OVER THE years we have covered Microsoft's financial misconduct, including purchasing of its own stock to create an illusion. The creator of illusions still runs Microsoft and as ITWire put it, it's not really Nadella in charge. He is just a public face, a marketing strategy of sorts. To quote Sam Varghese: "There are two reasons why Nadella (seen above with Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer) will find it difficult to guide the ship. One is bald, ebullient and named Steve Ballmer. The other still has hair, a whiny voice, and is named Bill Gates."

"It is likely to hurt every large company that's accustomed to total domination over users."Another new article from ITWire says that "Tech giant Apple has shocked the stock market, repurchasing US$14 billion worth of its own stock in the last two weeks after disappointing first-quarter results, according to the Wall Street Journal."

Apple -- like Microsoft -- has been suffering from Linux and Android for quite some time. We recently covered the mysterious deletion of Pear OS from the Web, which still makes some people wonder [1]. Given the hostile coverage of Red Star Linux in many pro-Apple sites (it's not over yet [2]), Apple sure worries about the loss of its identity to GNU and Linux. According to [3], Apple is falling behind Android when it comes to hardware and not only Apple is concerned [4]. Google shares some of Apple's concerns [5] (large companies take Android in another direction) and as Android becomes hugely important in the world's largest/most populated nations [6] it seems likely that smears will be needed [7]. The matter of fact is, not only Apple is in jeopardy because of Android players [8]; a lot of the industry seems to be at 'threat' because of this thing called "Free software", which spreads fast and clings onto everything.

As Nokia demonstrates, not every company which claims to be embracing Android is automatically Android's friend. There are several silly articles urging Microsoft to dump Windows and fork Android -- suggestions that are being slammed even by Microsoft boosters right now (no links needed). Then there's Facebook, which is partly owned by Microsoft. The company that auto-uploads photos and gives all data to marketers and the NSA claims to bring "security" to Android phones.

Decentralisation of development is generally a good thing that prevents abuse of power. It is likely to hurt every large company that's accustomed to total domination over users. Examples include Microsoft, Apple, and Google (the Nexus series is a disservice to user, unless it's purchased only for the hardware and then reflashed). ⬆

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. The Case of the Missing OS, or Did Apple Eat Pear?

   
   
   Case in point: Pear OS. One day it's freely available for download, offering a remarkably Mac-like experience that's nevertheless based on Linux. The next day -- specifically, last Monday -- it's gone.





2. Supreme leaders prefer Apple: North Korea’s home-grown Red Star Linux switches to OS X





3. Apple needs to catch Samsung, Amazon in displays, researcher says

   In a research note outlining the leading display technologies in 2014, DisplayMate Technologies Raymond Soneira claims Apple has some catching up to do.





4. Google Is Clamping Down On The Android Open Source Project -- Here's Why

   The proliferation of these forked AOSP Android devices on the mainstream market is harmful to Google’s proprietary mobile services.
   
   Right now, any developer or company can use AOSP to create an alternative Android operating system that cuts Google off from significant OS revenue. Amazon’s Kindle Fire ecosystem is a prominent example. The foundation OS is Android but Amazon developed its own app store, content store, Web browser, and email services, essentially cutting Google out of several of its key services and potential revenue streams.





5. Steve Jobs, Google CEO plotted ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ to keep wages down – report

   Two of the most powerful people in the technology world secretly and perhaps illegally coordinated business strategies in which they agreed not to poach each other’s employees, thereby keeping salaries low, according to emails unveiled in federal court.
   
   Apple founder Steve Jobs and Google CEO Eric Schmidt apparently kept a secret pact to institute a “no-hire” policy in which each executive promised not to recruit each other’s workers. Yet the tech superstars are just two of the business leaders to be implicated in the wink-wink agreement, which reportedly included Google, Apple, Intel, Adobe, Intuit, and Pixar.





6. Android/Linux Is The Most Popular OS In India

   The world should hear that the number one OS for page-views in India is now Android/Linux. Thanks Google, Samsung and all the others that helped this happen. India is being freed from monopoly by Free/Libre Open Source Software and ARMed personal computers.





7. Tim Cook: 'Android is Like Europe', Many Different Things Under One Name

   Apple CEO Tim Cook compared Android to Europe in his wide-ranging interview with The Wall Street Journal yesterday, saying that the PC and mobile platform wars couldn't be compared. Cook said that Android is made up of many different things under one banner, as opposed to Windows which was one uniform platform.





8. Will Amazon destroy the Apple TV with an Android console?

   Today in Open Source: Amazon preps Android gaming and TV console launch for later this year.