Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 7th Nov 2012 21:36 UTC
Bart Eppenauer, Microsoft's chief patent guy, in an interview with The Verge: "We believe our patent laws have served the country very well." Loosely translated, this reads: "This system that gives me my six-figure income and is a fine anti-competitive tool for my company have served me and my company well, the damage to the industry be damned."
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.More Features »
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2012-09-21
It would be great if geeks could affect how everyday customers make their computer buying decisions, but we can't. It's mostly fashion driven now, and even if you could dissuade a user from getting Windows 8 or whatever, what is he going to get instead? GNU/Linux/GNOME may be fun for you, but it's not much fun for the average user. The Mac is an excellent alternative, but not everyone wants one, or wants to pay what it costs.
The Microsoft monopoly, like it or not, worked. It got rid of any viable competition. If you want people to consider alternatives, those alternatives need to exist, and for the typical user, they barely do. Only the Mac can really get the average user, but that relies on them wanting one, and wanting to pay for one.
The Microsoft monopoly did not work, it only worked for the monopolist. All the crippled desktop computers back in the 1990s and early 2000s, how did that help the average consumer? There are millions of people who are sick and tired of Microsoft windows, and they want an alternative, but every retail store sells only windows, why is that?
Microsoft's power is a combination of the network effect and the unjust copyright system. It's the copyright laws that make Microsoft a monopoly. Microsoft's main revenue is the licensing deals they have with their oem partners. Without copyright law backing them up they wouldn't be able to sell windows as a license, nor wouldn't they be able to prevent anyone from forking their software (windows and office).
Simply put there is too much copyright, and computers and copyright/patents are incompatible. When you put a copyright on software it creates monopolies like Microsoft. It creates the mess that we are in today.
Who gets hurt the most by the Microsoft monopoly? The average consumer, they don't see choices like you see in other industries (automobiles and televisions for example), they don't see any other alternatives, all they see is crippled desktops with windows pre-installed.
Edited 2012-11-09 09:29 UTC