12.12.15
Microsoft is Getting Utterly Desperate
These paid-for ads (from my timeline) show just how low Microsoft has stooped
Summary: An overview of Microsoft’s strategy as of late, including the plot to devour the competition (e.g. GNU/Linux in servers)
THIS MONTH (and in previous months too) I spoke to someone from Microsoft and learned about more layoffs, which the company is apparently trying quite hard to hide from the media (and the public). I was apparently not supposed to know about this. Microsoft is saving face.
The severity of the problems inside Microsoft is sometimes only known to insiders. A few days ago Microsoft’s friends at the BBC covered the XBox disaster. XBox has lost a lot of money over the years (Microsoft knows how to hide the losses) and now, according to this BBC report: “Encryption keys that secure Xbox Live accounts have been “inadvertently disclosed”, Microsoft has said.
“Microsoft is saving face.”“The keys in question are designed to be kept private so they can guarantee the authenticity of a digital certificate, invoked when users connect to xboxlive.com.”
Who would ever trust Microsoft for security? IDG’s Grimes (who is a Microsoft employee masquerading as journalist) is supposed to be a Microsoft security expert, but in this new article of his he deflects by speaking of an “almost foolproof way to check for malware”. “Yes,” iophk told us sarcastically, “if it is running Windows then it has / is malware” (increasingly the case with Vista 10, which is malware by definition).
Microsoft is having a lot of problems right now, both with security (giving the NSA back doors contributes to this) and with getting people to install malware like Vista 10 on their PCs. Hence the aggressive push, financial incentives, and ridiculous marketing (see above). Microsoft is clearly losing it; the common carrier/monopoly is dying, so Microsoft tries FORCING people to use spyware/malware (see this new article titled “Microsoft may ‘automatically upgrade’ Windows 7 and 8.x to W10″). Microsoft is literally trying to infect people’s PCs with malware — Microsoft’s own malware, complete with a keylogger that broadcasts people’s passwords for example. If it wasn’t Microsoft behind such a software plot, police forces would come at daytime, raid their offices, and put in handcuffs engineers and managers who created such malicious software, then forcibly spread it to many PCs.
“Who would ever trust Microsoft for security?”Microsoft is in a very bad state, no matter how much it pays the media (via PR agencies) to claim otherwise. Even Mac Asay does marketing for Microsoft on the face of it, but all these claims about a Microsoft recovery overlook the massive losses, the stock buybacks, and many other factors. Even a Microsoft booster from IDG (IDG employs many such boosters, including some on Microsoft’s payroll) is willing to acknowledge that quality of Microsoft’s software patched is basically low. “Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday update KB 3114409,” he explained, “intended to help admins keep Outlook 2010 from starting in safe mode, has in fact done the opposite. Many Outlook 2010 customers report that installing KB 3114409 forces Outlook to start in safe mode.”
Microsoft loses not just in phones and on the desktop. Its share in active sites keeps declining based on the latest figures from Netcraft. No wonder the company is now trying to devour GNU/Linux; it’s losing… well, everything. “See the chart at the end on “market share of computers”,” iophk told us, “and note that IIS has a worse than 1:1 ratio of sites to hardware while Apache and nginx have a better than 1:1 ratio.”
“Microsoft loses not just in phones and on the desktop.”Microsoft will definitely do whatever it can to force ‘upgrades’ to the latest spyware from Microsoft, not just Windows (which is now malware). As The Register put it yesterday: “Microsoft is advising Windows users to update their browsers ahead of a new policy that will see some versions of Internet Explorer no longer supported.
“The Redmond software giant said that beginning January 12, 2016, it will only support the newest version of its browser available in each operating system.”
People don’t need Internet Explorer. It is still a very low quality Web browser and it is spying on users’ browsing habits and more. Firefox does not do this.
“Microsoft’s history serves as a warning sign and the company still attacks Linux with patents.”Microsoft’s booster Todd Bishop, in this older bit of spin, tries to equate Google to Microsoft. “Google has jumped the shark,” iophk told us regarding this article, but the views of a person or two (Google hired some people from Microsoft) hardly represent Google’s views as a company.
One should proceed with caution amid Microsoft’s demise because the company is now trying to just devour the winner, which is GNU/Linux. See the news about ARTIK below [1] and also the Linux Foundation relationship, in [2-23] below (links not already mentioned in our daily news). We have already responded to the Linux Foundation's approach, which is risky. Microsoft’s history serves as a warning sign and the company still attacks Linux with patents. █
Related/contextual items from the news:
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ARTIK is Now Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT
ARTIK, the Internet of Things (IoT) Samsung hardware platform has had some very Interesting developments recently, it is now Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT! This translates to the ARTIK 5 and ARTIK 10 boards being tested for readiness, compatibility, and usability with the Microsoft Azure IoT Suite.
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Microsoft’s week: Final Patch Tuesday for 2015, open source Chakra engine and Linux certification for Azure
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Microsoft and Linux Foundation Create ‘Linux on Azure’ Cert Program
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Microsoft offers new certification for Linux on Azure
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Microsoft offers Linux certification. Do not adjust your set. This is not an error
The new Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) Linux on Azure teaches you how to do Linux on Azure by making you do an Azure course and a Linux course.
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Linux Foundation and Microsoft Partner on New Azure Cloud Certification
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Microsoft and Linux are offering a joint certification for Azure
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Microsoft continues to embrace Linux with new Azure certification
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Microsoft and Linux Foundation Create ‘Linux on Azure’ Cert Program
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Linux Foundation and Microsoft offer new Azure certification program
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Microsoft announces Azure certification program for Linux
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Microsoft Partners With Linux Foundation On Azure Certification
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Microsoft introduces new Certification for Azure on Linux
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Microsoft readies Linux on Azure certification
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Microsoft Adds Linux Certification For Azure
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Microsoft introduces Linux certification
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Microsoft is now offering Linux on Azure certification once you pass two exams
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Now Linux will be available on Azure Certification as announced by Microsoft
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This Is Not Your Or Bill Gate’s Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
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Microsoft further embraces Linux with IT professional certification for Azure
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Microsoft to offer a Linux-based cert for Azure admins
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Microsoft Announces Linux on Azure Certification
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Microsoft embraces Linux with Azure certification
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