04.25.09
Posted in Microsoft, Novell at 8:54 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
A COUPLE of weeks ago Novell added two people with Microsoft connections to its Board of Directors. So is Novell ready for the swap? One pundit thinks so.
Time is ripe for Microsoft to buy Novell
[...]
There would be plenty of support from Novell for a takeover – people like vice-presidents Nat Friedman and Miguel de Icaza would be major backers of any takeover bid.
Vice-president Nat Friedman is a former Microsoft employee and Miguel de Icaza tried to work directly for Microsoft. There are several others at Novell’s top tier who have connections with Microsoft (or are former Microsoft managers). Head over to iTWire and read the rest. █
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Posted in Marketing, Microsoft, Novell, SLES/SLED at 8:44 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
You pay, you receive coverage
Summary: SUSE marketing goes up a notch a month after the release of SLE 11
SUSE has finally resolved some security issues and it continues its PR campaign on the Internet. Here is the Microsoft press (Redmond) promoting SUSE with this new whitepaper and here is a new reference page in IDG. This page too is promoting SUSE.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is the market’s only enterprise-quality Linux desktop. Developed and backed by Novell, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop provides seamless interoperability with existing enterprise systems and dozens of essential productivity applications, while delivering an easy-to-use, highly secure and “green” desktop experience.
Another IDG site, CIO.com, is pimping SUSE as well. Here is a new page:
Cost Savings and Risk Reduction with Effective Systems Management
Source: Novell
C/f IDG-Microsoft connections [1, 2, 3].
In this new IDG article, Novell is given preferential treatment.
Novell has done more than make its Suse Linux look familiar – it’s even integrated services that’ll make it play nicer with typical office IT infrastructure. We’re always looking for an OS that just works without getting too funky with the command-line Terminal, so we gave Novell’s Suse Linux a go.
And another SUSE whitepaper is being pushed by Maureen O’Gara and the SYS-CON group (they promote Microsoft’s agenda with Waggener Edstrom). Yes, there is more and more of them, with particular focus on Novell.
This webinar from Novell will provide Linux ISVs an overview of the Linux Standard Base (a working group of the Linux Foundation) and a tutorial on how to easily port applications to SUSE Linux Enterprise using such tools as the Linux Standard Base Database Navigator and Linux Standard Base Application Checker.
There are still some sites where balance remained, such as The Register which still mentioned SUSE very succinctly in an article about… Ubuntu 9.04.
Awards
Novell is getting some extra attention by throwing ‘parties’ and prizes at companies, this time Atos:
Paris, London, 23 April 2009 – Atos Origin, an international IT services company, has won the prestigious Novell award “Best EMEA Partner of 2008 for Identity & Security Management (ISM)”.
This also appears here, even in languages other than English. But more interesting was the following announcement from Novell:
Novell Receives “Promising” Vendor Rating by Leading Analyst Firm
Novell today announced that Gartner, Inc ., the leading provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry, has rated the company an overall “promising” in the recent vendor rating report1.
Suffice to say, the Gartner Group has done enough to prove that it is corrupt, but the average CIO might not pay attention to it. Gartner recommends those who pay its staff’s wages. █
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Posted in GNU/Linux, Linspire, Microsoft, Xandros at 7:58 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: What’s left of Xandros is mostly Presto
OVER the past few weeks we’ve seen a lot of Presto coverage but almost nothing else from Xandros*, which also contains Linspire now (it lumped up two patent deals with Microsoft). Last week we shared some examples and this week we have:
• Shipping Version of Presto Linux Makes Netbook Users Long for the Beta (mentioned also in eWeek)
Xandros launches Presto, a $19 Linux distribution that should have been just what the netbook market needed to stave off Windows 7 Starter Edition.
• Linux fast-boot tech targets Windows users
Xandros announced a Linux-based fast-boot technology that can be downloaded and installed by Windows users on “almost any PC.” The “Presto” utility can power up (and down) laptops “within seconds,” offering access to web, email, RealPlayer media, and an applications store (left), the company says.
• Add Instant-on To Any PC With Presto
Presto is installed like any other Windows program but it creates an Xandros-based boot environment that works just like the hardware versions. Users can thus get email, surf the web and do many other tasks within a few seconds of powering on the dead computer. The producers of Presto also have an application store that offers programs to add to the Presto environment.
• Boot quickly with Linux
On the other hand, another quick-boot installer runs within Windows and gives you a prompt at boot-up time, for you to choose between Windows and the lightweight Presto. It’s made by Xandros, a company known for its Linux products. On my HP Pavilion dv5t, Presto booted to a usable desktop in less than 20 seconds from the prompt, while Windows Vista took almost a minute. There’s a launch bar with icons for the Firefox browser, Skype, the Pidgin instant messenger client, a file manager and an application store, which shows you the programs already installed and links you to others for free. If you’re familiar with Linux in general, you’ll enjoy poking around Presto’s 400MB footprint, but it’s not all that easily configurable for the novice. As of April 13, Presto will cost $19.95. www.prestomypc.com
• 2009: I am now an official Linux Fan!
I have tried the beta version of the distro was free but I love it so much that I am about to fork out the $19.99 asking price for the final product. I think this is a very small price to pay for such a powerful and secure OS.
In addition, the Microsoft/Redmond press mentioned Xandros in a derogatory fashion but only by citing someone else, of course.
Netbooks running XP were “slightly more interesting than a Xandros Linux distribution,” he said. Still, some Linux flavors, like Ubuntu, have shown promise.
Xandros’ deal with Microsoft did not work out particularly well. They still explore other routes and ideas. █
______
* Nothing about CNR, almost nothing about ARM-powered machines.
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Posted in Google, Identity Management, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, SCO, Security, Servers, SUN, UNIX at 7:55 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: The remainder of Novell’s news from this week
THIS IS the weekly post which deals with news about Novell’s proprietary software. We shall begin with SCO.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Deception, Free/Libre Software, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, OpenDocument, Windows at 4:41 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
“Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches.”
–Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO
Summary: Microsoft — despite known hatred for open source — is entering ODF and open source quite maliciously, in order to deform them
Somebody has just published a very good summary of Microsoft’s attitude towards Free/open source software over the years. It’s a recommended read and it’s concluded as follows:
Since identifying open source as a threat 10 years ago Microsoft has consistently done two things: increased its patent portfolio, and gained revenue from licensing that portfolio to others.
Microsoft has clearly decided that it cannot directly fight or defeat open source. But it can further increase license revenue by attacking users of open source with claims of IP infringement.
Individual open source developers are too small to target with attacks such as this. But any large company using open source internally or in a product or service should be concerned by this. The open source movement as a whole needs to pay attention to IP issues.
There are many people in the open source movement who hold a “we don’t believe in intellectual property” stance. They may, one day, find themselves sending a monthly payment to Microsoft for privilege of continuing to hold that belief.
Following Microsoft's legal action against Linux, developers are advised to upgrade to *GPLv3 and even an OSI heavyweight reminds people of that.
As long as Microsoft continues attacking Free software and GNU/Linux, it has no place anywhere near them.
Occasionally we see Microsoft’s people trying to get closer only to cause trouble from the inside. Take for example Jesper Lund Stocholm trying to get close to ODF. Yesterday we noticed that Microsoft's hAl is already editing Wikipedia pages for Microsoft even on OpenDocument format (which he battles against). hAl is adding links to Microsoft Web sites as references in the ODF pages. Read this for some perspective on embracing, extending, and extinguishing ODF.
“hAl is adding links to Microsoft Web sites as references in the ODF pages.”Elsewhere on the Web we find Richard Waters and the Gartner Group (both consistently push Microsoft’s party line) labeling the Oracle-Sun marriage a “culture shock”. Rob Enderle has just had his share of Oracle/Linux FUD as well.
As for Microsoft, when it is not busy sending out partners and pseudo-analysts/journalists out there, it is throwing some money at a self-serving project (for Windows only). It even calls it “open-source” and the messenger is one of Microsoft's former pseudo-journalists, Peter Galli (he is now paid directly by Microsoft). The Microsoft crowd is immediately citing his post to play along with the “Microsoft loves open source” storyline. Here is some love from the usual suspect in SoftPedia and some more from Mary Jo Foley.
A few months ago, Galli also used former Microsoft employees (Aaron Fulkerson and Steve Bjorg) to promote and disseminate the “Microsoft loves open source” message, essentially by writing about MindTouch. They are still in close touch with their former employer Microsoft and sometimes promoting them. MindTouch is also a one of the key vendors who promote Mono. Now they also promote proprietary software add-ons as a business model to “open source”. They call it “open core”, which is further deviation from open source, let alone Free software. They ‘proprietarise’ the whole model (although it did not originate in MindTouch). Embrace, extend, and extinguish?
An Open Core Licensing Model
There is a concept of an Open-Core License (OCL) model for building a business on open source that is growing in popularity among open source companies.
For quite some time now, Microsoft — via its Port 25 people — [cred 3762 has promoted this idea of "hybrid"] and now we see it coming from former Microsoft employees who claim to be in “open source” and proliferate .NET. Whether it’s deliberate or not, they are likely to be stealing open source, trying to change it for Microsoft’s convenience. █
“I would love to see all open source innovation happen on top of Windows.”
–Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO
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Posted in Hardware, Microsoft at 3:51 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
How typical
“You can’t say that!”
Summary: Microsoft is going after negative coverage about its products; it eventually gets its way, too
FOR those who do not remember, Microsoft harassed the man who ran the "Boycott Microsoft" Web site by contacting his employer. Microsoft’s censorship on the Web and policing of people’s views is a well-established fact that Microsoft may try to deny.
Well, here is an interesting new story. As many people may know by now, an area where ISV support is lacking or deficient is what Microsoft called “Surface”. Robert Bach wanted to pull the plug on Surface (before birth) knowing that it would fail in the market, but Bill Gates insisted that it should be released to the public. Almost 2 years later, where is it anyway? The answer is, “almost nowhere.” Like Zune and XBox, it has become a Microsoft failure at selling hardware. It only generated big losses and now comes this review of Microsoft’s Surface, which is rare because this thing is hardly ever sold.
The whole experience was probably best summed up by Amanda who, when asked why it was taking us so long to get the machine up and running, and why we all looked so unhappy, replied “Oh, it’s just so…Microsofty.”
That’s the true cost of a poor approach to usability – it gets you a reputation that’s hard to shake.
Go ahead and read this review. Well, guess what? It’s gone.
For those who want to see this review, it’s still in Google’s cache (at the time of writing). Why is it not there anymore? Well, the followup post probably provides an answer:
My post last week on the poor set-up experience we had in getting our new Microsoft Surface running has struck a chord. Until last week, our sleepy little company blog could count on about 20 hits a day (thanks Mom!), and as of today we’ve gotten over 20,000.
[...]
As the helpful Jason McConnell from Microsoft explained to me on a phone call earlier today, “Your blog post took us all by surprise – it was valid from your perspective, and funny, but it shouldn’t ever have happened.”
So the information about Surface will be there no more. Microsoft may have just pulled this surface review, which vanished overnight (it returns a 404 error now). The guy says Microsoft contacted him, so it seems reasonable to call it “gentle” censorship. Microsoft is still policing coverage about its product.
It could be worse. It could be an attempt to get the poor guy fired. Microsoft sometimes uses its agencies to lean on journalists. █
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Posted in Finance, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Vista 7, Windows at 3:24 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: A look back at a tough week (Vista 7, Web division)
THURSDAY was a very important day. Glyn Moody called it “A Day to Remember” and not just because of the release of Ubuntu 9.04. As we explained before [1, 2, 3], Microsoft reported a huge drop in earnings which shows, as Moody puts it, that “the Microsoft money machine is faltering.” This is not particularly shocking.
And there’s another reason why yesterday was significant: Microsoft announced what are probably its worst quarter results ever:
Microsoft Corp. today announced revenue of $13.65 billion for the third quarter ended March 31, 2009, a 6% decline from the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $4.44 billion, $2.98 billion and $0.33 per share, which represented an increase of 3% and declines of 32% and 30%, respectively, when compared with the prior year period.
Now, the global financial crisis certainly contributed to those figures, but I think there’s a bigger underlying trend here, which is that the Microsoft money machine is faltering.
The “money machine” of the leader in GNU/Linux is still getting stronger and Microsoft is compromising profit to suffocate any such competition. Microsoft is said to be offering kickbacks to OEMs that stock/deliver sub-notebooks. It’s Microsoft’s biggest pain at the moment. Even the Microsoft/Redmond press points at GNU/Linux sub-notebooks as Microsoft’s trouble. It wrote about it in a couple of its online magazines.
Vista 7 will hardly be a remedy or a relief for Microsoft/Windows in sub-notebooks. SJVN has just put it to the test and wrote a review where he explains the limitations even with the most expensive version (sub-notebooks will come saddled with a crippled version).
Performance wasn’t the only problem I came across. For example, I was unable to perform two network-related tasks at once. For example, if I copied a file from a network server or watched a YouTube video, life was fine. But if I tried to do both things at once, I ended up with a frozen system.
[...]
I experienced several difficulties running popular applications on the Dell Mini 9. Windows 7′s built-in applications, such as Media Center, felt slow to respond. Other apps behaved sluggishly as well. For example, Microsoft Word 2003 took 27 seconds to launch on the Mini 9; it took only 11 seconds on the HP EliteBook 2530p.
Some problems, such as abrupt slowdowns when trying to run Microsoft Office 2003, Office 2007 and Quicken 2008, were clearly caused by memory problems. There simply wasn’t enough RAM to run them effectively. When I tried to run two or more major applications at the same time, the performance dropped from merely miserable to “Is this thing still on?”
[...]
If you must have Windows on a netbook, XP Home SP3 is still the better choice over Windows 7 — at least, for now. And, even though Microsoft is doing its best to kill off XP, it looks like the PC makers aren’t going to let Microsoft put XP out to pasture after all.
This pretty much confirms issues that we knew about [1, 2]. Vista’s problems are merely inherited by its successor, so application/driver compatibility too is a major problem.
There is other bad news for Microsoft’s emerging division: Microsoft’s Online Advertising Revenue Drops 16%, Time to Give Up?
Perhaps even more significant is the 16% decline in online advertising revenue (just $521 million) with its overall online services posting a loss of $575 million.
It was only recently that Digg dumped Microsoft. For Microsoft to survive the future, it is aware that it must grow on the Web, not just the desktop. Steve Ballmer has just spoken about this in Köln. But it’s still going in reverse; people prefer WIndows XP (from 2001) and they continue to flock to search engines like Google at the expense of Microsoft’s online presence. Remember Encarta? █
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