Bonum Certa Men Certa

ASUS Enters the Slog Business

Microsoft dirty tactics



Summary: Putting the ASUS marketing campaign in perspective

A QUICK glance at yesterday's news was particularly interesting. With a $100,000,000 budget dedicated solely to the purpose, Microsoft has begun not only a media blitz for Bing but it also attacked and trolled Google. Pro-Microsoft blogs were full of it and Walt Mossberg, an old buddy Bill Gates, had a good time with Steve Ballmer who used the podium to promote Bing. But this post is not about the Slog against Google; rather, it is about ASUS joining an anti-Linux marketing campaign.



“Anti-Linux ads will pay ASUS the equivalent of kickbacks for using Windows.”With profit down 94% after joining hands with Microsoft, ASUS could truly use some fast cash. Anti-Linux ads will pay ASUS the equivalent of kickbacks for using Windows. This further reduction in price through marketing means that even negative pricing for Windows becomes possible. What ASUS is doing right now is an issue we wrote about a fortnight ago because it resembles old tactics. They have a new banner that they market. Microsoft used to do this in servers under the slogan "Get the Facts" and now it's brought to the desktop under the slogan "it's better with Windows."

We are well aware of how huge GNU/Linux became on servers. In September 2008 Steve Ballmer said that “forty percent of servers run Windows, 60 percent run Linux.” Microsoft, unlike IDC/Gartner, does not rely on the lies it pays IDC/Gartner to spread publicly. Microsoft instructs (commissions/bribes) IDC to conduct 'studies' the way which favours and glorifies Microsoft. Even by these bogus measures, Windows Server revenue is down 29 percent at the moment. Mary-Jo Foley wrote about it yesterday. Add this to an overall alarmingly-sharp decline of 32% in earnings at Microsoft. They can't be happy

The decline of Microsoft's earnings was notably attributed to the rise of GNU/Linux through a new form factor, the sub-notebook (or Netbook™). As GreyGeek put it yesterday:

not even Microsoft or Ballmer believe their own PR FUD. Ballmer puts Linux's desktop marketshare greater than Mac's, which is supposed to be 10% http://www.osnews.com/story/21035/Ballmer_Linux_Bi gger_Competitor_than_Apple


Net Applications is never to be believed by the way. Or, as Carla put it:

I don't believe that the desktop Linux market share is barely 1%. I think it is a lot higher. I have no good data to share; I base my assessment on experience and knowing the industry. There is something else that is even more persuasive, and that is how Microsoft behaves. If Linux is so insignificant, why do they pay so much attention to it? Like this new ASUS/Windows Eee PC "It's Better With Windows" ad campaign...

[...]

It's a direct shot at Linux, so I guess that little bitty one percent is a bigger one percent than it's given credit for. Some have questioned if these ads are legitimate, and claim they are satire or a hoax. ASUS links to them, so they're for real.


It's true that ASUS has joined Microsoft's marketing blitz against GNU/Linux. As The Inquirer puts it:

ASUSTEK HAS JOINED Microsoft in launching a marketing campaign to get netbook users to use Windows rather than dodgy old Linux.

[...]

The difference, we assume, is that Microsoft has money to spend on promoting its products.


If not many people purchase the Eee PC with GNU/Linux it's because the company does not make these available in shops (and never with comparable hardware). It does not even develop or properly maintain the distribution after it said that it got "closely tied up with Microsoft."

Here is another way to put it: "Asus and Microsoft join forces against Linux"

Microsoft and Asus have launched a marketing campaign to encourage netbook users to use Windows rather than Linux.


Watch the counter argument from Glyn Moody, the suggestion that it might be a hoax, and the reality of this situation.

Regardless of the thoughts form the anti-Linux and pro-Linux camps, it appears from the Asus (.co.uk) site that there is a Windows based Eee PC, no where does it say that Asus is replacing the Linux version with Windows (or at least I didn't see it).


Some people hastily jump to the conclusion that ASUS is now an anti-Linux company rather than just a marketing partner of Microsoft (to earn easy cash). But the matter of fact is that ASUS still plans to use Android (Linux) for phones and it has just released the Asus EeeNAS, which runs GNU/Linux only.

Asustek Computer joined other NAS (network attached storage) device makers such as QNAP and Acer by showing off a new NAS that uses Intel's low-power, inexpensive Atom N270 microprocessor.

[...]

EeeNAS has a Linux OS.


So, ASUS did not abandon GNU/Linux. It just got seduced by cash that Microsoft offered in order to shun GNU/Linux. "<vendor> recommends Windows" is a similar paid-for advertisement. This just shows how miserable Microsoft has become. This is a Slog.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

It's a Lot Easier to Participate in the Unethical System Than to Oppose Injustices in It
Going after powerful and high-budget interests is never easy
 
Slopwatch: LLM Sloppers in Google News, LinuxSecurity, and More
they also perpetuate some falsehoods as the LLMs lack any comprehension
Links 08/08/2025: China King of Plastics and US Dictator Plans to Meet Russian Dictator
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: Cracking a Family Member's Password and Overdose of Slop
Links for the day
Red Hat's Latest Talent Hunt, Day Ahead of Mass Layoffs, is Yet Another Microsoft Executive
Red Hat will apparently commence mass layoffs early this coming Monday
Links 08/08/2025: "Quit Facebook" and High Cost of Microsoft/Windows Shown Again ("BlackSuit")
Links for the day
Good Morning, Readers of The Register MS
Things The Register MS could (but does not) cover this morning
Why Gemini Protocol Has a Bright Future
Maybe Gemini Protocol's promise becomes more appealing as the Web turns to slop and bloat
Microsofters Filed Two SLAPPs Against Us, Now They Cannot Keep Up With Judges' Orders
For over 4 months already their facilitator in London has been under investigation by British authorities because of what's being done to my wife and I
Censorship Regarding Red Hat Layoffs
Talk about this? They'd rather not.
Struggling to Cut Costs, Microsoft Continues Shutting Down and Cancelling Stuff This Month
There are August layoffs at Microsoft
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 07, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 07, 2025
Fake 'Linux' Articles, Written by Bots to Take Traffic Away From Real Articles
LLM slop helps replace information with junk or misinformation
When Google's Googlebombing of "Gemini" Was Not Enough; They Now Also Googlebomb "Gemini Space"?
We know GAFAM not only worries about Gemini Protocol but also attempts to 'infiltrate' Geminispace
The Register MS Promotes Microsoft Slop, Assumes All Readers Use Microsoft Windows
Microsoft really dominates the site
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: KDE/Qt Development and What's Missing From "Retro"
Links for the day
Links 07/08/2025: US Punishes India Instead of Russia, Attacks Law Firms to Prevent Scrutiny
Links for the day
Read Us in Geminispace as Well
it's definitely a lot simpler than using a Web browser
Once a Site About BSD and GNU/Linux, and After Months of Silence, LinuxBSDos.com Comes Back Only as a Slopfarm
very frustrating
Links 07/08/2025: Hardware Wars, Mass Recall of Colgate Total Clean Mint, More Microsoft Holes Found
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/08/2025: "Right To Manage" and LoRa Analysis
Links for the day
For the First Time in a Month OSI's "OpenSource.org" Blogs and It's Basically a Microsoft Blog Post (Microsoft Controls OSI)
For the first time in a month OSI writes something and it is Microsoft propaganda composed by a Microsoft-salaried operative
Microsoft, Already Borrowing 3 Billion Dollars a Month, is Trying to Cause Many People to Resign
MSN (i.e. Microsoft) and others openly admit it
GAFAM 'Says' is Front Page "News"
The point of journalism is to check and assess facts, not parrot what people and companies merely claim
Links 07/08/2025: Apple Makes False Promises, More Trouble for Microsoft
Links for the day
OSS Didn't Always Mean Open Source Software
"oligarchs all the way down"
The Register MS Does More Microsoft Sez or GitHub Sez (Says) Pieces
60 minutes ago
They Want Activists to Just Barely Walk and Eat, Not Do Activism Anymore
It's sort of like the ending of '1984'
Quit Perpetuating the Narrative of Gemini Protocol 'Dying' (It's False)
The "whisper campaign" against Gemini Protocol
Criticising Social Control Media in Social Control Media
Many people are quitting Social Control Media (fewer of them announce this in public)
Non-Free JavaScript Programs in Banks Aren't Even the Biggest Problem
Technology was supposed to make life easier; in practice, however, for most of us the opposite effect can be observed
Slopfarms Are Typically Fake News
Slopfarms typically relay falsehoods
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Replacing a Pocket Watch and Buying in Bulk
Links for the day
IBM is Obliterating Fedora
"Fedora releases were shipping with an increasing number of bugs on launch day even while I was using it for a several year stretch."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 06, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 06, 2025
August Hits Microsoft Hard: Dead Divisions, Dead Products, Layoffs Again (on Week 1)
Microsoft's debt is soaring
Slopwatch: Slow Day for LLM Slop, Serial Sloppers Still at It in Their Slopfarms
The Web would be better off if those sites went offline
Red Hat Layoffs Expected in 5 Days (Monday)
"They will announce and proceed with the cuts on 08/11."
Links 06/08/2025: Substack in Trouble, Slop Sceptic Shira Perlmutter Seeks Emergency Injunction Pending Appeal
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Pinephone, Reverse-Engineering, and More
Links for the day
Links 06/08/2025: Faked Values of Slop Companies and Government Bailouts
Links for the day
FOSSY 2025 Conference Safety
The GAFAM-funded FOSSY 2025 is over
Microsoft's Favourite Pay-to-Say 'Analyst' Firm Has Just Collapsed
'Analysts' that helped propel Microsoft to fictional values akin to Ponzi schemes
Ask Google (Jeeves)
What does Google "know", not know, or would rather forget (or embellish)?
They Want You To Talk About Trump or 'The Other Bill' in Relation to Trafficking of Underage Girls for Sexual Exploitation
Just something we wanted to say...
How to Quadruple Your "Goodwill" Value and Grow Your (Wall) Street "Value" From $152B to $4000B Without Producing a Single Successful Product/Service
The longer it goes on for, the bigger the implosion will be
Staying Productive
Two very reputable institutions recently told us they now reckon Microsoft is somehow funding those SLAPPs against us
A Blow for Patent Ambitions of Bill Epsteingate
It's about money
66 Countries Where More People Use iPhones (or iPads) Than Microsoft Windows, According to statCounter Data
a list of countries where iOS now exceeds Windows
Apple's iOS Bigger Than Microsoft Windows in Many Countries
This ought to alarm Microsoft
The Mainstream Media Talks About Spotify Share Price and Price Hikes, Not Its Debt Increasing by About 33% in Just 12 Months
Spotify isn't a company in good shape
New "US Editor for The Register" is 80% Microsoft and Windows
they typically just treat Microsoft like the "Holy Grail" of "IT"
Microsoft is Apparently Sending Gag Orders or NDAs to Staff That Got Laid Off (“We were told not to post on LinkedIn. Not to say anything.”)
The main lies we keep seeing
Richard M. Stallman Has Published AI Memos Since 1980 (45 Years Ago)
Back when the term AI actually meant something
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: BitTorrent and Feedly Bots
Links for the day
Windows All-Time Lows, Android All-Time Highs in Kuwait
New lows for Windows can be found in many countries this month
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 05, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 05, 2025