10.24.09
Posted in Bill Gates, Deception, Microsoft, Patents at 10:41 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: On a Web site dedicated to watching the darker side of the Gates Foundation and its real impact on civilisations
WE HAVE received an E-mail from Gates Keepers, probably in response to yesterday's explanation of the Gates Foundation's obsessive occupation with patents. We are not alone among those who explore the darker side of Gates’ work outside of Microsoft. “Love your boycott novell blog,” writes Gates Keepers, who brought attention to his/her Web site. Since we keep track of this type of stuff, we wish to bring attention to Gates Keepers and also recommend it. To give just a sample of some recent posts from October, aside from copyright violations (Gates Keepers must really stick to snippets) we find some interesting items that are looking beyond the PR. Examples:
i. Chinese copy of the Gates Foundation
Monday the papers were all asplash with announcements that there would be a Chinese copy of the Gates Foundation. Now it appears that the celebration might have been premature. Perhaps New Huadu is a perfect imitator, as Microsoft also engaged in illegal activities before the Gates Foundation emerged.
ii. Chinese innovation and the Gates Foundation
If this is how the Gates Foundation tries to support innovation in China it is not trying very hard. China has lots of new tech talent educated in the US. If the environment is right in the next twenty years there will be lots of innovation. But are small timebound grants the way to support it?
iii. Unions, Bill Gates pump last-minute cash against Wash. ballot issue slowing gov’t growth (c/f Abramoff for similarities)
National labor unions and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates are among the donors who have poured nearly $1.5 million of last-minute cash into the campaign against Initiative 1033, a ballot measure that would slow the growth of state and local governments.
iv. Gates Foundation program advisory panel member speaks out on war and security
v. Is the Gates Foundation listening?
Gates Keepers thinks there will be no Gates Foundation grants for Reganold or Herren forthcoming.
Isn’t it governance that is lacking for the Green Revolution in Africa? Does blaming people who question genetically modified plants help? Heim is asking the right questions of the right people. Is the Foundation listening?
See our posts about Monsanto for example:
We have also produced extensive evidence showing that the Gates Foundation is buying the press. Gates Keepers points to more examples from this month, e.g.:
i. Will Bill Gates Come to the Rescue of Journalists?
Online news site Crosscut’s announcement yesterday of a $100,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation surely raised some hopes in the tumultuous world of journalism. Is Bill Gates waking up to the havoc caused by the digital technology he has unleashed? Will his enormously deep-pocketed philanthropy come to the rescue of a profession–and means of informing that the public– that threatens to disappear? Can the New York Times expect a bailout next?
ii. Vanessa Mazal talks about how the Gates Foundation is getting into the media
This is frightening. She tries to simplify media development and media for development but in the end it all sounds manipulative … like our strings are being pulled by the Gates Foundation.
The author states in the comments: “Development of the public good of ‘media for development’ specifically benefits Microsoft when their products are used. Paying media organisations to put ‘health messages’ that specifically showcase the work of the Gates Foundation into their communications is manipulative. We used to call this a conflict of interest.”
Conflict of interests is also what we find in the Gates Foundation’s pharmaceutical investments [1, 2, 3, 4].
The one last item is a fascinating example of conflicts of interests: [via]
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has contributed $10 million to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, expected to open in late 2015 on the National Mall in Washington.
We wrote about this before (also in IRC). Patti Stonesifer became a chairwoman at the Smithsonian Institution shortly after she had left the Gates Foundation where she was CEO. We ‘caught’ her husband planting Gates Foundation glorification pieces in major magazines, as last mentioned here. They still control the mainstream press and thus they control the story (or the fantasy rather) absorbed by the public.
How far is Bill Gates going? Gates Keepers is not particularly optimistic. █
‘“Other than Bill Gates, I don’t know of any high tech CEO that sits down to review the company’s IP portfolio” —Marshall Phelps
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Posted in Asia, Europe, Finance, Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, Windows at 9:44 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: China subsidises adoption of GNU/Linux and AFP has published the report “cash-strapped Latvia mulls switching from Microsoft”
According to this pro-Intel Web site, the government of China helps promote GNU/Linux-based devices in rural areas. Slashdot had it submitted by someone from that Intel-boosting site (Henry), using the following concise summary:
The Chinese government’s ‘Go Rural’ program offers subsidies up to 13 percent for rural residents who purchase approved nettops or netbooks. The systems come with a version of Red Flag Linux built on the Moblin stack.
The more interesting news, however, comes from Latvia, where the government wants to move all the way to Free software.
Cash-strapped Latvia is mulling whether to replace brand name office software like Microsoft with an open source equivalent as a cost-cutting measure, a government spokeswoman told AFP Thursday.
Latvia had chosen ODF and finally made it official at the beginning of this year. Steve Ballmer visited the country in May this year, so it is important to watch things carefully and see if Microsoft ‘pulls an EDGI’. It could be illegal. █
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Posted in Database, Free/Libre Software, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Mono, Novell, Oracle, SUN at 9:01 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Novell’s promotional action in IDG gets even more incestuous; MySQL and Sun’s other assets revisited in relation to Novell
FOR quite some time now, Novell has produced promotional audio series, the latest example of which is this one and another one from The Register, which sells out these days.
Several days ago we showed that IDG gave Novell a podium from which Novell employees Zonker and Greg K-H promoted SUSE. Zonker now uses his place there to promote Mono by speaking to another colleague from Novell. Novell’s PR team is happy about this.
In this latest OpenMic podcast, Joe ‘Zonker’ Brockmeier talks with Mono founder, Miguel de Icaza, about what’s new with the Mono Project and what’s coming soon. The two also discuss the many iPhone apps brought to you by Mono, what’s next for Moonlight (the Linux implementation of Microsoft’s Silverlight), and why Windows developers should really check out Mono.
Here is the direct link with the list of shows so far. That’s 2 shows out of 2 (100%) with just Novell employees in them. Amazing, isn’t it? It is stuff like that which helps Mono gain acceptance in some recognised circles and Unity has just earned some funds:
Unity Technologies Raises $5.5 Million From Sequoia Capital
[...]
Here’s how CEO David Helgason describes some of the platform’s benefits:
Unity uses .NET (or rather Mono, Novell’s open source .NET implementation) for “scripting”, which sidesteps the whole classical conundrum of scripting-versus-native, since the code gets JIT or AOT compiled to native code while still being sandboxable and easy. Also, there’s lots of documentation and very rich libraries to work with.
Mono also receives a lot of positive publicity from Microsoft Web sites, for obvious reasons.
The other day we showed Zonker's objection to the FSF's position and right now we find him repeating the arguments of a known Stallman basher, Matt Asay. They both make the same argument, using the MySQL situation to discredit Stallman.
In the news we find an hypothetical scenario where Novell is mentioned as a potential suitor for MySQL
If Ellison changed his mind and decided to sell MySQL, open source companies like Red Hat and Novell would be on top of the list of potential buyers, according to Bo Lykkegaard, software analyst at IDC.
More on Sun, Oracle, and Novell in relation to identity management:
Enterprises need confidence in the stability and continuity of their supplier when large investments are involved. Confidence in the identity management sector was badly shaken when HP, one of the leading providers, announced that it was leaving the sector in 2008. The fact that Novell took over its products only partially assuaged enterprises’ fears.
To summarise, Novell promotes Mono by sending out there media boosters like Zonker and there may be real danger here that Novell covets MySQL, not just OpenOffice.org, which it forked [1, 2, 3, 4] (Sun hates that). █
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Posted in Courtroom, GNU/Linux, IBM, Novell, SCO, UNIX at 8:12 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: A SCO Trustee, Edward Cahn, wishes to end the case against AutoZone, but the Linux lawsuit stays for now, with or without McBride
THE firing of SCO CEO Darl McBride is an important development that we wrote about in [1, 2, 3]. But there is more stuff going on at the moment, starting with this from Groklaw:
SCO’s Chapter 11 Trustee Moves to Settle AutoZone
Edward Cahn, the Chapter 11 Trustee now running SCO Group, wants to settle and be done with SCO v. AutoZone. He sees no value in further litigation. So he has filed a motion asking the court to approve the settlement he has worked out with AutoZone.
Can you believe it took this long? It’s been in the Top Ten Stupidest Cases of All Time Hall of Fame since 2004. Evidently Mr. Cahn does not share Darl’s gambling ways, nor his zeal to punish SCO customers who switched from Unix to Linux. SCO put AutoZone through an experience it never deserved, but it looks like all the horses are heading home to the barn. At last.
More on the subject from a Microsoft-friendly source:
At any rate, Schwartman says the firing of McBride, and the company’s announcement Thursday that it will settle claims against Autozone (AZO), indi ate the company may look to settle with Novell as well, which would ease legal costs for Novell and perhaps lead to “a redirection of legacy royalties” to Novell. Schwartzman maintains a “Buy” rating on Novell and a $6 price target.
There is a lot more coming from Groklaw, including Darl’s fate. The title Carla chose is slightly different, saying that “Darl tries threats to get a job.”
The same three appeals court judges who decided to send the copyright ownership issue in SCO v. Novell back to Utah for a jury trial, including the now-retired Judge McConnell, have denied the Novell petition for rehearing. Judge McConnell wrote the original ruling, so it’s hardly a surprise that he would feel it was just right.
More from Groklaw regarding bankruptcy:
Update: Pachulski, Stang has filed a motion to withdraw as SCO’s attorney, or as one of their bankruptcy attorneys:
9. The Chapter 11 Trustee has selected counsel in these cases and an application to approve that retention has been approved (Docket No. 914).
10. PSZ&J seeks leave of this Court to withdraw as counsel to the Debtors in these chapter 11 cases. The Chapter 11 Trustee is serving and is represented by counsel and the Debtors’ interests are adequately represented.
So much is changing. Not to be cynical, but when the money runs out, if there is an opening, so do the lawyers ofttimes.
The local press writes about the Novell-SCO case:
Action by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday clears the way for a trial in Utah in a dispute between The SCO Group and Novell Inc. over the ownership of the copyrights to the Unix computer operating system.
This will probably be the last post that mentions McBride’s epic departure, so here is a record from Reuters, a sort of ripoff of the article from Ars Technica, and a variety of other reports on the subject, including the statement that lawsuits are still SCO’s present direction.
Perhaps the decision to pursue the six-year-old legal battle with IBM and Novell was fueled by a favorable ruling in August by a federal appeals court.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that SCO’s argument had merit. The company maintains that IBM and Novell illegally used the Unix operating system to make a crucial improvement that turned the Linux system into a competitor.
Still, Lyman said SCO may have missed a golden opportunity to shed the bad blood it created in the Linux and IT communities.
More on Novell’s role:
Which leads us back to Novell. And during this whole time, Novell’s version has been that the Santa Cruz Operation — the folks SCO acquired, not SCO themselves to begin with — did purchase certain things from Novell, mainly the right to use the UNIX and UnixWare trademarks under controlled circumstances (see page 12, section C), but with Novell holding the leash on all of them. Novell insists they never sold off a controlling stake in UNIX to anyone. Plus, Novell’s feelings vis-a-vis Linux are plain: they develop it, support it, and provide legal indemnification for its users.
There’s a part of me that can’t wait for the Novell trial, which promises to be either very long or very, very short.
Novell and IBM both refuse to speak about McBride’s sacking.
Novell and IBM also declined to comment.
Linux Today has a sort of eulogy for McBride (also promoted here), which puts things in perspective.
Darl McBride, to the glee of many, is out of a job. I think this signals the real end of all The SCO Group litigation, because I think Mr. McBride was hired specifically to litigate rather than run a software company. SCO (Caldera back then) had a good management team in place led by Ransom Love, and they were given the boot to make room for Darl and his henchpersons.
Their cunning master plan failed, despite masterful gaming of the system and support from deep-pockets third parties who were happy to write checks, stay behind the scenes, and let Mr. McBride take the hits.
SCO used to contribute to Linux, just like Novell. It’s reason to be equally cautious about Novell, which claims ownership of UNIX. █
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Posted in America, Europe, Law, Microsoft, Novell at 7:22 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Some of Microsoft’s latest mischiefs and law-dodging moves leave its competitors out in the cold, even on the ideally-standardised Web
OPERA is protesting against Microsoft’s behaviour with Vista 7, which still comes with a crime-committing Web browser preinstalled [1, 2]. As The Register shows, Microsoft’s flagrant disregard for the law continues to shine bright.
Several Register readers have been in touch because their early installations of Windows 7 have not come with a ballot screen offering them a choice of browsers to download.
Ryan, a Boycott Novell regular, complains that Microsoft’s software technology continues to exclude and to punish Opera users (even on Windows).
Not every ASS.NET page breaks in Opera, but nearly every page that does break in Opera is built with ASS.NET. (On a side note, Silverblight won’t work at all, but who cares?)
Speaking of this “Silverblight” Ryan speaks about (or “Silverfish”, or “Silver Lie”), watch what Microsoft is doing to GNU/Linux users who wish to find out about the Vista 7 boot sequence:
This is a classic, I surfed over to Agency Spy to read his post about the new Windows 7 boot sequence, thinking hey if it’s really fast or really good, maybe I’ll switch from Ubuntu. So visiting the site, the embedded video wasn’t able to run on Ubuntu Linux, and the reason, it’s done only in Silverlight.
Read yesterday’s report from Richard Rasker about Moonlight (appended beneath). It may as well be added that Vista 7 nukes GNU/Linux out of the MBR when it is installed. Technical sabotage carries on. █
“This is WAR, and in that regard, I believe we should design Janus such that if this multiboot partition (has a unique partition number (11)) is found, we should warn the user a foreign OS has been detected, give them a chance to exit and read the docs and possibly make a backup, and then repartition the disk, removing the multiboot partition. This way, we disable OS/2 2.0 in *all* cases.”
–Microsoft internal mail
From: Richard Rasker <spamtrap@linetec.nl>
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy
Subject: Microsoft crapware: “If it works, we’ll fix it”
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:28:39 +0200
OK, so I set up Moonlight support for some of my users who complained that they couldn’t watch videos on their favourite sites — sites that have been stupid enough to swallow Microsoft’s Silverlight lure. And OK, the picture was crappy and choppy, nevertheless with a huge CPU load, but it kinda worked. People could watch Microsoft Silverlight goodness, hooray.
And out of curiosity (and to be able to answer user questions), I installed it myself as well.
Sure enough, in true Microsoft style, an endless stream of updates began almost from the beginning. Up to twice a week, starting Firefox was delayed because crappy Moonlight needed yet another update — sometimes with Microsoft license agreements, sometimes without. The actual updates didn’t appear to do anything — the picture remained crappy, and the CPU load remained high when playing video. I never watch Silverlight content anyway, so I didn’t actually care. But I did feel sorry for my users.
Now guess what happened today: half a dozen e-mail complaints from users, complaining that Moonlight doesn’t work any more. When I started Firefox this afternoon, I already noticed that Microsoft indeed had yet another update-plus-codec-pack-plus-license for Moonlight, and as usual, I simply let it install. And indeed, Moonlight now is well and truly b0rk3d — the time counter is running, but there’s only the Moonlight logo, and no sound. Even after trying to fix it for well over an hour, removing everything to do with moonlight and reinstalling it, it still doesn’t work.
Well done, Microsoft, for once again confirming my views with regard to your competence, the quality of your software, and making me waste my time. Then again, I already wasted hundreds or perhaps even thousands of hours on your crap, so this hardly counts.
For the time being, I told my users that they’re out of luck, and that they may send their complaints to those idiot Web sites who decided to go with Microsoft crapware. Sure, it’ll get fixed within a few months or so. Until the umpteenth new update breaks it again, of course.
Richard Rasker
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Posted in Australia, Google, Marketing, Microsoft, Security, Vista 7, Windows at 6:51 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: The scale of click fraud from Windows zombies reaches an all-time high
WE previously showed that almost half of all Windows PCs are compromised, costing the economy trillions of dollars. Another potentially-new component of this cost emerges with a release of the following figures:
Botnets accounted for 42.6 percent of all click fraud in Q3 2009, more than doubling in the past two years and up from the 27.5 percent reported for the same quarter last year.
More in The Register:
Botnet click fraud at record high
[...]
Malware-infected computers are increasingly being used to perpetrate click fraud, according to a study released Thursday that found their contribution was the highest since researchers began compiling statistics on the crime.
Suffice to say, these botnets take advantage of Windows flaws and according to other reports, this is increasingly becoming a national issue which goes all the way to the top:
NEVER ONE to let the urgency of a potential cyber war speed up its processes, the EU has decided to deal with a European Commission report on cyber war by holding another inquiry.
If Australian ISPs get their way, Windows PCs may gradually be taken off the Internet. Vista 7 has not resolved anything in that regard, despite deceptive advertising in Australia. █
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Posted in Deception, Finance, GNU/Linux, Marketing, Microsoft, Vista 7, Windows at 6:21 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Evidence from across the Web showing that Vista 7 did not have the impact Microsoft wished for
MICROSOFT is not having a good week, despite all the excessive hype which even Novell helps in creating. Yesterday we wrote about Microsoft’s bad financial results [1, 2] and our reader David Gerard writes: “I see they managed to fiddle the numbers again this quarter, having set appropriately low analysts’ expectations.” Other possibilities exist [1, 2].
What not many people have realised is that Vista 7′s launched failed to make an impact. It’s almost as though something went terribly wrong because in previous launches of new versions of Windows there was a lot of fanfare and even AstroTurfing. IDG has remarked on Vista 7′s launch parties as follows:
Are you just waking up and nursing a hangover after hosting one of those wild Windows 7 launch parties? No? Well, you at least attended one, right? Invited to one but had a scheduling conflict??
Let’s face it, the Windows 7 launch party concept was a complete and utter failure. The YouTube video Microsoft created to market the launch party concept certainly got attention, but for all the wrong reasons. It was almost universally mocked and parodied. Just look at the endless list of ‘Related Videos’ making fun of the launch party promotion.
One reader commented in the PC World forums to lament his attempts at hosting a launch party. After receiving only one response, which wasn’t even the official RSVP, the reader examined the RSVP in more detail and found “it looked like the whole TON of apparently life-sucking legalese I had to agree to in order to HOST a party. With even GUESTS having to agree to everything short of giving up their BIRTHRIGHTS to Microsoft and its subsidiaries, heirs, etc., how is ANYBODY supposed to actually get people to do the “official RSVP?!?”
And on it goes.
Mary Jo Foley, one of Microsoft’s biggest fans out there, got distracted (meaning she did not just put forth Vista 7 PR) by Microsoft’s poor performance, especially where the cash cows — namely Windows and Office — are concerned. She wrote:
A day after Microsoft launched Windows 7, its first quarter 2010 results are in. And both Windows and Office — Microsoft’s biggest cash cows — took a hit.
For the quarter, which ended on September 30, Microsoft’s net income was down 18 percent, to $3.57 billion, and revenues down 14 percent, to $12.92 billion — both compared to the first quarter earnings for fiscal 2009.
Because Microsoft beat analysts’ expectations for earnings-per-share and Microsoft has continued to prove it can cut costs, the company’s stock price was up this morning. And because of strong pre-orders for Windows 7 (which didn’t go on sale at retail until October 22, which is during Microsoft’s next quarter), Microsoft’s press release is highlighting “the strong consumer demand for Windows,” even though the Windows division’s revenues were down to $3.98 $2.62 billion from $4.28 billion from the comparable quarter a year ago.
Microsoft said the first quarter of 2010 was the biggest quarter for Windows sales ever. But the numbers aren’t reflecting that fact…
Spin and lies, smoke and mirrors. Only a week ago we gave a new example of this.
Pseudonym George Orwell wrote:
From: George Orwell <nobody@mixmaster.it>
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy
Subject: Vista 7 launch an utter failure!
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:10:31 +0200 (CEST)
Despite positive spinning by Microsoft the Vista 7 launch turned into one utter failure. The ‘Windows 7 Launch Parties’ were almost universally mocked and ridiculed by the press and the general public. The so-called ‘Windows 7 Is The Best Sold Windows Ever’ campaign turned out to be nothing more than channel-pushing, worse even than when Vista was launched, with retailers being prodded by huge discounts, which will disappear after launch. NO ONE is actually buying Vista 7. Sure,
some clueless sod may buy some computer where the shit is pre-installed but that’s about it. PC sales are NOT going to take off because Microsoft updates a few icons in Vista, smacked a new label on it and bribed a few journalist to write about it being a ‘huge improvement’ compared to its predecessor. Businesses aren’t even contemplating upgrading their PC hardware and consumers are more concerned with keeping their jobs and being able to pay their mortgages.
The only real growth, especially in this recession, lies in dirt-cheap netbooks and Smartbooks, which is where M$ will meet its Nemesis: Chrome OS (Linux) on ARM.
Regarding the relative silence from Microsoft trolls in USENET, ‘Homer’ wrote:
From: Homer <usenet@slated.org>
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy
Subject: The Silence of the Shills
Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:51:28 +0100
Even Microsoft’s army of Munchkins are silent at the unleashing of Vista 7. Compare the silence to the noise the shills made here in COLA, at the launch of Vista. It was like a zoo during mating season.
So what went wrong?
Apart from the fact Vista 7 is just a rebadged Vista, and so there’s not really anything to announce, much less celebrate, Microsoft are probably keen to avoid looking like idiots, like they did last time, by screaming like a bunch of chimps about something that turned out to be nothing but an embarrassment.
And of course, with their Windows revenue rapidly going down the toilet, their budget probably wouldn’t cover the necessary “marketing expenses”, i.e. fake grassroots astroturfing and bribery, anyway.
I look forward to watching the Vole bleed to death, over the next couple of years. Let’s hope it’s all over faster than the SCO fiasco.
In response, writes another person:
Someone in this NG [newsgroup] correctly noted that M$ spends $500 million on marketing and advertising Vista 7, yet maybe twice that amount was spend developing it. That shows where their priorities lie: they see the trick of selling software as marketing it ocrrectly and making the right noises (or bribing people to make the right noises for them).
Anyway, the Vista 7 launch was very anti-climactic and wasn’t even covered on the news. It’s a non-event. I did my part trashing the Windows 7 launch by spreading rumours and FUD about it. My ‘Windows 7, I Hate It Already!’ campaign was very successful and was picked up by ZDNet.
Windows 7, I HATE IT ALREADY!
Matt wrote about Microsoft’s bad results and produced hard evidence as follows.
From: Matt <matt@themattfella.xxxyyz.com>
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy
Subject: 3rd quarter: 2009 vs 2008: PC unit sales up 1%; Windows revenue down 39%
Date: Sat, 24 Oct 2009 09:39:09 -0500
Comparison of the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2009 to the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2008.
Note: Operating Income is the difference between operating revenues and operating expenses, roughly: earnings before interest and taxes.
Windows and Windows Live Division
=================================
Revenue: (2.620-4.278)/4.278 = -38.76%
Operating Income: (1.463-3.059)/3.059 = -52.17%
Microsoft Business Division (which produces MS Office)
======================================================
Revenue: (4.404-4.954)/4.954 = -11.10%
Operating Income: (2.863-3.185)/3.185 = -10.10%
Entertainment and Devices Division
==================================
Revenue almost unchanged.
Operating income almost doubled.
References:
http://www.microsoft.com/msft/earnings/fy10/earn_rel_q1_10.mspx
> Microsoft Reports First-Quarter Results
> REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 23, 2009 — Microsoft Corp. today announced revenue
> These financial results reflect the deferral of $1.47 billion of revenue, an impact of $0.12 of diluted earnings per share, relating to the Windows 7 Upgrade Option program and sales of Windows 7 to OEMs and retailers before general availability.
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp;sessionId=LPAERBQQTNW3YCQJAFICFGAKBEAUMIWD?containerId=prUS22040709
> PC Shipments Rise 2.3% … According to IDC
http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1207613
> Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Returned to Growth in Third Quarter of 2009
> STAMFORD, Conn., October 14, 2009 — The PC industry performed better than expected as worldwide PC
shipments totalled 80.9 million units in the third quarter of 2009, a
0.5 per cent increase from the third quarter of 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_income
Cf.
Second quarter 2009: Windows revenue fell 29% while PC shipments fell
only 5%
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.linux.advocacy/msg/693b13a999a71648
Looking at the news, we find that GNU/Linux already capitalises on Microsoft’s losses. See for instance (from yesterday):
i. Collaboration suite from IBM, Canonical targets potential Windows 7 customers
ii. Windows 7 v Ubuntu 9.10: an illustrated guide
Enterprise IT managers, frustrated for the last three years by Windows Vista, have recently begun to move Linux from its traditional home in the datacentre out to user desktops. However, it’s still very much a minority option and Linux’s progress could be halted in its tracks by the release of Windows 7, which is widely seen as the logical upgrade for those still running XP.
Whether or not Windows 7 will actually put paid to Linux on the desktop remains to be seen. But to give you flavour of how the two platforms measure up, we’ve compiled a brief illustrated guide, comparing key business features as implemented in Windows 7 and the latest version of the world’s favourite Linux distro — Ubuntu 9.10, otherwise known as Karmic Koala.
iii. Harry Tuxxer and the Curse of Windows 7
Harry stretched his legs at his workstation under the stairs. He had been there for the entire night debugging the latest iteration of Ubuntu Owl mail. It was vital that he delivered a message to the old wizard Stallmandore. The forces of darkness felt closer than ever and Harry’s scar throbbed as it always did when proprietary software vendors were close by.
On problems with the “hype machine” we have:
i. Microsoft promotes Windows 7 with a bunch of giant Whoppers
Now some Asian dude is going to drop dead from eating enough cholesterol to kill anything that’s ever lived.
ii. Elgan: Is Windows 7 cursed?
The Today Show, which averages some 5 million viewers, hosted Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to officially launch the Windows 7 operating system. But what possessed the Today Show art department to show Windows 7 on an older MacBook Pro behind Ballmer?
Microsoft can hardly blame the Today people. The company did the same thing in one of its own ads. The laptop used in a TV commercial for Microsoft’s Songsmith is a MacBook. Microsoft put stickers all over the Mac, including one strategically placed over the Apple logo, to hide the fact. Are Windows laptops really that hard to find?
iii. Five Ways Windows 7 Could Become another Vista
Windows 7 is finally here. The sun can shine and the birds can chirp. Ding dong, Windows Vista is dead! Perhaps that is a bit premature. Windows 7 hasn’t been officially released for 24 hours yet, so its understandable if the jury is still deliberating. There are certainly those who think Windows 7 is nothing more than Windows Vista with an extra bell or whistle thrown in for eye candy.
iv. Windows 7… So what?
Windows 7 does reduce the ‘fat’. It requires less memory and made minor improvements to the ’snappyness’ of the Operating System.
However, these comparisons are against Vista, the PIG. Any improvements, can be regarded as an improvement, no matter how small, because Vista was really that bad. (Sure after a year or two and SP2 Vista was stable and usable). But, if you compare Windows 7 to XP, Windows 7 is still a PIG. It still consumes triple the RAM, Disk and CPU power, not to mention Graphics memory.
One of our readers, ‘Goblin’, wrote about unrealistic projections and also commented on Microsoft’s results.
Oops Microsoft did it again!
Whilst our MS Faithful are praising the greatness of Vista 7 and the fact that they can get Vista users upgrading their OS to what Vista should have been in the first place, in the back of their minds must be the news that yet again Microsoft’s profits are down.
There are many more examples out there. It is too easy to be left with the impression that Vista 7 failed to make the desired impact when it launched, only to be further extinguished the following day by a huge reported drop in Windows revenue. It is about margins, not the number of sales; GNU/Linux forces Microsoft to reduce its margins and thus compromise profitability. █
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