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Analysts Split Over Vista Launch Date
An anonymous reader writes "A ZDNet report details comments by analysts on the upcoming release of Microsoft's newest operating system. Vista is currently scheduled to be released to businesses next month, and to consumers in January of next year. Not everyone on the sidelines agrees that the company will make that deadline, though. Reservations seem mostly to center around legal and political issues, rather than any concrete technical problems." From the article: " A delay for Vista now would be convenient for Microsoft, Gartner analyst David Mitchell-Smith argued, because 'when people start complaining about the delay, Microsoft can reasonably say 'don't blame us' and point the finger at the EC.' ... Mitchell-Smith also noted that Microsoft wants to avoid further litigation, as it is already facing legal action by Symantec and Adobe Systems."
Disclaimer: I am drunk.
So the analysts are split, eh? And that's news? So if the analysts go one way or the analysts go the other, it's news. And now, we've witnessed that if the analysts don't agree, it's news. Come to think of it, it'd be pretty damn hard for analysts to do something that isn't news.
Well, I've got the next headline: "Analysts Think About Vista & Retire to the Bathroom to Lay Some Cable." I mean, is there anything the analysts can do that won't make the news? And it causes me great amusement when we get reports from IDC or sponsored "analysts" that are in favor of those who sponsor them.
You know, I should become an analyst. I hear they get all the girls--unlike the bassists.
My work here is dung.
It's on rails. Whatever MS has when the date comes, goes.
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
"Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."
the punch line is
"It's the bottom of the ninth, the score is tied and the basses are loaded."
(note some versions have this as 2 men out also)
if MS shoves this out the door they will get tagged for the bugs
if MS waits then they have contracts that expire so either they will need to extend them or "lawyers are standing by"
Gomers playing with thermite in the bilge of this ship will he find the sparklers?????
Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
Vista is nice. It certainly (IMHO) not worth an upgrade, and I'm not buying a new PC. I don't see any benefits. I see it breaking my music, or making it harder for me to play it. I see it making things less easy to configure (at the low level). It does look cool, but so what. There is no way my office is upgrading to Vista (Luckily, I make that choice). All these analysts saying this and that and the other about Vista. Why don't they do something useful instead of shooting off a bunch of useless positions.
Mean what you say...say what you mean.
"For a site where no one claims to be using Microsoft products, there sure is an obsession over Vista!" I rarely talk to someone who claims that they do not use any Microsoft products, but I know of a ton of people who use Unix/Linux/BSD or MacOS if they can. The fact is that whether people choose to or not, most people here will be using (or at least evaluating) Windows Vista within 18 months of its release. Personally, I'm going to hold out as long as I can but I'm willing to bet that I'll start dealing with a company who wants a product developed that is ready to run on Windows Vista and I'll be forced to use it.
Umm, OK.
Are the analysts split on XP SP3?
Are they split on the recent Jennifer Aniston breakup?
Just as importantly, are analysts split over the when the next version of OS/2 (eCommStation) be released?
And Europe is getting a bit tired of Microsoft's attitude.
These guys in Redmond know damn well what is required to get a smooth introduction of their software in Europe, and unlike at home it can't be bought in a court or congress.
Of course Europe has it's own shortcomings, for one they should have demanded a noticeable price difference between XP and XP-N, surely the development of MS Media Player was not for free.
For another Europe should have insisted on more interoperability like full access to the specs of NTFS.
Just to name a few issues with the de-facto monopoly.
"The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
Another delay won't matter one bit, it's been delayed enough already that I'm sure any computer manufacturers already have contingency plans made in case the release is not ready. Also as businesses are generally slow adopters (many still run Win2k) not many will be waiting for that release (I don't understand why they're releasing to corporates first and then consumers, it's eather ready or it's not).
As is the case with many of you, I'm not going to be queueing outside in the rain waiting for the first store with vista in to open (well I'd be crazy to I use OS X and Linux at home and Linux and Windows at work and I'm not going to pay to upgrade a work machine!), all the interesting features from the product were cut so it looses whatever geek appeal an MS product can ever have so now it's probably best that they make sure they deliver the most polished product they can possibly do.
Things have changed a lot since the XP launch days, now Mac OS X is a very mature product and as Macs are Intel now some people may buy a Mac so that they can hedge their bets and run either Vista or OSX depending on what they prefer, a rushed and unpolished Vista would really make the Mac shine. Also there's a lot more user focus on the Linux desktop such as ubuntu, not to mention Live CD's which are a great way for people to try out Linux with no risk - although live CD's are not new, I remember a Slackware CD from 1996 that you could run from, but these days they're a whole lot more user friendly with decent hardware detection.
"Analysts Split Over Vista Launch Date"
Vista will launch once the heat shields have been repaired.
As usual, with any Vista announcement come the big proclamations saying "Oh, I am not upgrading to vista." Ya ya, whatever....
:)
:)
People said the SAME thing about XP here as well. 5 years later I bet almost all of you windows folks are running XP at this point. Eventually, you will want to buy a new computer and just like XP did, it will come with Vista. Yes, of course people will claim they are going to OS X but I'll believe it when I see the Mac % of worldwide market go above 5%.
Basically everyone will switch one way or another to Vista whether to play some game or some other Vista only application. Microsoft knows & understands this having seen this in all of its Windows releases. That's why they are basically just doing whatever they want...as we all will eventually be assimilated
BTW, I am a closet Mac fanboy
Who cares? Seriously, what is this obssession with Vista's launch date? I don't believe that the majority of people here are eagerly awaiting it, so they can rush out, buy it and install it, so why are we hanging on every single piece of non-news concerning it?
It'll launch when it launches. You'll get it (or not) when you get it. Until then, why the fascination? Anyone would think it was the Second Coming that we were waiting for...
It's official. Most of you are morons.
5 years later I bet almost all of you windows folks are running XP at this point
Emphasis added. That's the point. 5 years from now ? Who knows. But thing is, as with XP (and FYI very many people, companies, etc. don't even use XP yet) there will probably not be an enormous rush to switch in the beginning. Especially since it will require many people to buy new computers (since most of them don't build their systems and many just usually buy new PCs instead of changing components).
I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
ready to run on Windows Vista and I'll be forced to use it.
I certainly understand your reasoning. But wouldn't they develope for WinXP instead, or is Vista that different? I don't find any of the features that compelling, besides the few security hacks to stop trojans.
Calling Dan Ackroyd...
I did. I was on Win2K when XP came out. Now I have two laptops, one with FreeBSD and another with OS X.
If I were a game developer, I wouldn't consider using DirectX 10 for a while. At launch, the Vista market share will be tiny; smaller than the Mac market share. It might even be the opportunity for OpenGL to gain some mass-market traction again; a game written using OpenGL can take advantage of all the latest GPU features (some via extensions only, but game engine developers tend to write slightly different pipelines for different cards anyway), and will run on all versions of Windows, and be much easier to port to Mac, PS3 and Wii (not to mention mobile devices, many of which support OpenGL ES these days).
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Complete crap. The commission's position is that Microsoft must obey the law. That means no anti-competitive conduct. Microsoft want some presciptive agreement that they can work around instead.
It's like someone being told it's illegal to murder someone and then coming back time after time saying "well, suppose I shoot her?", "well suppose I hit her with an icepick, is that okay?", "I just want you to give me an exact list of the things I mustn't do so I can stay within the law. Food supplements are okay, right, suppose I just put some 'supplements' in her food, can you say that's okay?", "just tell me every way I mustn't kill her so I'm in the clear for anything else". Nobody is stupid enough to fall for this. It's insultingly absurd.
There is nothing remotely reasonable about Mcirosoft's behaviour on this. Instead of obeying the law they want to "negotiate" with the legal process. Seriously; they use that word themselves. Then they say they show "goodwill" by complying with parts of what they are legally REQUIRED to do. Seriously, who the fuck do they think they are?
Apologies for the tone but their conduct in this really gets to me. And no, I'm not a generic Microsoft basher, I use a lot of their software but it's about time for someone to teach them that laws apply to them too. Hopefully the EC can do that.
I don't really think so, because, to me, Vista seems to be the next WinME.
"People said the SAME thing about XP here as well. 5 years later I bet almost all of you windows folks are running XP at this point."
Sure. On my office machine at work. Installed by IT support, not me.
On my home machines I'm running a mix of Windows 2000, Windows 98SE (really!), Linux (Debian), and Mac OS X. I found no compelling reason to upgrade to Windows *XP*, so what fantastic new features (that aren't horribly DRM-encumbered or require better hardware) are in Vista that will cause me to upgrade now? If I do upgrade, it'll be to XP. Frankly, I still don't see alot of incentive given the cost.
2 . Wait for Microsoft to make a retroactive Vista upgrade announcment in mid-November.
3a. Return software should Microsoft not do the obvious.
3b. Get at least $150 credit toward Vista
4 . Unload XP-Home to someone for $20 loss.
Traditionally, everytime Microsoft pushed a new OS out the door, it gets a windfall of cash.
There are People/Companies on the sidelines waiting for a new OS before they buy a new PC simply so get stuck with an old and thus now "obsolete" OS. Also, as the new OS ups the requirements to run, it will push new PCs on its own.
This is also why MS has been getting companies into yearly contracts for software, to get away from this cycle and go into a more steady subscription based cycle.
As you noticed, this story is about analysts making predictions. Analysts work for financial companies. Financial Companies only care about the economics of the situation in the end, not the technical issues and whether Visa will be better and all that.
" A delay for Vista now would be convenient for Microsoft, Gartner analyst David Mitchell-Smith argued, because 'when people start complaining about the delay, Microsoft can reasonably say 'don't blame us' and point the finger at the EC.' ... Mitchell-Smith also noted that Microsoft wants to avoid further litigation, as it is already facing legal action by Symantec and Adobe Systems."
I really don't see how a delay is good for Microsoft, no matter who's fault it is. I mean, OK so I follow this guy's logic and Microsoft says to me 'don't blame us, blame the EC'. Of course then I go to the EC and according to them the blame is squarely on Microsoft for being at fault in the first place. So it just leads back to Microsoft anyway, which I hardly imagine could be 'convenient' for them.
Sort of like if I committed a crime and, to explain why I haven't gotten out of jail yet, I said 'don't blame me! blame the government for putting me here!'. Yeah, because it had nothing at all to do with the fact that I started it?
TLF
I do not respond to cowards. Especially anonymous ones.
With such high quality products like Microsoft Project - they should've known their critical path... /me wishes he wasn't in a Sys. Analysis & Design class...
Plus, you always have to consider your "Legal and Contractual Feasibility"
noobcake or noobmuffin? It is the same price...
I run MS less and less every year.
Or maybe I should also say, I have to run MS less and less every year.
In a sane world, it would be astounding that anyone would hire these "analyst" groups. But this is far from a sane world.
"Analysts" as a group are some of the most useless people around. They're not technically adept enough to properly examine the technical market and they're not market-savvy enough to make accurate predictions about it.
In short, everything I've seen suggests that they don't know anything and they don't do anything of any real importance. Based on the quality of their "keen insights", these must be the guys that actually flunked out of college (not to be confused with simply dropping out). They seem to have all the intelligence of my cat's toy mouse. They're apparently too dumb to be able to get a real job, even in marketing (that's saying something!), much less in a technical field like computers.
So why, exactly, does anyone even listen to them? I can only conclude that it's because, as I said, this is far from a sane world.
Use 'slashdot stuff' in the subject line in any email you send me if you want to get past the spam filter.
Saddam bought off damn near the whole continent. Ever notice how the French abandoned enforcing the no-fly zones when the UN started up the "Oil-for-Food" program? The very program that funnelled billions of dollars of bribes all over the world?
People in the EU aren't any different from the rest of humanity - the operate in their own best interests. They just don't feel like selling out to Microsoft at this time, because they think it's not in their best interests to do so.
Agreed. But maybe I agree because of some Microsoft code:
/* code fork from DOS 3.10 */
/* printf("Welcome to MSDOS 3.11"); */
/* printf("Welcome to Windows 1.0"); */
/* printf("Welcome to Windows 2.0"); */
/* printf("Welcome to Windows 3.1"); */
/* printf("Welcome to Windows 3.11"); */
/* printf("Welcome to Windows 95"); */
/* printf("Welcome to Windows NT 3.0"); */
/* printf("Welcome to Windows NT 3.51"); */
/* printf("Welcome to Windows 98"); */
/* printf("Welcome to Windows CE"); */
/* printf("Welcome to Windows Me"); */
/* printf("Welcome to Windows NT 4.0"); */
/* printf("Welcome to Windows 2000"); */
/* printf("Welcome to Windows XP"); */
/* printf("Welcome to Windows 2003"); */
// next 40 billion
printf("Welcome to Windows Vista");
Yawn. Maybe the the next version will be Hasta or LA. Then like CE + ME + NT it will add up to something like CEMENT.
Cool, perhaps there is a use for attornies afterall..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
...and are the least bit of a technology/manufactured items consumer, or have to deal with governments and paperwork, or banks, or go shopping, etc, etc, some huge list, you can't help but be a "consumer" and help pay for microsoft products, one or two steps away in most cases. So of course what they do or don't do is news. Modern society pays a defacto microsoft tax,both in terms of money and in terms of..how things are done, how society works now. That's why they are sitting on this humongous pile of cash. In fact, if you want some sort of gauge (if you can equate importance with money), the UN budget is around 3 billion a year,while MS is sitting on 49 billion dollars. That's just the cash. There's stock and holdings as well. So ya, they are important and this is news of interest to people, even if they don't personally run MS stuff on their personal machines.
The real problem is simply missing Xmas sales. The only option MS has is to let OEMs sell PC with free upgrades to Vista, when it comes out next year. That way you avoid too much contracting mess.
So by that argument. Slashdot should be doing daily postings of what the energy industries do.
[07/07/06]
"Gas is now $2.00"
[07/08/06]
"Gas is now $2.10"
[07/09/06]
"Gas is now $2.20"
Its 32-bit Windows with a fancy DirectX UI ('Aero') and bucketloads of DRM nastiness. People will buy it for its good looks. They won't like what it does to music, video or other content files though.
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
"...as we all will eventually be assimilated :)"
I don't mean to be a spelling Nazi but you spelled Windows Users wrong.
As for myself, I've been Windows-free for 7 years and I don't have any plans to be assimilated in the future either!
http://files.myopera.com/pincopallino/albums/35390 /microsoft%20ce%20me%20nt.png
When it comes to pastry theft, I take the cake.
Didn't the OEMs handle the home user switch from Win ME to XP by shipping their boxes with Me and a coupon for XP when it became available? Did that happen, or did I just imaginize that?
I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords
People said the SAME thing about XP here as well. 5 years later I bet almost all of you windows folks are running XP at this point.
... doesn't, AFAICT.
It's different. People running XP today were running either 2K or 95/98 before it.
If you were running 95/98/ME, it *was* a big deal; XP *is* a lot better than 95/98/ME. It solved a lot of problems that they had. Vista
If you were running 2K, you were a geek who appreciates the guts. That's great. But if you upgraded to XP, you may have noticed that its guts didn't change all that much -- not nearly as much as the window borders (which are a shade of blue so bright only Chris, Matt, and Phil like it). These people are, I imagine, much more skeptical the second time around.
Sure, Microsoft will sell a lot of licenses for Vista. But with only incremental improvements, many of them direct copies of things Mac OS and Linux already do, how many people will be rushing out to upgrade? And with a turnaround time of more than 5 years (5 year anniversary in less than 3 weeks!), will people want to stick with it? When Apple makes a hot new feature, Linux can copy it reasonably quickly. Fast response is getting more important all the time, and Microsoft is slowing down a lot. Will a Me, Too effort once or twice a decade be enough to keep them going? The threat isn't running out of money -- they've got tons -- but irrelevance.
My epsilon is a fixed number less than zero, bitches! Suck it!
Every time an analyst makes the mistake of being featured on slashdot, their reputation loses karma. I've never seen such a bunch of loonies. Who CARES when Vista is going to be released? Apart from the fact that we'll lose all the "Just in time for Vista" jokes, nobody gives a damn. And the fact that the analysts are split over the matter makes it even more comical - it's like some major disagreement on a physical theory that gives it an air of importance.
When Vista gets released, you know what I'll do? I'll go to the toilet and take a dump, then resume my normal life. That's how much Vista will affect the average human being. I hope analysts get better things to do. I can imagine people doing time in jail who have more productive weekends than this.
If an analyst wants an alternative job, think stand-up comedy. You guys rule. I've never seen more jokes posted than as responses to an "analysts-said-this" story. If you want to entertain us then at least be honest about it.
I think Symantec and McAfee are being silly. This would be like makers of DOS programs suing Micosoft for putting out Windows 95. Symantec and McAfee are ancient technology with Vista's better security system. While it is bloat ware after using Vista Ultimate it has a lot of prompts for running programs and windows defender is very good. The corporations will just have to lay off there personal and license their patents like others have done. One World. One Government. One Operating System. ;-)
A lawyer friend of mine filed suit against a major utility company. In order to proceed, the judge required a million dollar bond, that he or his clients did not have at the time (him being new to practicing law, and the clients being poor people alleging harm by the utility.)
Considering the dollar amount MS could attach to an injuction delaying Vista, anyone seeking to block Vista shipping may have to put up an eleventy billion dollar bond... Or show harm that no amount of monetary penalty could replace.
I bet almost all of you windows folks are running XP at this point.
:)
And what do you know, five years later and (almost) at the next version release, and here I am still on 2k. More importantly, every single desktop where I work is still on 2k.
Could be different with Vista though. The problem with XP was that it is not different from Windows 2000 in any substantial way, just uglier and a little less stable. Vista looks like it actually might offer something new.
Or maybe it's just because even 5 years is an unreasonably short upgrade cycle for many environments. I personally will be swtiching to Vista when EVE needs it to look pretty
sic transit gloria mundi
So, regardless of the state of Vista, something is very likely going to get shipped before the end of the year, even if it gets followed in a few months with a service pack that makes it half-decent.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
win2k.. the jingle is "it's like xp, but faster, more reliable, and less resource hungry".
granted i've been using mac for quite a while.. but my mother god bless her still demands windows.. and I supply her addiction with win2k
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
Was it DiDio?
Did she survive?
Get real. This isn't something started by J.Q. Shark P.A., as a nuisance lawsuit. This is the EU. They make their own laws and havethe right to enforce them. In theory thay could require MS to post an 11-trillion euro bond before selling Vista. That said, why am I posting here? I care diddly-squat about MS's next pseudo-O/S. May the Edsel be with it....
If you want your life to be different, live it differently.
The computer industry needs a windows lauch. A new windows releases forces people to upgrade their software. They also tend to buy new PCs. Semiconductor stocks are doing rather poorly right now. If intel or amd start moving units, it will definetely have an impact on the stock market. While I'm a fan of open source software, I also realize that Microsoft and Apple do stimulate the economy.
I've attempted to test several betas of vista and have been unable to install any of them on any of my PCs for lack of hardware support. I'm already specing out new hardware for a potential vista upgrade and something to test AMD64 versions of MidnightBSD. In my opinion anyone in the open source community should look at vista very closely. Its not only our competition, but also the basis of what end users think operating systems are like. We know Microsoft didn't get this one right. Its just a matter of how wrong it really is.
MidnightBSD: The BSD for Everyone
Rubbernecking. Like when a jack-knifed semi spills 40,000 frozen chickens on the outerbelt at rush hour.
Sent from the iPad I found in your car.
I "upgraded" one system from NT4 workstation to XP "pro" - the consequence was the shared files on the receptionists machine couldn't be seen by enough people at the same time in a small office with less than ten people. Face it guys - it's a home computer operating system and they want us to shell out for Server2003 or wait for Longhorn server for the basic functionality that used to be in the workstation version.
Doesn't Vista have a slightly tweaked XP kernel and the same filesystem?
Do you remember that the idea of using a kernel based on server2003 with improvements was ditched? So what do we get that is new other than a different shade of GUI and newer versions of the optional extras?
Is Microsoft one of the few in this or are there many US companies that take the barbaric attitude of asking governments how much they have to pay to break the law? In Australia we imported a failed US telecommunications CEO to run our mostly state owned telephone company and he is certainly taking this attitude.
Drunk commenters are the Slashdot version of analysts, and analysts the corporate equivalent to drunk commenters.
Strange, this at my father in laws company they have a similar setup: the important files are on the secretaries machine and shared with everyone else. Of course, not a single backup in sight. (This is a small business <5 users) My question is: why don't you just put a NAS in there (selfmade or off the shelf) and mount their "My Documents" on that? You could even do a nightly backup on a second NAS!
That's what I'm going to do at my father in laws company. I have gotten a P-IV somewhere for free, dumped two disks in it and am going to put those in RAID. Nighlty backup on external USB drive. Setup Samba (no user limits, unless your hardware can't cope) and it's free. Damnit! There is no reason to shell out money for Win2003 Server if it's for a simple file server.
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
Sorry, no dice, we won't even be looking at Vista till at least 2010
I work in a shop where the boss did a 2 year lease with Dell that is up in March of 07 (yes all XP boxes). Well, the powers that be have decied that a three year lease is the way to go.
So once again Dell, once again, upgrading 80 PC's or so, and once again...Windows XP.
We get to revist the Vista Issue late in 2009. And if Vista is no better than XP SP3 with heavy hardware requirements. Who knows? We have several Options.
- Run our old hardware another 2 or 3 years and XP on the desktop. Thus Vista will be a 5 year old OS before we even consider it)
- Move to Citrix hosted on Windows 2003, and keep running the old hardware and replace with thin clients. A real option, since bandwith will be even cheaper in a few years.
- A migration to Linux. Crossover Office keeps getting better. And the most of the software that we run, may well run in it just fine by 2010. Things like AutoCAD, Quckbooks (being phased out for Solomon), and MS Office.
As it stands, in 07, we are getting 2 beefy servers, loaded up with VMWare, and running in VM evertything we currently use our 8 Windows 2003 servers for. The 2nd server will be used for redundency. I know, we are still going to need the Window Servers License, but we have now bitten the Linux apple. Every bite of that, means less Windows Licenses, and perhaps no new MS OS till 2012 or 2015.As an aside, there is nothing we are running on any PC in the office that Windows 2000 would not run just fine.
vi +
The cheaper dedicated NAS boxes are slow as b@lls. Far better to do as you're doing and use an older computer with new hard drives. Also, if you run SME Server 7.0 on the NAS box, it's free and has full Samba (NT domain hosting) capabilities as well as even the ability to host e-mail and run groupware products (I have eGroupware running under SME).
-b.
The very first thing you see in Vista are links to Windows Live and Windows Live Onecare. This is obviously going to suffocate sales for other security products, as well as forcing other products to use a security model that is preferential to OneCare. MS have been slapped hard for this before, e.g. putting MSN links onto Windows 95, and yet here they are doing it again. Here's hoping they get bogged down with one lawsuit after another until they learn.
It's different this time.
I *cared* about XP. Even ran the betas for development for a while. My users did too - I was fielding questions about it before the official release, and pointing out bugs.
With vista I've got a machine with it on but I never go near it except for essential testing (rarely) and nobody has asked me about compatibility yet (I know one of our programs doesn't work on RC1 because of a nasty bug in IShellFolder that stops it.. presumably fixed in RC2 - not tried yet).
This is completely different to the XP experience. Certainly the users I deal with aren't thinking of the upgrade.. they're happy with what the have.
XP SP2 was basically treated as an OS upgrade by many users because it was such a change & required the same level of software upgrade/support. For many, that was their last OS upgrade and it didn't happen that long ago - it's too soon for another one.
Could you not have droped on Samba box in there to server the files. Get them off the receptionist's machine. Use the linux box to both share the files and as a backup server.
I did, because of "product activation". Later, increasingly intrusive anti-piracy measures in XP reinforced that stance. Otherwise, I might switch to XP. ;-)
Instead, my private machines still run Windows 2000. With the occasional attempt to run Linux. So far, the games are the showstoppers - few available for Linux, and WINE is not perfect yet. But I guess eventually there will be a version that handles the most important ones
C - the footgun of programming languages
The replies here have missed the point of reduced functionality with the new version - yes the answer was to change the behaviour of everyone in that office and get them to use something in the server room instead - but the point of staying with MS is supposed to be that you don't have to change the behaviour of everyone in the office.
You could, I don't know... ASK MSFT!
/. could call themself an "analyst."
If that's where the bar starts, than anyone on
"Anti-competitive conduct" is not as easy to recognize as you seem to believe. Your analogy to murder is "insultingly absurd", to use your own phrase. Anti-competitive practices, especially in this case, are not so clear-cut.
The EU regulatory commission is being amazingly pig-headed in this case. The commission doesn't want to be seen as "holding up the release of Vista" because they're scared of what kind of message that might send out to international business community. But at the same time, it can't even answer a basic question about what is or is not acceptable to them, which should be even more scary to the business community.
The central tenet of the rule of law is that laws are clear and defined BEFORE people can be held accountable to them. The fact that the EU cannot define clearly what is or is not acceptable to them before Microsoft releases Vista is absolutely unreasonable. Microsoft clearly feels that what it is doing with Vista is fine. But Adobe and Symantec do not. If the EU can't come out with a clear policy before Microsoft acts, then Microsoft cannot act without exposing itself to unknown legal risks.
Imagine if you were forced to obey a rule outlawing "anti-environmental practices", and that is as clearly as the law were defined. Is driving your car considered an "anti-environmental practice"? What about using too much energy? Running your air conditioner? Buying toothpaste in a plastic tube? The point is, how can you go about your daily life (or business) if you don't know what legal risks you are exposing yourself to?
Microsoft is simply asking here: "Is what I'm about to do acceptable to you? If not, what can I do to make it acceptable?" If this is so difficult to answer, then the EU has major problems with its laws. Regulatory bodies answer questions like these all the time.
heres a check list of things distros can do to "kill Vista"
1 NTFS read/write safely
2 Aigxl/xgl support
3 include stronger vintages of Wine and other Emulation tricks
4 Themes that make sense
5 safer hardware support (try not to kill a cdrom drive just because its out of spec)
6 simple installers
i think Novell SLED and mandriva 2007 both cover those lists RHEL should be close behind (if not there now)
Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
OT: the link in your sig is down. Well, not down; it's "refusing connections".
Analyst 1: It will be out at the same time Duke Nukem Forever is released!
Analyst 2: I disagree, It should be out along with Starcraft Ghost
I'm a recent switch to Linux, but I have no intention of going back to Windows. I'll probably use it now and then though--when I'm fixing it on friends'/family's computers. I might have to play with other people's Windows computers occasionally just to figure out where everything was hidden. Who hated that whole "category view" on the Control Panel? I keep it on "classic". Will Vista still allow "classic"? If not, I'm gonna have a hell of a time on "family tech support". That's, in my opinion, definitely a case of hiding things that were easy to find before.
look! it's a bird, it's a plane, it's....a girl? yes, a girl browsing Slashdot on Linux
Yes, I'm in the middle of a hardware upgrade. The curernt "server" was a lowend amd sempron homebrew. I'm replacing it with a dual xeon. Site should be back up in a few hours at the latest.
MidnightBSD: The BSD for Everyone
we'll migrate to Vista when XP can't play a large enough proportion of games