Bonum Certa Men Certa

Given Choice, Customers Reject Microsoft

HÃ¥kon Wium Lie



Summary: Customers who buy new PCs choose Web browsers other than Internet Explorer, so a similar approach should be taken and applied to operating systems

Internet Explorer 9 (IE 9) already has some problems in it [1, 2, 3, 4], not just the security problems which led to attacks against many businesses [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]. IE 9 will exclude Windows XP and according to another report, Opera is seeing "85% more downloads in UK" now that customers who are forced to put up with Windows on a new PC are given some choice (however biased it is [1, 2, 3, 4]). Our reader Tim writes:



It's been reported that Opera has experienced a doubling of downloads since the Windows Ballot was introduced. I have argued that the ballot will make no difference to the average user who has never tried anything other than IE. I challenged at the time that the EU anti-trust case would have been better served looking at OEM rather than the browser issue which people seem to be able to make their own decisions about once they have done their own research.

[...]

[U]sers finally seeing Microsoft and its associated wares in their true light. With so many happy users enjoying alternate products on so many different platform, does Microsoft look cutting edge or does it look tired and old, struggling to keep up with better technologies and happy users of those products?


The FSF (Free Software Foundation) has recommended that the European Commission should unbundle PCs too, giving customers choice other than Windows (GNU/Linux would cost nothing to preinstall or put on the same image).

Is it not the next logical step? People would get an O/S ballot on any new PC. GNU/Linux distributions like Fedora are free (gratis). Dual-booting as standard is another option; it's not just about restoration of competition, it's about punishing Microsoft for crimes with which it got a monopoly on the desktop in the first place (fines are not suitable remedies as they do nothing to cure the problem or undo the crimes). ⬆

"We should whack them [Dell over GNU/Linux dealings], we should make sure they understand our value."

--Paul Flessner, Microsoft



Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

GGG Pot Calls the Kettle Black
"It means a situation in which somebody accuses someone else of a fault which the accuser shares, and therefore is an example of psychological projection, or hypocrisy. Use of the expression to discredit or deflect a claim of wrongdoing by attacking the originator of the claim for their own similar behaviour (rather than acknowledging the guilt of both) is the tu quoque logical fallacy."
The Microsoft Ban Should Go Further (Telecommunications Cybersecurity and Resilience Act Incompatible With Back Doors)
it's not difficult to see where to start
 
GNU/Linux Flirts With 20% "Market Share" in North America Overnight
Who should we trust on GNU/Linux? Microsofters on an armchair or Cloudflare Radar?
You Definitely Do NOT Wish to Live Close to a Datacentre
put aside for a moment the noise, the pollution...
New Site Makes the Case Against Adoption of Omarchy, But Focuses Almost Entirely on Politics
Let's examine what the page says and what points it focuses on
Brigading Against Women - Part XXIV - Nobody's Name is Unspeakable
Names are not sacred
Microsoft is in Trouble (With the Regime It Sponsored)
It seems like Microsoft paying the existing regime/dictatorship wasn't enough
In the United Kingdom, Rising Cost of Hardware Benefits GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux rose from about 4% to almost 6% in one year
Japanese Targets of Cyber Breaches or Insider Threats
Japanese government bureau and major firms experience data breaches
Gemini Links 09/10/2026: Optimism, Stargazing, and Solar MiniServer
Links for the day
When Americans Export a 'Suicide Mission' to Other Continents
I worry that this culture of debt-taking and overconsumption is being spread from the US to Europe
The Register MS: "AI" Several Times in Same Headline, 31 Times in Page. The Register MS Was Paid to Do This.
The phenomenon is commercial (paid media), not scientific
The Outcome of Microsoft Ban Was Predictable
told you so
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 08, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, October 08, 2026
Gemini Links 08/10/2026: Economical Thrashing, How I Killed the Earth, and Thoughts on Gemini
Links for the day
Links 08/10/2026: Wikimedia Bemoans Chaffbot Slop (Bots Sold as 'Agents') That Sabotage It, ICC's Taliban Warrants
Links for the day
Links 08/10/2026: Slop Scammers (Pushers) Inflate Hosting Bills and "YouTube Testing Everything"
Links for the day
The Register MS Helps Prove the "AI" Frenzy in the Media is Evidence of Compromised Media, Not Legitimate "Revolution"
Ignore the hype and carry on
London Became Synonymous With the Royal Courts of Justice
London used to be a place where we go on holiday/retreat/break; nowadays we have only one destination there
Microsoft Insiders on "Effectively Being Silently Laid Off From Microsoft"
People are laid off by the thousands without the media uttering a word or the companies confirming anything
Brigading Against Women - Part XXIII - Extremism in the Mix and Getting the Police Involved
In 2012 I was getting heckled a lot for opposing back doors in Linux; it has not stopped since
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 07, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 07, 2026
Microsoft's XBox CEO Asha Sharma Tells Staff That Many Thousands of Layoffs Are in Fact "Return to Growth"
Get it? Layoffs are "growth".
Gemini Links 07/10/2026: On Feeling Guilty Leaving the US, Multinet, and Limiting Net Usage
Links for the day
The Cyber Show Explains the Concept of "Data Rape"
a metaphor some might find crude
FREE BEER is Still Online, But Barely Active
25 years ago or even 20 years ago many spoke of open/free beer (or "COLA")
Syria: GNU/Linux Has Surged to 8% "Market Share"
I don't have a convincing explanation for this
IBM Dimming Down the Lights on IBM Consulting, No Knowledge or Experience Required
They just "ride" the (old) brand, that's all
Statement on American SLAPP
Crossposted from schestowitz.com
Today The Register MS Published "SPONSORED FEATURE" and "SPONSORED POST" With "AI" 31 Times in Them
This isn't a "Reality" or "Era of AI", it's a paid-for spam campaign
Gemini Links 07/10/2026: Nostalgia, Neutral Map, and Shorthanding
Links for the day
Links 07/10/2026: Unrest in France and Rumours of Plague in Russia
Links for the day
Brigading Against Women - Part XXII - The Lozza Problem (in Length)
Garrett's case was a waste of the Court's money
JavaScript in Richard Stallman's Web Site
For search he is using CGI, not JavaScript
EPO's Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) Plans Presentation Next Week (Coinciding With Apparent Coronation of 'Cocaine King' Campinos)
They've outsourced this session to the dictator's spying eye
The GNOME Foundation's Code of Conduct Has Been Misused to Hide Corruption
People who value free speech and freedom of expression won't touch social control media with a 10-foot bargepole
Voting for Freedom of the Press
American elections happen every 4 years
What Brett Wilson LLP and Matt Garrett Don't Want People to See/Read
Book-burning is counterproductive
Book-Burning Mindset Does Not Work
It makes the suppressed voices more widely known
Microsoft's XBox in 'Freefall'
XBox is practically finished
Slop is Plagiarism
Plagiarism is not "theft" and copyright infringement is not "piracy"
IBM is Almost Defunct
IBM is doomed. It just tries to test how much more patience the shareholders have.
Criminalisation of Journalism
"Journalist Derya Okatan arrested in Turkey for allegedly possessing classified material"
Brigading Against Women - Part XXI - Hiding Behind the Veil of "Privacy" After Telling Nazi Things in IRC Channels of Techrights and Physically Threatening People
To merely explain an abuse (or crime) requires naming people; that's a fundamental tenet of reporting
Links 07/10/2026: Quitting Smartphone and "Meta's Muse Is Spying on All Your Friends and Family"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/10/2026: Greed, In Praise of Zotero, and The de-Google Path
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 06, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 06, 2026