12.29.06
Microsoft Roundup: Week In Review
Blogola Scandal
Microsoft, AMD and Edelman recently sent "prominent" bloggers laptops loaded with Windows Vista, so that they may review them with "no strings attached". Some folks have cried foul, likening the practice to pay-per-post, but I feel that if the reviewer is upfront regarding the situation there really is no problem here.
Technical preview models are commonplace in the industry, in the past perhaps these units were reserved for more traditional journalists in the Television and print mediums and this demonstrates corporations’ respect for the power of bloggers.
The fact that Vista requires such insane hardware to render the "full Vista experience" is telling in and of itself - any other operating system vendor could just send a CD or DVD to trial.
Google About to Surpass Microsoft Online
Google is now the second-most visited internet property, having overtaken Yahoo!, and is set to overtake Microsoft in the number one spot thanks in part to their recent YouTube acquisition.
Microsoft may seem an unlikely leader in the web traffic space. Obviously MSN sites like Hotmail play a big part, but another factor is all those software updates that security-conscious users keep downloading.
A Whole New Meaning for "Crashing" Windows
Ford will be revealing new car models that include a Microsoft Operating System, cue all of the "If Microsoft Made Cars…" jokes from years ago.
In short, Sync is a Microsoft operating system (OS) which includes built-in Bluetooth wireless technology. Specifically focusing on wireless capabilities, some examples of what the system will bring to Ford’s automobiles include hands-free mobile phone communication, e-mail, and music downloads. The first two cars to utilize the Sync OS will be the Ford Focus and the Five Hundred sedans. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ford executives feel that Sync will give the company a competitive advantage over its competitors.
RSS Patent Fiasco
The whole RSS patent fiasco did not escape my attention, it will get the coverage it is due…
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.
shane said,
December 29, 2006 at 2:29 pm
An interesting twist to the blogola story, laughingsquid has put one of the laptops on eBay, with the proceeds going to the EFF!
http://laughingsquid.com/windows-vista-laptop-on-ebay-proceeds-going-to-eff/
IanSVT said,
December 29, 2006 at 11:39 pm
Have you ever considered just making this an anti microsoft blog? Serious question, because most if not all posts are about Microsoft, certainly more than Novell.
shane said,
December 30, 2006 at 8:32 am
I fail to see the distinction between Microsoft and Novell any longer.
IanSVT said,
December 30, 2006 at 1:54 pm
That’s a fairly limited point of view. Have you ever been an admin for either Novell based or Microsoft based networks?
Shane Coyle said,
January 1, 2007 at 12:30 am
um, sure, windows back in the day. worked a bit with Netware as well, but that is not my point - I don’t see a difference ideologically, not technologically.