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Microsoft Du Jour - Talks, Upgrades, Salaries
Jeff writes: "CNN is reporting 'In a dramatic move, the new judge in the Microsoft case Friday ordered the government and the software maker into five weeks of intensive settlement talks, until Nov. 2.'" Other MS submissions coming in today: USAToday discovers the new upgrade scheme, designed to milk every last cent out of those who've locked themselves into Windows; tech-report.com goes a bit more in depth on the same subject; ZDNet hoists the black flag; MS discusses its plans to control how you compute (by the way, the license agreement for Windows Media Player now allows Microsoft to disable any software on your computer - you do read those license agreements, don't you?); Gates got $666,000 last year but won't have to apply for welfare just yet.
It's unbelievable to think that somebody would try to sell something by arguing it's similar to Pandora's box
Is it possible that the microsofties are so far removed from reality that good and evil have swapped meanings for them?
Oh, and 6 x 6 x 6
The Lumber of the Beast
Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes
Companies have made huge investments in technology, and if they have standardized on one platform it is difficult to get them to change. But this may be the push that is needed. What Linux and Apple people must do is calculate and show how an initial investment in another system now will ultimately be far cheaper then sticking it out. If they can show that the one-time cost will be negated in a matter of months or years, their market share may increase quickly, as now is a rare time when management is actually considering alternatives. If you think about it, a few months ago many would have laughed at warnings that Microsoft was planning such a money scheme. They aren't laughing now.
One interesting thing mentioned in the USA Today article was at the end.
Its Office software has better than a 90% market share, Gartner says.
One of the biggest things MS has over the corporate market is its productivity software, Office. Over and over again, that is cited as one of the things that has little competition in the minds of CTOs. However, they forget that there is a fully functional, very polished and current version available for Mac OS and soon Mac OSX. Unless they have a specific program they must run on Windows, a switch may be cheaper in the long run. And now is the big chance for StarOffice and other Linux suites. If they can move fast enough, and create a viable alternative that is polished and compatable with MS Office, they may be able to convince companies to make the switch.