Summary: A collection of news demonstrating the upper hand of Free software in the marketplace

AMONG the many success stories for Free software we have not yet included the following articles about GNU/Linux replacing Windows on the desktop (partly proprietary though). Microsoft has attempted dirty tricks against this, but clearly these attempts are failing because more motherboards come with GNU/Linux (alongside Windows). From the New Zealand Herald:

Several programs aim to work around Windows' slow boot times by simply not booting Windows. Instead, these programs - some of which come installed on new computers from Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Asustek Computer and Acer, among others - launch a stripped-down desktop that allows you to surf the web, handle any email you can view in a browser and perform other basic tasks. Windows is there, but only to be called up when needed.

I've been using one such program, HyperSpace from Phoenix Technologies, on a Samsung NC10 netbook for the past couple of weeks.

Press the power button and within 15 seconds the Linux-based HyperSpace presents you with a customisable screen including a browser, a notepad application, RealNetworks's RealPlayer media software and news, weather and stock information.

Looking at the server side, there is also this new defeat for Microsoft Exchange:

LotusLive Scores Huge Win at Panasonic over Microsoft Exchange

[...]

All of these wins show that enterprise customers will move faster to the cloud than many expected. In the coming months, we expect Google and IBM will intensify its campaigns against Microsoft. IBM may also have an advantage against Google as the LotusLive pricing structure makes it easy for customers to make an investment. Google offers its services for free and $50 for a premiere account.

Microsoft's software is very defective and shoddy (that's another report about the 2010 bug, this time from CNN) and IDG is now proclaiming that Microsoft should also abandon Internet Explorer:

Microsoft Should Kill Internet Explorer

It's time for Microsoft to kill Internet Explorer. It has to be done quickly, before it's too late to rebound. The browser is bleeding market share in a way that a new version alone cannot stop. It's time for the company to rethink the browser and come at it from a fresh perspective. Microsoft needs a new browser, not a new version of an existing one.

Outside the United States, Internet Explorer may no longer be a market share leader and it also keeps declining (despite illegal preinstalls). ⬆