ComputerWorld has an article which coins an interesting new term -- "scareware". It explains why vapourware tactics are ineffective, so they are being replaced by something more aggressive, which can possibly compensate for lack of innovation. Have a look at this new fragment of text.

Microsoft talks a lot about innovation. It innovated the Xbox, several years after everyone else; it innovated the Zune, several years after everyone else; it innovated the GUI, several years after Apple (okay, and Xerox); it innovated Hotmail ... oh, alright, it bought Hotmail. Bill Gates famously missed the internet revolution and then innovated the web browser, several years after Netscape.

[...]

In the meantime, though, the company that brought us vapourware has innovated yet another new product: scareware (oh, okay, a couple of years after SCO).

In another new interview, the man at the top of the Linux Foundation confirms this.

Question: How do you respond to the theory that it's all part of Microsoft's plan to pull the rug out from under Red Hat?

Zemlin: I don't think they're really targeting anyone here. It's just really about the FUD.

Remember that Novell is a passive part -- a cogwheel if you like -- in the use of intimidation. You may also wish to see his BusinessWeek rebuttal, which Shane covered last week.