12.19.13
Gemini version available ♊︎Google is Gradually Eating Away Microsoft’s Desktop Monopoly
Summary: How Chrome OS and other endeavors from Google weaken Microsoft’s common carrier and even contribute to Microsoft exodus
GOOGLE’S Chrome OS may not be so freedom-respecting, but it is a GNU/Linux distribution which like most newcomers is built on top of Free software (Chrome OS has a Free/libre equivalent that’s rarely advertised but does exist). Microsoft’s vicious public attacks on Chromebooks give away the story; Microsoft is suffering a great deal from Chrome OS as it is getting hard to impose Vista 8 on people. Based on some sales numbers, Microsoft is in serious trouble this Christmas. As IDG put it: “With another Black Friday come and gone, the signs for Microsoft remain uncertain. Based on retail promotions, most stores threw their support behind competing categories. Recent data indicates that holiday sales of Windows PCs are (not surprisingly) down so far. Sales of its Windows tablets and phones, while on the uptick, are nothing next to the rampant success of cheap TVs and Android tablets.”
Continuing a trend of exodus at Microsoft, one more “distinguished engineer” at Microsoft is leaving to join Google. Since he is a technical person (unike Elop and other managers) his impact on Google is not likely to be so negative and unlike Windows, which is a Trojan horse, this guy, Blaise Agüera y Arcas, is not likely to be a Trojan horse. He only joined Microsoft 7 years ago because Microsoft bought his employer at the time, a Seadragon startup (where he was a key architect).
The tradition of power shift from Microsoft to Google might not be too comforting, but judging by Google’s history, a world dominated by Free/libre software from Google is better off than a world enslaved by proprietary software from a monopolistic tyrant like Microsoft. █
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