But it just won't publicly acknowledge it

Summary: The Microsoft crisis deepens as the company's core monopolies dry up and no substitutes are succeeding so far, except perhaps an E.E.E. (embrace, extend, extinguish) of the competition

TEN years ago when Microsoft signed a patent deal with Novell we were worried that Microsoft had the potential or the power to eliminate GNU/Linux. It was around the time of the release of Vista, before people knew just how terrible it was. Things have changed a lot since then. See the following posts about Microsoft and/or Windows dying. All of them are from 2015:

• Microsoft is Dying Quickly, Desperately Trying to Turn Into Surveillance Behemoth
• Windows is Dying, Based on my Conversations With Microsoft Windows Staff
• Microsoft Windows is Dying Based on Data From Windows-Friendly Firm
• Microsoft Symptoms of a Dying Company: More Boosters Depart, Back Doors Revealed, Microsoft's Outlook Cracked
• Microsoft Windows is Dying, British Government Should Spend No More Money on It

The Windows Phone Chief is now making up excuses for rejecting Microsoft products [1], just as the executives of KIN did (we wrote a lot about it at the time, around 2010), Vista 10 becomes a (pretty much) mandatory 'upgrade' [2], people find out that Vista 10 surveillance is even worse than previously imagined (not surprising given the NSA-Microsoft ties) with even "private" mode being under surveillance [3], Microsoft services are going offline for as much as days (again) [4], desktop sales drop like a rock [5] and UEFI 'secure boot', which Microsoft was hoping would make it hard/impossible for people to migrate to GNU/Linux, backfires on Windows [6], leaving Microsoft almost nowhere and even dependent on maintaining GNU/Linux clusters for income [7] (not many people want Windows for hosted servers/services).

Don't worry about Microsoft too much. Yes, it is still attacking GNU/Linux and Free software using software patents, but it cannot help nosediving, no matter the accounting tricks (and massive tax evasion that now comes under IRS scrutiny and can cost the company billions of dollars. There are still layoffs every year and there is no sign of them coming to a halt. ⬆

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. Microsoft Trolled: Even Windows Phone Chief Uses An iPhone?

   A number of people began pointing out that he was using an iPhone and mocking him that he could not make a better Windows phone. Silent Joe could not say anything about that. He has avoided replying to those tweets but he is replying to unrelated tweets.





2. Keeping Windows 10 upgrade at bay is a tough task

   
   
   Microsoft has been slipping in code with its regular updates to make users accept an upgrade to Windows 10 whether they like it or not, as reported in iTWire on Tuesday.
   
   But preventing this from happening on systems that run Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 is not as simple as turning off automatic updates, the option recommended by Microsoft among the four on offer.
   
   When automatic updates are turned off in Windows 7, there is no way to check updates manually. Hitting the "Check for Updates" button results in an error message popping up: "Windows Update error 80244019."
   
   To resolve this one has to go through a complicated series of manual steps which I would challenge the average Windows user to carry out without screwing up.





3. Microsoft Edge Browser May Be Storing Your Private Browsing Data

   Microsoft Edge browser made a lot of hype before setting in the steps in the internet browsing market. Microsoft Edge was thought to be more secure, faster, light-weight and many more features were also integrated with it like Cortana Assist, Reading List and the new InPrivate browsing mode. According to a new research, the browser might be storing your private data even in the InPrivate mode.





4. Two separate outages meant Microsoft's biggest customers haven't had access to email for several days

   Two separate outages meant that the email component of Office 365, the online version of Microsoft's Office suite, has been down for many users, according to CloudPro.





5. Should Microsoft Corporation Be Concerned With the Worst PC Sales In 8 Years?

   Both Microsoft's and Intel's CEOs are well aware of the declining PC market, which explains why both are implementing their own versions of a mobile-first, cloud-first transformation.. But do declining PC sales really matter? And if so, how much?





6. Ubuntu's Secure Boot support vulnerability threatens even Windows PCs

   Ubuntu is thwarting Microsoft’s efforts to keep PCs safe. Modern Windows PCs are required to ship with Secure Boot enabled, a safety measure that limits access to Microsoft-approved operating systems. To make life easier for Linux users, Microsoft provides Linux distribution bootloaders with a Microsoft signing key. But Ubuntu’s signed bootloader will happily boot unsigned code, breaking the whole chain of trust. Thankfully, this is set to change with the upcoming Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.





7. ​Microsoft buys into Ubuntu Linux on Azure hybrid cloud

   Microsoft has embraced Linux on its Azure cloud for some time now. Debian, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and Ubuntu are all supported on Azure. Now, Microsoft is taking the next step: It's adding Ubuntu to the first public technical preview of Azure Stack, its customized private and hybrid cloud bundle.