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Microsoft Loses Appeal To Shut Down LindowsOS

Posted by michael on from the stained-glass dept.

alphabet26 writes "LindowsOS announced yesterday that a Seattle Judge has denied Microsoft's appeal to shut them down, citing that Microsoft's own use of evidence helped determined "Windows" is a generic word. Lindows.com has posted the judge's seven page ruling on their website." Microsoft is trying get an injunction to prevent Lindows from using the name while the trial proceeds, and the judge has denied them, twice. Lindows could still lose the case in the end, though.

28 of 365 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe M$ should just retaliate. . . by Limburgher · · Score: 5, Funny

    And name an OS Winux. . .

    --

    You are not the customer.

    1. Re:Maybe M$ should just retaliate. . . by Bob+McCown · · Score: 3, Funny

      Be vewwy vewwy kwiet, Im pwogwamming in Winux....heheheheheheeh

    2. Re:Maybe M$ should just retaliate. . . by hdparm · · Score: 3, Insightful
      In which case they would be required to change the name, after Linus, as the owner of a registered TM for Linux, decides to bring them to court.

      Winux will mean too much of a resemblance wit Linux, which, contrary to windows, is not a generic term.

    3. Re:Maybe M$ should just retaliate. . . by metacell · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I can see the headlines...

      "Microsoft announces it's new operating system, 'WinLinux', which will combine the security and reliability of Linux with the ease of use and application base of Windows."

      Not likely, huh?

      The biggest threat against the Windows monopoly is not the presence of a technically superior operating system. The biggest threat to the Windows monopoly, is widespread awareness that an alternative *exists* at all.

      Microsoft is better off ignoring Linux than starting campaigns against it, which is largely what it has done. But they are losing anyway.

      Which is why they are trying to dominate and control other markets instead, like the handheld computer market (with their PocketPC), the game console market (with their XBox), or the market for platform-independent network-transparent applications (with their .NET framework).

    4. Re:Maybe M$ should just retaliate. . . by AnalogDiehard · · Score: 3, Funny
      Windows (win-doe's) n. : a 32 bit GUI shell written on top of a 16 bit operating system that was originally developed for an 8 bit personal computer with a 4 bit interrupt buss by a two bit company that can't stand one bit of competition.

      --
      Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10
    5. Re:Maybe M$ should just retaliate. . . by bluGill · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't know, I suspect the linux trademark would be easy to break. Linux himself has intentionally done nothing to defend the trademark. (IIRC someone else registers Linux in their own name, and lawsuit was brought which proved the Linus is the rightful owner. Linux said thanks, but I'm not enforcing it because trademrk protection is not something that linux needs.

  2. "Shut Down LindowsOS" by Erasmus+Darwin · · Score: 5, Informative

    Microsoft isn't trying to shutdown the LindowsOS, as the article headline erroneously states. They're merely trying to stop them from using the Lindows name. The error seems to be a mistranscription of the Lindows press release, which refers to Microsoft attempting to "shut down Lindows.com" (presumably due to the name rather than the content). Even if Microsoft were to have won, there'd be nothing preventing the Lindows people from changing the name to JdsfhkjashdfkjOS.

    1. Re:"Shut Down LindowsOS" by killmenow · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think Microsoft IS trying to shut down the Lindows OS (or perhaps I should say they are trying to KEEP it vaporware).

      Jobs mimicked Xerox. Gates mimicked Jobs. Robertson mimicked Gates. Only Gates knows how well mimicking works as a business model.

      I think Microsoft wants Lindows to never be done...or at least they never want Windows to be done until Lindows won't run(tm).

      The silly trademark thing was the only thing they could attack until there's an actual product.

      You can bet [if|once] a final, shipping product comes out of lindows.com Microsoft will sue for reasons other than just the Windows trademark.

  3. Its time for Redhat Windows, Mandrake Windows etc by HanzoSan · · Score: 3


    Its time to give Microsoft some real competition, if Windows is deemed a generic word its ALL OVER for the microsoft monopoly.

    --
    If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
  4. Re:Boys, boys by zbuffered · · Score: 3, Funny

    obviously

    This is the word of a troll. Lindows is not obviously in the wrong. Lindows may be in the wrong. You think Lindows is in the wrong.
    And if you want to wave your college degree around, do it at one of your hoity-toity extended-pinky tea parties. Don't think that it makes you intelligent, or original.

    --
    Synergy is your friend
  5. Put down the crack pipe by Dark+Paladin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Now, I want you to think about this very hard.

    Lindows is Linux with some Wine updates to run Microsoft software on Linux.

    Linux was created by Linus Torvalds to be a replacement for Minux.

    Minux was based off of Unix.

    Unix was not a spin-off of Microsoft's technology.

    Please, either redraft your statement so it makes sense, or research before talking.

    --
    52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
  6. I Never liked "Lindows" as a name by FearUncertaintyDoubt · · Score: 5, Funny
    It always sounded like some cheap Chinese knock-off to me. I think you want to sound like your quality is better than Windows...

    Homer:[gasps] Look at these low, low prices on famous brand-name electronics!
    Bart: Don't be a sap, Dad. These are just crappy knock-offs.
    Homer: Pfft. I know a genuine Panaphonics when I see it. And look, there's Magnetbox and Sorny.

  7. What beautiful music.... by rhadamanthus · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I think the truly important part of this article has nothing to do with M$ (readies flame-retardant suit...).

    The truly important bit is regarding "trademarking of common phrases". I think it absolutely ridiculous that companies can trademark any common word or phrase. Reference a similar suit to this one, Mastercard suing Nader over "priceless" to see this kind of silliness in action. (feel free to find a better article, I just pulled the first item off google)


    Basically, I do not condone the use of language "exclusivism". Language, as a whole, does not lend itself well to patentability. Satire, documentaries etc. are protected speech regardless of trademark, although occasionally (as usual) the courts can get confused. In this case it is even more bizarre. Suing over a name sounding the same? Poets beware!


    -------------rhad
    --
    Slashdot needs to interview Natalie Portman.
  8. Re:Its time for Redhat Windows, Mandrake Windows e by Erasmus+Darwin · · Score: 4, Insightful
    "if Windows is deemed a generic word its ALL OVER for the microsoft monopoly."

    No, it isn't. Microsoft has the benefit of having strong public recognition of both their product name and their company name. Furthermore, it wouldn't kill their trademark on the distinctive Windows flag logo that many people have seen at boot-up for the past 7 years.

    I also think that retail stores would be less likely to carry a Linux-based operating system labelled "RedHat Windows". Why? Because anyone confused enough to buy "RedHat Windows" only because of the "Windows" in the name is going to return it the very next day when it fails to "work" (where "work" equates to running all his/her existing MS Windows-based programs; wine or other emulation packages aren't going to be enough to appease a novice end-user who was expecting actual MS Windows).

    Finally, I think breaking up a monopoly via trademark is inherently lame. The whole point of trademarks are to allow consumers to be able to differentiate the different products in a given market. I know I'd feel dirty if Linux had to start tricking people into using it.

  9. strange relationship between Windows and Linux by Gizzmonic · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The more I read about "Lindows" and other wannabe Windows retrofittings for Linux, the more I wonder about the psychological health of the (wannabe Windows) Linux community.

    Think about it this way: it's like the people who bashed the hell out of Star Wars Episode I, but still showed up at midnight in full Jedi drag for Attack of the Clones. There's constant whining and putting-down of Microsoft, yet everything that goes into KDE and Lindows tries to make Linux more Windows-like.

    Why must Linux define itself through Windows? It's good enough to stand on its own, last I heard...

    --
    (-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
    1. Re:strange relationship between Windows and Linux by prisoner-of-enigma · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People are trying to make Linux more "Windows-like" with increasing amounts of window dressing (pun intended) simply because they realize the reality of the world: 95% of the users on this little globe use Windows in some variation or another. They don't care that it's slow (I.T.'s problem), they don't care that it's big (ditto), or expensive (the company paid for it), or proprietary (gee, what's that mean?). They just know that it works well enough for them, and they're used to it. NEVER underestimate the power of familiarity.

      Also don't underestimate Microsoft. Regardless of their many faults, they have as of late started spending lots of cash on usability enhancements and studies to see how people like things to be. When I say "people", I don't mean geekheads who tweak kernels and make their own Cat5 cables, I mean the AVERAGE user out there who never, ever wonders where the command line prompt is. Believe it or not, dumbass technophobes outnumber tech-heads by about 50-to-1 if the average company I.T. to user ratio is to be considered. These people can't even program their VCR, what makes you think they can appreciate Linux's CLI?

      KDE, Gnome, and all the rest are chasing Microsoft because (deep breath here, folks)...Microsoft is where all the other folks WANT to be! They don't want to be buggy, huge, and expensive, but they do want to take advantage of the huge Windows penetration into the average Joe's computing experience. Linux folk consistently underestimate this factor, and then are puzzled why Linux is not gaining widespread acceptance on the desktop.

      Cardinal rule: a product does NOT have to be the BEST at anything, it just has to be GOOD ENOUGH, and CONVENIENT ENOUGH, to get the job done MOST OF THE TIME. OS/2, Novell, Macintosh, UltraSPARC...I could name a thousand technologies that are (or were) the best in their respective classes but failed to achieve market dominance. Intel's processors are not the fastest, they do not have the most elegant design, and they sure as hell aren't the cheapest, but they rule the PC world completely while Alpha and PowerPC occupy niches. Macintosh arguably has one of the better GUI's out there, yet they languish with only about 4% of the market. OS/2 was 32-bits long before WindowsNT was even a glimmer in the eye, but does anybody really run Warp anymore?

      Being the BEST at one thing frequently means you've neglected something else somewhere. Linux is a technological marvel in its configurability and flexibility, but has neglected usability with respect to contemporary products from Microsoft and Apple. Don't try to deny it, it's true. When your grandmother can successfully get a PC and load RedHat on it unassisted, and then actually troubleshoot it if something goes wrong (can she understand cronjobs? fsck?), THEN Linux will have risen to the top. Unfortunately, I have a funny feeling that in order to become that user friendly, Linux will have to become bigger, slower, more expensive, and more proprietary. Perhaps it isn't true, but I'd be willing to bet that it is.

      --
      In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, Make us your slaves, but feed us. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    2. Re:strange relationship between Windows and Linux by FreeUser · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The more I read about "Lindows" and other wannabe Windows retrofittings for Linux, the more I wonder about the psychological health of the (wannabe Windows) Linux community.

      Nonsense. It is merely a migration tool, nothing more. Many large enterprises would like to migrate away from Windows, particularly with Microsoft's new, extortionate licensing scheme, but they can't do so overnight in a "cold turkey" fashion because they depend on too many custom or niche applications that do not run on GNU/Linux, or at least didn't until Wine, Codeweavers, Transgaming, and Lindows came along.

      Others want to migrate, but don't want to retrain their workers for a new OS. The Lindows folks saw an opportunity and jumped. I won't ever run their distribution, but many very well may, and they'll be getting something the other distros those of us more savvy prefer doesn't offer them ... seemless and (as) painless (as possible for any) migration from a legacy, monopoly OS to a more sustainable, open and free(dom) alternative.

      Someone saw an opportunity and decided to package up and market a GNU/Linux distribution to take advantage of that opportunity and make a few bucks. No deep or sinister freudian psychology involved, just simple, free market economics.

      --
      The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
  10. Re:unfair by Vicegrip · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Lindows was originally a Microsoft product, and Linux was just a spin-off of that ..."

    pbfft *sound of coffee spraying over desk*

    Microsoft needs to recruit slightly more informed people to post on Slashdot. This current lot they've hired is rather abysmal.

    *shuffles off to find a napkin*

    --
    Do not spread "09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0" over the internet, thank you.
  11. Mandrakesoft's Windows XP by HanzoSan · · Score: 3, Funny


    mandrake(in very small letters)SOFT
    Windows XP service pack.

    Have commercials telling users its an upgrade from "WindowS"

    Demonstrate it in a mall, using a theme which looks exactly like XP.

    99.9 percent of all users wont know the diffrence, it will be like coke vs pepsi.

    What needs to be done, is marketing, thats what Linux is currently missing, With Windows as a generic name, all the Marketing Microsoft put into it, can be transfered to Linux distros

    --
    If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
  12. Why? by night_flyer · · Score: 4, Informative

    The whole "Windows", "Word", "Office" thing has always pissed me off.

    http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm

    TRADEMARKS. Active Channel, Active Desktop, Active Directory, ActiveStore, ActiveSync, ActiveX, Advisor FYI, Age of Empires, Age of Mythology, Allegiance, Amped, Asheron's Call, Ask Maxwell, Authenticode, Azurik, BackOffice, BackOffice logo, bCentral, BizTalk, Bookshelf, CarPoint, ClearLead, Computing Central, Crimson Skies, Developer Studio, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay, DirectSound, DirectX, Encarta, Entourage, Fighter Ace, FrontPage, HomeAdvisor, Home Essentials, Hotmail, Links, Links Extreme, MapPoint, MechCommander, MechWarrior, Microsoft, Microsoft Agent logo, Microsoft Internet Explorer logo, Microsoft Office Compatible logo, Microsoft Press, Microsoft TV logo, Midtown Madness, Mobile Explorer, MoneyCentral, Monster Truck Madness, Motocross Madness, MSDN, MSN, MSN logo (butterfly), .Net logo, NetMeeting, Nightcaster, Outlook, Outsmart, Passport logo, Picture It!, PowerPoint, Precision Racing, Project Gotham Racing, Revenge of Arcade, Rise of Perathia, SharePoint, Slate, Tex Murphy, The Age of Kings, The Everyday Web, Trekker, UltimateTV, UltimateTV logo, UltraCorps, UnderWire, Urban Assault, VGA, Virtual Golf Association, Visio, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual C#, Visual InterDev, Visual J++, Visual Studio, WebTV, Where do you want to go today?, Windows, Windows logo, Windows Media, Windows Media logo, Windows NT, Xbox, XBOX logo, Xbox "X" logo, ZoneFriends, ZoneLAN, ZoneMatch, ZoneMessage, Zoo Tycoon, and/or other Microsoft products referenced herein are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. The example companies, organizations, products, domain names, email addresses, logos, people and events depicted herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, e-mail address, logo, person, or event is intended or should be inferred.

    --


    Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
    Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
  13. Lindows is bad by lkaos · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm sorry, but I cannot help it.

    For one, Lindows goes to great length to distant itself from Linux. In fact, most non-open source people do not even realize there is _any_ relationship between Lindows and Linux.

    Lindows *is* Linux. All it is a regular distro of Linux that has renamed everything and drops into single user mode. Others have mentioned how they renamed KWord and a lot of the other KDE stuff.

    Then they don't release their source code (clearly violating the GPL). Free Software is all about preserving credit for the original authors and Lindows seems almost to spit in the face of all the people who have worked on Linux.

    I don't care if Linux overtakes Windows. I don't care about Windows and the people who use it. I do care about people abusing the hard work that has gone into developing Linux though.

    I personally am disappointed that Lindows won here only because I would have liked to see them fade away. They are not good for the community and I can just imagine the harmful effect they will have when they eventually go belly up.

    --
    int func(int a);
    func((b += 3, b));
    1. Re:Lindows is bad by lkaos · · Score: 4, Informative
      From their own site:
      Lindows.com is a consumer company that brings choice to computer users. Lindows.com, Inc. uses the latest technology to create affordable, intuitive, user-friendly products. Lindows.com, Inc. was started by Michael Robertson, founder and former CEO of MP3.com. At the core of Lindows.com is a new operating system called LindowsOS(TM), a modern, affordable, easy-to-use operating system with the ability to run both Windows® and Linux® software.
      WTF! The core of Lindows is LindowsOS??? No it's not! The core is the Linux kernel. Wine is not an operating system, it is an emulator. It's not like they wrote even a significant portion of any of their components (yeah, a little bit on Wine, but not much in comparision to the entire project).

      I'm sorry, I just don't see why more people don't despise Lindows... Is this not a big FU to the Free Software community?
      --
      int func(int a);
      func((b += 3, b));
    2. Re:Lindows is bad by MsGeek · · Score: 3, Informative

      This is why I am rooting for Lycoris as the "Linux with Training Wheels" for recovering Windows users. Lycoris releases source. Lycoris is based on a standard distribution (Caldera OpenLinux) and openly acknowledges that it is a species of Linux.

      I am only waiting for Lycoris to tweak KDE 3 the way they did KDE 2.2.2.

      It actually is a Good Thing (tm) that the Lycoris Group changed their name from Redmond Linux. The whole Lindows thing is a distraction from the goal of creating a simplified Linux for the desktop.

      --
      Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
    3. Re:Lindows is bad by killmenow · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I am aware of the differences in SysV and BSD style *nixes. And Linux is very SysV-ish, if you know what I mean.

      Are you suggesting they have taken the linux kernel and put a BSD-style userspace, filespace, etc. to it?

      If so, what would be the point? I mean, why NOT just use FreeBSD? Starting with FreeBSD, hiring programmers to improve linux binary compatibility, and throwing in Wine would not require you release your changes to FreeBSD back to the community right? I mean, I thought that was the point of the BSD license?

      This is why I'd like someone who HAS a preview to run strings on the binaries. I'd like to know if they actually came from linux or [Free|Open|Net]BSD?

  14. Re:Boys, boys, and its by Xandis · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Time to look in the mirror and start applying more makeup as you are no longer passable...

    Anyway, this has nothing to do with bait as most likely the Lindows people aren't enjoying spending time and other resources defending themselves. It is just MS trying to defend a trademark and seeing how far it can go. Also, there is the issue of whether it is "fair" to allow a company to ride the wave of someone else's work in building up a brand.

    I think it is an important case. If MS wins then corporate lawyers everywhere will be licking their chops to go after anything that even remotely looks similar to an established corporate trademark...it will be another headache for small businesses.

    Microsoft Windows (MS-Windows) is one thing; Linux Windows (Lindows) should certainly be another; Bindows (BeOS-Windows) could be another; etc. The "Windows" part is too generic alone to have exclusive right to use --- the identifier "Microsoft" _plus_ the generic though I think is fair to establish as one's own exclusive trademark.

  15. Windux by thumbtack · · Score: 3, Funny

    Windux.com

  16. Windows users dont care about security by HanzoSan · · Score: 3, Insightful



    They've never used a Secure OS before, So why would they CARE about security? The goal is to place them on linux, not give them "security"

    And they expect Wine to be the magic bullet for compatibility with the users software. While Wine is amazing technology and certainly praiseworthy, it's hardly a universal solution. What Transgaming and Codeweavers have done with Wine is excellent in their relevant niches. But to build up expectations that Linux will be able to run pretty much whatever Windows software you throw at it? Not a chance. There's still some Win 3.1 apps that won't run (Distant Suns: First Light is the only one I care about. :-)

    WindowsXP doesnt run Windows 3.1 or Windows95 software yet no one seems to care as long as it runs Word, IE, etc.

    No, Lindows takes the weaknesses of both OS's in Windows lack of security and Linux's lack of wide commercial software support and emphasizes them.

    What really matters is if Linux is more stable than Windows, More powerful than Windows, and offers more FREEDOM than Windows.

    Windows users who want Security will eventually upgrade to a better Linux, the goal isnt to give security to people who dont understand how security works.

    The goal is to give them stability and freedom and let them decide what to do next. Linux wont crash. Linux wont have DRM, People like to burn their CDs and not have their computer crash.

    These people are used to being hacked by tom dick and harry and wont really notice a diffrence there.

    --
    If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
  17. http://www.net2.com/lindows/source by i_am_nitrogen · · Score: 3, Informative

    Dude, it's all there for crying out loud! http://www.net2.com/lindows/source

    --
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