted Too
It will be getting harder to trust anything on the Web
Links 13/03/2025: RIP, Carl Lundström; Tesla (the Company, Not Scientist It Piggybacks) Besieged by Public Backlash
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/03/2025: MElon "Greek Tragedy" and Going Offline More
Links for the day
Richard Matthew Stallman, or rms (RMS), Turns 72 This Coming Weekend
This coming Sunday he deserves a cake
Links 13/03/2025: COVID-19 Legacies and "Modern" Cars as Spying Machines on Wheels
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 12, 2025