Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 9th Oct 2012 22:01 UTC
Steve Ballmer's annual letter to shareholders makes it very clear Microsoft is at a point of no return - and in the middle of a transition into a hardware company. "This is a significant shift, both in what we do and how we see ourselves - as a devices and services company. It impacts how we run the company, how we develop new experiences, and how we take products to market for both consumers and businesses." Line. Sand.
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Member since:2011-08-13
Microsoft are still the anticompetitive douchecanoes that wrote the Halloween Papers. They still practice embrace, extend, extinguish, ESPECIALLY with respect to hardware standards like ASPM, making it a royal pain in the rear to get Linux working properly on devices that use it. Secure Boot is downright Orwellian on full-size computers and tablets. The restriction of Metro/Modern/Whatever they're calling it this week apps to the Windows Store puts a serious damper on the third-party developers that have given Windows its primary advantage for over a decade, and is a kick in the teeth to Free Software on Windows.
Member since:2007-02-18
Microsoft are still the anticompetitive douchecanoes that wrote the Halloween Papers. They still practice embrace, extend, extinguish, ESPECIALLY with respect to hardware standards like ASPM, making it a royal pain in the rear to get Linux working properly on devices that use it. Secure Boot is downright Orwellian on full-size computers and tablets.
The restriction of Metro/Modern/Whatever they're calling it this week apps to the Windows Store puts a serious damper on the third-party developers that have given Windows its primary advantage for over a decade, and is a kick in the teeth to Free Software on Windows.
While the first half of your point is correct, the second half isn't a reason to hate Microsoft. Metro/Modern/Whatever is their choice, it's definitely not a standard, and Windows Store is their store, and definitely not a standard either.
Unlike the very good first half, Metro/Modern/Whatever won't adversely affect the rest of the market. If it is as horrible a mistake as people make it out to be, only Microsoft will lose. If people really hate Metro/Modern/Whatever when it's released, there's probably no way out for Microsoft except to ditch the idea completely and Free Software will just one of many beneficiaries.
RE[4]: Not line. sand.
by jared_wilkes on Wed 10th Oct 2012 19:53
in reply to "RE[3]: Not line. sand. "
Member since:2011-04-25
I still see Microsoft infections every single day whether it is XP, Vista, or 7. (Admittedly, this is often down to the user being hit with a trojan, but nonetheless...) I've seen 1 Mac infection that took less than a minute to remove by simply running the latest software update that the user hadn't run in months.
Features
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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Member since:
2007-02-18
But would it? Microsoft is no longer the security whipping boy it once was. It could still do a lot more to improve, but there's not much that can prevent ignorant users, or badly written 3rd party software (although they are obviously heavily researching managed language OSes), and the work they do in taking down spambots is valuable work.
Meanwhile, Apple is showing negligence in security by spreading the myth of their immunity (helped by fanboys of course), ignoring some security bugs, and I don't remember any news items involving them help taking down spambots.