Summary: The 'cloud' mindset, which is promoted by surveillance fanatics, increasingly used to pretend that Microsoft has a bright future, despite declining sales

When Microsoft can no longer sell Windows and Office (its cash cows) all it will have left to sell is people's private data, even Skype audio/chats/video. That's what the vision of 'cloud' seems to be about: subscription (infinitely-recurring payments) and data (with no true promise of privacy).

Yesterday we noted that some IDG journalists are actually Microsoft staff and some are Microsoft MVPs, like this so-called 'journalist' who keeps promoting (advertising) Microsoft 'cloud' (Matt Weinberger does the same thing in other sites). One 'analyst' (like Gartner or IDC, but financial) went as far as hyping up Azure to upgrade Microsoft, using the ludicrous claim (among others) that "Microsoft embraces linux", despite Microsoft obviously hating Linux. Recall the series below:

• Microsoft Hates Linux - Part I - The UEFI Attack on GNU/Linux
• Microsoft Hates Linux - Part II - Patent Lawsuits Against Android/Linux Still Going On, New Ones Filed
• Microsoft Hates Linux - Part III - Abducting the Competition (Android)
• Microsoft Hates Linux - Part IV - Deleting, Attacking Android/Linux From Within
• Microsoft Hates Linux - Part V - Dumping and Surveillance to Counter GNU/Linux Insurgence
• Microsoft Hates Linux - Part VI - Propaganda Wars Against Free Software Facilitated While Media Control is Secured and Abused

Anyone choosing to run GNU/Linux on the NSA-friendly platform called Azure is asking or begging to be snooped on. What would customers say? Microsoft's love of surveillance is well documented. The whole 'cloud' nonsense works well for Microsoft and those claiming that Microsoft will do well "because cloud" are either ignorant or bribed.

Yesterday we found Vista 10 ads (in article form) in the Microsoft-friendly media because they must pretend that Microsoft matters in mobile and that Windows is free or something along those lines. Microsoft's mouthpiece can't help spreading the lie that Vista 10 will be 'free' (Microsoft admits it's "marketing", i.e. lie). Gartner has been among those promoting the 'free' Vista 10 lie.

Microsoft is simply unable to compete with free (freedom and gratis), so now it pretends that it can devour all of GNU/Linux (in Azure) or that somehow reducing the cost of Windows and moving to a subscription model will magically work out. This is utter nonsense. Only a drunk analyst, an incompetent analyst, or a bribed analyst can claim such a thing. ⬆