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. █

Summary: In addition to filing an antitrust complaint against Android, Microsoft is committing antitrust sins when forcing OEMs to make hardware Microsoft-dominated

The Vista series, starting with Windows Vista, has been crushing the Windows franchise. Microsoft repeatedly extended the life of XP, now a 12-year-old system, in order to keep GNU/Linux at bay (Microsoft also used corrupt business practices to achieve this).

The other day we saw Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols saying that Windows is pretty much finished. To quote:

Windows: It’s over

You can think Windows 8 will evolve into something better, but the numbers show that Windows is coming to a dead end.

Vista 8 is indeed a dead end as Microsoft already leaps to vapurware, or imaginary replacements. ZDNet has this piece titled “What really signed the PC’s death warrant? Microsoft’s decision to support netbooks” (to keep GNU/Linux down).

“Some of the reasons for the collapse of the the PC market go a lot further back than the reception of Windows 8,” argues the author. By bribing to keep GNU/Linux out of netbooks Microsoft devalued Windows, which had already seen its value deflating after Vista came out.

There is a shameless attempt at spin, blaming hardware rather than software and given that Microsoft’s hardware is rejected as much as its software, this distraction does not hold water. We covered this before with examples.

One reader of ours asked: “Which real reviewer actually praised Microsoft Surface?

“It’s DOA like Vista 8 is.”

Indeed.

The Microsoft boosters too acknowledge Microsoft’s defeat, but their new strategy is to just discredit the opposition, as we shall show in a later post. Here is what the booster says:

The tablet market will grow this year by 38% to 150 million units, but Microsoft won’t be a beneficiary, says a new report from ABI Research. Windows tablets, BlackBerry tablets and “unidentified OS implementations” currently make up only 3% of the total market, and don’t show signs of significant growth.

The ABI Research report says that an estimated 150 million tablets will ship in 2013, worth an estimated $64 billion. The total number of tablets will grow by a projected 38% over 2012, and the total revenue will grow a projected 28%.

Realising that Linux is unstoppable and the demise of Windows to minority userbase imminent, Microsoft filed an antitrust complaint through a proxy. ECT has an analysis of it here. The overview says “Microsoft has “tried forcing people to license Android from them to try to kill Android, and they’ve tried putting out their own mobile OS to try to kill Android,” said blogger Mike Stone. “Both initiatives have failed on every level. People are still buying Android devices as fast as they can be made. All that’s left is to follow in Apple’s footsteps and sue sue sue. It stinks of desperation.””

“Other people may turn to Windows in such a scenario.”Well, the latest antitrust violation is Microsoft’s, which according to yet more articles like this one is suppressing GNU/Linux adoption.

It is about UEFI restricted boot. “UEFI BIOS and Secure Boot work perfectly well with only Linux installed according to the experiments I have conducted on my own PC,” writes Jamie Watson this week. It has become complicated due to Microsoft’s dirty trick. Yesterday after an in-place distro upgrade I had to resolve a GRUB issue before I could boot again, so I know the feeling of discouragement through complexity, I nearly gave up and installed everything from scratch. Other people may turn to Windows in such a scenario. Some might simply stay with it, no matter how fed up they are. This is Microsoft’s last hope. █

The release of Vista 8 has been such a disaster because the software is widely loathed. It’s a technical failure, not a marketing failure (over a billion dollars were spent on marketing). Some Windows shops now make money from the service of downgrading back to Vista 7 or XP. This is Vista all over again. I tried both, so I would know. It doesn’t shock me that the man behind Vista 8 already got sacked. Rather than give Vista 8 away Microsoft is raising the price now:

Say what you will about Windows 8; at least the upgrade from Windows 7 is cheap. Or it is for now. After January 31 will be a different story.

Ever since Windows 8′s October 26, 2012 launch, Microsoft has been offering retail Windows 8 Pro upgrade DVDs for $69.99. Online upgrades have been even cheaper, at $39.99. And customers who bought new PCs or laptops with Windows 7 preloaded got the best deal of all: If they registered with Microsoft, the online Windows 8 upgrade cost them just $14.99.

By raising the price Microsoft can discourage usage of this total disaster. Vista 8 RT is also a disaster. The Register writes

Microsoft’s ARM blunder: 7 reasons why Windows RT was DOA

Industry doomsayers were circling Windows 8 like buzzards before it even launched, but they picked the wrong carcass. Microsoft’s real 2012 roadkill was Win8′s ARM-powered cousin, Windows RT.

The chattering class’s comparisons of Windows 8 and Windows Vista are premature – it will take several more quarters before we can gauge how Redmond’s latest OS will play out in the marketplace. But with the holiday season behind us, it’s now plain that Window RT is a flop.

A Microsoft booster in the same publication writes that Microsoft is concerned about jailbreaking of this OS.The daily news in this site are getting more political because Linux already sells and spreads more quickly than Windows, thanks to Android and advanced in hardware. Now we must worry about freedom and rights. This includes jailbreaking. █

Summary: More UEFI stories and some numbers which show even Vista outpacing Vista 8 in terms of adoption

WE are looking for more UEFI stories as part of an attempt to show how anticompetitive it really is.

Jamie Watson, a Brit, experienced yet more problems when he tested distributions on new hardware which is improperly marked:

I’ve been trying to set up multi-booting with Windows 8 and Linux – with limited success.

[...]

I have a difficult time even finding out from the pre-sales technical information if a system has EFI boot or not, much less whether it is configurable or not.

Here is another new story about UEFI issues. It sure looks like Microsoft is eager to prevent Linux and GNU from gaining ground by persuading hardware makers to restrict what can be booted. There is no denying the fact that Vista 8 is a failure, worse even than Vista based on some new numbers that are charted here:

Windows 8 usage uptake has slipped behind Vista’s in the same point in its release. Windows 8 online usage share is around 1.6% of all Windows PC’s which is less than the 2.2% share that Windows Vista commanded at the same two month mark after release.

The source of this data is moreover close to Microsoft (and partly funded by it). We wrote about it in:

• Summary: Lies, Damn Lies and Net Applications (Fake ‘Statistics’)
• Is Net Applications One Order of Magnitude Off Target?
• Microsoft and Apple Pay Net Applications (Hitslink)
• Net Applications Has Former Microsoft Employee, Also a Microsoft Investor?
• Net Applications: The Mathematics Failing

When even a Microsoft booster is saying negative things about Vista 8 adoption, then you know if might even be worse than claimed and reported. But what seems to be under-reported is the degree to which Microsoft is screwing with GNU/Linux installations. That needs to change. █

“We all know Linux is great… it does infinite loops in 5 seconds.” -Linus Torvalds about the superiority of Linux on the Amterdam Linux Symposium

Summary: Antifeatures that are associated with spying have been included in Vista 8, raising concerns for those who need protection in their private lives

THERE are many reasons to believe that Vista 8 will fail just like its predecessors (after XP).

Vista was not just horrible but it also introduced massive violations of privacy, which ought to deter and scare businesses. Having Vista or later installed is like having Stalin on your hard-drive. It ‘phones home’ a lot, gathering information about the users. This information is stored remotely and indefinitely.

“It ‘phones home’ a lot, gathering information about the users.”Now we learn that Vista 8 goes much further than Vista. It uses insecure means to help Microsoft spy on the users’ activity. To quote: “There are a few serious problems here. The big problem is that Windows 8 is configured to immediately tell Microsoft about every app you download and install. This is a very serious privacy problem, specifically because Microsoft is the central point of authority and data collection/retention here and therefore becomes vulnerable to being served judicial subpoenas or National Security Letters intended to monitor targeted users. This situation is exacerbated when Windows 8 is deployed in countries experiencing political turmoil or repressive political situations.”

See what Microsoft did in Russia. Remember the sound bite: Stalin on your hard-drive. █

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

–George Santayana

THE failure of Vista 8 is foreseen by many. It is profound enough for OEMs to complain about it already [1, 2] and Dell joins the antagonists by making its stance known.”In the earnings call to discuss its latest financial results,” says The Register, “Dell’s CFO Brian Gladden said the introduction of Windows 8 in October would have a limited effect on Dell’s results at first, since the company is really focusing on enterprise systems, and he expects the new OS to have limited appeal early on in that sector.”

“Our guess is that Linux, the kernel, which is common to all these platforms, will thrive on desktops just as it does on phones, servers, and increasingly tablets too.”The interface of Vista 8 makes it unsuitable for serious use. To quote another new article: “Though Windows 8 is winning rave reviews for its touch-friendly tablet experience, many feel that the operating system’s “Modern-style” UI makes life more difficult for PC users. Count usability expert Raluca Budiu of the Nielsen Norman Group among these critics. Though she has not conducted any formal studies on Windows 8, the former Xerox PARC researcher and user experience specialist has used the new OS enough to conclude that, for productivity tasks on the PC at least, Windows 8 is less user friendly than its predecessors.”

GNU/Linux is alive and well, but Android too is looking for growth at the expense of Windows while Chrome OS gains a more favourable position among OEMs. Our guess is that Linux, the kernel, which is common to all these platforms, will thrive on desktops just as it does on phones, servers, and increasingly tablets too. █

Summary: Microsoft reassures us that bribes are not a mistake but a deliberate act of marketing

THE MARKETING company known as Microsoft just cannot learn a lesson, or maybe there is no lesson to be learn when bribery is simply the business model rather than a “rotten apple”. Previously in this Web site we wrote all about Microsoft bribes that we are aware of. Vista 8 will be no exception because it is already happening. Ryan from #Techrights (IRC) writes: “They did something like this when Vista and Vista 7 went out. In that case, they sent out Alienware laptops to bribe favorable reviews for Vista from the people that got one. LINK (Archive.org copy, the original was disappeared)

“Now it appears they are promoting Vista 8 like this as well, only it’s tablets this time.”

Vista and Vista 7 had bribes as well. One former Microsoft manager wrote at one point: “I’ve been thinking long and hard about this, and the only conclusion I can come to is that this is ethically indistinguishable from bribery. Even if no quid-pro-quo is formally required, the gift creates a social obligation of reciprocity. This is best explained in Cialdini’s book Influence (a summary is here). The blogger will feel some obligation to return the favor to Microsoft.” The blog post is titled “bribing bloggers, █

Summary: How Silverlight died and why it is highly probable that Microsoft will always fail in the mobile arena

OVER a year ago we explained the connection between Vista Phony 7 (WP7) and Silverlight. That was just before Silverlight died. What’s amazing is that a lot of people forget that the fall of Silverlight is a prelude to the fall of WP7. One loosely depends on the other.

Windows Mobile was a massive failure that cost Microsoft a lot of money before Sidekick and KIN injured Microsoft as well (Microsoft tried to hide those losses). Just like in search, Microsoft keeps swapping brands, always with the same outcome and the same amazing losses.

According to this, Microsoft may have started a disinformation campaign for WP7. To quote Christine: “I can’t swear this item is Microsoft FUD, but it sure smells that way. On Wednesday a writer on CNET’s Microsoft beat reported on a study released by NPD Group. Although the article is never quite clear on exactly what is being studied (unless I missed something – tell me), the point seems to be that lots of potential buyers just can’t wait to get their hands on Windows Phone 7. Again, I could be wrong, but this sounds like the beginning of some sort of Redmond financed campaign to me.”

Since it is based on XAML to an extent, its fate is closely related to that of Silverlight, whose own people say was “destined to fail”. Quoting the new blog post:

Why Silverlight was destined to fail and my time as one of its custodians.

[...]

Death of Silverlight is sad, but at the same time good. Yes I said it, as for years I’ve sat behind this product watching it grow in an amazing ways across the globe. It went from this science project existence that I remember saying it wouldn’t last through tot his highly competitive technology that had both Microsoft and Adobe at each other’s throats over.

The war between Adobe ended though and over time the technology become somewhat a questionable approach to solving a whole bunch of issues within the .NET community.

So how did we arrive at this point? Here’s my mini memoirs of my time at Microsoft and in the Silverlight Product Management / Evangelism space.

It’s a long read, but take some time to stick process it all. I’ve left out a whole heap of juicy crap, simply because it would turn into a novel!!! And you wouldn’t believe me if I wrote it anyway.

The failure of Silverlight will cascade down to other Microsoft products. Vista was supposed to make a lot out of XAML and it failed. █

Summary: The farcical version/derivative of Vista known as “Windows 8″ gets ridiculed even in the corporate press

YESTERDAY we quoted Dvorak on Windows 8. As we argued all along, it turns out that Microsoft does not have a new version of Windows. A DRM-laden shop is not an operating system feature and the current build lacks compelling features to actually make many sales (sales to OEMs should not count, as the end buyer makes no actual choice). “So Microsoft has demonstrated Windows 8,” wrote Will in IRC. “Sounds like it’s basically Windows Phone 7 on a PC.” Or worse than that: as Wired Magazine puts it, this is “Just Windows 7 With a New Skin”. To quote:

Microsoft has shown an early look at Windows 8. The upcoming OS is designed to run on any machine, from a tablet to a desktop PC, and while it has some genuinely clever features, it is at heart yet another skinned version of regular old Windows. Here’s a video of it in action. Skip to a minute in if you don’t care to hear about how tired the poor Windows 8 team is after so much work.

Vista, “Vista 8″ and “Vista 7″ as we call them (because Windows 8 is like Mojave and Windows 7 to Vista) sure looks like it is too little, too late in a world of mobility. Microsoft has resorted to hardware bribery — not just OEM kickbacks — in a desperate attempt to slow down the inevitable. GNU/Linux and Android are rising and overcoming Microsoft’s crimes against the industry. █

“In the face of strong competition, Evangelism’s focus may shift immediately to the next version of the same technology, however. Indeed, Phase 1 (Evangelism Starts) for version x+1 may start as soon as this Final Release of version X.”

–Microsoft, internal document [PDF]

Summary: Stating the obvious about an operating system that has not a single selling point of substantial value

“If Win 8 only includes the superficial features that are predicted, then it’s a tweak of Win 7, not a new OS, and we shouldn’t have to pay for it,” wrote John Dvorak last week. Microsoft is too busy trying to block Linux at OEM levels (Windows is dying in x86 land) and amid “Windows 8″ hype our reader Ryan, who is a former Microsoft MVP, says that the “same could be said of Windows 7″ as “it’s just superficial tweaks of Vista” (see our pages about 7 and 8, the better marketed versions of Vista). The promise of a ‘new’ operating system merely shows that Microsoft is nervous. █

Apple, the anti-Linux aggressor (e.g. with software patents), is in hot water right now. In response to its ridiculously pathetic lawsuit against Samsung it is now being sued itself:

Samsung Electronics Co. said it sued Apple Inc. (AAPL) claiming patent infringement, a week after the iPhone maker filed a complaint in U.S. federal court alleging the South Korean company copied its products.

Samsung submitted complaints to courts in Seoul, Tokyo and Mannheim, Germany, alleging Apple infringed patents related to mobile-communications technologies, Suwon-based Samsung said in an e-mailed statement today. Steve Dowling, a spokesman for Apple, declined to comment and referred back to the company’s complaint filed last week.

However, the very latest blunder Apple found itself in has a lot to do with privacy, or lack thereof. Groklaw has assembled some links that include self-explanatory quotes:

• Apple location tracker file: Congressman asks Steve Jobs to explain by May 12

  Following widespread attention drawn by a file embedded on Apple iPhones and iPads that keeps a detailed log of the devices’ location, Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has sent Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs a letter asking him to explain the purpose of the file.

• Michigan Police Deny Secretly Extracting Mobile Data During Traffic Stops

  The Michigan Police Force has denied the unlawful use of a device that can extract all your cell phone information, the same technology that is embedded in many of our cell phones.

  The data extraction devices (DED) are manufactured by CelleBrite and can quickly extract mobile data, such as contacts, photos, and deleted text messages, from your SD card. CelleBrite counts Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and other major carriers as customers; the technology is used to transfer data to a new phone when you upgrade.

• Michigan: Police Search Cell Phones During Traffic Stops

  The Michigan State Police have a high-tech mobile forensics device that can be used to extract information from cell phones belonging to motorists stopped for minor traffic violations. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan last Wednesday demanded that state officials stop stonewalling freedom of information requests for information on the program.

  ACLU learned that the police had acquired the cell phone scanning devices and in August 2008 filed an official request for records on the program, including logs of how the devices were used. The state police responded by saying they would provide the information only in return for a payment of $544,680. The ACLU found the charge outrageous.

• MSP fights ACLU claims that devices are used to get personal information from cell phones during traffic stops

  Can police steal information from your cell phone? That’s the charge against the Michigan State Police by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.

  The ACLU says the MSP is dodging its requests to disclose information on data extraction devices.

  Police say they’re complying with the law and that the ACLU is stirring up controversy.

  The ACLU of Michigan says the Michigan State Police is withholding information about its data extraction devices that can store all the information on your cell phone.

  Mark Fancher, ACLU of Michigan Racial Justice Project staff attorney says, “The only thing that we have been asking is that they confirm for us by producing documents that demonstrates that they are complying with constitutional requirements.”

  The Michigan State Police says turning over all of the documents would cost more than half a million dollars.

• Inquiries Grow Over Apple’s Data Collection Practices

  “If it’s true that this information is being collected, and it is being done without the approval and knowledge of the users, then it is definitely a violation of German privacy law,” Mr. Kranig said.

Separately, Groklaw posted a link to the following new item from Schneier, which ought to remind people of COFEE (Vista and other versions of Windows include surveillance bits):

• Software as Evidence

  Increasingly, chains of evidence include software steps. It’s not just the RIAA suing people — and getting it wrong — based on automatic systems to detect and identify file sharers. It’s forensic programs used to collect and analyze data from computers and smart phones. It’s audit logs saved and stored by ISPs and websites. It’s location data from cell phones. It’s e-mails and IMs and comments posted to social networking sites. It’s tallies from digital voting machines. It’s images and meta-data from surveillance cameras. The list goes on and on. We in the security field know the risks associated with trusting digital data, but this evidence is routinely assumed by courts to be accurate.

Here again is the Jobs video that we posted last night. Listen to what he says about privacy at Apple. Considering how secretive the company is, privacy at Apple applies only to its members of staff. For everyone else, Apple is just Big Brother software. What we need now is a free (as in liberty) phone platform and independent carriers that do not log calls/locations using signal triangulation. █

Steve Jobs on privacy, Steve Jobs at the D8 Conference (Video)

For context, see the “Privacy” links at the top. How foolish he must look now.

Credit: TinyOgg

Summary: Rants about Windows help people appreciate the ease of GNU/Linux

“I‘M installing Windows Vista Service Packs and online updates for more than 24 hours Can’t stand it no more,” wrote Razvan Sandu a few days ago, “Where’s Fedora?”

I’ve personally been very pleased with Fedora 14, which I use on my main PC at work. It impresses Windows users and it takes just minutes to install.

“Are people aware of other options at all?”Sandu is not a Windows user. He apparently installs Windows either for another person or for side reasons like the running of some stubborn, Windows-only application. Back around the time that Vista 7 was released, one reputable site said that installing it (with some basic software, no OEM as intermediate point) should take around 8 hours, which in many countries means an entire working day. Why would anyone accept this? Are people aware of other options at all? The task of installing 10 applications on Windows can take about 10 times as long as doing the same thing on GNU/Linux, assuming all the software needs to be downloaded using a Web browser, which also adds another layer of potential threat.

“Microsoft Genuine Disadvantage Strikes Again” rants our reader Wayne this week, having been lured into helping with an installation of Windows. To quote part of his story:

OK, so I got suckered into helping someone fix their computer. My son asked me, nicely, to help him. His friend had gotten virussed, and the computer wouldn’t boot. When I asked him why run Windows, it was the usual answer. World of Warcraft.

Mike’s pretty good with computers. He’s twenty-three years old. He has never lived in a house without at least one working computer. He’s installed every version of Windows from 3.0 on up to Windows 7 at least once.

But he’s not as good as the old man. So my promise to never touch another damned machine running Windows, ever again, goes out the Windows.

Actually he’d gotten everything right, which is exactly what I’d expected. There was only one problem. Microsoft uses poor quality stickers. They deteriorate because of CPU heat. They deteriorate because of sunlight. They deteriorate because of anything.

Making the move to GNU/Linux is a smart step for anyone who is not using it already. Making the move to GNU/Linux is also what people ought to propose to those who ask for help with Windows. More and more people seem to be making use of GNU/Linux a precondition for free technical support. Microsoft currently claims to have created “4,000 new UK jobs”, but jobs in this context means supporting a defective system. █

SOME people are afraid of Vista 7. Some people are said to be in love with it, but they usually go under anonymous handles and some time in the near future we’ll have an investigative report linking such people to AstroTurfing. Those who listen to episodes of TechBytes (which we enjoy producing by the way) probably got a bit of a teaser because the subject was covered in TechBytes around Christmas time. OpenBytes has managed to expose a Microsoft agent cursing Linux and praising Microsoft products under multiple handles. Once the person was linked to his/her Facebook account it turned out that s/he worked for Microsoft, whereupon the Facebook page got deleted (evidence, be gone!).

I was personally amused to see just a few days ago how anonymous commenters pressure writers who are critical of Vista Phony 7 [sic] under pseudonyms. Remember that Microsoft spends about half a billion dollars just promoting this already-failed product and this money goes to peripheral agencies that use all sorts of tactics to shape the perception of Vista Phony 7. Watch what those alleged sympathisers of Vista Phony 7 (it hardly has any users) caused a Forbes writer to publish even as a headline: “Commenters Say Don’t Knock Windows Phone 7 Prematurely”

“In many ways, these people can handle GNU/Linux better than they can use Windows without a support helpline and an OEM’s preinstallation.”Who are those commenters? Can they be named? The point of it all is that what we’re seeing here is exactly what we saw when Windows Vista and Vista 7 were released. There was retaliation against writers who criticised it. In the coming days we’ll do some dedicated posts about Vista Phony 7, whereas in this post we wish to address the myth of GNU/Linux being ‘hard’, ‘incompatible’, etc.

I’ve used Fedora 14 since its release and wrote about it almost a dozen times in my personal blog. It works for me. It works better than almost anything I’ve tried and I installed it for other people too. They stick with it. They even installed it themselves, having never installed a GNU/Linux distribution before. In many ways, these people can handle GNU/Linux better than they can use Windows without a support helpline and an OEM’s preinstallation. Last night I found the post titled “Windows 7 fails to power down idle disks, Fedora 14 works”. This it the typical sort of example where Linux “just works” where Windows does not. People need to take it for granted that in certain areas GNU/Linux is far ahead of Windows (package management for instance). To quote a fragment from this new post:

After a while Windows 7 will power down my idle (Fedora 14) disk but then it will randomly power the disk back up. This process would then repeat, an endless cycle of power down, power up, power down, power up….

Why does Windows 7 feel the need to poll my idle disk and wake it up?

Not only is this behaviour irritating but it undermines the idea of spinning down idle disks to save power.

Fedora 14 on the other hand spins down my idle (Windows 7) disk perfectly and does not randomly power the drive back up again unless I intentionally access the drive.

“My morning in Microsoft hell” is another new post that I found last night. It also speaks about Vista 7:

I didn’t want to give up, so I took the plunge and called Microsoft. After a glorious 10 minutes on hold, I was told that as I had bought my copy of Windows 7 more than 90 days prior, I could not get support for less than $59. What? I could not believe it. I have to pay for when I can’t get your product to actually work? This is literally the exact opposite of a Genius Bar. Microsoft told me to go to their website and search for answers to my problem. I was blinking, so she repeated: “go to Microsoft.com.”

All I needed to know was, ‘is it possible to revert to factory like settings without reinstalling Windows 7?’ Is that so hard to divulge?

Then it hit me: I can’t reinstall Windows at all, because I don’t have a disk to reinstall from. I downloaded the OS from Microsoft, and thus have no physical media to use to restart. In short, I can’t restore, and I can’t reinstall, despite having paid for the damn OS. In other words, my main computer is for all intents and purposes dead.

It is important to see why people favour GNU/Linux here. It’s not price, it’s not the viruses in Windows, and it is not the belonging to a “side”, either. It’s technical merit and the notion of ownership/control. If one expands the scope of factors, cost can be seen as a nice bonus and as Microsoft Emil reluctantly admits, there is yet another unpatched Explorer flaw right now (we wrote about a couple more yesterday).

Details on the IE vulnerability are probably more widely known than Microsoft would like, especially given that the researcher in question, Michal Zalewski released the fuzzing tool to the public on New Years Day. It’s worth noting that a Google employee has done this before, disclosing an IE flaw that could allow attackers to steal private information from online services. Then and now, Microsoft argued that details should not be disclosed publicly until a patch is available.

How many people still remember that Google banned Windows for all internal use? That was less than a year ago. Google claims to be doing this for security reasons, but there are so many more reasons than that. Google starts pushing Linux-based Chrome OS and Android into a very large market and GNU/Linux in general is very mature at this stage. I never use Windows (neither at home or work) and this avoidance becomes ever more painless over time. Soon enough proprietary codecs and Flash won't be required, either (I have neither installed in Fedora) owing to changes on the Web, partly owing to Google.

So, in conclusion, 2011 looks like a bright year already. Mark Shuttleworth is becoming extremely active in the mailing lists this week, possibly because he too feels invigorated with enthusiasm. Here is an underwhelming short screencast I’ve just grabbed of my main desktop (just 1.4 megabytes in total size). We ought to have something better in the future. █

Summary: Sangari sells antagonism to freedom, delivering to schools exactly the opposite of what Mark Shuttleworth had in mind when he supported Inkululeko Technologies, which now redirects to Sangari

“I found something fishy,” wrote to us a person who goes by the name SA dude, “Inkululeko Technologies, a company in South Africa that originated from the Shuttleworth tuxLabs linux-schools project’s site now redirects to a Sangari Worldwide website, a seller of closed source education software such as “how to use windows vista”” (we have looked at the sites to verify these claims).

Earlier in the year we transcribed a South African podcast where Microsoft’s dirty tricks in this nation were revisited and explained. We have already done a lot to show how Microsoft derailed GNU/Linux migrations in South African schools. To give some more links of relevance:

• How Microsoft (and Other Proprietary Software Companies) Derail Free/Libre Software in South Africa and New Zealand
• South Africa Gets an Offer Too Hard to Refuse, Taken Over by Microsoft Lobbyists
• Microsoft Goes Visiting South Africa Shortly After Pro-ODF Policies (Updated)
• Fraser-Moleketi, South African Minister, Slams OOXML and Software Patents
• OpenDocument Format Victorious in South Africa
• Updates on Microsoft OOXML in the UK and South Africa
• It’s Confirmed: Microsoft Went Down to South Africa to Fight ODF
• Microsoft Lies and Insults South Africans to ‘Sell’ OOXML
• Another Formal Complaint About ISO/Microsoft: South Africa’s Turn
• OOXML Roadblock Now in Place; Please Contact Your National Standards Body Within Days
• The Big Stories Behind the ‘Story’ of OOXML
• India Appeals Against OOXML, Joining Brazil, South Africa, Maybe More
• The OOXML Fiasco: Updates from 3 Countries That Protested

For background about the tuXlab project:

The tuXlab project was initiated by the Shuttleworth Foundation in 2002 aiming to open up new opportunities and to encourage sharing of information and resources in the education sector. Between 2004 and 2006, after the success of the pilot, tuXlabs were rolled out to more than a 100 Western Cape schools.

The Foundation encourages successful pilot projects to become self-sustainable and leave the Foundation stable. The tuXlab programme was identified as one such project. Inkululeko Technologies was formed in June 2006 and the tuXlab team moved to this new entity. Inkululeko became responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the tuXlab programme, including the sustainability of the tuXlab programme as a model. The Foundation exited from its direct involvement in the tuXlab programme at this point. Against this background the Shuttleworth Foundation commissioned a report on the state of tuXlabs.

Just look what happened after intervention from proprietary giants that want to indoctrinate children at taxpayers’ expense, with schoolteachers as their training staff whom they need not pay for. What an appalling sight. █

Summary: Microsoft’s faking of Windows sales numbers and abuse of customers who buy a computer with an unwanted operating system lands it in hot legal waters

Microsoft has reportedly just been sued (hard to corroborate with other sources) for the Vista and Vista 7 abuse which we covered here before. To quote the short report from today:

A federal class action claims Microsoft illegally requires consumers to buy a more expensive Windows Vista or Windows 7 program, before they get “downgrade rights” to buy the Windows XP Professional operating system.

Someone from IBM has claimed that those who choose Windows XP (since around 2007) will have their purchase count as two Vista/Vista 7 sales. Not one sale of XP. Not one sale of Vista/Vista 7 but two. He called it “dipping” and it’s one of the tricks Microsoft uses to produce fake numbers, in addition to financial cheats.

Chips B. Malroy has just given us the pointer to it and he adds that he “can’t find any more information on that lawsuit” (if someone can, please alert us in comments/IRC). █

Summary: Microsoft is playing a psychological numbers game to give an illusion of progress whilst in fact just marketing a mythical re-wrapped version of Vista

ACCORDING to Microsoft, Vista 7 is actually "Windows 6.1" (6.0 is Vista) and now it turns out that Vista 8 is “Windows 6.2″, as revealed by this article. The reader who alerted us about it asked: “Windows 8 will be only Windows Vista SP4?”

Windows 8 could reportedly sport Windows 6.2 as the version number, according to a third-party source.

Of course, Microsoft has yet to share any details related to the versioning of Windows vNext with the public, but there is a precedent indicating that the version of Windows 8 might end up as 6.x rather than Windows 8.0.

Windows8italia managed to come across a new driver from NVIDIA which apparently references a new Windows kernel, version 6.2, which can only be associated with the next major iteration of Windows.

This information needs to be taken with a grain of salt as there’s no official confirmation from the software giant, an aspect that is bound not to change, at least in the immediate future.

But believe it or not, it’s highly probable to have Windows 6.x as the version for Windows vNext.

Don’t believe the hype. Microsoft is just trying to suspend migration to other platforms. Mr. Pogson has just found a Windows Vista prediction from 2006 (when Vista was finalised):

I came across a prediction from 2006 that Vista would have 40% share by 2008. Now, we are in 2010 and Vista +”7″ is still less than 40%. Granted, predicting is an uncertain art because unknown events intervene. What has made this prediction fail?

* Vista was a dog ( I don’t like dogs)
* Vista and “7″ will not run on most hardware
* Vista and “7″ still welcome malware
* The netbook showed many millions of people GNU/Linux in action
* Snart-thingies showed millions there are other ways of doing things
* Dell and other started selling GNU/Linux to consumers
* A recession put a damper on spending

Vista 7 adoption has not really been good, but Microsoft is fudging numbers to make it look differently. █

WINDOWS is not doing well. Don’t believe the spinners. When it comes to profit, the numbers not only declined over the years; these turn out to be faked figures, too (the rest of the revenue comes from squeezing the goose, inflation, forced ‘upgrades’ and so on). Even Microsoft is now admitting that Windows has an innovator’s dilemma-type crisis. It just doesn’t scale, not even Vista 7 which Microsoft claims to be lighter than Vista (how inappropriate a basis for comparison).

According to this Microsoft booster, Vista 7 is too heavy for tablets. It’s implicit and subtle. By saying that Vista Phony 7 [sic] might be needed for tablets, Microsoft inadvertently admits that Vista 7 is too fat.

If Vista Phony 7 [sic] is Microsoft’s plan for the future, then no wonder we saw more and more people saying that Ballmer is already on the exit chair, awaiting ejection (and it won’t be Ballmer setting off this chair). As my colleague and friend Tim puts it, what Microsoft says is not reality and even its PR is suffering a lot this month. Examples are being given, including some from the overly-hyped KINect:

Today I thought that I would present a list of articles/links which hardly put Microsoft in the same light as its PR agents and boosters would want you to know.

[...]

Can Microsoft compete with the Nintendo with Kinect? – On the basis of this and other reports around the net, I wouldn’t think so.

[...]

It also seems Microsoft advocates/boosters will tell you that demand has it sold out. This doesn’t appear to be the case and at time of writing HMV had these in stock. Maybe Microsoft is trying to generate some interest? Maybe Kinect sales are suffering with the same type of lag that the device reports to have (as per the BBC Click review) . Maybe the people who part with cash for this contraption can let us all know.

“Will Microsoft ride Kinect tiger or go Wii Wii Wii all the way home,” asks one of ZDNet’s FOSS-leaning bloggers, who adds:

As I noted Friday, Microsoft has backed down from earlier legal and technological threats against the programmers who turned Kinect into a general computer interface. But now Google’s Matt Cutts has tweaked the Green Monster with his own contest for the best Linux and open source applications using the device.

Note that this is not a Google contest. It’s a Matt Cutts contest. He just happens to work at Google.

As our Adrian Kingsley-Hughes notes, the Kinect’s parts cost just $56. Even at $149, that’s a healthy profit margin, but he also notes that Microsoft’s research costs mean it must sell “a lot of Kinect devices to turn this one into a serious money spinner.”

Based on the billions (in losses) which Xbox cost Microsoft, one should not be too optimistic here. KINect will definitely sell better than KIN, but again, this is not a proper basis for comparison. Any Wii sold already contains the equivalent of KINect. Microsoft is playing catch-up here and allegedly spends half a billion dollars just marketing this thing. The same goes for Vista Phony 7 [sic] marketing, which — as we predicted — will be money down the toilet. The Register ponders: “So did Windows Phone 7 ‘bomb in US’?”

40,000 devices is still embarrassing, even if it’s just the USA and leaves out the 90,000 or so Microsoft employees who’ll be getting one, and even if figures elsewhere are rather better. But before drawing any conclusions it’s worth thinking about the numbers.

Charles Arthur, who is working for a Bill Gates-funded publication (where the sponsorship helps inject bias sometimes [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]), looks back at the early days of Windows and suggests that we are seeing the end of this era. His headline states: “Has Microsoft’s Windows had its day?”

The bald man in the ill-fitting check jacket doesn’t pause as he stands beside the beige 1980s-vintage PC. The words pour out of his mouth like the sharpest huckster you’ve ever seen. “How much do YOU think this advanced operating environment is worth? WAIT just ONE minute before you answer,” he instructs eagerly. “WATCH as Windows integrates Lotus 1-2-3 with” – he clutches his lapels – “MIAMI VICE!”

The screen shows picture of a Ferrari pasted into a document. “NOW we can take THIS Ferrari and paste it RIGHT INTO Windows Write,” the man gabbles. “NOW how much do you think Microsoft Windows is worth?… DON’T ANSWER. WAIT until you see Windows Write and Windows Paint and LISTEN to what else you get at NO EXTRA CHARGE!”

We’re only 15 seconds in but already you feel buffeted. “The MS-DOS executive, an appointment calendar, a cardfile, a notepad, a clock, a control panel, a terminal, printer, a RAM driver, AND CAN YOU BELIEVE IT, REVERSI, yes that’s right, ALL these features and Reversi, for just – HOOOOW much did you guess?”

Guess? We had to guess? ” FIVE HUNDRED? A THOUSAND? EVEN MORE? NOOOO it’s just 99 dollars, that’s right, it’s 99 dollars, it’s an incredible value but it’s true, it’s Windows from Microsoft, order TODAY! PO BOX 286-DOS,” he concludes as the address flashes on the screen, before adding weirdly, and without explanation, “…. Except in Nebraska.”

Arthur refers to the viral video below. Tim (of TechBytes and OpenBytes) does not expect Ballmer to survive next year at Microsoft. Vista Phony 7 [sic] is just one of his many recent failures. █

Steve Ballmer in Windows 1.0 advertisement

Summary: With Stuxnet running rampant and security issues at Microsoft reaching an all-time high, employees of the company attempt to distract from the fact that Windows — not “sick” PCs — is the cause

ACCORDING TO this report, “EU calls Stuxnet ‘paradigm shift’” and there is need for change.

While official U.S. response has been comparatively mild, the European Union’s cybersecurity agency says Stuxnet represents a “paradigm shift” in critical infrastructure threats and that current defense philosophies need to be reconsidered.

In a statement released yesterday, Udo Helmbrecht, the executive director of ENISA (European Network and Information Security Agency), said that as a “new class and dimension of malware,” Stuxnet represents a “paradigm shift.”

“The attackers have invested a substantial amount of time and money to build such a complex attack tool,” he said. “The fact that perpetrators activated such an attack tool can be considered as the ‘first strike,’ i.e. one of the first organized, well prepared attacks against major industrial resources. This has tremendous effect on how to protect national” infrastructure in the future.

CNET’s Elinor Mills no longer 'forgets' to mention Windows and “let’s hope the[y] draw the right conclusion about Windows” was Glyn Moody’s response to the above.

Stuxnet has become somewhat of a blessing to GNU/Linux because it helps more and more people see the serious ramifications of Windows use. Stuxnet is very much alive and there is no solution to it yet. We wrote about the subject in:

1. Ralph Langner Says Windows Malware Possibly Designed to Derail Iran’s Nuclear Programme
2. Windows Viruses Can be Politically Motivated Sometimes
3. Who Needs Windows Back Doors When It’s So Insecure?
4. Windows Insecurity Becomes a Political Issue
5. Windows, Stuxnet, and Public Stoning
6. Stuxnet Grows Beyond Siemens-Windows Infections
7. Has BP Already Abandoned Windows?
8. Reports: Apple to Charge for (Security) Updates
9. Windows Viruses Can be Politically Motivated Sometimes
10. New Flaw in Windows Facilitates More DDOS Attacks
11. Siemens is Bad for Industry, Partly Due to Microsoft
12. Microsoft Security Issues in The British Press, Vista and Vista 7 No Panacea
13. Microsoft’s Negligence in Patching (Worst Amongst All Companies) to Blame for Stuxnet
14. Microsoft Software: a Darwin Test for Incompetence
15. Bad September for Microsoft Security, Symantec Buyout Rumours
16. Microsoft Claims Credit for Failing in Security
17. Many Windows Servers Being Abandoned; Minnesota Goes the Opposite Direction by Giving Microsoft Its Data
18. Windows Users Still Under Attack From Stuxnet, Halo, and Zeus

“Stuxnet Used in Black Hat SEO Campaigns” says Ziff Davis which also has this new slideshow-type article about Stuxnet.

That link that you click on for information about the Stuxnet worm might be leading you to a malicious site.

It’s the dark side of search engine optimization; attackers boosting the search engine rankings of malicious sites so they can lure visitors with the promise of interesting news. In this case, it’s the Stuxnet worm that is being used as bait.

Stuxnet has been a regular presence in security articles since it was discovered this summer. The worm was designed to target industrial control systems, and its complexity has made it a source of interest for security researchers and IT admins alike.

As expected, Microsoft is trying to distract from Windows as the source of this problem. In fact, it tries to take advantage of this fiasco and portray itself as a rescuer. As we showed some days ago, Microsoft steps up as the so-called ‘solution’ to the problem which Microsoft itself helped create and the old nonsense from Charney (he started this in [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]) has washed the Web, leading to responses like Marco’s “Computer health certificates for surfing the Internet? Are you serious?”

First of all, he has managed to turn a problem that today, in large part, is caused by defects in his company’s products in something that any freedom-loving government would really love to fix for you. This is genius at work. Because presenting (1) virus-ridden computers as “sick PCs”, that is as a “public health” issue that should be fixed by “legal frameworks” that define and enforce “trusted computers systems” is just a way to mutilate computers so they can’t do anymore what you want, but only what somebody else likes. In other words, this proposal could give governments a reason to fix Microsoft problems with their (as in “yours”) money because it also does something else they want. Not to mention that movie and music corporations would surely insist to add “no copy” mechanisms to the “health” checklist.

Secondly, Mr Charney comes and proposes this… just seven months after an equally absurd and offending solution to the same problem, that is taxing ALL citizens to fix Microsoft’s security problems. I am speechless, really.

John Gilmore says: “I’d recommend merely ignoring his ideas til they sink like a stone. But it looks like Intel and Microsoft are actively sneaking up on the free Internet and the free 10% of the computer market by building in these techniques and seeking partnerships with governments, ISPs, telcos, oligopolists, etc to force their use. So some sort of active opposition seems appropriate.”

Here is what SJVN wrote about it:

My friend Richi Jennings is fond of the idea that users with malware-infected PCs should be cut off from the Internet. To this, I say not just “Yes,” but “Hell yes.” And, as he pointed out, other people are getting behind this idea of helping to clean up the litter of spam, malware, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that junks up the Internet highway.

Comcast, as Jennings pointed out, will be letting malware-infected users know that they’ve got garbage on their hard disk, but not keeping them off the net. Darn it.

If this was implemented, up to about half of the world’s computer users would get disconnected. It’s really that serious. Despite Microsoft’s many promises for the best part of a decade, things are not improving. Microsoft does not reveal just how many holes exist in its software (there is silent patching which Microsoft keeps hidden), but this month it claims to be breaking the record:

i. Microsoft Plans Biggest Patch Tuesday Security Update Ever

Microsoft is poised to break its record for the most Patch Tuesday security bulletins ever for the second time in 2010.

On Oct. 12, the company is set to release 16 security bulletins to cover a total of 49 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office and the .NET framework. In August, the company set a new record with 14 bulletins. That update fixed 34 security holes across a number of products.

ii. MS planning Patch Tuesday whopper: 16 bulletins, 49 vulnerabilities

This month’s batch of security patches from Microsoft will be a record-breaking one: 16 bulletins addressing a whopping 49 security vulnerabilities.

Windows XP may no longer be sold, but this Swiss cheese of an operating system is here to cause trouble for several more years:

Although Windows XP will no longer be for sale this doesn’t mean that existing users will be left high and dry. Microsoft has said that it will provide support for Windows XP until April 2014. Windows Vista support will also end in April 2014.

Notice what Microsoft is doing with Vista. Support gets cut on the same date, despite the releases being almost 6 years apart. What does that tell people who were foolish enough to fall for Microsoft’s hype and bet on Vista? It’s also a potential lesson about Vista 7. A reasonable upgrade route is to GNU/Linux and Ubuntu 10.10 will be released very shortly. █

–Steve Ballmer

Summary: Windows Vista not only brought more money after its launch but it also did not have Microsoft resort to so many big discounts (like with Vista 7)

POGSON has finally banned a Microsoft AstroTurfer from his blog and he also has some revealing new posts about Vista 7. His blog — like Techrights — deals a lot with the opposition’s actions against software freedom and he too has realised that Microsoft is lying/embellishing (mischaracterising) so-called ‘sales’ of Vista 7 (Windows is never sold, it’s being licensed).

Earlier this year we explained why family discounts (or family packs or whatever) of Vista 7 are signs of a failure to sell. Had Vista 7 sold well, those discounts would not be necessary. If one looks at the actual numbers (few journalists do), it becomes evident that Vista 7 has been a lot less profitable than Windows Vista (GNU/Linux too contributes to this) and to use Pogson’s headline, if Vista 7 is so successful, why does Microsoft have to give it away?

Yep. They have brought back the buy one/get two free deal for the anniversary of “7″.

The ‘sales’ are not as good as Microsoft would have people believe and Pogson explains why Windows just isn’t important anymore, noting in part in response to some Vista 7 rave that Vista 7 — like predecessors — is bound to slow down and get worse over time:

Suppose “7″ installs a trojan and invites a dozen of its friends to run on your machine. Do you have a core and a gigabyte for each and a NIC for each and an ISP for each so that no bottlenecks get plugged? Suppose your hard drive fragments so that every file is in a dozen parts and you malware scanner has to sift through all of them as well as the applications and OS…. If you install “7″ on an old PC with slow 40gB hard drive and 256 MB or RAM it will thrash like crazy. That will get worse as the disc fragments and more updates are done and more bloat added.

As a side note, be aware that critics of Vista 7 have always been attacked by trolls. We support Pogson’s decision to ban the AstroTurfer, Bill Weisgerber aka “billwg” or “amicus_curious”, who has been plaguing several pro-GNU/Linux forums for many years (some claim to have blown the whistle on him), insulting people in them.

For those who are proponents of software freedom, consider Pogson’s blog a blog worth subscribing to because the troll problem is now resolved too. OpenBytes had similar issues with a vulgar troll who attacked the editor’s family. The weaker Microsoft becomes, the more aggressive the trolls will be. Both trolls are just 2 among ~4 in total that we’ve ever banned in Techrights. Yes, they systematically target just Microsoft critics and GNU/Linux proponents, trashing their Web sites on purpose. █

Summary: Windows XP is declared clinically dead (although it’s not), Windows Vista has totally vanished from the news, and the shameless PR for Vista 7 continues despite relatively low adoption

“XP is Dead,” says IDG and this is obviously an exaggeration. It is actually good news for GNU/Linux and for BSD (XP-grade computers are not sufficiently powerful for current versions of Windows). One key milestone is Dell’s ending of XP:

Dell has become the first, but it will not be the last, to bid adieu to Microsoft’s workhorse operating system, XP.

This was also covered in articles such as [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].

Needless to say, Dell won’t be selling Vista, either. Hyped today, gone tomorrow. But a lot of people may not realise that Vista was far more profitable than Vista 7 at its time (we explained the decline in Windows profit some months ago). We found not a single headline about “Vista” in two weeks (nothing about “Azure” or “Hotmail”, either) and Mary Jo Microsoft is just pushing everyone to Vista 7, helped by Gartner hype (Microsoft is a client of Gartner, which sells bias). One must remember that Gartner was very optimistic about Vista, which made a lot more money than Vista 7. Gartner helped market it by selling the illusion that a lot of enterprises would inevitably adopt it within months [1, 2]. Vista 7 too has adoption problems in enterprises (no compelling reasons for upgrades), but Microsoft does not like to talk about it. Mary Jo Microsoft, Gartner, and the rest of this dishonest clique can shout “Vista 7″ all they want, but enterprises — unlike home users — are more prudent and less susceptible to marketing hypnosis. Two weeks ago we wrote that Vista 7 price drops show its sales are poor. The IE9 preview release is an example of Microsoft's more forceful push for people to buy Vista 7 rather than use another company’s Web browser.

Vista may seem like one of the dead products like SteadyState. Here is a somewhat belated article about the death of SteadyState (one among many dead products from Microsoft). Judging by Vista’s lifeline, it might not be long before Vista 7 too is passé. Why not move to GNU/Linux, which is constantly upgraded reliably and free of charge? █