Summary: A look at the reality behind today’s Microsoft and what proponents of Microsoft (often connected to the company) want us to believe

THE aggressive company which is widely hated/loathed (and deserves this hatred, which is well earned based on its actions) just can’t help doing evil. Those who try hard to convince themselves that Microsoft has changed must not have noticed that the management is virtually the same and the company continues to operate like a death squad, attempting to prematurely destroy anything which resembles potent competition, based on suspicion alone.

“Those who try hard to convince themselves that Microsoft has changed must not have noticed that the management is virtually the same and the company continues to operate like a death squad, attempting to prematurely destroy anything which resembles potent competition, based on suspicion alone.”Several years ago we explained what Microsoft was hoping to achieve when it took over Skype (soon thereafter to enter NSA’s PRISM, right after Microsoft which was the first in the whole programme and had already provided back doors to the NSA for over a decade). Recently we saw Skype support for GNU/Linux (which was handed over to Microsoft) gradually being withdrawn and this new thread in Reddit says that “Microsoft is lobbying the Indian government to link peoples’ National IDs with their Skype calling” (no source to verify this with).

Microsoft has turned Windows into something as privacy-hostile as Skype itself, if not a lot worse. With Skype, for example, Microsoft spies on people’s private conversations and even follows links; in Vista 10 Microsoft has a keylogger, which spies on everything (even password typing) in real time. Vista 10 should be made illegal, as it is clearly malicious software and should be treated as such. Ironically enough, Microsoft is almost trying to make it impossible not to use Vista 10 and despite that, as Vista 10 infection rates are increasing, very few people actually use this ‘free’ (so-called ‘bargain’) piece of malware. As one report put it, “Windows 10: less than 15 per cent of those who can upgrade have bothered” and “The big question is whether Microsoft will hit the 20 per cent mark by the time the free offer is over.”

“Microsoft has turned Windows into something as privacy-hostile as Skype itself, if not a lot worse.”This is a disastrous result given the way Microsoft fooled and bamboozled people into installing it, even using malware tactics. According to some reports, Microsoft has just made it virtually impossible not to use this malware (one must supply an ‘upgrade’ date) and anyone who still thinks there’s a ‘new Microsoft’ must be either very gullible or bribed.

This new article, “Microsoft Meets Open Source,” is based on a Big Lie. It is not hard to see that Microsoft is attacking FOSS (Open Source), but this site is doing too many sponsored ‘articles’ (advertisements) these days, such as this one (see disclosure). We expect a lot of the usual Microsoft apologists to pretend Microsoft is fine and dandy and indeed, looking at the company’s boosters, we see exactly what’s expected. Microsoft Peter, for instance, continues to attack FOSS using Oracle’s lies. As iophk put it, “now Microsoft has spoken” (alluding to Peter, who very often relays the company’s positions) and given Microsoft’s propaganda sites’ effort to ‘Linuxwash’ SQL Server (also openwashing it, referring to Microsoft’s own employees/mouthpieces), we identify the old strategy which is to associate SQL Server (among other such pieces of proprietary software) with FOSS.

“We expect a lot of the usual Microsoft apologists to pretend Microsoft is fine and dandy and indeed, looking at the company’s boosters, we see exactly what’s expected.”Don’t fall for it. Some people do, but others have been falling for it for a number of years. Sam Dean, who works for a media company that has been receiving Microsoft money to embed propaganda within the articles (and got caught), is still promoting Microsoft proprietary software and repeats the Big Lie, starting with: “According to more and more people, Microsoft may have finally, truly warmed up to Linux and open source. CEO Satya Nadella (shown) has been much in the news for his comments on how he “loves Linux” and he has noted that much of the Azure cloud platform is Linux-based.”

That’s nonsense. It’s a media strategy which we explained before. What is the ‘real Microsoft’, which one might call the ‘new Microsoft’? It’s hardly any better than a patent troll. As Richi Jennings put it the other day in his IDG headline, “Xiaomi feeds Microsoft patent troll — pays patent toll” (Jennings quotes various comments about it).

“What is the ‘real Microsoft’, which one might call the ‘new Microsoft’? It’s hardly any better than a patent troll.”This article quotes Mary Jo Foley (a longtime Microsoft mouthpiece) as saying: “Microsoft is both continuing to collect patent royalties from Android [and defending] antitrust charges in China. … Some outlets are saying Xiaomi “bought” these patents [not] licensed them.”

We wrote about this the other day, noting that this came from Microsoft -- not Xiaomi -- and Xiaomi paid Microsoft for patents. Here is what the patent propagandists have said over at IAM: “Whichever way you look at it, the deal between Microsoft and Xiaomi which was announced earlier this week has to go down as one of the most significant of the year so far. There are the terms of the deal itself – Xiaomi gets 1,500 patents from the software giant’s global portfolio, Microsoft gets Office and Skype pre-installed on Xiaomi’s Android phones and tablets and the two sides put in place a cross-licence (which it’s probably safe to say is more valuable to the Chinese company).”

“What kind of drug does one have to take to believe Microsoft is a friend?”IAM, which is funded by patent trolls, has always been so Microsoft-friendly that it makes one wonder. Even its Web site, unusually enough, is Windows-powered (in 2016!) and another new article about Xiaomi says that “Xiaomi absorbs patent fund operator Zhigu as it re-shuffles IP team”. This too mentions the Microsoft extortion: “Yesterday, this blog covered a major deal between Xiaomi and Microsoft that saw the Chinese company acquire 1,500 patents along with a cross-licence. While the financial details are unknown, the fact that Xiaomi is now likely among the top 200 or so holders of US patents has to be seen as a coup for the smartphone startup. It also comes just three months after some big changes to its relatively young IP function.”

The bottom line is, Microsoft spreads malware, it spreads it forcibly, it lies about its proprietary software being “open” and it goes after the “open” rivals (such as Android) using software patents. What kind of drug does one have to take to believe Microsoft is a friend? █

Summary: In spite of malware-inspired tactics that should land Microsoft in courts of law all around the world (as a defendant), Microsoft-friendly circles pretend that the company fights for people’s rights like privacy — all this when Microsoft installs keyloggers on people’s PCs without their consent and obviously against their will

“Microsoft fights for your privacy” should sound as perverse as “BP fights for the environment” (or puppies) and “the Mafia fights for justice,” but in spite of Microsoft’s close relationship with the NSA some rights groups help Microsoft with the latest publicity stunt or show trial. One Microsoft booster even chose the hilarious headline “Microsoft is going in to bat for your privacy” (after all that Microsoft has done against people’s privacy, overtly and aggressively).

Microsoft Jack, in his typical Microsoft-promoting fashion, answers (or claims to answer) 10 quick questions about installing Windows 10 (he means Vista 10, which is technically malware) in light of the latest controversy over Microsoft’s resort to malware tactics (where X means "yes"). “Microsoft won’t back down from Windows 10 nagware ‘trick’,” said the British press two days ago:

Microsoft is hurt and disappointed that people would think it was trying to “trick” them with a confusing Windows 10 upgrade dialog that scheduled an upgrade without users explicitly agreeing to do so.

Redmond recently created a new Windows 10 nagware reminder that presented a dialog asking you to install the OS. But if users clicked the red “X” to close the dialog – standard behaviour for dispelling a dialog without agreeing to do anything – Microsoft took that as permission for the upgrade.

Nobody in Microsoft has been put on trial, as usual, for reasons we explained before. The following day we saw the Microsoft-friendly BBC (lots of former Microsoft UK staff now run it) writing about “Microsoft U-turn on ‘nasty trick’ pop-up” (they even put scare quotes around nasty trick). To quote:

Microsoft has u-turned over changes it made to a pop-up encouraging users to upgrade to Windows 10.

Users were angry that clicking the cross to dismiss the box meant that they had agreed to the upgrade.

Based on “customer feedback”, Microsoft said that it had added another notification that provided customers with “an additional opportunity for cancelling the upgrade”.

The pop-up design had been described as a “nasty trick”.

Microsoft told the BBC it had modified the pop-up two weeks ago as a result of criticism: “We’ve added another notification that confirms the time of the scheduled upgrade and provides the customer an additional opportunity for cancelling or rescheduling the upgrade.

How many people have been ‘tricked’ into installing this malware on their PC/s? When if ever will there be a class action lawsuit? Who has been held accountable? Will Microsoft claim ‘triumph’ for Vista 10 because it forced several more millions of people to have this malware installed against their will? When will people finally realise that Microsoft is not an ordinary company but a company that cheats, bribes, deceives, and so on? █

“The government is not trying to destroy Microsoft, it’s simply seeking to compel Microsoft to obey the law. It’s quite revealing that Mr. Gates equates the two.”

–Government official

Albert Gonzalez is in prison, but Microsoft executives are too big to jail. Photo: U.S. Secret Service/US Attorney for New Jersey

Summary: Microsoft is essentially taking over people’s PCs and installing on them a large piece of malware, complete with keyloggers, against the will of these PCs’ owners

WHAT is the difference between Vista 10 and malware? Quite frankly, we can’t tell anymore. Windows is no longer just the host of state-developed malware like Stuxnet; it is itself malware, as per definition.

Days ago we wrote about further escalation of Vista 10's aggressive tactics and now it gets even worse, confirming what we mentioned earlier this week:

Once again, Microsoft has been caught out putting the security of its users at risk, by employing what has been described as a “nasty trick” to force an upgrade to Windows 10.

A BBC report said that the company had now changed the functionality of the pop-up that was used to encourage users to upgrade to Windows 10.

The red X at the right-hand top corner is normally used to close the pop-up, but the BBC said now clicking there activated the upgrade, rather than closing the pop-up.

One can only avoid the upgrade when another pop-up appears at the time scheduled on the first pop-up. The instructions provided by Microsoft are not exactly simple and will take up a fair amount of time.

Note that the instructions blithely say: “When you close this pop up, your PC will upgrade at the scheduled time,” as though closing a pop-up normally results in the activity specified therein running to conclusion!

“Better option is to upgrade to GNU/Linux,” iophk told us. “Mint is a good starter distro.”

Worth repeating is this assertion: if Microsoft was not so well connected in government, given it a sense of immunity, Vista 10 tactics would land people who developed it in prison (there are other reasons for this), or at least in courtrooms all around the world. █

Summary: It’s not just Windows for phones that’s reaching minuscule market share levels but also Windows, but Microsoft is skilled at hiding this (cannibalising Windows using something people do not even want, then counting that cannibal, Vista 10)

THE REASON why Microsoft is not being covered here as much as before is that it’s not as relevant. Right now even Microsoft’s and Bill Gates’ friends at Gartner admit that Windows Phone market share is approaching 0%. Rumours we have been hearing suggest that Windows Phone will be called off and die not too long from now. Even Microsoft’s biggest fans (some of whom pretend to be journalists) have dumped Windows Phone (usually in favour of Android). We didn’t write about it when it happened because we worry more about what Microsoft intends to do with its patents (recall IBM) as its business is reduced to rubble.

“Rumours we have been hearing suggest that Windows Phone will be called off and die not too long from now.”For those who have not seen or heard the news, “Windows Phone market share falls below one percent”, according to a Microsoft-connected firm. As iophk put it: “Market share or sales? The numbers might be lower still.” They probably are. To quote CBS: “Microsoft’s Windows Phone may not be long for this world. Although the first quarter of 2016 saw a 3.9 percent increase in global smartphone sales year-on-year, Windows Phone saw a nearly 2 percent drop in sales. According to the latest Gartner report, Windows Phone sales went from 2.5 percent and 8.27 million units in Q1 2015 to 0.7 percent and 2.4 million units in Q1 2016.”

Glyn Moody cites this as proof that Microsoft won’t come back to greatness (in the market share sense) any time soon, or ever. Here is another article about it, this one titled “Windows Phone market share sinks below 1 percent” (also from a Gates-connected source). There are even more pessimistic reports in other places. FOSS proponent Sam Varghese notes that “Android sales were the highest (84.1%).” We have intentionally chosen Microsoft-friendly sources so as to show just how serious the problem is. Even the Microsoft choir cannot spin its way out of it.

“Microsoft’s Vista 10 installs itself without consent, still.”On the desktop, Microsoft is forcing people to use what Microsoft tells them to have, basically by hijacking people’s PCs. As the Bill Gates-funded The Guardian has just put it, “Microsoft has ruined my day, and possibly my life” (article by Michele Hanson). the summary says: “An unwanted software update has moved my files, broken my printer and stopped the sound on iPlayer” (which was originally notoriously Microsoft-friendly, as we noted over the years).

“Microsoft is in shambles.”As a matter of preference and priority, we don’t write much about Vista 10 anymore, but we keep hearing new stories about forced ‘upgrades’. For instance, “yesterday,” said one person, “Microsoft updated to windows 10 without my consent…” [1, 2]. Microsoft’s Vista 10 installs itself without consent, still. The solution? Goodbye Windows, hello GNU/Linux. Much to our disgust, Microsoft continues to exploit the “Linux” brand in its miserable effort to whitewash Vista 10, based on what Microsoft published yesterday. Is this whole provocative charade not over yet? Microsoft does not love Linux, it just realises that now, as Chromebooks outsell Apple-branded PCs, GNU/Linux is the growing/huge force not only in mobile (tablet/phones) but also on the desktop (or laptop rather). Microsoft does not love Linux and it does not love FOSS either. Yesterday, for instance, we learned of yet another case of Microsoft censorship [1] because someone dared to suggest making Visual Basic FOSS upon its 25^th anniversary [2].

Microsoft is in shambles. To use Elop’s words (from that infamous memo), Microsoft’s operating systems are now “burning platforms”. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. Visual Basic Reaches 25th Birthday – Microsoft Censors Campaign To Open Source VB6

2. Microsoft marks Visual Basic’s 25th birthday, kicks off marathon celebration

The attached screen capture shows what the update procedure looks like.

On 19 May 2016:

The update utility showing KB3122862

The official Microsoft info on KB3122862

What third parties are saying [1, 2]. The previous attempt to dump Win10 on my machine was less than a fortnight ago, on 7 May 2016

The second update is this time classified as
“important” rather than “optional”.

Uh oh, time to grab the barge pole…

Another “innocuous” sounding update on 8 April 2016.

And on 13 April 2016, there were a lot of updates, no Win10 stuff, but I had to go through them one by one to check that nothing sneaky was included.

I’m almost ready to make the switch to Linux but it’s more complicated than I thought, I’m running into technical problems which I don’t really want to have to deal with, e.g. video drivers. I’ve been getting familiar with OpenSUSE for the last few years, and reviewed many other distributions. I’ll stay away from Ubuntu as they seem to be in bed with Microsoft, and after I looked into the other choices (Mint, Debian, Fedora), I’ll stick with the devil I know. █

2016-04-06

Mike Gerwitz <mtg@gnu.org>

Ha estado habiendo much charla alrededor de una combinación única: GNU—elel completamente free/libresistema operativo —y Microsoft Windows—el sistema de vigilancia másivo que NIEGA la libertad , controla al usuario. También ha habido una gran cantidad de información engañosa. Me gustaría compartir mis pensamientos.
Antes de que podamos discutir esta materia, necesitamos clarificar la terminología: Tenemos un free/libre sistema operativo llamado GNU. Usualmente, usado con la Linux kernel, y es en su conjunto llamado GNU/Linux (or GNU+Linux) sistema operativo. Pero eso no siempre fué el caso. Por ejemplo, GNU puede ejecutárse en su propia kernel (núcleo), El GNU Hurd (GNU/Hurd). Puede ser ejecutado en un sistema con una BSD kernel (e.g. GNU/kFreeBSD). Pero ahora, tenemos una situación en la que tomamos a GNU/Linux, removemos Linux, y añadimos en su lugar una Windows kernel. Esta combinación es referida como GNU/kWindows (GNU con la Windows kernel añadida).ⁱ
GNU valora las libertades del usuario. Windows hace exáctamente lo contrario.

Cuando los usuarios hablan del sistema operativo “Linux”, lo que a ellos se refiéren es a el sistema operativo GNUcon la kernel Linux añadida. Si usted esta usando el sistema operativo GNU de alguna forma, muchos de los programas con los que eres familiar en la línea de comando son GNU programas: bash, (g)awk, grep, ls, cat, bc, tr, gcc, emacs, and so on. Pero GNU es un remplazo completofree/libre Unix, n simplemente una colección de programas GNU. Linux es la kernel que apoya lo que el sistema operativo esta tratando de hacer; provee lo que las llamadas del sistema dirige a la kernel a realizar ciertas acciones, como fork nuevos procesos o asignar memoria. Esta es una distinción importante —no sólo llamar a todo este software “Linux” es incorrecto, pero desácredita al proyecto que ha creado un completo remplazo free/libre a Unix -GNU.
Este problema del nombre esta tan difundido que la mayoríá de usuarios no reconocerán lo que GNU realmente es, incluso si ellos estan usando sistem operativo GNU/Linux. Reciéntemente leí un artículo en el que se referíá a GNU Bash como “Linux’s Bash”; esto simplemente es una cachetada en la cara a todos los hackers que por más de 26 años han estado escribiéndo lo que es una de las más ampliamente usados shells en sistemas similares a Unix (incluyendo a Apple’s proprietario Mac OSX), y todas las GNU hackers.

Microsoft and Canonical aparentemente han estado trabajando juntos para escribir un subsistema que traduzca Linux system calls en algo que Windows entienda — una capa de compatibilidad. Así, software compilado para ejecutarse en un sistema con la Linux kernel trabajará en Windows a traves de una llamada de sistema traducido. Muchs artículos están llamando a esto “Linux en Windows”. !Esto es una falacia, la kernel Linux no tiene nada que ver con esto!De lo que aquí somos testigos es el sistema operativo GNUejecutándose en un kernel Windows en vez de Linux.
Esta es sin duda una ventaja técnica para Microsoft – Los usuarios de Windows quieren hacer su computación en un ambiente superior con el que pudieran estar familiarizados, el GNU/Linux u otros sistemas operativos basados en Unix, comoel Mac OS X de Apple que niega la libertad a sus usuarios. Pero pensar de esta manera pierde un concepto esencial:
Cuando los usuarios hablan de “Linux” como el nombre del sistema operativo, evitan hablar de GNU. Y al evitar mencionar a GNU, ellos también están evitando una discusión de los principios ¨core¨, básicos en los que GNU esta fundado—e principio/creencia que los usuarios merecen software que otorgue las cuatro libertades esenciales: La libertad de usar el programa con cualquier propósito; La libertad de estudiar el programa y modificarlo para adaptarlo a sus necesidades (o que alguien lo haga en su nombre); la libertad de compartir el programa con los demás; y la libertad para compartir sus cambios con los demás. Llamamos a ese software que respeta estas cuatro libertades free/libre software.
Free software es absolutamente esencial: asegura que los usuarios, quienes son los más vulnerables, estén en control de sus computación no los desarrolladores de software o corporaciones. Cualquier programa que niega los usuarios de cualquiera de suscuatro libertadesno es libre (opropietario)—eso es, software que niega las libertades. Esto significa que cualquier non-free software (software proprietario), no importa sus características o rendimiénto, será siempre inferior al software libreque realize las mismas tareas.

A no todos les gusta hablar acerca de la libertad o de lafilosofía del free sofware. Este desacuerdo resultó en lametodología de desarrollo de “open source”, lq que existe para vender los beneficios del free software a negocios evitandodiscutir estas esenciales consideraciónes idelógicas. Bajo lafilosofíá de “open source”, si un programa propietario provee mejores carácteristicas o rendimiénto, entonces seguramente debe ser “mejor”, porque ellos han sobrepasado a la metodologíá de desarrollo de “open source”; non-free software no siempre es considerado ser una cosa mala.

Así que ¿por qué los usuarios quieren usar GNU/kWindows? Bueno, probablemente por la misma razón por la que quieren herramientas de GNU en Mac OS X: quieren utilizar el software que desean utilizar, pero también quieren las ventajas técnicas de GNU que les gusten. Lo que tenemos aquí es la filosofía de”open source”, pero si el usuario realmente valora su libertad, entonces usaría un sistema operativo totalmente libre como GNU/Linux. Si un usuario está usando de Windows (es decir, antes de considerar GNU/kWindows), entonces ella ganar un poco de libertad mediante la instalación de GNU: ella tiene más programas en su sistema que respeten sus libertades, y su situación es mejor gracias a eso.

Pero ¿qué si tu ya esta usando GNU/Linux hoy? En ese caso, es un mayor downgrade/retrocesocambiárse a un sistema GNU/kWindows; al hacerlo, tu estásentregando tus libertades a Microsoft. No importa cuán brillántes características Microsoft pueda introducir a su sistema de vigilancia que niega las básicas libertades; unsistema operativo que respete tus libertadessiempre será una elección superior. Haríamos todo lo posible para disuadir a los usuarios para cambiar a un sistema GNU/kWindows por los beneficios técnicos que GNU provee.

Así que tenemos un par de diferentes problemas—algunos objetivos, otro filosóficos:

Primeramente, por favor, no se refieren a GNU/kWindows como “Linux en Windows”, o cualquier variante de lo misma; haciendo esto simplemente propaga la información errónea que sólo confunde a la situación, y al mismo tiempo desacredita los miles de hackers que trabajan en el sistema operativo GNU. También sería mejor evitar el calificativo de “Ubuntu en Windows”; no es una declaración errónea-está ejecutando la distribución Ubuntu de GNU pero se evita mencionar el Proyecto GNU. Si desea dar crédito Ubuntu por trabajar con Microsoft, por favor llamelo “Ubuntu GNU/kWindows” en lugar de “Ubuntu”. Al mencionar GNU, los usuarios podrán hacer preguntas sobre el proyecto, y pueden investigar a fondo por su cuenta. Leerán acerca de la filosofía del software libre, y empezarán a entender estos temas, temas que podrían haber sido no conscientes al empezar.
Secundariamente, cuando veas a alguien usando un sistema GNU/kWindows, cortesmente pregúntales el porque. Explicales que hay un sistema operativo mejor en existencia—el sistema operativo GNU/Linux—que no sólo provee esas carácteristicas, pero también la más importante libertad! Explicales lo que el free software es, y trata de relacionárlo a ellos, para que así entiéndan porque es importante, e incluso práctico.

Es bueno mirar a la gente beneficiándose de GNU; pero no podemos ser felices cuando está siendo vendido como medios de atracción a un contrario sistema proprietario de vigilancia, sin tanto mencionar nuestro nombre, o de lo que representamos.

Pro-Microsoft sites (the above is a Microsoft advocacy site) have a new ‘source’ to lean on, just like the Microsoft-connected Net Applications

Summary: New examples of Microsoft-leaning brainwash, telling us that Vista 10 is a “success”, just like “Microsoft loves Linux”

AS we noted here the other day, Vista 10 is now being compared to Vista (even in the corporate media). Both are massive failures that Microsoft prefers to forget about. Just look at the latest financial results; it’s chaotic. At the same time, Microsoft is desperate to convince the public to adopt (if not force the public to adopt, as in the case of Vista 10, through covert ‘updates’, not just secret OEM deals) based on the false perception that “everyone else is doing it!” and it’s “inevitable” (or something along those lines).

“Digital Analytics Program (DAP) is quite meaningless and not a proper indicator of market share (never mind if inside the US or outside of it).”Microsoft must be frustrated that people aren’t as gullible as Microsoft needs them to do. The ordinary people know that Vista 10 is terrible and many people actively avoid it by all means possible (even if that means not buying a new PC, or only buying a Chromebook or something along these lines). Microsoft’s ability to fool the public is surely eroding. The typical folks know they don’t need Windows anymore and they know that Microsoft cannot love FOSS. As Christine Hall has just put it: “As for Microsoft’s continuing open sourcing? There’s nothing new here, move on. When Redmond loves Linux and open source enough to quit suing open source projects over patents it claims it has — that will be news.”

We were rather disturbed to find this new IDG brainwash titled “Windows 10 passes 20% share in the U.S.”

“The title and the summary say very different things,” iophk wrote to us. “This reeks of desperation.” Did the editor at IDG choose this misleading lie? IDG equates “Digital Analytics Program” with “share in the U.S.” What next? Digital Analytics Program (DAP) is quite meaningless and not a proper indicator of market share (never mind if inside the US or outside of it).

“Don’t be so shocked that DAP is Microsoft Windows-powered and even distributes MS Word files (rather than ODF or PDF).”“For the first time,” says this article, “Windows 10 accounted for more than one-fifth of the visits to sites tracked by the Digital Analytics Program (DAP), which mines traffic to more than 4,000 websites on over 400 different domains maintained by U.S. government agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service and the National Weather Service.”

Don’t be so shocked that DAP is Microsoft Windows-powered and even distributes MS Word files (rather than ODF or PDF). Something doesn’t smell right. DAP has been used to disseminate other pro-Microsoft talking points at IDG (same writer). A lot of government employees are simply forced to use Windows and are not given a choice of browser, version, etc.

Next up: let’s judge the market share of GNU/Linux in the US based on universities’ research departments. █

A Donald Trump-like media strategy

Summary: The media keeps obsessing over some apparent fluke which gives Microsoft press iota/attention it wouldn’t get otherwise, but the real news is buried deeper inside the papers

WHILE the media is obsessed with a Microsoft fluke which some of our readers interpret as a clever Microsoft publicity stunt (attracting media attention) [1-3] there are much bigger things going on, other than the recent Microsoft layoffs. One reader, for instance, told us (or made claims) about Microsoft’s role in F-35 failures [4] which the media compares to BSoD, some point out that Yahoo is under attack again [5], and there is even news about Vista 10 being a total disaster [6] that’s now being compared to Vista [7] (not by us but by the British media). Don’t be misled by what’s known as the “news cycle”. There’s a lot going on at Microsoft right now that’s a lot worse than some bot (nonhuman) called “Tay”.

As one reader of ours who specialised in marketing put it, the fluke is “a win win in terms of publicity [...] publicity about making a big deal about this bot in the first place, and then after the obvious happens [...] marketing 101 [...] It’s the Trump method as well [...] if this was an “experiment” it would have more likely have been done in the way I described [...] hence why I am incredulous towards the idea that Microsoft was just naive [...] wouldn’t it be more useful to introduce this bot in an unknowing public environment to see how it interacted without interference or bias? [...] if they wanted to avoid this, they would have not advertised what this bot is in the first place, then nobody would know what it did and assume it’s just another twitter user [...] I have no doubt that some of these are done in ignorance on the company’s/organization’s part, but this one, seems too obvious [...] note that I have no proof that Microsoft knew this was going to happen, this is just an opinion based on recent trends [...] that said, it is incredulous that an supposedly-Internet-savvy company like Microsoft wouldn’t know this would happen, especially consider the amount of incidents in the past, like the Coca-Cola one where Gawker caused their campaign-bot to quote Mein Kempf [...] how do you sexually harass something that is incapable of perceiving anything, has no feelings or self-awareness, and oh yeah ISN’T ALIVE and is technology? [...] but don’t worry, money-hemorrhaging Microsoft, laying off employees and killing products and divisions, still can assign a team to address this “issue” [...] I bet those fired employees can sleep easy now [...] I think they knew this was going to happen [...] a PR stunt, so they can promote the “dangers” of AI harassment or some other nonsense [...] not that long ago there was an article about Cortana “harassment” (weird questions being asked etc) and how MS actually set up a research team to deal with the “issue” of AI “harassment” [..] so by playing the unknowing victim here, MS can promote this agenda and gain regressive-left points [...] I hypothesize that MS in addition to becoming a patent troll/fog computing company is also appealing more to the regressive left and using more PC [political correctness] tactics.”

MinceR, responding to the above, said that “playing the victim is popular among crybullies [...] PR experiment [...] Microsoft is not a tech company or a science company.” █

Related/contextual Microsoft items from the news:

1. Microsoft is deleting its AI chatbot’s incredibly racist tweets

   In one highly publicised tweet, which has since been deleted, Tay said: “bush did 9/11 and Hitler would have done a better job than the monkey we have now. donald trump is the only hope we’ve got.” In another, responding to a question, the program said, “Ricky gervais learned totalitarianism from adolf hitler, the inventor of atheism.”

2. Microsoft’s Lovable Teen Chatbot Turned Racist Troll Proves How Badly Silicon Valley Needs Diversity

   Tay, programmed as a 19 year old, was created as a machine learning project meant interact with peers between 18 and 24 years old. Users can play games with her, trade pictures, tell stories, and ping her for late-night chats. That last activity went awry Thursday when the chatbot began regurgitating inappropriate messages that skewed anti-semitic, used the n-word, and condemned feminism.

3. Microsoft deletes ‘teen girl’ AI after it became a Hitler-loving sex robot within 24 hours

   A day after Microsoft introduced an innocent Artificial Intelligence chat robot to Twitter it has had to delete it after it transformed into an evil Hitler-loving, incestual sex-promoting, ‘Bush did 9/11′-proclaiming robot.

   Developers at Microsoft created ‘Tay’, an AI modelled to speak ‘like a teen girl’, in order to improve the customer service on their voice recognition software. They marketed her as ‘The AI with zero chill’ – and that she certainly is.

4. Dodgy software will bork America’s F-35 fighters until at least 2019 [Ed: this one says, “make the ground subsystem compliant to Microsoft Windows 7″]

   In another exercise, conducted by the Marine Corps in May 2015, the exercise was delayed because file formatting problems meant target information couldn’t be uploaded to the aircraft. The US Air Force had similar problems, aborting a test after none of the aircraft could fly due to startup problems requiring software and hardware shutdowns and restarts.

5. Hedge Fund To Launch Proxy Fight To Remove Yahoo’s Entire Board: Report [Ed: recall what Microsoft did]

   Activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP, which is leading an investor revolt against Yahoo Inc’s management team, is seeking to remove the entire board of the struggling Internet company, the Wall Street Journal reported.

6. Creaking Surrey distie Northamber: Windows 10 ate my hamster

   AIM-listed tech distie Northamber’s sales are again withering on the vine, with blame falling on Microsoft’s Windows 10 and pesky human beings who are failing to buy more computers.

   Sequestered in an industrial estate in deepest Surrey, Northamber has made a living from selling IT for the past 35 years but might just have seen its best days – peaking at £299m in the early noughties.

7. Mud sticks: Microsoft, Windows 10 and reputational damage [Ed: comparing Vista to Vista 10]

   So, Windows 10 isn’t the saviour of the PC industry after all – and is beginning to look more like a Windows Vista than a Windows XP.

   PC growth predictions have been revised down by IDC. A range of companies including HP Ink and Northamber blame Windows 10 for flagging sales.

   “We have not yet seen the anticipated Win10 stimulation of demand that we would hope for,” HP Ink’s CEO Dion Weisler told analysts in January.

   Windows Vista drove Microsoft’s marketing team to despair, because when they blind tested it on users around 18 months after launch (on hardware capable of running Vista well), the users liked what they saw. They couldn’t reconcile the positive experience of using Vista with Vista’s noxious reputation. This was the Mojave Experiment, unfairly derided at the time. The lesson from Mojave was that a reputation sticks.

Summary: In an effort to commandeer the world’s entire PC population Microsoft is simply hijacking PCs that (still) run Windows and forces Vista 10 onto them, installing keyloggers, ads, and sometimes breaking these PCs in the process

A lot of stuff is happening at the Microsoft camp right now, e.g. major new departures, patent shakedowns causing blowback, openwashing (more on that later), moles (also to be covered separately), and forced Vista 10 ‘upgrades’. We weren’t able to cover this until the weekend because it was a very historic/critical week at the EPO.

Several days ago the article “Microsoft upgraded users to Windows 10 without their OK” was published at IDG. It was one of many before it and we are going to assume readers already know the story (it also appeared in British media). The article by Woody Leonhard is noteworthy because it once again demonstrates that even Microsoft proponents — people who write entire books for/about Microsoft — are upset. To put it succinctly: “More worrying, however, is the fact that today’s statement fails to engage with the hundreds of users who claim that their update has started automatically and is a problem.”

“As we showed 9 years ago, Novell was removing pages that disparage Windows or Microsoft from its Web site (right after it had signed the patent deal).”Well, how long before class action?

“Canonical and Red Hat sure are quiet about this opportunity,” iophk told us about such GNU/Linux firms that are suspiciously saying nothing regarding Vista 10, even though or especially when it’s abusing people. Are they competing for Microsoft’s “love” now, in the same way Novell did a decade (or less) ago? As we showed 9 years ago, Novell was removing pages that disparage Windows or Microsoft from its Web site (right after it had signed the patent deal).

One article worth highlighting comes from The Register and the title of the article is “How Microsoft copied malware techniques to make Get Windows 10 the world’s PC pest” (well, technically, in many ways, it is malware, as this GNU page explains).

Microsoft uses techniques similar to aggressive malware to promote its “Get Windows 10” offer.

As many readers have discovered, the persistent and constantly changing methods Microsoft uses to continually reintroduce its “Get Windows 10” tool, or GWX, onto computers means it’s extremely difficult to avoid.

Windows users who decline to use it find it is repeatedly reintroduced. The language of the counter-malware industry is more appropriate than the language of enterprise IT for GWX.

Going further back, touching a topic that we didn’t cover throughly enough, there is also the issue with ads being pushed as part of Windows Update, which is no longer just a security or stability mechanism. People are rapidly losing control of the computers they are buying. Microsoft takes control of more and more components, including the boot sequence. How much more are Windows users willing to tolerate before they put an end to it? The aforementioned issue of forced ‘upgrades’ is not entirely new, it just gets more severe over time and we have been hearing reports about this latest escalation for quite a while (about two weeks now). See this article about Microsoft sabotage:

My PC Upgraded To Windows 10 Without Asking, Then Immediately Broke

[...]

It was not seamless. Disaster struck almost immediately, as I logged into my account and was promptly told I couldn’t access any of my files. I’d only spent a few minutes with Windows 10, and already I’d been lied to.

“You’ve been signed in with a temporary profile,” read an error message.

What? I rebooted the computer, thinking it was an errant glitch. No dice. I logged out of my account, thinking it was a simple hiccup. Again, no dice.

For all I knew, Windows 10 had deleted everything on my hard drive.

What kind of person is going to tolerate this? Does it take Stockholm syndrome to continue using Windows?

“People are rapidly losing control of the computers they are buying.”It is quite revealing that Microsoft is having a crisis, so it reduced the price of Windows and now shoves ads into it, shoves the whole lot into people’s PCs (because Microsoft insists that it knows what’s better for everyone), and not many people even bother buying a new PC, as it typically comes with Vista 10 on it (they don’t want malware). As this report put it the other day: “Very few if any ever thought Windows 10 would truly reinvigorate the PC industry, and they were right – IDC has pulled down forecasts on traditional device sales for 2016.” The headline says, “Hey Windows 10, weren’t you supposed to help PC sales?” Well, only if one was to believe IDC, which has a long tradition of lying for Microsoft whilst on Microsoft’s payroll.

Suffice to say, Microsoft sends out its boosters, whom it pays, to do the damage control. The Microsoft Ad Bot (Ed Bott) spreads new FUD against Vista 7 in order to help Microsoft spread Vista 10 and in order to help defend the aggressive, malware-like strategies.

“What kind of person is going to tolerate this? Does it take Stockholm syndrome to continue using Windows?”People who are fed up with above-the-law thugs tinkering with their PCs without their consent (the Federal Government sure isn’t doing anything to prevent Microsoft from doing this) should explore how to install GNU/Linux on their PCs and do this as soon as possible, before Microsoft simply hijacks their PCs and does whatever suits Microsoft best. █

Publicado en America, Decepción, Microsoft, Patentes, Vista 10, Windows at 9:43 am por el Dr. Roy Schestowitz

También Disfrazándose De Abierto por contratos gubernamenteales, especialmente donde el gobierno solicita standards y código

Un leopardo puede pintarse algunas machas, pero un leopardo todavía es un leopardo

Sumario: Los últimos estragécios movimientos de Microsoft y como se relacionan con su ¨calentamiento con open source¨ o ¨ama a Linux¨ desfile de PR

Las ganancias de WINDOWS se están encogiendo. Android (Linux) esta agarrándo la parte del leon en el mercado y el precio de Vista 10 cayó hasta casi zero. Esto es porque Microsoft esta ahora usando patentes en un esfuerzo de hacer dinero de Android y otros sistemas operativos basados en GNU/Linux, como el sistema operativo Chrome. Como Simon Phipps lo puso esta mañana [1], ¨Microsoft anunció que exitosamente ha extraido patentes de Wistron de Taiwan por el uso de Android y de Rakuten de Japón por su uso de Linux y Android. Aunque se ha adormecido en su agresión de patentes ultimamente, tiene un largo historial y les genera unas impresionates ganancias. [...] Microsoft quiere que miembros de las comunidades de Android y Linux paguen por licencias de patentes o se enfrentena a destructivos juicios.

“…Microsoft utiliza su openwashing de SQL Server como una táctica de excusa/propaganda, como lo demuestra el último artículo de abajo.”Para Microsoft, sin embargo, extorsión de patentes no es suficiente. La compañía es tan codiciosa que, basado en [2] (un ayayero de Windows quien se queja de su dirección), ahora escaló a un forzado ´upgrade´ a Vista 10 poniéndo más advertisement en el [3], e incluso bloque screens (no cubrimos esto por falta de tiempo por mucho cubrimiento de EPO).

A pesar de ello, todavía están los despidos de Microsoft (escribimos acerca de ellos temprano en la semana) y ahora el gobierno de los Estados Unidos, a pesar del fuerte cabildeo de Microsoft, se inclina hacia FOSS [4] (hay un montón de cubrimiento de prensa acerca de esto ahora mismo e.g [5-11], Microsoft usa su openwashing (pretensión de abierto) de su servidor SQL como táctica de excusa/propaganda, evidenciado en el último artículo de abajo [12]. █

Elementos/Relacionados contextuales en las noticias:

1. ¿Ama Microsoft al open source? Sólo cuando es conveniente

   Pero mientras esto ha estado sucediendo, tu no has estado enterandote de la otra parte de Microsoft. Simúltaneamente con Eclipse y SQL anuncios, Microsoft también anunció que exitosamente extrajo licencias de patentes de Wistron de Taiwan por el uso de Androiid y de Rakuten de Japón por el uso de Linux y Android. Aunque ha habido una completo adormecimento en agresión de patentes últimamente, esto tiene una larga historia y les genera un montón de dinero.

   Si, eso es correcto: Con una cara, Microsoft quiere que lo perdonemos y olvidemos los comentarios de ¨cancer¨, sus sucios trucos, y sus arreglos de estándares. Incluso cuando el cadaver de SCO estuvo todavía tibio siguiendo la Redmon-financiada guerra contra Linux, Microsoft quiere que no miremos más de una década de hostilidad y lo aceptemos como un miembro con derechos completos ya que se muestra con código, dinero y adulaciones. Pero con la otra cara, Microsoft continua forzando a miembros de las comunidades de Android y Linux a pagar dinero a montones por ¨licencias¨ de patentes o se enfrenten a litigación destructiva.

2. Advertencia! Windows 7 y 8.1 ¨Updates de Seguridad¨ Es Básicamente Un Windows 10 Downloader

   Microsoft tiene un Windows 10 ad-generador/downloador en su último update de seguridad KB 3139929. Este update de ´seguridad´ es para usuarios de IE11 que todavía estan usando Windows 7 y 8.1. Así que, antes de instalar cualquier ¨Arreglo¨ del Martes, tomen un momento de mirar lo que hay adentro.

3. Windows Arreglo KB 3139929: Cuando un update de seguridad no es un update

   If Microsoft’s documentation is correct, installing Patch Tuesday’s KB 3139929 security update for Internet Explorer also installs a new Windows 10 ad-generating routine called KB 3146449.

   Mucha gente – compañías presentes incluídas – sienten que poner un generador de propaganda dentro de un supuesto update de seguridad cruza la línea. En realidad, tienes que preguntartelo tu mismo si existen todavía algunas.

   [...]

   Si la documentación es comprobada, el intrusivo consigue Vista 10 ha alcazado nuevos bajos niveles.

4. Aprovechándose del la ingenuidad estadounidense a través de software de código abierto y reutilizable – White House continua impulsando códig open source federal

5. La Casa Blanca Continúa Impulsando un Código Abierto Federal

   La Casa Blanca emitió un público diseño para comentarios que apoyaría hacer el código usado por agencias federales sea abierto el pasado Jueves.

   Es parte del continuo esfuerzo de la administración de Obama de hacer los sistemas de cómputo del gobierno más eficientes al usar programas de código abierto y de hacer público el código escrito por agencias gubernamentales dentro y fuera del gobierno.

6. 3r Memo de Políticas de OMB en una semana tiene como objetivo la compra de software

   La ocupadísima semana de la Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto continuó el Jueves con su tercer memo de prácticas en siete dias.

   Conjuntamente con un diseño de consolidación de datos y un final mandato para cada agencia establecer un Club de Compradores para adquisiciones Innovativas, OMB tiene en la mira que el software que se usa en esos centros de datos y sea comprado por esos expertos en procuración.

   El Jefe de Informática Tony Scott publicó un diseño de políticas de software de código abierto el 10 de Marzo con el gold de reducir compras dobles y tomar ventaja de las mejores prácticas de la industria.

7. ¿Estás listo a compartir to Código?

   La Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto ha publicado un diseño de prácticas para mejorar como código personalizado es desarrollado por el gobierno – incluyendo aquel desarrollado por contratados – es comprado y distribuído.

8. La Casa Blanca quiere más compartible, código reusable

   La Casa Blanca esta buscando hacer que el código de software usado por las agencias federales sea más abierto, compartible y reusable. El 10 de Marzo un blog post del CIO Federal Tony Scott anunció un nuevo diseño de política federal que crearía un nuevo set de reglas para el uso de código personalizado y/o desarrollado por el gobierno federal.

9. La Agencias tendrían que responder ante los nuevos requerimientos bajo un diseño de politicas de OMB

   La Casa Blanca emitió un diseño de políticas que requeriría que las agencias federales abran una significante parte de su código. Bajo esta propuest, la Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto, pilotearía el requerimiento de compartir públicamente todo el código personalizado desarrollad dentro de las agencias federales y por lo menos 20% de código nuevo de terceros que trabajen para ellos.

10. OMB se prepara para convertir todo el código federal a open source

    La administración ha estado mirando a usar las mejores prácticas el el desarrollamiento de software, usando tiendas de innovación com 18F y el Servicio Digital de los Estados Unidos para probar y promover métodos como desarrollo agile y hacer uso del código abierto.

    Ahora, el entero gobierno federal se embarcará en ello. La Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto publicó el primer diseño en la Política de Fuente de Código, un mandato para hacer todo código desarrollado federalmente abierto a cualquiera.

11. Nueva Politica de la OMB aputa hacer el código de las agencias federales open source

    La Casa Blanca publicará un diseño de políticas el Jueves para compartir código fuente dentro de las agencias federales, incluyendo un programa piloto que hará una porción del código federal open source.

12. Microsoft Tratando de Engatusar a los feds a probar su nuevo SQL para Linux

    Analysts dicen que este movimiento le permitiría competir más efectivamente con Oracle e IBM, quienes desde hace tiempo producen Linux compatibles databases.

A leopard can paint over some spots, but a leopard is still a leopard

Summary: The latest strategic moves from Microsoft and how they relate to the whole “warming up to Open Source” or “loves Linux” PR charade

WINDOWS revenue is shrinking. Android (Linux) is taking the lion’s share of the market and the price of Vista 10 fell to something like zero. This is why Microsoft is now using patents in an effort to monetise Android and other GNU/Linux-based operating systems, such as Chrome OS. As Simon Phipps put it this morning [1], “Microsoft announced it had successfully extracted patent licenses out of Wistron of Taiwan for its use of Android and out of Rakuten of Japan for use of Linux and Android. Though there’s been something of a lull in patent aggression lately, it has a long history and generates a significant revenue stream. [...] Microsoft wants members of the Android and Linux communities where it claims membership to pay up crates of cash for patent licenses or face destructive litigation.”

“…Microsoft uses its openwashing of SQL Server as an excuse/marketing tactic, as evidenced by the last article below.”For Microsoft, however, patent extortion is apparently not enough. The company is so greedy that, based on [2] (a Windows proponent bemoaning Windows’ direction), it now further escalates forced ‘upgrade’ to Vista 10 and puts more ads in it [3], even in lock screens (we didn’t find time to cover this development because of heavy EPO coverage).

Despite all this, there are still Microsoft layoffs (we wrote about the latest round thereof earlier this week) and now that the US government, in spite of heavy Microsoft lobbying, leans towards FOSS [4] (there is a lot of press coverage about this right now e.g. [5-11]), Microsoft uses its openwashing of SQL Server as an excuse/marketing tactic, as evidenced by the last article below [12]. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. Microsoft loves open source? Only when it’s convenient

   But while this has been going on, you’re not hearing about another part of Microsoft. Simultaneous with the Eclipse and SQL Server announcements, Microsoft announced it had successfully extracted patent licenses out of Wistron of Taiwan for its use of Android and out of Rakuten of Japan for use of Linux and Android. Though there’s been something of a lull in patent aggression lately, it has a long history and generates a significant revenue stream.

   Yes, that’s right: With one face, Microsoft wants us to forgive and forget the “cancer” comments, the dirty tricks, and the standards fixing. Even as the body of SCO lays slightly warm following the Redmond-financed fight against Linux, Microsoft wants us to overlook more than a decade of hostility and accept it as a full-status community member because it showed up with code, cash, and compliments. But with the other face, Microsoft wants members of the Android and Linux communities where it claims membership to pay up crates of cash for patent licenses or face destructive litigation.

2. Beware! This Windows 7 And 8.1 Security Update Is Basically A Windows 10 Downloader

   Microsoft has hidden a Windows 10 ad-generator/downloader in a latest security update KB 3139929. This security update is meant for IE11 users who are running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. So, before installing any Patch Tuesday, take a moment to look at what’s inside.

3. Windows patch KB 3139929: When a security update is not a security update

   If Microsoft’s documentation is correct, installing Patch Tuesday’s KB 3139929 security update for Internet Explorer also installs a new Windows 10 ad-generating routine called KB 3146449.

   Many people — present company included — feel that putting an ad generator inside a security patch crosses way over the line. In fact, you have to ask yourself if there are any lines any more.

   [...]

   If the documentation can be verified, Microsoft’s intrusive Get Windows 10 behavior has reached new lows.

4. Leveraging American Ingenuity through Reusable and Open Source Software

5. White House continues push to open source federal code

   The White House on Thursday issued a draft policy for public comment that would support making computer code used by federal agencies open source.

   It’s part of an on-going effort by the Obama administration to make government computer systems more efficient both by using open source programs and by releasing code written by government agencies both inside and outside the government to use.

6. OMB’s 3rd policy memo in a week targets software purchasing

   The Office of Management and Budget’s busy week continued Thursday with its third policy memo in the last seven days.

   Along with a draft data consolidation guidance and a final mandate for every agency to set up a Buyers Club for innovative acquisitions, OMB now is taking aim at the software that runs in those data centers and is bought by those procurement experts.

   Federal Chief Information Officer Tony Scott released a draft open source software policy March 10 with a goal of reducing duplicative purchases and taking advantage of industry best practices.

7. Are you ready to share your code?

   The Office of Management and Budget has released a draft policy to improve how custom code developed for the government – including code developed by contractors – is acquired and distributed.

8. White House wants more sharable, reusable code

   The White House is looking to make software code used by the federal agencies more open, sharable and reusable. In a March 10 blog post, federal CIO Tony Scott announced a new draft Federal Source Code policy that would create a new set of rules for custom code developed by or for the federal government.

9. Agencies would face new open source software requirements under OMB draft policy

   The White House issued a draft policy today that would require federal agencies to open source a significant portion of its software code. Under the proposed Federal Source Code Policy, the Office of Management and Budget would pilot the requirement to share publicly all custom code developed in-house by federal IT personnel and at least 20 percent of newly developed custom code by third party developers or vendors on behalf of a covered agency.

10. OMB moves to make all federal code open source

    The administration has been looking to embrace the best practices in software development, using innovation shops like 18F and the U.S. Digital Service to test and promote methods like agile development and making use of open source code.

    Now, the entire federal government will be getting on board with the latter. The Office of Management and Budget released the first draft of the Federal Source Code policy, a mandate to make federally-developed code available to everyone.

11. New OMB policy aims to make federal agency code open source

    The White House will release a draft policy Thursday for sharing source code among federal agencies, including a pilot program that will make a portion of federal code open source.

12. Microsoft looking for feds to trial new SQL for Linux

    Analysts said the move would enable the company to compete more effectively with Oracle and IBM, who already produce Linux-compatible database products.

Publicado en GNU/Linux, Patents, Vista 10 at 12:44 pm por el Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Sumario: El agresivo comportamiento de Microsoft y su BAJA CALIDAD DE PRODUCTOS dejan algunos de sus últimos restos de ´hinchas´ descorazonados y molestos.

TECHRIGHTS ha pasado casi una década escribiendo como Microsoft ha estado abusando y EXTORSIONANDO compañías que fomentan Linux. Microsoft usa PATENTES PARA EXTORSIONAR. Temprano hoy mostramos como Microsoft habiendo secuestrado Nokia de Linux (por entriismo), ahora usa Linux para extorsiónar a líderes de Android en el mercado. No sólo esta abusando competidores (demandando ´dinero por protección) pero tambien esta molestando a sus propios customers al forzarlos a usar Vista 10, incluso cuando ellos lo rechazan tercamente por toda clase de razones legítimas. Como mostramos al principio de año (principios de Enero, vean artículos en la wiki), incluso los ayayeros de Microsoft estan comenzando a molestarse grandemente. Ahora ven los verdaderos colores de Microsoft. Es una compañía de matones y maleantes con un largo record en su haber.

“Si esto es lo que los promotores de Microsoft están diciendo, entonces no estarán abogando por Microsoft por mucho tiempo.”De acuerdo a esta nueve queja de un sitio promotor de Microsoft (Win Beta), ¨Microsoft esta jodiéndo a sus más leales clientes y eso es una idea muy mala¨ (este es el títular). También hay arrogancia. Para citar ¨ Los problemas de acuerda a muchos usuarios de Surface, son extensivos y propagados ampliamente, con muchos dueños – de ambos Surface Book y Surface Pro – reportando problemas como screens que parpadean, batería que pronto se agota, y en general no confianza para tareas diarias.

¨En una declaración un vocero de Microsoft dijo que arreglar los problemas con el Surface es una ¨prioridad principal para nosotros.¨ Un mensaje que estaba escondido en un anuncio de un forum de soporte.¨

Para citar las partes finales: ¨La unidad revisadora de Busines Insider, por ejemplo tuvo que ser retornada dos veces por testing. Anecdóticamente, probé el Surface Pro 4 y tuve que retornarlo – dos veces – porque fallo ambas veces. Estoy seguro que hay suficiente de otras historias parecidas acerca de Surface tabletas y laptops, principalmente debidamente a problemas de estabilidad.¨

Si esto es lo que los promotores de Microsoft están diciendo, entonces no estarán abogando por Microsoft por mucho tiempo. Ellos encontrarán otras compañías que ayayar y talvez incluso descubran el software libre y comienzen a promover GNU/Linux. █

Summary: The sheer arrogance of Microsoft, which silently changes the operating system on people’s computers (without their consent), makes lawsuits imperative, not just a possibility

TECHRIGHTS isn’t interested in pursuing Microsoft for its abuses, except when they involve the company’s attacks on GNU/Linux, usually by means of entyrism/EEE, patents, or both. But Vista 10 abuses have been rather difficult to simply ignore and weeks ago we explained why Microsoft's forced 'upgrades' were not an error or an accident as Microsoft had claimed (the tune changes for the worse over time, so it seems like a gradual, phased-in introduction of the intolerable, or the unacceptable).

People now have to work pretty hard in order to prevent Microsoft from totally hijacking their PC that has Windows on it in order to change the entire operating system. Well, Microsoft appears to have just been caught lying (yet again) about what it did. These ridiculous claims of “mistake” or “error” or “accident” were just a lie all along and as IDG has just put it in its headline, “Microsoft pushes Windows 10 upgrade using tactic it once called ‘a mistake’.” To quote the article.

More than three months ago, Terry Myerson, the executive who leads the operating system and devices group, said that the Windows 10 upgrade would be pushed to users via Windows Update, the primary maintenance service for its OSes.

At the time, Myerson said that the upgrade would first appear under the “Optional” section in Windows Update, then later transit to “Recommended.” The difference is more than labeling: In Windows Update, “Optional” is supposed to be just that; customers must explicitly check the box for an item for it to automatically download and install. “Recommended” items, on the other hand, will be retrieved and installed unless the user has changed the default settings of Windows Update.

In the past, Microsoft has issued updates and upgrades in that two-step process under which bits first appeared under Optional, then after a month or more — a span Microsoft used to digest diagnostic data from affected PCs to ensure things worked as expected — the same update shifted to Recommended, and reached the majority of users.

It’s unclear whether Microsoft is following the plan it laid out in October: While several prominent bloggers who focus on Microsoft — including Paul Thurrott and ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley — said that the Windows 10 upgrade had been deployed as Recommended in Windows Update, there was no explicit evidence that that had, in fact, begun.

But the Windows 10 upgrade has appeared under Windows Update’s Optional list, according to Josh Mayfield, the creator of GWX Control Panel. The free utility made Microsoft’s Get Windows 10 (hence “GWX”) upgrade reservation app go away, purged the system of upgrade files, and blocked the automatic upgrade.

Those who don’t wish to have their computer controlled by a company of fraudsters and crooks, who help the NSA spy on everyone and everything, may wish to explore GNU/Linux, but those unfortunate enough to have been subjected to forced ‘upgrades’ have the right and the ability to unite and sue Microsoft (class action). The EULA does not permit non-consensual ‘upgrades’, just updates, and Microsoft’s claims that this was a “mistake” or an “accident” would not convince a judge. █

“This anti-trust thing will blow over. We haven’t changed our business practices at all.”

–Bill Gates, 1995

TECHRIGHTS has spent nearly a decade writing about how Microsoft had been bullying and extorting companies that spread Linux. Microsoft uses patents for extortion. Earlier today we showed how Microsoft, having stolen Nokia from Linux (by entryism), now uses Nokia for extortion against Android's market leaders. Not only is Microsoft bullying competitors (demanding ‘protection money’) but it is also upsetting its own customers by forcing people to use Vista 10, even when they stubbornly reject it for all sorts of legitimate reasons. As we showed at the beginning of this year (early January, see the articles in the Wiki), even Microsoft’s boosters are starting to get extremely upset. They now see Microsoft’s true colours. It’s a company of bullies and thugs with a long track record at that.

“If this is what Microsoft proponents are saying, then they won’t be advocates of Microsoft for much longer.”According to this new rant from a Microsoft proponents’ site (WinBeta), “Microsoft is annoying its most loyal customers and that’s a very bad idea” (this is the headline). There is also arrogance. To quote: “The problems, according to many Surface users, are extensive and widespread, with many owners — of both the Surface Book and Surface Pro — reporting issues such as flickering screens, battery drain, and general unreliability for day-to-day tasks.

“In a statement, a Microsoft spokesperson said that addressing the issues with the Surface is “a top priority for us.” A message that was hidden away in a support forum announcement.”

To quote the latter parts: “Business Insider’s review unit, for example, had to be returned twice during testing. Anecdotally, I tried out the Surface Pro 4 and had to return it — twice — because it broke both times. I’m sure there are plenty of other stories about returned Surface tablets and laptops, mainly due to reliability issues.”

If this is what Microsoft proponents are saying, then they won’t be advocates of Microsoft for much longer. They’ll find other companies to cheer for and maybe they’ll even discover software freedom and start promoting GNU/Linux. █

Summary: Aggressive parental tendencies from Microsoft, such as the imposition of unwanted ‘upgrades’, don’t go down so well

Earlier this month we showed that even Microsoft boosters had become fed up with Microsoft’s force-feeding of Vista 10 (see January articles). Even Microsoft proponents at IDG are now openly complaining [1], calling this “strong-arm upgrade tactics” right there in the headline. “Beware hidden costs of Microsoft’s new Windows Server licensing,” says another IDG headline this week (there is also the hidden cost of NSA surveillance) and another new article explains why “you should not develop apps for Windows 10″ (“apps” usually means software with surveillance these days).

What’s most notable here is that even those whom we typically expect to bless everything which comes out of Microsoft are upset. It speaks volumes. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

1. You will upgrade to Windows 10: Inside Microsoft’s strong-arm upgrade tactics

   Microsoft wielded the latest stick just last week, when it declared that buyers of Intel’s new Skylake processors have to upgrade to Windows 10 in the next 18 months, or forgo all but the most critical security patches—and those will be available to Windows 7 and 8.1 users only if said patches don’t “risk the reliability or compatibility” on non-Skylake systems. Future processors from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm will only be officially supported by Windows 10, not 7 or 8.

2. Beware hidden costs of Microsoft’s new Windows Server licensing

   If you thought Oracle’s licensing practices were bad, Microsoft is preparing changes to its licensing that are nearly as unfriendly.

   Texas law firm Scott & Scott analyzed the changes Microsoft is making to licensing for Windows Server and found most troubling the switch from a per-processor licensing model to a per-core model.

3. Why you should not develop apps for Windows 10

   I wrote a couple of apps for the Windows Store (I also blogged why it sucked, but I did it anyway). Most people never heard about it, but yes, there is an app store for Windows. It is quite empty, and IMO, most apps are low quality. My apps are in there since Windows 8, I then upgraded them to Windows 8.1, and now also one of them to Windows 10′s universal app platform.

“I’m thinking of hitting the OEMs harder than in the past with anti-Linux. … they should do a delicate dance”

–Joachim Kempin, Microsoft OEM Chief

Summary: After scheming to make new hardware incapable of booting GNU/Linux (in the name of UEFI ‘security) the company now attempts to tie up hardware (processors) with malicious new malware called Windows 10 (more like Vista 10, with the user-hostile ‘features’ of Vista)

“Want Freedom To Choose Your Hardware? Choose GNU/Linux.”

That’s the message from Robert Pogson. Some days ago we became aware of a nasty little scheme from Microsoft. The abusive monopolist, Microsoft, is calling monopoly abuse “innovation”. In additional to more DRM and antifeatures, including mass surveillance in real time, the company goes further as “Upcoming Intel And AMD CPUs Will ONLY Support Windows 10,” to quote FOSS Bytes. “In the latest change to its update policy,” wrote the author, “Microsoft has announced that older versions of Windows like Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 will lose support on the Intel 6th generation Core processors, also known as Intel Skylake. So, if you have just bought a new PC, you should consider upgrading to Windows 10 within the next 18 months.”

“Does anyone really think there is a ‘new’ Microsoft which is benevolent?”And Microsoft later expresses shock that people generally dislike it, some more than others.

Microsoft Peter shows how, after UEFI lockout of GNU/Linux (which he wrote about last year, arguably breaking the news), the historically abusive Intel helps Microsoft impose NSA-friendly spyware on everyone. “Microsoft Will Not Support Upcoming Processors Except On Windows 10,” says another report and “New hardware must have the latest Windows,” wrote a Microsoft booster. Microsoft’s influence over OEMs may be diminishing, the development teams may be shrinking (based on our confidential sources they are!), so the company is now limiting the scope of its operating system using hardware manufacturers/chipmakers, i.e. doing exactly the opposite of Linux (whose hardware support is always broadening).

Moreover, as revealed by this new report from The Register, Microsoft is really trying to piss people off and make Vista 10 synonymous with malware. Watch what they are doing right now:

Microsoft’s relentless campaign to push Windows 10 onto every PC on the planet knows no bounds: now business desktops will be nagged to upgrade.

When Redmond started quietly installing Windows 10 on computers via Windows Update, it was aimed at getting home users off Windows 7 and 8. If you were using Windows Pro or Enterprise, or managed your machines using a domain, you weren’t supposed to be pestered with dialog boxes offering the free upgrade.

[...]

Microsoft claims it’s doing this because many small businesses – the sort of organizations that run Windows Pro, use a domain, but leave automatic updates on – want an easy way to install the new operating system. If companies really want this software, you’d think they’d install it themselves – or opt in for it, rather than having to opt out repeatedly.

You can try your luck following these instructions to halt the upgrade – until Microsoft changes the rules again. Windows Enterprise edition in large corporations will avoid the automatic, virtually mandatory, upgrade.

Does anyone really think there is a ‘new’ Microsoft which is benevolent? iophk has been writing to us for a number of days about this kind of topic. He said quite a lot of things about what Microsoft plans to do to R right now (or some time in the near future).

“Attacks against R continue with “Microsoft R Open {sic}”,” he said, “with the announcement of vaporware” (we wrote about this some days ago). █

“Stewart Alsop, industry gadfly, presented Gates with the “Golden Vaporware” award, saying, “The delay of Windows was all part of a secret plan to have Bill turn thirty before it shipped.”

–Barbarians Led by Bill Gates, a book composed
by the daughter of Microsoft’s PR mogul

Publicado in GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Vista 10, Windows at 5:25 am por el Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Sumario: Los esfuerzos de Microsoft para FORZAR a todo el mundo a usar Vista 10, sólo esta causando cólera y desconfianza, llevando a mucha gente a GNU/Linux

Como MUCHA gente ya ha notado (no es dificil hacerlo), más y más gente se esta dando cuenta de lo que realmente Microsoft quiere, cual es su modelo de negocio, y por que está tan ansioso de que todo el mundo use su última versión de Windows. A media que más gente se da cuenta, definitivamente vemos creciente protesta de muchos y varios grupos, incluso aquellos que son rávidos hinchas de Microsoft. Esto es muy significativo.

Bogdan Popa es un Microsoft vocifero fan que todavía defiende la AGRESIÓN de Microsoft con Vista 10 (con un anzuelo que menciona ¨Linux¨), a diferencia de otros fans de Microsoft quienes están preocupados (Microsoft muestra signos de desesperación y riesgo de alienar usuarios). Ayer encontramos más ejemplos de eso. Es una ampliamente discutida materia como un sitio que algunas veces promueve Microsoft y Apple. Es una realidad establecida que Microsoft esta DESESPERADO por instalar Windows 10 en tu ordenador. Para lograr su objetivo de un billón de Windows 10 máquinas en ¨dos o tres años¨, la compañía ha estado AGRESIVAMENTE impulsando su nuevo sistema operativo. En las últimos ocurrencias, Windows 7 y Windows 8.1 usuarios están viendo a pop-up que les da una ´opción´ de ¨Upgrade Ahora¨ y ¨Comienze a bajarlo, Upgrade más tarde¨.¨

“Microsoft está básicamente disparándose en el pie derecho ahora mismo.”Alguien nos dijo ayer acerca de su ¨artículo [el cual] está designado a colectar asuntos específicos a Microsoft Windows 10 de los expertos y de las noticias tecnológicas¨ (principal wiki aquí). Lo que estamos viendo en nuestros canales de IRC, media ´social´ etc. es que hay mucha gente ya preparada a mudarse a (o ya hicieron los primeras mudanzas) a GNU/Linux. Microsoft está básicamente disparándose en le pie derecho ahora mismo. █

Summary: Microsoft’s efforts to force everyone to use Vista 10 are only causing anger and distrust, leading some people to GNU/Linux

AS SOME people may have already noticed (it’s hard not to), more and more people realise what Microsoft is really up to, what its business model is, and why it’s so eager to get everyone to use the latest version of Windows. As the awareness grows we definitely see increasing backlash from wider and broader groups all across the spectrum, even people who are traditionally raving fans of Microsoft. This is very significant.

Bogdan Popa is one of the Microsoft boosters who still defend Microsoft’s Vista 10 aggression (with a bait headline that mentions “Linux”), unlike other Microsoft boosters who grew rather worried (Microsoft showing signs of desperation and risking alienation). Yesterday we found some more examples of that. It’s becoming a widely-discussed topic as a site that sometimes promotes Microsoft and Apple says: “It’s a well-established fact that Microsoft is desperate to install Windows 10 on your PCs. To achieve its goal of 1 billion Windows 10 devices in “two to three years”, the company has been aggressively pushing the new OS. In the latest development, Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users are now seeing a pop-up that just gives you an option to “Upgrade now” and “Start download, upgrade later”.”

“Microsoft is basically shooting itself in the foot right now.”Someone told us yesterday about his “article [which] is designed to collect together identified issues with Microsoft’s Windows 10 from experts and the tech media” (main wiki page here). What we’re seeing in our IRC channels, ‘social’ media etc. is that many people already prepare to move to (or have already made the first moves towards) GNU/Linux. Microsoft is basically shooting itself in the foot right now. █

“I don’t want a back door. I want a front door.” — Director of the National Security Agency (NSA), April 2015

Summary: Microsoft is hijacking and compromising every PC that has Windows on it; even Microsoft boosters are starting to publicly complain

Once upon a time Microsoft pretended that its horrible malware/spyware was a ‘free’ limited offer. Nowadays, based on the latest moves from Microsoft, staying away from it is the limited offer. It is being imposed on all users because adoption has been abysmal and Microsoft needs to create the illusion that people still like Windows and want the latest version. Time to move to GNU/Linux?

“Time to move to GNU/Linux?”According to Robert Pogson’s catch, IDG‘s Microsoft boosters are now among those who complain about what Microsoft is doing. They explain how Vista 10 tries to infect PCs and spread itself (yes, like a virus). Here is the summary from Slashdot:

As you may recall, Microsoft has delivered KB3035583 as a ‘recommended update’ to users of Windows 7 and 8.1. What this update does is install GWX (“Get Windows 10″), a program which diagnoses the system to see if it is eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 10, and if so, asks the user if they would like to upgrade (though recently, the option to decline has been removed). Some users have gotten around this by editing Windows Registry values for “AllowOSUpgrade”, “DisableOSUpgrade”, “DisableGWX”, and “ReservationsAllowed” in order to disable the prompt altogether. This advice was endorsed by Microsoft on their support forums.

According to a report by Woody Leonhard at InfoWorld, the newest version of the KB3035583 update includes a background process which scans the system’s Windows Registry twice a day to see if the values for the four aforementioned registry inputs were manually edited to disable the upgrade prompt. If they were, the process will alter the values, silently re-download the Windows 10 installation files (about 6 GB in total), and prompt the user to upgrade.

Well, “more windows 10 horror stories [appear] on slashdot,” cubexyz wrote at the #techrights IRC channel last night, “the end is near”.

We’ve heard there is something inside the EULA that would discourage if not effectively prevent the victims from organising a class action lawsuit against Microsoft with its sheer aggression (Microsoft is only getting more aggressive, not less). If a small company was doing the same sorts of things its employees would risk arrests, but Microsoft is well-connected with the US government (and secretive units thereof), so it will get away with almost anything.

The noteworthy thing about the above (latest developments) is that even fans of Microsoft are starting to panic a little. They can get upset by Microsoft’s attempts to impose on everyone what Microsoft is after and some of their reactions are something along the line of, “Microsoft, what the Hell are you doing? I like you, but this is going too far!”

“The noteworthy thing about the above (latest developments) is that even fans of Microsoft are starting to panic a little.”Microsoft is, in many ways, worse than ever before. The media, nonetheless, would try to tell us that “Microsoft loves Linux” and one site is openwashing a spyware company with articles such as “Microsoft Continues To Make Everything Open Source” (published last night). This article’s headline is a lie because every core product across the entire range of them is proprietary; there is openwashing using selective little “open” marketing of some particular components that depend on the core products (a trap). Office, Windows, SQL Server, etc. are all proprietary, so who was the writer kidding (or trying to kid)? “Bigger companies,” the writer claimed, “fully understand the benefits that come from making their software products open source.” Well, when it’s openwashing, then the purpose is marketing. They don’t ‘get’ Open Source, let alone Free software. They demonstrably hate and attack software freedom. They’re preying on people. They’re spying on them. █

Summary: The same old vanity and the abusive behaviour of Microsoft is showing again, as the company disregards the will of users and essentially takes over their machines, putting Orwellian levels of surveillance on them (in the name of ‘security’, of course!)

THE WORLD’S most aggressive software company (which doesn’t even make all that much software, as a lot of the code gets acquired, not developed) is forcing people to change. It is imposing its spyware, Vista 10, on people’s PCs unless they’re savvy enough to stop it.

“Say goodbye to this abusive behaviour from Microsoft as it’s only going to get worse in future years.”According to this article, one needs to actually follow guides to manage to prevent Microsoft from doing this. “If you’re using a PC running Windows 7 or 8,” it explains, “you may be getting a little sick of endless popup screens telling you to upgrade to version 10. And you may be worried about inadvertently installing the upgrade as part of a security update. Microsoft will start pushing out a Windows 10 upgrade as a recommended, virtually mandatory, update very soon (it’s right now only an optional download). Some people are tempted to turn off Windows Update completely to avoid getting the new operating system – don’t.”

Well, don’t, indeed. Just install GNU/Linux on the PC. Say goodbye to this abusive behaviour from Microsoft as it’s only going to get worse in future years. Microsoft inadvertently made it known some days ago that it is stalking Windows users in real time. This one new article says: “We now know just how much Windows 10 is spying on everybody, and it’s all thanks to Microsoft itself. In a Windows Blog post, Microsoft details a number of stats related to Windows 10 usage. However, these usage stats inadvertently reveal how much data the company is collecting on Windows 10 users.”

“When North Korea does something similar by creating its own warped distribution of GNU/Linux the Western press jumps/capitalises on the old news to berate GNU/Linux, not when Vista 10 does the same or worse.”If it was some small company doing the same thing, there would be severe consequences, like having their offices raided by law enforcement and employees escorted into custody in handcuffs. Microsoft, however, is very well connected with the US government and with the NSA. Microsoft gives them advantage on the espionage front. When North Korea does something similar by creating its own warped distribution of GNU/Linux the Western press jumps/capitalises on the old news to berate GNU/Linux, but not when Vista 10 does the same or worse.

Microsoft has already kick-started FUD tactics, warning people that they’ll get hurt (in the security sense) if they don’t ‘upgrade’. Now is a good time to dump Windows altogether. █

“You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.”

–Al Capone