Bonum Certa Men Certa

Eye on Microsoft: More Shutdowns, Standards Illness, and Technical Failures

Several new stories about Microsoft demonstrate its weakening, so we present them here with a few accompanying remarks.

Another One Bites the Dust



Make that another closure following the failure of other Microsoft units and services. The company will try to downplay the impact and deny the reasons, but those who have watched Microsoft closely already know that the company is bleeding billions of dollars in this area of its operations (namely Entertainment), which they constantly try to expand with financial success.

Microsoft Slaps PC Gamers, Decides to Close Ensemble Studios



[...]

Despite its legacy of producing some of the very finest strategy games with its Age of Empire and Age of Mythology series, Microsoft decided that it would be financially disadvantageous to continue to operate the wholly-owned Ensemble Studios.


For future retention, this story is also covered here. Prepare for lots of 'damage control' and excuses from the marketing company known as Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft versus Standards



A lot of people -- especially Web developers -- have been complaining about Microsoft's disregard for Web standards, as well as standards in general. Some British chap that's familiar to many as "timbl", is joining those complaints against Microsoft software, which is deficient and standards-unaware by design.

SIR TIM BERNERS LEE, inventor of the [World Wide Web] and current director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has a gripe with [Microsoft]’s Internet Explorer browser.

In a recent interview, the creator of the great WWW, noted that although he was loath to specifying his preference of web browser, IE just wasn’t up to scratch when it came to graphics encoding.


Using those OOXML corruptions, Microsoft inched closer to making its 'anti-SVG' more widely accepted 'as part of the shebang'. Rob Wier wrote about this before. It's also a good reason to keep Microsoft away from influencing ODF, which it may try to 'extend' the Microsoft way. On a related topic, Microsoft is said to have just joined the Object Management Group where it can 'extend' UML.

As part of its strategy for model-driven software development, Microsoft on Wednesday announced it has joined the Object Management Group (OMG).


This is also covered here.

Technical Failures



Apple and Microsoft don't always get along (unless there are common interests). Overall, they rarely mix 'politically' or even technically.

Not everyone is rocking to the new iTunes 8 released Tuesday. An informal poll on ZDNet suggests that a problem with the latest edition of the Apple media player is affecting some, but not all, users of the software on Microsoft's Windows Vista.


As more questions are being raised about the major system crash in the London Stock Exchange, Microsoft and others step further away, refusing to give acceptable explanations.

The LSE absolved its core TradElect platform from blame. The system, designed and built by Accenture, runs on HP ProLiant Servers and Microsoft .Net and SQL Server 2000 systems. Accenture declined to comment on Monday's events. The LSE said, "we won't discuss dealings with our individual suppliers".

Bob McDowall, senior analyst at Tower Group, said sparse explanations provided by the LSE so far were “not very satisfactory”.


Perhaps they just want to get away with false advertising in their "Get the Facts" crusade against GNU/Linux. Why should such horrible downtimes bother them if they can claim 100% uptime without getting reprimanded, punished or even banned by the ASA?

The BSoD at the Olympics is said to be Microsoft's own fault and this new one is rather amusing too.

Trent Reznor, brainchild behind Nine Inch Nails, sure knows how to bring an audience down. In a recent concert Reznor, apparently trying to capture the pain of modern life, let the Blue Screen of Death flash across the screen...


Vista's Impact



The following is closely related to a recent article about H-P's disdain of Vista. They are still said to be considering GNU/Linux because Windows Vista is not acceptable.

Still, the sources say employees in HP's PC division are exploring the possibility of building a mass-market operating system. HP's software would be based on Linux, the open-source operating system that is already widely available, but it would be simpler and easier for mainstream users, the sources say.


The Vista advertisements are still being discussed, or at least being compared to much superior GNU/Linux advertisements.

By way of comparison, have a look at these two older ads from IBM promoting Linux. Irrespective of whether you’re a Linux and IBM fan or not, the message is clear an unambigious.

In the first one a young boy is being taught things and given information. He sits, mostly passively, as people from around the world feed him information. He absorbs the information and finally it is revealed … he is Linux. It’s a little cheesy but the message is not in doubt.


Also on the subject on Microsoft's marketing blitz, Glyn Moody suggests that it's part of a series of 'stunts' and he is probably right. The horrid first advertisement drew in a crowd, regardless of its quality. It was a form of viral marketing.

Like many, I was intrigued and ultimately disappointed by the first of the new Microsoft ads. But I assumed that it was in the nature of a teaser – or maybe even a clever ploy to lower expectations for later episodes, thus increasing their eventual impact.


It's probably better never to mention those ads.

Recent Techrights' Posts

What Ruben Amorim and Stefano Maffulli Have in Common
Censors Wikipedia and Social Control Media
Microsoft Won't Cooperate in Trying to Tackle EPO Corruption (Microsoft Profits From This Corruption)
Use something like BigBlueButton, Jami, Ring, and Jitsi instead
We Are Sad to Hear the Story of Jonathan Riddell, Champion of KDE and GNU/Linux on Desktops/Laptops
I have enormous respect for Jonathan and everything he has done
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 15, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 15, 2025
Links 16/09/2025: Autumn Party, RPG Planet, and Optical ROOPHLOCH
Links for the day
Geminispace Growing at Pace of Over 10% Per Year
Contrary to what some pessimists try to claim
Linux Mint Forums Today: Disable 'Secure Boot', It Doesn't Improve Security, It's Just a Microsoft Obstacle to GNU/Linux Users
They also mention MOK
Solved Less Than an Hour Ago: Trying to Escape Windows, 'Secure Boot' Gets in the Way
'Secure Boot' wasn't meant to even exist in the first place
Stefano Maffulli, Executive Director of the Open Source Initiative, Resigns or Gets Removed (We'll Continue Covering OSI Scandals)
A dozen mentions of "AI", not much about "Open Source"
Andy Has Just Nailed It (Regarding Complexity and Failure, a la UEFI)
The users no longer own or control what they buy
Compatibility Support Module (CSM) Versus GNU/Linux Simplicity
what Andy recently called "solutionism"
Links 15/09/2025: "Postal Traffic to US Down by Over 80%" and 'Smart' Spinozacampus Laundry Room Goes AWOL
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/09/2025: Dungeon Hustle and Deleting Oneself From the Net
Links for the day
Breach of EPO's Duty of Care or Cigna Reimbursement Issues
This is the sort of thing that motivated Luigi Mangione to assassinate a CEO
Ask Ubuntu About "Secure Boot" Violation and Laptops That Don't Boot GNU/Linux
Does anyone still believe that "Secure Boot" has anything at all to do with security?
Talking About the Problem vs Talking to the Problem
Wanting an audience is never a good excuse for compromising one's values and principles
Focusing on Patents
The reason we cover the EPO so much is that it's close to home
"Secure Boot Violation": The 'Joys' of Fake Security Gone Wrong
Not everyone reboots every day
Links 15/09/2025: Russia Invades Romanian Airspace, Penske Media Sues Google Over LLM Slop
Links for the day
Links 15/09/2025: Bitcoin ATMs Scam and "Conservative Cryptography" (Backdoors Fantasies)
Links for the day
EPO Imitates Microsoft: "Three Days or More Per Week" Inside the Office to Get a Desk to Work on; "the Office Breaches Its Promise Towards Staff and Acts in Breach of Its Duty of Care"
The EPO serves no actual function in Europe
Links 15/09/2025: Political Affairs, Censorship, and Copyrights
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/09/2025: Music Genres, Invisible Networks, and Akademy 2025
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 14, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 14, 2025
Satya's Plan B: Try to Hide the Massive Extent/Scale/Scope of Microsoft Layoffs
fewer people buy Microsoft
Red Hat News About De Facto Mass Layoffs (Bluewashing) Gone From Reddit (Censored by Gatekeepers), Still Online in The Register
With RTOs, PIPs, relocation etc. expect IBM to "shed off" many Red Hatters
UEFI "Secure Boot Doesn’t Play Nice at the Moment"
UEFI "Secure Boot" does not improve security. It's an artificial obstacle in service of monopoly.
Gemini Links 14/09/2025: ROOPHLOCH, Music, and Reddit
Links for the day
If You Want to "make your 'Windows PC' lean, mean, and fast" You Will Install GNU/Linux or Some BSD
That kind of article says a lot about IDG
Slopwatch: Google News Infested With Slop (About Half of the Results for "Linux" Today)
This is the sort of junk one finds when looking for "Linux" in Google News these days
Links 14/09/2025: Ricky Hatton Dies and McDonald's Declares War on Tipping Culture
Links for the day
Links 14/09/2025: Disasters for CEOs Obsessed With Slop and Slop Companies School Like Fish
Links for the day
"Bad Shim Signature" (Microsoft 'Secure' Boot)
"Fresh install not booting"
What Microsoft Garrett and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
Similar tactics, different "wings"
Links 14/09/2025: US "Economy Sagging", "Michigan Economy Wobbles From Tariffs"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/09/2025: Minimalist Snippet Manager and Omarchy Linux
Links for the day
The Face of the Digital Far Right: Microsoft Lunduke
Microsoft Lunduke is an online extremist that belongs to and panders to the far right
20 Years Later and Academia Isn't the Same
"I never dreamed of being a professor"
'Cancel Culture' by the Right: Microsoft Lunduke Contacts People's Employers Trying to Get Them Fired
Microsoft Lunduke panders to extremists online
"Bad Shim Signature"; So 'Secure' That It Overrides Users' Preferences and Turns Itself Back on (Coercive Measure)
This was a few hours ago
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 13, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 13, 2025