11.18.08
Microsoft is “Crashing Parties” Again
“I’m a huge fan of guerrilla marketing.”
–Joe Wilcox, Microsoft fan & Microsoft Watch editor
WE wrote about Microsoft's guerrilla marketing a couple of weeks ago, VMware being a recent example of a victim [1, 2]. To Microsoft, guerrilla marketing is not an exception; it’s the company's policy, which also led to coordinated attacks on PlayStation 3 launch parties across the world. This merciless and insensitive attitude made some children cry at the time. They were fans of the PlayStation and they were unaware of Microsoft’s typical business ethics.
According to The Register, Microsoft is doing it again, trying to rain on a competitor’s parade. The timing is no coincidence, as we explained last week.
Microsoft crashes Adobe RIA party
Adobe MAX Microsoft has tried to cast a shadow over RIA and cloud news at Adobe Systems’ annual MAX conference by talking up Silverlight’s roadmap.
It ought to be added that Novell has begun resorting to Microsoft’s tactics too [1, 2]. █
“Think about the children”
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.