Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 8th Nov 2012 11:45 UTC
"Last week I overheard two of the top Microsoft 'watchers' discuss the Office group having bet against Windows 8, presumably because Office 2013 is not fully a (set of) Metro (a.k.a., Windows Store) apps. Ok, as much as it pains me to defend Office I'm going to do so. I'm going to defend them because they are more right than wrong. Especially when you take a shareholder perspective. Not only will I defend what Office did for Windows 8, I'm going to defend some of their licensing decisions. Oh that should be fun." Insightful analysis of the current state of Office within the great context of Microsoft's current challenges. Written by Hal Berenson, former distinguished engineer and general manager at Microsoft.
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Member since:2007-08-22
Educational discounts are not illegal. Period.
Actually there is one scenarios where a Discount can be illegal - when you discount below what you filed with the Federal Government to charge the Federal Government on the GSA Schedule as by law, that is to be the lowest price.
Now, you can do it; but I wouldn't want to be you when getting caught.
Member since:2008-07-15
Actually there is one scenarios where a Discount can be illegal - when you discount below what you filed with the Federal Government to charge the Federal Government on the GSA Schedule as by law, that is to be the lowest price.
Now, you can do it; but I wouldn't want to be you when getting caught.
Now, you can do it; but I wouldn't want to be you when getting caught.
Well, of course, but I really didn't think that would be relevant here considering that we're talking about a product made by Microsoft. They may screw the users more often than not, but they know how not to get in trouble with the feds. The really sad thing is, our government is as dependent on Microsoft technologies at this point as is any business, so I suppose even if Microsoft discounted below what they filed for GSA, they might still get away with it where most others wouldn't.
Features
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.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.More Features »
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Member since:
2008-07-15
I agree with most of your points, except for this one:
Basically this is using the monopoly money to keep competitors out of the market. An illegal practice.
While the first bit is valid, the second part is pure bullshit. It is not an illegal practice to offer a version of your product, at a cheaper rate, for various purposes. Educational discounts are not illegal. Period. Monopoly, in this particular instance, doesn't even enter into it. And, would you look at that? Despite your "monopoly" straw man, the alternatives are growing by leaps and bounds. iWork on the Mac and iPad, Google Docs on the web, etc. The market, in this case, is actually balancing itself out quite well. Those who buy office are, more often than not, *gasp* those who actually need it because of their job (e.g. they need access to Sharepoint projects). The enterprise will continue to use office for a while yet, but things always move slowly in the world of business IT, so that's far from a surprise. At the moment, everyone's benefiting. Microsoft need to get their act together, and other alternatives are gaining greater traction now than they ever have. It's about time we have some true competition in this arena, and at long last that's exactly what we're getting.