Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Office Loses Credibility Due to i4i Lawsuit, Motorola Dumps Office

Motorola mobile



Summary: As Microsoft struggles to keep Office in the market, Google seizes the opportunity and poaches big customers

IN PREVIOUS posts about the i4i case we showed that not patents alone were the issue. Microsoft befriended a company for the sole purpose of taking a look at its portfolio and then eliminating it through imitation and bundling [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. As Mr. Updegrove points out, so many articles were published about the subject (Microsoft is now appealing urgently), but his thoughts on the subject are thought provoking, so here are some portions of interest:



The other reason I haven't yet written is equally simple: the latest skirmish that i4i won in Texas really doesn't matter very much.

Huh? Then why, you may fairly ask, are we reading so many breathless articles (3,227, by the Google News count as of this moment in time), speculating on the consequences and opportunities that will follow when the sixty days runs out under the Texas judgment, and Office disappears from the shelves of the U.S. retail world? Isn't Office Suite Life As We Know It about to end?

Well, no. Sorry. The key of course, is that patents in general, and the i4i patent as well, are all about money. Whether or not Microsoft's emergency appeal to lift the Judge's order barring it from selling Office with Word as currently configured (i.e., with the specific offending XML capability included upon which the i4i suit focuses) is successful, I'll wager you that no one will have any more trouble buying Office the day after the 60 day pendancy period runs out than they did before. That's because the key to the solution is also all about money, calculated under three alternate paths.

[...]

1. What about the "New Microsoft?" For some time now, Microsoft has been saying that it has grown up, leaving its Bad Boy adolescent behavior behind. One element of that bad behavior was getting small companies to open their technological kimonos to give Microsoft a peek, in hopes of getting an advantageous business relationship, only to find that Microsoft instead knocked off their technology, including it for free in a Microsoft product, and putting the little companies out of business, or close to it. That's what i4i says happened here, and the judge agreed. So much for the New Microsoft.


Over at Groklaw, Jones writes: "I have a suggestion for you, so you can test his words out: search through Ecma's OOXML standard for yourself, and I believe you'll find it refers to "customXML" over 1000 times. The article goes on to state that i4i examined OpenOffice and found it doesn't infringe their patent."

The blogger at Google Watch says that advantage is being taken by Google.

Don't think that Google and other providers of word processing software aren't watching the Microsoft vs. i4i case with interest.


Unrelated to the above court ruling, it turns out that Motorola has dumped Microsoft Office for Google Apps.

Business Insider reports that Motorola ’s Mobile Devices Division (a.k.a mobile phone division) will be replacing some Microsoft Office services with Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Apps as the company’s collaboration/communication platform . The move will net Google another 20,000 users of its enterprise Google Apps service, and should help lower Motorola’s operating costs.


This is covered in some other places and there are more such stories on their way. Last month it happened in the New Zealand Post and Slayton lied about it, but this time around she actually defends Google Apps. There are pros and cons to Fog Computing, but as long as Google Apps can export documents as ODF (which is can), then lock-in is minimal. Regarding privacy, given the many back doors in Microsoft products, it's not as though Microsoft Office offered much privacy, either. This issue is therefore off the table. Regarding downtime/uptime (in the context of SaaS), prospective customers should ask themselves how much downtime is caused by a virus infection in Windows/Office. More to the point -- how much labour and compromise does the latter type of downtime entail?

Recent Techrights' Posts

Slopwatch: Plagiarism and Ponzi Scheme, Bubble About to Burst Entirely, Admits Goldman Sachs
the hype that Google News and The Register MS actively participate and profit from
The Register MS Says "AI Web Crawlers Are Destroying Websites", So Why Does The Register MS Help 'AI' Companies? (Spoiler: Money)
People need to call out The Register MS on its hypocrisy
Slopfarms Already Peaked, They Will Die When Slop Companies Run Out of Money to Borrow
slopfarms will lack an actual "engine"
Why We Publish Information About the SLAPPs (But Not About the Legal Process), an Abuse of Process by Americans Trying to Silence Critics of Their Employer, Microsoft
It doesn't take thousands of pages to explain something simple
 
Telecompaper Reports Microsoft to Reduce the Workforce by Another 10% (in France)
Imagine what this will do to staff's morale
Microsoft in Freefall in Finland
Can Finland eradicate Windows from all its infrastructure, including core operations that are sensitive to sabotage by cracking?
Google's Chrome Passes 70% and Web Standards Are Dying
The Web is quickly becoming devoid of any standards
India is Back to Windows 8 (Market Share Down to 8%) as Android Soars to a New Record High
For Microsoft, India is a runaway market
Links 02/09/2025: SCO Summit and Russia Suspected Of Jamming GPS
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/09/2025: Mediterranean Marriage and Staying Connected at 35,000 Feet
Links for the day
Links 02/09/2025: Attacks on Unions, Microsoft TCO, and DDoSing a Growing Problem
Links for the day
Internet Relay Chat Didn't Fall Off a Cliff
IRC will turn 40 in less than 3 years from now
The UEFI 9/11 - Part V - This is Not a Drill (Disable "SecureBoot" Now)
A "9/11" Coming
There's No Obligation to Speak to Anybody
The very fact that "bkuhn" is till spending time in social control media says a lot about his poor judgment
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 01, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 01, 2025
Microsoft Trying to Force People to Resign (Amid Mass Layoffs) a Strategy That Takes Its Toll
Microsoft seems to be circling down the drain and the "final flush" will be the moment the "hey hi" (AI) bubble implodes completely
Google Simply Cannot Be Trusted
Only fools would trust GAFAM
Admission That a Third Party (or Parties) Funds the SLAPPs Against Techrights
This can end up costing them over a million dollars
Modifying and Writing One's Own Computer Programs is Not a Crime (or: Google Proves That Stallman Was Right)
We're generally gratified to see so many positive mentions of him
Why We Stopped Publishing Videos (for Now)
We'll probably get back to videos one day, but it's hard to say when or to what extent
What Animal Rights Activism Teaches Us About Sympathy and Focus
It's possible to believe that the planet is warming, that we must do something about it, and still eat eggs and butter
When You Turn Web Sites About Tech Into Political Sites
A lot of people fall into the trap of catering only for particular groups
Gemini Links 02/09/2025: ROOPHLOCH 2025 and Lagrange 1.19 Released
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: News Corp. WSJ and A Month With NixOS
Links for the day
“Sideloading” Never Killed Anybody
There are many online discussions this week about the misnomer "sideloading"
Slopwatch: Google News as FUD Vector Against Linux and Plagiarism Enhancer, Serial Slopper (SS) Uses LLMs to Googlebomb "Linux"
Slop destroys the Web not just by screwing with search engines and helping plagiarists. It's also responsible for de facto DDoS attacks...
Links 01/09/2025: "Attacks on Science" and China's "Soft Power" Grows
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Fresh Backlash Against Slop and "Norway’s Electricity Crisis is About to Hit Britain"
Links for the day
Writing and Coding Isn't Always Enough
Last year we had to assume a role we didn't have before: litigants
Links 01/09/2025: Catching Up (Mostly via Deutsche Welle), "Windows TCO" Effect in UK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: Linguistic Barriers and "Web 1.0 Hosting"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 31, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 31, 2025
Autumn Has Come
Autumn should be exciting in all sorts of ways; it'll also mark our anniversary
The UEFI 9/11 - Part IV - External Interference
They all seem to be playing a role in crushing Software Freedom and self-determination for users
Links 31/08/2025: Baggage Claim Scams, an Insurrectionist’s War on Culture, and a Sudden Robotics Hype
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/08/2025: Reviewing Netsurf and Slightly Less Historic Ada Design
Links for the day
IBM Has Taken Control of GNOME
Don't expect a successor to be found any time soon
Links 31/08/2025: Google Gmail Data Breach and LF Puff Pieces for Pay
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 30, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 30, 2025
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago