Microsoft

Does software piracy lead to monopoly?

In a piece reminiscent of Tim O'Reilly's excellent "Piracy Is Progressive Taxation," Dagens Politik has written a provocative article arguing that "the actions of the pirates have merged with the interest of Microsoft to create a near monopoly in the operating systems market for the PC."

In other words, no piracy, no Microsoft monopoly.

The author suggests that piracy does the industry more harm (in sustaining Microsoft's monopoly) than it does to Microsoft (in any number of millions or billions of profits lost):… Read more

This week in mind-reading

You've been thinking, "Hey, where are all the updates on mind-reading devices?" All the appropriate scientists already knew this, so they decided to give you what you want today.

Here's this week's mind-readers' digest.

Microsoft applies for mind-reading patent: According to this New Scientist blog post, Microsoft applied for a patent in August that would help the company figure out what people really think about its products. The technology in the patent application, titled "Using electroencephalograph signals for task classification and activity recognition," would read a user's brain states while testing Microsoft'… Read more

Supreme Court dumps Microsoft, Best Buy appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to take on a case that accuses Microsoft and Best Buy of deliberately tricking customers into signing up for MSN Internet service and improperly charging them when a trial period expires.

Microsoft and Best Buy had asked the high court to review the matter after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals opted in May to let a class action suit against the companies proceed. The Supreme Court's decision not to review the case, which arrived without comment, means the class action can theoretically move forward.

The case began in 2003, when … Read more

Apple's looming challenge: customers

The problem with success is that it breeds customers, if you're a vendor. With customers come questions and concerns. Invariably, having lots of customers, including non-techie customers, means that the polish on a company can be smudged.

Such may be Apple's fate as it grows at a torrid pace, adding a range of Microsoft customers that bring with them lowest-common denominator questions and technical support issues.

By broadening its share of the computer market and diving into whole new businesses, the company has become a case study in the challenges of taking a cherished brand with a devoted (some would say cult) following into the mainstream. "The customer base is now more diverse, including students and mainstream consumers, and it's harder to satisfy as a whole," says Lopo L. Rego, a marketing professor at the University of Iowa who studies the impact of customer satisfaction on financial performance.… Read more

Linux server sales up at Dell

Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, has gone on the record as saying server-side Linux is growing faster than Windows at the computer behemoth.

On the server side Linux continues to grow nicely, a bit faster than Windows. We're seeing a move to Linux in critical applications, and Linux migration has not slowed down.

Dell also noted that for all Microsoft's bluster about Linux patent violations, Microsoft hasn't given Dell a call to talk through legal liability (or anything else related to its IP) for shipping Linux servers and desktops. Given the buddy-buddy relationship between the two, one … Read more

OpenOffice's apparent mission creep

Apparently, OpenOffice 3.0 is intent on picking a fight with Microsoft Outlook. Bonne chance, mes amis. I don't mean to imply that it can't be done, but am rather suggesting that this is not the right way to go about it. Zimbra, sure. Or Mozilla's Thunderbird (standalone), sure. But bundled into OpenOffice? I'm not seeing it.

This arises from a presentation delivered earlier this year at the OpenOffice conference:

One thing that really caught my attention was (a) reference to including a Personal Information Manager (PIM) (in OpenOffice). More specifically the presentation mentions bundling Thunderbird with their Office Suite, and refers to it as an "Outlook replacement."

Bundling a runner-up PIM/e-mail suite with a runner-up Office replacement? Not likely. Disruption is the way to go, and the combination is not disruptive.… Read more

Apache's lead over Microsoft's IIS goes poof

Technology writer Glyn Moody notes that open-source software developer Apache's lead in Web servers over Microsoft's Internet Information Services (IIS) is at its skinniest ever: 10 percent.

Apache continues to gain (1 million sites last month). But Microsoft's IIS is also growing--and at a faster clip (3 million sites last month). As Glyn suggests, it may not matter: Apache's job may well be done in proving the viability of open-source projects and paving the way for many more.

I doubt, regardless, whether Microsoft is resting on its laurels. If you click through to the Netcraft page, … Read more

IE7 is missing and a sad tale of tech support

Internet Explorer 7 was missing on a brand new Dell Latitude D630 running Windows XP SP2. I tried to find out why, which resulted in the saga below. Consider this a tip for anyone purchasing a new XP based computer and a heads up on how Microsoft and Dell treat their customers.

The machine arrived a few days ago, and one of the first things I dutifully did was run Windows Update from Internet Explorer (Tools -> Windows Update). I was surprised to find the machine came with Internet Explorer 6 considering that IE7 has been available for a … Read more

Those who can compete, do. Those who can't, sue

It's an old adage, originally applied to the teaching profession ("those who can't, teach"), but it's probably more appropriate to the software world. I'm a wee bit tired by patent FUD and other substitutes for real competition from Microsoft. Microsoft has built a great business on comparatively good products. Yet in its old age, it seems incapable of competing on customer value and instead keeps fetishing its patent portfolio, as if anyone but its lawyers care about those.

If Microsoft wants to compete in the 21st Century, it's going to have to build 21st Century value. Patents and copyright don't provide that value. They hardly even demonstrate it.… Read more