Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft's Attack on GNU/Linux Extends to an Attack on Affordable PCs

Woman using a computer



Summary: The latest examples of Microsoft's misbehaviour and harms to the consumer

Microsoft's most successful business model is based on high margins which are further secured by monopolising the licensing of binaries in an area of computing. Microsoft feels threatened by new ways of distributing software, either as services or as Free software that requires no licensing in the commonly-understood sense.



Microsoft has nefarious ways of tackling the GNU/Linux market. One of them is the so-called "Linux tax", which is the reason this Web site came into existence (see Ballmer quote at the bottom). Another way is strangulation of the market, which leads to offering of no choice but Windows. How about this new story from Linux Loop?

Would you like your notebook in pink or with Windows?



[...]

Of course if you don’t want a pink computer, you can of course buy the Insipron 15n, which offers a range of colors. Unfortunatley, you pay an extra $60 or so to have Ubuntu pre-installed. Since the vast majority of potential buyers are tech-savvy and reasonably smart, why wouldn’t they just buy the Windows version and install Ubuntu?

The bottom line: market research fail.


Is this true choice? Or fair competition? Well, as we showed before, Microsoft is trying to destroy sub-notebooks ("netbooks") altogether. There is new evidence, e.g. [1, 2], and also an ongoing antitrust investigation. Microsoft wants to eliminate low-cost PCs, which can't run Windows because it is too bloated by now. Finally we find that "Microsoft plans to use Windows 7 to raise netbook prices," just as anticipated. They also want to rename this form factor.

After publicly advertising the idea that Windows PCs are cheaper than Macs in its "Laptop Hunter" ads, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told an audience of financial analysts that the company's attempts to cut prices of Windows to induce demand in emerging markets had failed over the previous year, and that the solution to the company's woes will be to increase the price of computers.

"The theory was wrong," Ballmer said, explaining that there wasn't enough new demand to make up for the drop in profits. "You’ll see us address the theory. We’re going to readjust those prices north [using Windows 7]."


Here is Intel's latest flirt with Microsoft (they already do some PR for Vista 7). Despite denying it, both Intel and Microsoft suffered from the race to the bottom.

At the Intel Technology Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday, an executive described the imminent mobile future, including a major refresh of Netbook silicon, better-designed "ultrathins," and turbo-powered high-end laptops.


They still try to make sub-notebooks disappear or at least become more pricey (price-fixing). Intel has already been accused of colluding with Microsoft in this particular area and it is known that Vista 7 is too bloated for low-end computing [1, 2]. Watch what other stunts Microsoft is up to (news from the past week):

i. It’ll cost $80 to upgrade a netbook from Windows 7 Starter to Home Premium

Microsoft is giving netbook makers a choice of pre-loading Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Starter Edition on low price netbooks. My guess is that most computer makers will stick with Windows 7 Starter, which will be much cheaper, unless there’s huge demand for a more powerful operating system.


ii. Beware the gotchas in Microsoft Windows 7 upgrade, family pack pricing

On July 31, Microsoft went public with two key pieces of Windows 7 pricing information it had been holding back: The cost of its Family Pack and Anytime Upgrade licenses.


iii. Windows XP to Windows 7: It's Going to Be a Bumpy Ride

The company's decision not to support upgrades from Windows XP is a rare misstep in the Windows 7 delivery process.


iv. Some cheap PCs aren't eligible for free Win 7 upgrade

Many potential buyers of laptops priced under $300 in the U.S. had an unpleasant surprise over the weekend: The machines would not be eligible for a free upgrade to Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 operating system.

Wal-Mart and Best Buy attracted plenty of buyers during a promotional offering of laptops priced under $300. Some of those laptops sold out just one day after the offers began. The prices were respectable considering the generous features, including large screens, better graphics and DVD drives, which are not typically found in most low-cost netbooks.

However, the laptops came preloaded with the Windows Vista Home Basic operating system, which does not include a free upgrade to Windows 7 in the U.S. Instead, consumers will have to shell out about $120 to upgrade the operating system.


As always, Microsoft relies heavily on ignorance. It preys on those who are susceptible to marketing. And speaking of marketing, we've looked at Google News, accumulating items from "Microsoft" feeds for 7 days. Among ~480 headlines, only 3 mention "Vista" (a known product), whereas over 30 mention "Windows 7" (the imaginary). One cannot remark on the imaginary (Vista 7) until it is used by real people, whom Microsoft TEs can't keep up with (silencing dissent by harassing [1, 2, 3, 4]). It was the same story with Vista back in 2006.

Abusing the Poor



Another margin headache Microsoft has been having in developing nations where few people actually pay Microsoft even a penny. Microsoft has been fine with that because it is beneficial to Microsoft in the long term. Things are beginning to change:

Microsoft Corp. will raise some Windows operating system prices in emerging markets, reversing an experiment that cut prices to combat piracy, Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said.


"...to combat piracy," they say. But the real issue they have is competition from GNU/Linux. As Bill Gates put it not so long ago, "It's easier for our software to compete with Linux when there's piracy than when there's not."

Moreover, said Gates on another occasion: “They’ll get sort of addicted [to Microsoft], and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.”

That's precisely what Microsoft is doing in Illinois right now, getting people "sort of addicted" under the guise of charity.

Officials with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) visited the Workforce Network in Peoria Friday to kick of the center's first day distributing free Microsoft computer training vouchers through the "Microsoft Elevate America" program.


We wrote about this a month ago, then mentioned it again one week later. Microsoft turned the State of Illinois into some kind of a Microsoft training camp.

"If anybody thinks open-source alternatives are free, I guess as they say, you can see me after class. [...] I will tell you that in any comparison that you would do of Windows with Linux, which is an open-source alternative, we will prove to you that when it comes to total cost of ownership our stuff is more economical, whether it’s the other patent-licensing costs that you might have to pay to use open-source software, which is kind of a big unknown right now [...]"

--Steve Ballmer soon after the patent deal with Novell



Recent Techrights' Posts

The "Luddite" Complex
Sometimes simplest is best and sometimes "modern" is designed not with the buyers' interest in mind
SCO's Darl McBride Dead at Age 64
There's hardly any information about it, except we know he reached bankruptcy and 3 years later he died at a relatively young age
[Meme] Python Knows Its Bosses
Microsoft strings attached
[Meme] Debt of About $20 Per Active User
Facebook isn't laying off tens of thousands for "efficiency" but for survival
 
Gemini Links 02/11/2024: Petscop, Jokes, and RetroChallenge
Links for the day
Links 02/11/2024: Temu EU Probe and Shorts Trademark
Links for the day
The 'Turning-Free-Code-Proprietary Foundation' (Linux/Microsoft Foundation)
LF will basically become just as sinister as its corporate sponsors
Python Software Foundation is 'Cancel Culture' Rehomed
Python isn't grassroots and it doesn't really tolerate grassroots
DeVault "Closes Down His Mailing Lists Every Time There's a Scandal" and Also Censors Messages
Censorious code hosting platform
What Social Control Media Really Is
Social Control Media, in a nutshell, isn't just bad if its controller is some foreign or hostile nation
Taking Ethics Lectures From Drew
Projection tactics
Links 02/11/2024: Facebook Stock Falls (Soaring Debt), Apple’s Quarterly Profit Down
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/11/2024: Burnout, Emacs Bookmarks, and Smooth Migration
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, November 01, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, November 01, 2024
Facebook's Debt Has Soared to All-Time High of Nearly 50 Billion Dollars
But the corporate media pretends all is well (while mass layoffs continue and slop takes over the social control media)
Geminispace Makes It Past 4,200 Capsules on November 1st
At last!
Links 01/11/2024: Election Interferences by X/Twitter/Musk, Strava as Espionage Tool
Links for the day
The October 2024 Web Server Survey Shows a Further Collapse for Microsoft in the Servers Market
Microsoft experienced the next largest loss of 699,464 sites (-3.45%)
Gemini Links 01/11/2024: TLS Sucks, twytere.com Announced
Links for the day
Links 01/11/2024: Few Things Are Cheaper Than This Antenna and "Nothing Lasts Forever"
Links for the day
Technology: rights or responsibilities? - Part V
By Dr. Andy Farnell
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 31, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, October 31, 2024
R.T.O. is Another Name (or Acronym) for Voluntary Layoffs
Amazon is trying to get many workers to leave on their own
Microsoft's Acquisition of Activision (to Fake Revenue Growth by Buying Revenue) Was a Failure
Of course the mass layoffs at Microsoft aren't just a Microsoft thing
Stagnant, Shrinking Businesses and "IBM's Corporate Culture Since the Late 1980s... Over 35 Years."
Recently, IBM was using share price as a talking point, insisting the company was doing OK while tens of thousands were being laid off
Links 01/11/2024: World News, Political Catchup
Links for the day
[Meme] Probably the Worst Possible Time to Get Information From Social Control Media
Musk does not want to prevent disinformation from spreading and the same is true for Facebook and TikTok; they have their own interests
Update on Litigation Against the European Patent Office (EPO) at the ILO Administrative Tribunal (ILOAT)
Rewards and compensation for staff have long fallen, resulting in many experienced colleagues leaving and causing further declines in quality and compliance
Gemini Links 31/10/2024: NNCP, Declutter the Web, Cost of Community
Links for the day
Links 31/10/2024: Supermicro Plummets 33%, Block and Dropbox Mass Layoffs
Links for the day
Links 31/10/2024: Environmental Anxiety, Profound Changes in Hardware Market
Links for the day
Links 30/10/2024: TSMC Concerns and North Koreans in Ukraine War
Links for the day
Facebook is for Zombies
Social control media is for fools
Microsoft Now Has $235,290,000,000 in Liabilities, They Grow Over Time in Spite of Mass Layoffs (So Expect More Layoffs)
expect more mass layoffs
Links 31/10/2024: DST Woes, War Updates, Amazon RTO Backlash
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/10/2024: Attention Economy and Gemlogs
Links for the day
Happy Halloween
October is nearly over
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 30, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 30, 2024
For the Record: Linux is Controlled by the United States of America
"This is going to make many question the openness and inclusivity of the work done by Linux Foundation"
Microsoft: XBox Hardware Revenues Down About 30% (Ignore the Buzzwords and Activision Activity Dressed Up as "XBox")
For context, in a previous quarter XBox hardware sales were down by about 50%
Cooking the Books With "Cloud" And "AI" Was Not Enough to Fool Microsoft Investors
"Microsoft Shares Drop on Disappointing Azure Growth Forecast"