05.16.08
Posted in Microsoft, Office Suites, Standard, OpenDocument, Europe, Open XML, FOSS at 8:36 pm by Roy Schestowitz
Nightmare scenario: no lock-in
Earlier on we mentioned in a post what some characterised as “Alpha-lunatic”; that post has been accordingly updated since yesterday. Wherever the insults come from, it’s despicable because non-profits serving the public need never be compared to terrorists. To give some information — as opposed to conspiracy-esque disinformation — about Digistan, Mr. Wheeler wrote down some clarifications a couple of days ago.
In my essay “Is OpenDocument an Open Standard? Yes!”, I addressed this problem of multiple different definitions by finding three widely-used definitions (Perens’, Krechmer’s, and the European Commission’s) and merging them. After all, if a specification meets all three definitions of “open standard”, then it’s far more likely to be a true open standard. Problem is, with all those trees, it’s hard to see the forest.
Andy Updegrove wrote about this too.
Standards and SocietyOn Wednesday, I introduced The Hague Declaration to those that visit this blog, promising to write again shortly to introduce the new organization that created the Declaration. That organization is called the Digital Standards Organization (Digistan, for short), and I’m pleased to say that I am one of its founders. In this entry, I’ll give you my perceptions of what Digistan is all about, and what I hope it will accomplish.
Attacks on Digistan and the Hague Declaration should not be surprising. In its latest quarterly disclosure, Microsoft reported a decline in sales of Microsoft Office, as pointed out at the time by Mary Jo Foley and others. In fact, both cash cows took a considerable tumble (Windows saw a decline of 24%). The cause? Well, there are several. It has a lot to do with timing of product releases, but as CRN put it yesterday, OpenOffice.org 3.0 is “Another Microsoft Headache.” The download volume and national policies/migrations we occasionally cite here speak for themselves.
The OpenOffice.org community is now beta testing the next major upgrade to its office productivity suite, version 3.0, and there is enough in it to cause Microsoft some more worry.
There is another new article about office suites becoming more of a commodity and it comes from ECT:
You don’t have to spend as much as you once did to get a decent computer nowadays, and thanks to free software, you don’t have to spend anything at all for a decent suite of office apps like OpenOffice. Even if you want to eventually migrate to a commercial office product, this is a good “starter” for a new computer user.
[…]
Of course, the expense of computing is not limited to the PC itself.
This article also covers a variety of other office suites, most of which are Web-based and rather powerful on the collaboration side.
The following good article from Market Watch comes to mind again, and particularly the following insightful quote from it:
‘Microsoft sees what’s coming. Things like Word and Excel are sort of like a drug now getting ready to go generic.’
We mentioned this article here. OOXML is the ‘new drug’, which almost nobody is able or permitted (patents) to replicate. █
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Posted in Microsoft, Standard, Europe, Courtroom, Open XML, ISO at 8:08 pm by Roy Schestowitz
Denmark
Yesterday we mentioned only a quick translation of an article written in Danish. Andy Updegrove and Groklaw have picked it up by now and there is now a minor update on this. It comes from Denmark in the form of another snippet that’s published in English.
Members of the parliament are angry that they didn’t know about the total split in the Technical Committee under Danish Standards.
Several Danish IT policy rapporteurs are surprised that the OOXML Committee with Danish Standard has been totally divided. It will have consequences, “said Morten Helveg Pedersen (R).
Whatever the consequences will be, who knows? But a formal complaint has already been filed, so it will need to be addressed.
Ireland
Here is how Ireland voted on OOXML back in September: it was a “No with comments.”
After months of intensive review, analysis and discussion, NSAI has voted Disapproval - with Technical Comments, in respect of the OOXML submission. This effectively is a qualified yes, whereby Ireland has some technical issues with the submission. If the Technical Comments are satisfactorily resolved and incorporated into a new draft, the vote is subsequently amended to Approval.
We mentioned this here.
Then, Microsoft itself was elected to represent Ireland at the BRM in Geneva (not confirmed). Surely it’s a joke, right? It doesn’t seem so. Interestingly enough, Microsoft’s relationship with Ireland has also some strings with its tax evasion habits. But in any event, here is a letter [PDF] calling for information to be revealed about the process that mysteriously turned a “No” vote into a “Yes”.
Vincent Henry
Freedom of Information Liaison Officer
National Standards Authority of Ireland
[…]
Dear Mr Henry,
I am writing to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
I would like to request the following information from the NSAI, relating to the NSAI’s work
on ISO’s as-was draft standard DIS29500 (Information Technology — Office Open XML file
formats).
• Minutes of all meetings of committees, sub-committees, working groups or similar where
ISO’s as-was DIS29500 was discussed.
• Dates of all such meetings.
[…]
This may seem similar to some of the complaints about BSI’s secrecy. The BSI issued a face-saving page and later on was taken to court — and rightly so. There must be transparency. Without it, self-serving abuse is only to be expected, as political vote-rigging taught the world many times in the past. █
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Posted in Europe, Open XML, ISO at 3:34 am by Roy Schestowitz
We have already seen street protests in a few places including Norway (photo above; here is a video and the full story). The BSI (UK) came under legal fire as well. The European Commission is dealing with several investigations as complaints continue to come (more recently from BECTA, whose formal complaint was added to the pile).
As we emphasised before, over two weeks remain until finalisation and now comes Denmark with a complaint that’s very revealing.
The city of Aarhus has posted an official complaint to Danish Standards regarding the result of the Danish YES-vote.
The complaint is regarding the fact that *all* non-profit votes in Denmark asked for a NO. Only commercial pro-Microsoft participants voted YES.
The original article is in Danish, but it will probably reach the English-speaking press fairly soon.
Denmark’s clear division among voters (only Microsoft’s friends voting “yes”, just like in India) is not news, but the complaint is definitely new. Also mind the following serial denial [1, 2], which is utterly disgusting. To quote one who is familiar with the matter in Denmark specifically:
“37 letters with exactly the same words. Some of the senders didn’t even care to remove the ‘Type company name here’ text.
Simular letters has been circulating in Denmark as an e-mail from the Danish MD Jørgen Bardenfleth to customers and business partners.
I call it fraud, cheating and disgusting. If I wasn’t anti-Microsoft before, I am now. Disgusting !”
–Leif Lodahl
More information about the fiasco in Denmark you’ll easily find if you search this Web site. Previous posts that partly cover OOXML in Denmark include:
Not even a thousand template-based carbon-copied denials can write history guiltlessly. █
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05.15.08
Posted in Microsoft, GNU/Linux, Hardware, Antitrust, Open XML at 9:52 pm by Roy Schestowitz
Predatory EULA on chip
One exciting recent bit of news is all about Asustek extending the reach of Splashtop and putting it on pretty much every motherboard. This means that tens of millions of PCs are expected to have Linux installed down at the core, essentially (yet arguably) running it as the ‘default’ operating system.
As rudimentary as Splashtop may be at the moment, this could be the start of something greater that will be extended and improved over time. Splashtop also had its kernel patches released to the public (according to Phoronix), so other hardware makers are likely to follow suit. Phoenix has already found itself on a similar boat and Phoenix’ ubiquity is nothing to sneeze at.
In yesterday’s news, The Inquirer made the following important observation:
Asus to ship all motherboards with Linux
[…]
And, for many casual computer users who make use of web-based applications exclusively, Splashtop Linux might be all the operating system they ever need.
This becomes truer as time goes by. An increasing number of applications become Web-based. Not everyone would use them, but some might. Some will.
Splashtop receives a lot of publicity at the moment, but it’s arguably small potatoes compared to Phoenix HyperSpace, which was described here:
Phoenix Technologies’ new HyperSpace is an instant-on environment for laptops, letting users launch a browser or other apps with booting into the OS.
Today, Phoenix Technologies introduced a firmware product called HyperSpace, which allows PCs to run a number of applications separate from the operating system. What that means is that if you use a PC equipped with HyperSpace, you will be able to quick-boot your notebook into a secure Linux environment, where you can use Web browsers like FireFox and pre-loaded Web-aware apps like Google Earth, Picasa, and the like.
[…]
Also, since HyperSpace is a Linux-based platform, Windows viruses won’t affect it.
As Beta News put it at the time, “New Phoenix BIOS will run Linux apps when Windows fails.”
The basic concept is that an embedded Linux OS will accompany the core system firmware or BIOS, allowing instant-on applications to be run from it at any time.
Even Dell expressed some optimism and showed its enthusiasm about such disruptive technologies at the time, but let’s quickly look at Microsoft’s apparent reaction.
BIOS maker Phoenix Technologies Ltd.’s plans to market a new application platform the company claims will solve a number of problems endemic to Microsoft’s Windows platform might be taken as a provocative gesture at their longtime partner. But Redmond’s immediate reaction was nonchalant.
On Monday, the Milpitas, Calif. software maker announced Hyperspace, a Linux-based virtualization platform that will let OEMs bundle cut-down versions of popular open-source software that end users will be able to access instantly, even without booting Windows.
Based on such report you would think that Microsoft does not care, wouldn’t you? However, this new article brings back memories:
Splashtop is not the only such product on the market. A year ago, BIOS vendor Phoenix Technology launched HyperSpace, an equivalent that has yet to turn up on PCs in any numbers. Microsoft’s view on the movement to embed cut-down operating systems is not known, but Phoenix did launch a pre-emptive strike against it to stop it blocking HyperSpace using restrictive Vista end-user license agreements (EULAs). Microsoft relented.
An antitrust complaint from Phoenix Technology, an eternal Microsoft partner (or so it thought) forced the monopoly to fix the anti-competitive EULA of Windows Vista. Microsoft tried to characterise this change as goodwill and a nice gesture, essentially changing the story which was originally told and claiming credit (even glory) for being abusive. The press underplayed this fiasco, but Mary Jo Foley was rather disgusted.
But the real reason for Microsoft’s capitulation became clear on March 7 via a new joint-status report in the Microsoft-Department of Justice case. It turns out BIOS maker Phoenix Technologies (a long-time Microsoft partner) filed a complaint with antitrust regulators about Microsoft’s virtualization restrictions.
Microsoft has tried to manipulate the virtualisation market in a variety of ways [1, 2, 3] because it had fallen so far behind. Microsoft insulted many people’s intelligence when it claimed that a EULA could or could not define the level of security of the O/S, limited by editions of Windows, i.e. featureset being b/locked.
This wasn’t the first time that Microsoft lied or twisted excuses about ’security’ in order to be anti-competitive. Recall the OOXML/file types incident for example.
Speaking of which, OOXML is still a secret as Microsoft continues to disobey rules. Charles complaint about this only a couple of days ago and now he’s now joined by Bob Sutor, not just Rob Weir, among others.
Will it [OOXML] ever be available? Does anyone care? Do any rules apply to this at all? What are the excuses for this? Just like almost ever other aspect of this particular process, dangerous exceptions and precedents are being set.
To sum up, here we have another case study exemplifying total disregard, market abuse, distortion of stories and a strategic fight against Linux, which escapes the media’s attention. █
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Posted in Formats, Microsoft, Novell, Deception, Office Suites, Mono, OpenDocument, SUN, Java, Open XML, OpenOffice, ISO at 9:14 am by Roy Schestowitz
Could Vote Rigging Get Any More Obvious Than This?
Many shameless deniers — spearheaded primarily through disinformation, which is notably disseminated by Microsoft — are out there continuing to rewrite history, badly. Let it be reiterated that the OOXML saga was so abundantly filled with corruption that setting up a page summarising it all is nearly impossible. There are literally hundreds of separate scandals that come to mind. One interesting new find is this one.
Microsoft Puppet countries are leaving the P membership. Lebanon, Turkey, Cyprus, and Trinidad & Tobago have already dropped out. All those countries voted Yes without comments to OOXML.
Let’s clarify what we see here. Andy Updegrove was astounded (he even publicly complained) around August last year when several nations suddenly joined in to vote for ‘no apparent reason’ (it was obvious to a prudent observer that knows all about OOXML).
The countries stayed there not only for the September 2007 vote, but for the second one at the end of March 2008 too. Now that it’s all over, just a month after the announcement from ISO, suddenly they drop out again (”back to normal, business as usual”), having just accomplished their mission, so to speak. Assignment completed.
It’s mildly amusing actually because Microsoft’s puppet don’t even try hard enough to cover their tracks by lingering on and sticking around for a while longer. It’s very revealing. Don’t believe us? Ask the man who was in charge before being replaced by another Microsoft puppet. Here is what he said:
“This year WG1 have had another major development that has made it almost impossible to continue with our work within ISO. The influx of P members whose only interest is the fast-tracking of ECMA 376 as ISO 29500 has led to the failure of a number of key ballots. Though P members are required to vote, 50% of our current members, and some 66% of our new members, blatantly ignore this rule despite weekly email reminders and reminders on our website. As ISO require at least 50% of P members to vote before they start to count the votes we have had to reballot standards that should have been passed and completed their publication stages at Kyoto. This delay will mean that these standards will appear on the list of WG1 standards that have not been produced within the time limits set by ISO, despite our best efforts.
The disparity of rules for PAS, Fast-Track and ISO committee generated standards is fast making ISO a laughing stock in IT circles. The days of open standards development are fast disappearing. Instead we are getting “standardization by corporation”, something I have been fighting against for the 20 years I have served on ISO committees. I am glad to be retiring before the situation becomes impossible. I wish my colleagues every success for their future efforts, which I sincerely hope will not prove to be as wasted as I fear they could be.”
–Martin Bryan, ISO ‘Escapee’
Formerly Convenor, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 WG1
Speaking of ISO being hijacked, we mentioned this earlier today and it needn’t be doubted anymore. Many other strategic ‘forts’ got hijacked by Microsoft. Yes! Obey Microsoft or be bullied, even if you are a distinguished professor or a government official (probably several).
Another Clarification: OpenOffice.org Does Not Support OOXML
We stressed this before, but Microsoft and its apologists — even a few who are deceived inside the FOSS world unfortunately, trolls in this site included — continue to repeat the self-justifying nonsense. Let’s just say that again: OpenOffice.org does not support OOXML. Put more clearly:
Some others take a more pragmatical approach, but even that one is very much telling about the whole OOXML farce. In this category, we find the OpenOffice.org project. Despite what Microsoft will tell you, OpenOffice.org does not and will not provide OOXML « interoperability » . It will however provide an import filter that users will be able to use in order to import documents formatted in the format used by Microsoft Office 2007 and 2008 that bears the name of Microsoft Office Open XML(OOXML). What this means is that the OpenOffice.org project has to work directly on the files edited and created by MS Office 2007 and 2008 in order to provide compatibility and does not use the OOXML specification, as it is not implemented by MS Office 2007 and Microsoft Office 2008. So much for interoperability. The jury is still out, by the way, on the search for OOXML implementations. The ones that exist are either broken or else very limited (even the famous Novell plugin).
Once again you can hopefully see the role of an OOXML villain called Novell, which did a big favour to Microsoft in exchange for cash. Speaking of which, Mary Jo Foley disappointed yesterday with a headline suggesting that “Silverlight for Linux” is now available. There is no “Silverlight for Linux” and therefore it’s an inaccurate and deceiving headline that gives Web developers the wrong impression. Microsoft refused to support GNU/Linux, so instead it used Novell to make a clone that’s always behind and requires patent ‘protection’. It’s the perfect arrangement for Microsoft, which even Miguel de Icaza has denounced by now. Appended below are some new bits of information about Flash.
Why JavaFX (Maybe Flash) and Not Silverlight
Regarding Flash versus Silverlight, we have discussed this before.
In today’s news you might discover that Adobe was kind enough to finally treat GNU/Linux like a first-class citizen, at least as far as the Flash player goes (it made such promises back in 2006 but only in vain):
Once piece of welcome news is that Adobe is releasing the Flash Player 10 beta for all major platforms — Windows, Mac and Linux. Adobe has even upped the Linux ante with a new installer specially tailored for Ubuntu users. Barclay says that Adobe considers Linux a major platform and will continue to make all Flash releases simultaneous across platforms.
This is important because the Web is increasingly becoming a semi-replacement for some native applications. Here is a new article about this trend, with focus on Adobe AIR.
Twhirl is built on Adobe AIR, which has a lightweight client library that allows Web developers to use familiar tools and languages to build first-class desktop applications. Software created with AIR is fully interactive and network-enabled, with a rich UI. But unlike traditional Web applications, AIR apps gain the immediacy and user engagement that come from running outside the browser window.
Also recent is the following article which suggests that an open source Adobe Flash player might be inevitable: (colouring in red is ours)
Both Otte and Savoye do see some limited good coming out of the Open Screen Project. Otte suggests that the growing openness of Adobe might help to reduce the reservations in the free software community about working to reproduce proprietary technologies, as well as “the general ‘flash is evil’ attitude” that prevails in the community.”
Moreover, both Otte and Savoye see the announcement as a hopeful sign. “I think Adobe will open up Flash in the end, or at least the Flash player,” Otte says.
It refers to the following recent announcement:
Software maker Adobe announced Thursday that it would drop many of the licensing requirements attached to its Flash technology, which is used to display video and audio content on the web.
Let’s not forget that Adobe is now in the Linux Foundation, but there’s still work to be done.
I would hope that Zemlin will encourage Adobe to now treat Linux as a first class citizen as opposed to an afterthought for release after Windows.
I hope Zemlin will pressure Adobe to finally actually make Flash — not just the player — but Flash CS3 Professional, (the core Flash development tool) available for Linux as a fully commercially available and supported product. It is somewhat ironic in my opinion that Adobe can join the Linux Foundation, claim to support Linux and yet not offer its flagship Flash development tool on Linux.
Last but not least, as far as RIAs go, be aware that JavaFX is GPLv2-licensed. It’s probably the one to promote at the moment. █
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05.14.08
Posted in Microsoft, Office Suites, OpenDocument, Europe, Interoperability, Open XML, OpenOffice at 10:49 pm by Roy Schestowitz
To those who think that Microsoft’s OOXML scandals are over, looking a little further is recommended.
Microsoft Penalises ODF
There are several examples of situations where Microsoft not only promotes OOXML but also actively works against ODF [1, 2]. By its very nature in fact, OOXML is a case against ODF and it’s anti-competitive. But there’s more to it. Watch this analysis which seems to confirm that Microsoft makes ODF look bad, whether deliberately or not [1, 2].
Can someone explain to me why Microsoft Office needs almost 10 minutes to load an ODF file that OpenOffice can load in 14 seconds?
Microsoft Plays Politics Against ODF
You might still recall the maddening situation in France. Groklaw has a little update (translation) on it. The article is here and it’s in French. Part of Groklaw’s translation (from Sean Daly):
The article explains how the head of the DGME in charge of editing the RGI was sacked and replaced following that visit and this letter. Lemaire points out numerous errors and omissions in the document and points out in particular how Microsoft claims to have always been neutral:
“Microsoft, in the name of pluralism and technological neutrality of the State, has requested that OpenXML, open standard, rights-free and documented, in the sense of Article 4 of the LCEN, be recommended also alongside the standard called ODF. Microsoft has always presented a position which is balanced and neutral, asking that equal treatment be respected.”
Speaking of sacking & replacing, be sure to learn how ISO got sort of shuffled and other people met the wrath of Microsoft. Examples include:
Referring to the scandal from France, watch what a government delegate had to say.
Microsoft Won’t Inter-operare
BECTA’s complaint has already been mentioned in [1, 2], but here is another decent article covering this latest debacle, which generated a lot of press coverage.
ODF on the Rise
In this interview with Louis Suarez-Potts it turns out that ODF is doing pretty well indeed, despite all of the corruption we have been tracking for over a year. Microsoft not playing by the rules is bound to make OOXML look bad.
Q: How has the OOXML’s approval affected ODF’s penetration?
Louis : Zero.
[…]
Q: What do you see for the OOo and ODF community in the years to come?
Louis : Glory. I mean it. What is the future, I could ask, of Firefox? Will IE7 kill it? No. People appreciate freedom and what it brings, for it brings innovation and the possibility of it. And it brings, implicitly, community—by which I mean a coming together of interests that are not only generated by and dependent upon marketing agendas.
Call for Real Standards (Like ODF) in Europe
Several large European nations have already decided to ignore OOXML and more backlash ensued. Now comes openparliament.eu where you are encouraged to drop your signature if you live in Europe. It can be summarised thusly:
Citizens and stakeholder groups should not have to use the software of a single company in order to communicate with their elected officials or participate in the legislative process.
All companies should be given the chance to compete freely for contracts to supply ICT services to the European Parliament.
Under the shadow of imbalanced press it may be difficult to see the full picture, but ODF is doing pretty well. Declining sales of Microsoft Office, according to Microsoft’s latest quarterly report could — just could — be an indicator of this. As we last stressed yesterday, Microsoft is playing financial game. █
“Unregulated, and illegal, monopoly domination of IT technology that affects virtually every sector of society is a VERY BAD THING, and worth taking a stand in opposition.”
–Linux Today comment
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Posted in Microsoft, Novell, Office Suites, Europe, Antitrust, Interoperability, Open XML, OpenOffice at 1:11 am by Roy Schestowitz
We have been citing some output from Digistan recently and Andy Updegrove has just published a good introduction to it. Remember that Digistan does not favour patent-encumbered interoperability that Novell promotes; instead, it’s all about open standards.
That pronouncement has been titled The Hague Declaration by the new international group, called the Digital Standards Organization (”Digistan,” for short), that crafted it. In this blog entry, I’ll talk about what the Declaration is all about, and what it is intended to achieve.
As follow-up to news that we mentioned here yesterday [1, 2], also see the following couple of new articles:
1. Britain complains to EU about Microsoft file system
A British watchdog agency said Tuesday it had complained to European Union regulators that Microsoft Corp.’s new file format [OOXML] for storing documents discouraged competition.
2. Agency says Microsoft hurts student interests
A government agency has told the European Commission that Microsoft Office works poorly with rival software used in schools, hurting the interests of learners, teachers and parents.
Ignore an erroneous report (from IDG) which suggests the EU has declined to deal with this complaint. There is disinformation out there.
It was also IDG that recently measured the capabilities of OpenOffice 3 (beta) using OOXML as a yardstick. This got Neil McAllister added to “The List”. He usually publishes good articles, but that last one was abysmal. █
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05.13.08
Posted in Microsoft, Patents, Standard, Europe, Open XML, FOSS at 10:08 am by Roy Schestowitz
Digistan has just published an open letter signed by some high-level figures. It calls for people to adopt the right approach in the embrace of open standards. It’s worth a quick glance.
Industry has always depended on standards and traditional industries have built their standards as part of a slow, controlled, top-down approach to innovation. Industrial-age standards are often heavily patented, complex, and large. They can be expensive to implement and therefore are implementable only for large established firms.
Here too you have a person who is leaning towards the BSD, but nonetheless recognises the importance of patent-free standards. Pay careful attention to what is said about proprietary data and file formats such as OOXML.
Bodom: What is the your think about OGG Vorbis?
David: I have never used Vorbis myself (because I use WavPack), but I am happy to see support for it starting to appear on portables. It’s great to have a free and open alternative to the “big boys”.
Bodom: What is the your think about the Open Source?
David: I don’t have particularly strong feelings about open source. I think open source is great (I use Linux at home), but I think there is nothing inherently wrong with commercial software and I even have some ideas for software applications I might write and try to sell in the future. However, I do feel strongly about open standards. I think that proprietary data and file formats are inherently monopolistic and do not serve the public well, and I have been happy to see governments (like the state of Massachusetts) start to understand the importance of this and move to require that state business be done only with open standards.
Last but not least, here is an article that parses through BECTA’s public statement and turns it into an IDG piece which is titled quite sensibly:
Microsoft Faces Another Interoperability Complaint in Europe
[…]
As part of the first of those two investigations, the Commission said it will look at whether the Office Open XML document format used by Microsoft Office is sufficiently interoperable with competitors’ products. BECTA has now sent its complaint and evidence to support that investigation, it said.
Standards are a very important and essential stepping stone on the path to Free software adoption. That’s why Microsoft is faking standards, just as it attempts to hijack “open source” at the moment. █
“The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, DC just heard arguments in the Bilski case, where the appellant (Bilski) is arguing that a completely mental process should get a patent. The fact that this was even entertained demonstrates why the patent system has truly descended into new levels of madness. At least the PTO rejected the application; the problem is that the PTO now allows business method patents and software patents. Once they allowed them, there’s no rational way to say “stop! That’s rediculous!” without being arbitrary.”
–Bilski: Information is physical!?
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« Previous entries ·
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.