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Microsoft to Give Away Software
dptalia writes "In an attempt to suck up to the European Union, Microsoft has announced that it will give away software allowing multiple operating systems to run simultaneously. Microsoft says this is part of their strategy to make more software available through OSS." From the article: "Georg Greve, president of the Free Software Foundation Europe, said he had not seen the details of Microsoft's giveaway but cautioned against assuming it was motivated only by pragmatism or a new spirit of cooperation. 'If Microsoft were doing this for altruistic reasons, it would be a first,' Greve said. 'I think they are probably trying to get more machines on the Windows platform, and they may also be trying to improve relations in Brussels.'"
I read the FA 3 times, and the most I could come up with is out of this paragraph:
Microsoft said it was relinquishing all license claims on its Virtual Hard Disk Image Format - new software that will allow computers running on rival products like Apple's OS X or Linux, its chief competitors in operating systems, to simultaneously run Windows.
So it's giving away or opening up its disk format for some kind of Virtual PC-like product. There's no mention in the article of exactly what this means. Sounds like they're competing with Xen or VMware ACE possibly. Nowhere does it mention a free OS, so I'm assuming that part or all of the virtualization will be free (speech or beer, not sure which) but you still get to pay for the OS on top.
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
Not only does VMware already give away VMware Server, but Microsoft Virtual Server is also already free. That's not the news.
This is a news story from an uninformed reporter who seems to be confusing software and standards. The announcement appears to be that Microsoft is "relinquishing all license claims on its Virtual Hard Disk Image Format." This, to me, sounds like less of an altruistic move than a competitive one -- because, of course, VMware's image format is already free.
Breakfast served all day!
No it is not. If you read the article (which has nice but useless paging system btw), you would have read that the are givving up any licencing claims they had on ther virtual disk format. (Ignoring the fact that software licences are not enforcable in the EU anyway).
So they are not giving software away, but leave it to the other manufacturers to figure out a way to read these windoze virtual HD images. So where exactly is VM-ware (gives away vm products) or Xen (is free from the very beginning) getting hurt?
This space is intentionally staring blankly at you
What would MS have to do to please all of you?
Undo the damage they've done.
Well, that might be a bit much, even they can't pay that (that's the nature of monopoly rent - it's a net loss for the economy because the monopolists gain is smaller than everyone elses loss).
So, how about just going away and stopping to do more damage? That'd do for me.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Might be of use to you.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
It took them a while to catch on - they were livid when Microsoft Basic got pirated - but giving software away or winking at piracy for a while whenever they're faced with a market they're not yet dominant in... that's been a terribly effective tool for most of the company's existence.
And pretending that it's a sacrifice and convincing people that free copies of Microsoft software is a reasonable settlement for lawsuits has worked very well for them.
Internet Explorer, for god's sake.
Why are people showing anything but disdain for this appallingly transparent bargaining chip?