Bonum Certa Men Certa

Eye on Microsoft: Windows Shatter, Yahoo Recommends Firefox 3

Microsoft Buys Into More Media Companies



A few days ago we wrote about Microsoft's effect on Globo, which along with other publications that Microsoft pays, resorts to more mind-shaping and manufactured consent. It turns out now -- not that it's surprising at all -- that Microsoft is still putting its money in media/cable companies, the latest example being an investment in Japanese television. What has Microsoft, a software marketing company, has really got to gain here?



Microsoft and Japanese phone company NTT are joining 11 other companies in taking a stake in Japan's first 24-hour-English language broadcasting service.


Will they be covering any GNU/Linux? Favourably?

Windows in a Crisis



Business Week is by no means an independent publication, but nonetheless, it covers what seems like a major development.

As Hewlett-Packard steps up efforts to make Microsoft's operating system easier to use, some want to devise a rival version with Linux

[...]

Others in HP's PC division are exploring the possibility of building an HP operating system for mainstream desktop and notebook computers based on the open-source Linux system, which competes with Windows, say people familiar with the company's plans. The goals may be to make HP less dependent on new releases of Windows, and to strengthen HP's hand against Apple (AAPL), which has gained market share with computers that boast innovative features and inspire a loyal following of users.


This new post compares the above to a Windows obituary.

Wow, a tough day for Windows.

BusinessWeek reports that HP, the world’s biggest PC company, is so troubled by Vista’s ‘tepid reception’ and Apple’s resurgence that it is developing its own operating system. Meanwhile a New York Times columnist writes on his blog that Windows is “already dying a death by a thousand cuts.”


Marketing Problems



It's widely agreed that the Vista advertisement campaign has thus far been a major failure [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10], but the latest 'suckage' has proven successful because even FOSS bloggers are spreading the message for free (showing that video commercial to ridicule it). They are demonstrating the effect of viral marketing. It's better to abstain drawing attention any to it.

Regardless, despite the fact that people are disappointed with those Vista ads, Microsoft has other things going on. Like this one:

Microsoft isn’t opening brick-and-mortar Microsoft stores. Instead, this holiday season, Microsoft will be hiring 150 or so Microsoft-trained “Windows gurus” to work in retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City to help explain how Windows, Windows Live services and Windows Mobile PCs and devices work. The gurus will “assist PC buyers, similar to the Nordstrom model of ‘personal shoppers,’ where the focus is more on informing and supporting the customer than on the actual sale,” according to Microsoft.


There is also an article about this here and a reader who sent this to us adds: "I found the following story interesting, where Microsoft plans to put its own representatives in major retail chains.

"I also liked the placement of the story under "wild, wacky" or "watercooler" stories. It's supposed to combat something that Apple already does. The writer correctly expresses doubt about how much this will help Microsoft improve its sales. My own take is that this is a sign of desperation, where before Microsoft had no need to try anything of this sort."

Critical Problems



Windows has not just a marketing problem; there are some more critical problems, such as those which result in approximately 320,000,000 zombies PCs. A fully-updated Windows is currently open for hijackers and patches will be available only next week.

Microsoft will release four critical updates to several software packages next Tuesday, the company said.


The illusion of security need no longer be.

Yahoo! Escapes Microsoft and Recommends Firefox!



According to a report from Bloomberg, Yahoo has been walking further away from Microsoft. That's what Microsoft seems to suggest, but can its CFO be believed despite alleged securities fraud?

Microsoft Corp.'s chief financial officer said Thursday that the chances of the software maker buying Yahoo Inc. are still "negligible."


This comes after bullying by Microsoft and a departure of the man behind it. Could the prefect revenge for Yahoo be this new promotion of Firefox 3?

Yahoo is offering a customized Firefox 3 edition which comes with some customizations optimized for Yahoo users:

● The world’s homepage with built-in Search powered by Yahoo! ● Yahoo! Search with Search Assist for instant suggestions as you type, and SearchScan for added safety ● Yahoo! Toolbar to keep your favorites at your fingertips


Embracing Firefox in this fashion makes Yahoo less attractive a target for Microsoft takeovers. In fact, the more Free software Yahoo adopts now, the safer it will be from such a hostile takeovers. Let us hope for more of the same.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Two Risks to Companies: The Microsoft Culture and the Microsoft Tools
Novell was killed by a form of "social engineering" by Microsoft
It's Hard to Trust People Who Worked - Not Only Those Who Still Work - at Microsoft
Bryan Lunduke is just what people would call an "arsehole of a person"
Links 06/07/2025: Climate Change and "The Right to Criticise"
Links for the day
The Mainstream Media Took 4 Days to Realise Microsoft Shut Down Its Operations in Pakistan and Fired Everybody
We estimate that Microsoft has had about 29,000 layoffs since January
“Twibel” Actions Against Comedians (and Why It's a Truly Low Blow)
they try to make up in quantities for a lack of merit or quality
 
[Video] "Copyleft Isn't a Bug."
"Copyleft isn’t a bug. It’s a feature. GNU GPL forced the world to treat code like a public good."
Being in Social Control Media Means Exposing Oneself to Heckling
Richard Stallman does not (either himself or directly) post to any social control media
Links 06/07/2025: Airlines Perils, Scams, and Breaches
Links for the day
For the Second Time, Bryan Lunduke From Microsoft is Siccing Racist Trolls and Vandals at Me
You're only reinforcing the point we made yesterday
Links 06/07/2025: End to End Encryption at Risk, Reuters Twitter ("X") Account Withheld in India
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/07/2025: Tinylog and Certification Rotation
Links for the day
PCLinuxOS Sites Coming Back, Gradually
let's just be patient
Social Control Media, Even If Based on Free Software, Still Has Many Problems
a distraction from what actually mattered and still matters
IBM is Not Your Master
IBM makes friends with people who exclude the majority of the population: women
Help Fund the Free Software Foundation (FSF)
If you have some dollars to spare, go support the FSF
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 05, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 05, 2025
A Short History of Attacks on Techrights (and Boycott Novell Before That)
good opportunity to tell again the story of several (not all) attempts to silence us
Leadership in Free Software
Don't let IBM lead. It's a terrible flag bearer.
Linux Foundation Apparently Flirting With Slop (Marketing by LLM-Generated SPAM)
The Web is in a really bad state!
COVID-19 Sped Up Site Improvements in Techrights
A few months later we created our very own IRC network
Gemini Links 05/07/2025: Negative Questions and 'Touching Grass' (Going Outside)
Links for the day
Links 05/07/2025: Dalai Lama Succession as 90th Birthday Approaches, 40 deg C in China
Links for the day
Links 05/07/2025: Hungary and US Defecting to Russia, "Google's Hotseat Hypocrisy"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/07/2025: 4th of July 2025 and "Zig Roadmap 2026"
Links for the day
How to Combat the Exploitation and Abuse by Microsoft GitHub
Not to mention corruption and crimes against women
Bryan Lunduke is Actually Sending His Audience to Attack People
"[Lunduke] is actually sending his audience to attack people."
Even The Right Wing is Rejecting Bryan Lunduke
no wonder he became so irrelevant and marginal
Microsoft's MSN Helps Microsoft Spread Lies About the Layoffs' Scale (Well Over 25,000 People Laid Off This Year)
There seem to be monopolies on lies and on truth
The Death of X Has Been Greatly Exaggerated (by Compromised Media)
X.Org Server is alive and well
Rewriting Things in Rust
How far would you go?
In 2025 Everything is "AI". Remember Blockchains?
Talk about what companies and things (services, products, software) actually do, not the labels they use
Julian Assange Has Been Free for a Year
Julian Assange and I disagreed on some things
Monopolies and Scalping
Monopolies gravitate towards price hikes
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 04, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 04, 2025
Microsoft's August Layoffs Wave: "August is Confirmed for Additional Performance Based Cuts"
"August is confirmed for additional performance based cuts from the recent connects along with additional organizational cuts."
What Microsoft Reputation Laundering (With a Weaponised Law Degree) Looks Like in a Foreign Continent
You would expect this in uncivilised and primitive countries
Slopwatch: LLMs 'Write' Fake or Distorted 'News' About "Linux"
LLM slop disguised as news
Links 04/07/2025: Google Replaces the Web With Slop, "AI Might Kill Us All"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/07/2025: Mindfulness and F1
Links for the day
Weeks After Microsoft Bankruptcy in Russia the Company Shuts Down in Pakistan, Too
Last month Windows' share in Pakistan fell to an all-time low
Rob Musial's June 2025 Additions of Malware in Proprietary Software
Via the GNU Web site this week
Links 04/07/2025: Microsoft's H-1B Visa Applications Show Another Crisis Unfolding, Many More Deep Cuts and Shutdowns Revealed, Complete Microsoft Exits
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/07/2025: A Day To Remember and "Stop Killing Games"
Links for the day
Crime and Corruption at Microsoft GitHub Cannot be Covered Up by SLAPPs in Another Continent
We'll write about this for a long time to come
Slop Videos Are Disappointing Garbage, Nothing New, Just Brute Force up on Display or a Pedestal of Slop
Slop videos aren't a new thing
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 03, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 03, 2025
The War on Local Storage (People Hosting Their Files Locally and Privately)
There's nothing wrong with controlling one's computing
What Digital Independence Means
Independence in the digital realms means abandoning platforms like GitHub, not just rejecting proprietary software
NVidia is a Bubble
they temporarily see fortunes and wrongly assume perpetuity thereof
Fedora Does Not Care About Diversity and Inclusion, It's About Optics (Corporate Image)
any notion of inclusion is superficial and misleading
Don't Buy the Excuses for Microsoft's Mass Layoffs
Back in the 90s, Microsoft bought a lot of companies to get and stay ahead