They do not have infinite resources and they are not invulnerable. Just look at how fast their cash reserve has been shrinking. They can only follow the "get into this market at any cost" strategies for so long. They've been losing billions of dollars on the XBox, lost more billions on developing Vista that nobody wants.
The fact that M$ is a monopoly TODAY doesn't mean much in high tech, where 10-20 years is an eternity.
Remember how in the '80s Commodore was in every home and office? Barely 20 years later only old nerds even remember the name.
And how long can they sustain not making money on the OS? Unlike Linux, BSD etc., Microsoft has employees to pay. Not to mention that their shareholders would eventually revolt.
So, it costs much more, it's less capable and is not made by a big brand company any more (IBM). Yet, people are supposed to buy it because...??? That makes no sense.
What they should ban is the media showing videos of hostage takers etc. If the bad guys knew that nobody would show their videos and demands, they'd be more likely to stop using this tactic.
I noticed the exact opposite in "real life". All engineers and scientists I know are reasonable and logical people, much less likely to give in to religion and extremism than the less educated people I've met.
This sounds like someone is trying to start an urban legend.
It's not just the user base, but the time since release. Yes, Linux has a smaller user base, but it's been around much longer than Vista, so crackers had more time to find vulnerabilities.
And who in their right mind will get virtualization software from Microsoft?
One of the main reasons for virtualization to is to run other, competing OSs (mostly Linux) on the same hardware.
You can bet M$ would do everything to make Linux look bad: "see, same hardware, XP / Vista runs better".
It's like putting Ford in charge of building roads and gas stations. How long do you think before Toyotas, Hondas etc. will develop "unexpected" engine problems from the gasoline served there?
I just got an 8GB 300x CF card with a CF-SATA adapter.
It works beautifully (and I've used mostly 10000RPM and 15000RPM hard drives before!). I get around 43MB / s read speeds on the CF SSD, while my 10000RPM WD Raptor HDD gets 53MB/s.
I'm running my OS on the CF card (SUSE 10.3) on it as I write this.
Will the GNOME Foundation's indifferent response to Richard Stallman's appeal drive him to throw his weight behind KDE?"
I sure hope so.
Gnome sucks. Their UI is inconsistent and awkward.
While competition is usually a good thing, in desktop UI, we / GNU-Linux would be way better off with a single standard and KDE is far superior to Gnome.
I would guess, it's this process: - the lake-bed fills up with runoff water after rain - the wind creates waves on the surface - the rocks slide on the slippery mud, followind the strongest water currents
Water has much more mass (than air), plus immersed rocks become lighter.
...microsoft claims ownership of tooth paste manufacturing and everything else. Seriously, who cares any more. Just ignore them. Nothing to see here...
Slashdot Mirror
Check out the Web stats for the iPhone.
It gained a larger market share in 6 months than Windows mobile has in years.
They do not have infinite resources and they are not invulnerable.
Just look at how fast their cash reserve has been shrinking.
They can only follow the "get into this market at any cost" strategies for so long.
They've been losing billions of dollars on the XBox, lost more billions on developing Vista that nobody wants.
The fact that M$ is a monopoly TODAY doesn't mean much in high tech, where 10-20 years is an eternity.
Remember how in the '80s Commodore was in every home and office?
Barely 20 years later only old nerds even remember the name.
And how long can they sustain not making money on the OS?
Unlike Linux, BSD etc., Microsoft has employees to pay.
Not to mention that their shareholders would eventually revolt.
Let me guess, somehow Microsoft is behind it again.
So, it costs much more, it's less capable and is not made by a big brand company any more (IBM).
Yet, people are supposed to buy it because...???
That makes no sense.
Seems to be the only one with real morals a brain.
In other news, a new bycicle store opened for fish.
In other words, who cares?
Real Nerds don't do Microsoft.
What they should ban is the media showing videos of hostage takers etc.
If the bad guys knew that nobody would show their videos and demands, they'd be more likely to stop using this tactic.
I noticed the exact opposite in "real life".
All engineers and scientists I know are reasonable and logical people, much less likely to give in to religion and extremism than the less educated people I've met.
This sounds like someone is trying to start an urban legend.
It's not just the user base, but the time since release.
Yes, Linux has a smaller user base, but it's been around much longer than Vista, so crackers had more time to find vulnerabilities.
Exactly. I don't know a single person who uses Vista and most of my friends are computer nerds.
And who in their right mind will get virtualization software from Microsoft?
One of the main reasons for virtualization to is to run other, competing OSs (mostly Linux) on the same hardware.
You can bet M$ would do everything to make Linux look bad: "see, same hardware, XP / Vista runs better".
It's like putting Ford in charge of building roads and gas stations.
How long do you think before Toyotas, Hondas etc. will develop "unexpected" engine problems from the gasoline served there?
Yes, a 166x CF card is *slow*.
/s.
I just got an 8GB 300x CF card with a CF-SATA adapter.
It works beautifully (and I've used mostly 10000RPM and 15000RPM hard drives before!).
I get around 43MB / s read speeds on the CF SSD, while my 10000RPM WD Raptor HDD gets 53MB
I'm running my OS on the CF card (SUSE 10.3) on it as I write this.
I'm one: I hate trackpads with a vengeance and love trackpoints.
Except nobody cares about Thinkpads any more, now that it's not made by IBM.
Just get a MacBook Pro, Air etc.
Sodomsky? That's his real name, not a joke?
Will the GNOME Foundation's indifferent response to Richard Stallman's appeal drive him to throw his weight behind KDE?"
I sure hope so.
Gnome sucks. Their UI is inconsistent and awkward.
While competition is usually a good thing, in desktop UI, we / GNU-Linux would be way better off with a single standard and KDE is far superior to Gnome.
I have no affiliation with either Gnome or KDE.
Supercomputers are measured in Teraflops nowadays.
Sure, it would be nice to run my ray-tracer on it, but 650 Gigaflops is just barely a supercomputer...
"The caveat is that you have to let them monitor your use of the program."
???
They've been doing that all along.
There have been countless cases and articles of M$ spying on Windows users, so what's new?
Uhm, that they're now doing it *openly*?
It should specify what happens to the ownership of material published on that forum.
I would guess, it's this process:
- the lake-bed fills up with runoff water after rain
- the wind creates waves on the surface
- the rocks slide on the slippery mud, followind the strongest water currents
Water has much more mass (than air), plus immersed rocks become lighter.
"Lets see, they are selling lots of them, and slowly gaining market penetration. I don't see that as a 'failure'."
:)
Interesting. I've never ever seen a Zune owned by someone.
Where are those "lots of" Zunes you speak of?
completing levels give the player a sense of accomplishment and an easy basis of comparison against competing players ("I passed level 3").
...microsoft claims ownership of tooth paste manufacturing and everything else.
Seriously, who cares any more.
Just ignore them.
Nothing to see here...
I would never drive a car or fly and airplane that has Microsoft software in it, so what were these guys thinking?