CNET News.com’s Charles Cooper says the “end of Microsoft as we know it” crowd must face the post-antitrust reality that the company is confident and stronger than ever.
Guess What? Microsoft Won
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
It will be interesting to see the outcome, but, based on Microsoft’s dealings with the courts in the past, they may not get what they deserve regardless of if they infringed or not. It’s a shame what the American justice system has become. Microsoft can just buy themselves a verdict…
Btw, no, I’m not anti-Microsoft. They do make some pretty good stuff.
Microsoft can just buy themselves a verdict…
I certainly hope that is not the case. If they are guilty, they should pay. And based on the fact they’ve got a female judge from California, they could be in a bit of a spot.
Overall though, if M$ has to pay for DRM patents, so will everyone else that uses DRM, effectively equalling out whatever damage they may sustain. How would Linux pay for DRM rights, or would they completely reject that technology on principle?
They would reject DRM Top speed just like they reject software patents or any other device that keeps their greedly little hands and napster-kazaa networks off other people’s stuff. Believe me I used to BE one of these GPL jerks before meeting you and reading the general commie virus OOPS general public license for myself and finding that it is one thing that Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer are completelty right about. You can bet now that if I came up with a really important piece of proprietary software that I would load it up with as many software patents and and InterTrust licensed DRM technologies as needed to more than deliver a strict HANDS OFF UNLESS YOU PAY message.
This is what I said. DRM is a bad thing —
“The open society, the unrestricted access to knowledge, the unplanned and uninhibited association of men for its furtherance – these are what may make a vast, complex, ever growing, ever changing, ever more specialized and expert technological world, nevertheless a world of human community.”
I wish Linus would use his brain and stop copying Microsoft’s closed and controlled vision for the future.
— R.O.
You may think that Richard Stallman is a blowhard, and he is. But he is completely correct about the immense threat that overly controlling information technology presents to the the human race. See: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
It seems that the course of events is making it so that Bill Gates is the one who will “push the red button” and end it all for those who want to be able to think for them selves. It could be the start of a dark, dark age.
They would reject DRM Top speed just like they reject software patents or any other device that keeps their greedly little hands and napster-kazaa networks off other people’s stuff.
That was a great post Snake, you’ve really shown you can cut right through all the BS for everyone. As you know, when your heart is pure, all this is just so obvious.
Have a great weekend, look forward to hearing from you again.
“The road to the future leads us smack into the wall. We simply ricochet off the alternatives that destiny offers. Our survival is no more than a question of 25, 50 or perhaps 100 years.”
Microsoft will ride it out, squeezing everyone for their last pound of flesh as humanity slams into the wall.
If humanity is going to have any chance to survive the impact with the wall, the world needs an open evolutionary base, not the iron grip of the myopic and closed and narrow Microsoft vision.
The only thing that would enable the world to escape the grasp of Microsoft would be an unseen inflection point. And the arrival of a predator even more deadly than Microsoft who wants to feast on all those tasty billions Microsoft has stolen from the people of the world.
I still believe fully in HONEST Free Software such as that under BSD and MIT style licensing or in the Public Domain.
I just don’t believe in calling software that is under Richard Stallman’s reverse Microsoft EULA (usually refered to as the GPL) “Free Software”. And I have ALWAYS believed in proprietary software as well. If you actually READ anything of my first posts except for what is being refered to as the “Elvis” stuff in these threads than you know that
I Program in BOTH worlds, always have, and always will, I never HAD to be converted by Top Speed or anybody else. Bill Gates and Richard Stallman are simply two peas on the opposite sides of the EXACT SAME POD.
…GPL is truly free, because it cannot be made un-free. And nobody’s forcing anyone to use the GPL.
What’s wrong with giving rights to users, instead of megacorp managers?
Seriously, what’s wrong about the GPL? It can co-exist with proprietary licenses, so it should not bother you.
All you have to do is to use MANDRAKE LINUX 9.1 and you can easily see why Linux will overcome microsoft desktop dominance.
Linux moves slowly, crumbling all of those who stand in its way. Today SCO, tomorrow SUN,next week it will be Microsoft. More and more programs are easier to install using Linux and when that happens there is really no reason at all to use WINDOWS. Non at all unless you happen to be a fanatic.
Linux is going to force a lot of companies to change the way they do business. Kernel 2.6 is going to be extremely advance. The stuff i could do with any of the Linux distros is nothing short of amazing.
Fact of the matter is Microsoft is doing very well. They do have competitors but not unlike in the past. In the late 90’s there was Netscape, before that was Wordpefect, and the goes on and on. Microsoft does good business.. perhaps cut throat, but good business and I don’t see Linux destroying them anytime in the near or distant future.
Right, top speed, i dig:ed the ip series that have come up from archies posts.
i dont take kindly to people bullshitting this much.
Eugenia, start moderating or be prepared to start loosing readers!
Linux is still a secret known only by geeks. Normal users use MS Windows that comes with their computer and they are not looking for anything better. Normal users don’t care if some Linux distros have become as user friendly as Windows and they don’t care if Linux has more advanced and powerful features.
But the one thing normal users do care about is how much they have to pay for their computer. What Microsoft fears is that people may find out that they are in fact paying hundreds of dollars extra for their Windows computers when there are cheaper alternatives that are just as good or better. At the moment only few people are aware of that alternatives even exist but if it becomes common knowledge, then there is every reason for Microsoft to be afraid.
Popularity among normal computer users would be a great boost for GNU/Linux and OSS in general but the survival of Linux is not in any way dependent of this popularity. Linux can just as well continue its existence as a geek secret. Rather, the popularity of Linux is a question that concerns the future of MS Windows. If Linux becomes popular, Microsoft will die.
<quote>Who cares about Linux that has a life?</quote>
Uh, you’re on a website called OSNews.com, and I assume you’ve just read through 135 forum posts, not to mention whatever other articles you’ve scanned. Now then, who has a life???
. But hey, I’ve read through those same posts, so I guess that doesn’t say much about me either.
I digress. I don’t underdstand why some people feel so threatened by Linux. It’s just an operating system, and the arguement that it’s just a geek os, while it remains true in my opinion today, compare it’s current status with what it was 5 years ago and it should become obvious that it’s made a lot of progress. I’d also ask how you’d expect it to become anything more then a geek os without it promoting itself and further developement being done.
I wanted to drop a line in order to explain how I see things as a business customer. Right now, my entire company is running on Windows NT 4.0…software that came pre-installed with the PCs that we have been using and making money with over the last 6 years. The fastest PC currently in the company, out of 7 PCs, is a 300 Mhz AMD. Lately, we have been doing great, and came to realize that we should do some upgrading, as newer versions of the application we are using are becomming slower, despite the fact that they have nice new features that make our daily tasks easier…there are like 5 apps in my mind that have been improved over the 6 years that we have been using them, dramatically. The only problem we are having now, is that many of the newer versions of apps that we are using are now dropping support for NT, and only run on XP and Windows 2000. So what do I do now? I am afraid to jump into newer versions of Windows because 1) They are expensive as hell and 2) they have spyware imbedded, I believe 3) are not secure and 4) have a draconian upgrade cycle that makes companies keep paying and upgrading. Since we are a company that makes security equipment, we are a little paranoid in this area. We could buy a whole new cheap PC with Windows pre-installed, which would be less expensive than buying “upgrade” versions of XP or 2000, but we would still have the same problems. Since all of the good apps we use are written for Windows (and there are no ports to other OS’s) we really can’t abandon our Windows setups. As of late, we have been considering moving to RedHat or some Linux distro in order to avoid the four problems above. I believe that if we could run our apps, in something like WINE, then we would have a true outlet. We are just afraid to take that next generation Windows jump. Guess we will stick it out with Windows 4.0 and out current versions until we can think of something better…any ideas? This is why we are confident that Linux will find a place in our company soon, in at least a limited fashion. It makes me laugh when I get letters from Microsoft telling us that we must let someone from Microsoft to come in and “evaluate” our current software licensing and positions…what a joke. We don’t want our computing assests to be held in the hand of one company…or should I say our computing asses…
Dano.
Right now, there’s a lawsuit againts Microsoft from Sony and phillips, most part of the netcode Microsoft Windows use was stolen from a software company that now belongs to Sony and phillips, there are no many chances that Microsoft can win this one, and Sony doesn’t need the money from MS, Its going to be an interesting end.
Has anyone else noticed how one sides some of their articles/reviews have become. It really sounds like some companies are paying them off…
I have to agree with the first guy; Mircrosoft is not gaining strength, its gainning boldness. The Xbox, smartphone, media center, etc; all slight failures. Well, the smartphone was a complete failure as people still go to symbian/nokia/sony ericcson.
Im going to be switching to gentoo linux within the next few days…oh and about Mac OSX, it just sucks (yes I have a Apple computer), but thats another story.
Yawn whats new from CNET
J. J. Ramsey: In things like PDAs and wrist watches, MS is one player among many, and is hardly dominating.
top speed:
Definitely not dominating, but definitely growing, at the expense of rivals:
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/local/5278956.h…,
not being pro-M$ here, just getting you guys up to date with what is really going on.
I read that article. All it said was that Palm was laying off workers, not that MS is benefitting from Palm’s misfortunes.
It looks like all that is really going on is that with the economy in a slump, people bought fewer handhelds, whether Palms or Pocket PCs. While MS has substantial assets to shield its workers from the effect of such a slump, Palm had to lay off workers. This is not helping MS gain any traction in the PDA market, though.
anybody though for a second that MS might be that successful also because they really have good products out there this time(winxp/win2k3/office family/mssql server/dev tools/messenger/etc.)?
and fact is, MS products are going to be better in a future whether you like it or not(IIRC there is only one major product that was worser than the previous one, yes you are right, Windows MistakeEdition, otherwise it was always better).
> And what you must understand is that it doesn’t really matter what “others in the computer industry” want. The desktop is still king and 95%+ of consumers are happy with what MS provides them.
Sure. I love BSA raids over companies widely using Microsoft software and refusing to sign ever more expensive versions of their licenses. Really, very few people are happy with MS, excluding MS itself, their service providers and resellers. Those last ones will soon get unhappy as MS began screwing them up selling software by itself to it’s largest customers.
Most of consumer have to be happy with MS products as there was no real alternative until OpenOffice/KDE3/desktop linux distributions appeared (forget apple as one had to buy MS Office altogether with Mac to be able to read/write/print .doc and other MS crap).
For how long the empire will rule. Some day it is going to fall like packet of cards.
I give it five years before MS is down to 60% or lower of the desktop segment (shipments not installed base)
That seems a tad optomistic. One could only hope…
“According to Microsoft, Linux is the number 2 threat right now. I’d say that’s pretty high up on the scale, wouldn’t you?”
On servers only. And realistically, its about the only threat in the server market that Microsoft competes in.
“No my friend MS is not only losing the server war – it has already lost it.”
Really? Is that why MS has around 70% of the e-commerce market?
“Apple cannot allow for cheaper clone computers like the pc world does…”
Irrelavent. Does not not change the facts. Apple is overpriced. And they are pricing themselves out of everything except a very niche market.
“All you have to do is to use MANDRAKE LINUX 9.1 and you can easily see why Linux will overcome microsoft desktop dominance. ”
Yeah… Ok… Hope you keep having good dreams. Because that’s all this is.
“To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”
“To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.”
Linux is not attacking Microsoft in a traditional fashion. One day Microsoft will wake up and realize that they have become irrelevant. While there is much Windows out in the world, the hearts and minds of the people have moved on. And Microsoft will crumble into dust.
‘Free’ software will finally be unified, instead of fractured into 8 different versions of their primary O/S? Just wondering.
Linux, as much as I love it, has to be the most fractured out there. To many distros all doing things differently, all with different app installs, folder structures, documentation that says one thing in one spot and something else in another.
I realize the philosophy of Linux is to have freedom of choice (thus I use it). But the reality is that there must be agreement by all the major vendors for a variety of issues in Linux. Those of you about to bring up United Linux stop right now. United Linux is not united enough to make Linux really popular on the desktop and it is also missing critical companies.
1. File structure. RedHat has one set of folders, SuSE has something else, and then enter Mandrake with another set. A uniform base file structure must be established. This will make life easier for users AND developers.
2. UPM. There needs to be a Universal Package Menagement system. There is nothing that says that Mandrake still can’t use their own in addition…but there MUST be support for something as easy as running an .exe on windows. The majority of people out there DO NOT COMPILE SOFTWARE OR KNOW HOW. Those of you about to say “APPNAME X is available in a variety of compressed package manager files” are actually proving my point to some extent and just ignoring part of the issue. Not every distro can just download and application and run it. Why the developer didn’t set up the appropriate package files to support their distro. Further, by having multiple package management systems, yes you do have choice, but you also have confusion for the masses. Aunt Noob will have no idea if they should get .rpm or .deb especially when the list of available downloads might say “Redhat 7.2-8.1 get 1258654.rpm. SuSE 8.1 users get 1258774.rpm but not 1258775.rpm…that’s for SuSE 8.2” And yes…I’ve seen this before. It is very confusing. Instead it should just be “APPNAMEX.upm” There that is it. Done. Windows does. Mac OS does it. Why can’t Linux.
3. Command Line Hell. Most people don’t use command lines. It is nice that it is there…but it shouldn’t be required and right now in Linux it really is required.
4. SU. So if I want to change a hardware setting and I am in a “user” account I have to give the “root” password. Sure…no problem. And lookee there…there is a checkbox to “keep this password” One would think that means I could check the box and it will store the password for later use during the session. Nope. Doesn’t work.
5. WinXP and MacOS X have multiple modes for users. Some users can install. Some are admins. Some can’t do squat but look at the net. Linux distros have yet to put together an easy to use user admin system. Sorry…but the solutions out there for Linux are crap. 500 level user is just a lousy, non-intuitive indicator of privelages.
I can easily go on about the major problems with Linux and how fractured it is, but I wont. Perhaps I’ll save it for an article. The bottom line is that there needs to be agreement for a base system that provides real usability an simplicity by the majority of vendors. They need agreement for a base file structure, base package management, base user capability admin tools that are intuitive.
There is not any reason to believe that a base system that is agreed upon will be restrictive. It can actually be added to or used in parallel with other tools. The beauty of Linux is choosing. For the average user right now…Linux just isn’t a choice.
I look foward to the day I can kick MS out of my life and every asskissing company who they virtually own, Cakewalk, e.g. Linux isn’t ready as others have noted, and for someone in a production of some kind, music, art, it’s going to be a longer wait, unless the large companies, like Cakewalk, or Gigasampler, etc, get smart and go Linux, and tell Gates if he doesn’t like it and tries to blackmail them out of it to crawl back into the wall.
My dear excellent friends, what most incredious and heinous anlysis has been made by the author of this story…
Ok, in simpler terms… If the catholic church declared they were god tommorrow, if the government was run by them, they’d lose some cases anyhow.
reality is: you win some, you lose some. deal with it. There are cases pending against MSFT that MSFT will lose. One is worth billions in recompensatory damages sought. The company seeking it will most certianly get it, and a few of you KNOW what I mean.
It looks tutti fritter for MSFT? Not quite so fast bud, you don’t know if that person walking through the store with a knapsack is stealing a steak, or carrying a bomb!
You would think people would learn that C|Net is official MICROSOFT PROPAGANDA CONTROLLED. They’ll say anything they want you to believe, and you’ll believe it to.
But, like in spaceballs, dark helmet gates is up against entities that his company delibratly tries to destroy. You say “is that not what competiting is for?” and I say “No you dang idiot, you flunked kindergarten your flipping moron”. You compete to challenge yourself. You are your own worse enemy. So, dark helmet gates is up against forces that can defeat him. So, some back door dealing means msft won’t get taken down by the state prosecutors. So?
They still have many cases pending, in which, they won’t be able to get out of. and.. it was transferred to the state for ease in batch settlements.
A few of the companies aren’t batch settlements. A few of them have proof that MSFT came to destroy them. ANd you know what? The judges are listening to the side of reason, not MSFT money, not MSFT influence. These companies will win, and that guy can eat crow. He’s being too premature.
I completely agree. Ultimately is depends on what you want, cheap crap that *barely* lasts two years or quality which lasts 5-6years. I chose a Mac because unlike the PC fanboys, I have NO desire to upgrade every two years because some says that I should.
I totally here you.
I bought a PC from Dell…and when it first arrived it was great. XP ran like a charm. Things were fast, stable, and easy.
Then the patching hell came.
Microsoft’s patches I think must impair other parts of the OS because now that it has been 1.5 years since I got the Dell (I don’t hold Dell responsible for the slow downs…I think the concept of mixed instruction sizes in x86 based machines is inherintly flawed as is the Microsoft model of release and then patch to get things working)…it is now slow, crashes, and has tremendous inconsistencies.
No more. My next machine is a Mac. I’ve used them at the office…I’ve used at friends places…they always seem fast and reliable. The TCO of a Mac is much much better. No more PCs for me.
Microsoft’s patches I think must impair other parts of the OS because now that it has been 1.5 years since I got the Dell (I don’t hold Dell responsible for the slow downs…I think the concept of mixed instruction sizes in x86 based machines is inherintly flawed as is the Microsoft model of release and then patch to get things working)…it is now slow, crashes, and has tremendous inconsistencies.
No more. My next machine is a Mac. I’ve used them at the office…I’ve used at friends places…they always seem fast and reliable. The TCO of a Mac is much much better. No more PCs for me.
I agree with you in regards to “patch hell”. Even Redhat linux has a more elegant solution and it rases ALOT LESS hassles, even for new users.
Regarding to moving from PC to a Mac. I have moved from the PC to Mac, and put it this way, don’t be fooled by thinking that a 1Ghz eMac isn’t fast enough. Considering that I generally have Corel Draw 11, MS Word, Safari plus Netbeans all loaded, I have yet to experience a slow down.
Oh, btw, I suggest buying the ram from a third party dealership as Apples prices are a rip off. Apacer make some *VERY* good quality memory.
Regarding to moving from PC to a Mac. I have moved from the PC to Mac, and put it this way, don’t be fooled by thinking that a 1Ghz eMac isn’t fast enough. Considering that I generally have Corel Draw 11, MS Word, Safari plus Netbeans all loaded, I have yet to experience a slow down.
Who said anything about an eMac? I have played with them and they seem pretty good.
Since I work with a lot of multimedia apps though, I think I want something with a little more power (not that the eMac is weak).
What I am considering is a powerbook. That way I can just work outside if I feel like it. Plus I can have my web development portfolio with me if I go to show it to a client.
There are rumors of a new series of G4 powerbooks coming out with slightly upped clock speeds. That might be something I go for. I have also heard that work is underway to squeeze the G5 down to something that can fit in a powerbook…but my guess is that it will be a while before that is released.
I think in about a year my PC will have out lived its usefulness. It will be 2.5 years old then. Time for retirement for a PC. That’s when I will be likely to purchase a Powerbook and attach a 20″ Cinema Display for when I am at my desk.
It is nice to hear though that if I want to go for the budget model…the eMac really does work for some with what appears to be similar demands.
I forgot to say “thanks” for the RAM advice…though I will likely still buy it with my Mac since I have a few friends that work for Apple who have volunteered their discounts to me.
In the latest rumour/semi-fact mill, there is confirmation that a 1.4Ghz Motorola PowerPC G4 is in the process of being put onto the market. Now, it depends on what Apple wants to do.
If they still have a large inventory of G4 PowerMacs, I have a feeling that they *may* hold off until the amount reduces, however, if there isn’t a large inventory, you *may* find that in the next 4-5 months a slight speed up in the consumer end Mac line up.
Having been a long time *NIX user, I am *very* impressed with the amount of work Apple has done. Maybe Microsoft can learn a little about creating decent CLI tools instead of the weak-ass rubbish they bundle with Windows.
It’s a fact that Linux has already begun to creep up on Microsoft’s desktop market:
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20030714/5320229s.htm
And with projects out there like XPDE (http://www.xpde.com/shots.php) and other user-friendly desktop environments it’s becoming increasingly easier to switch from windows to linux or the like.
I don’t know how Microsoft will fare in years to come, but I am confident that Linux is here to stay.