__/ [ Rex Ballard ] on Monday 27 February 2006 14:28 \__
> Microsoft is looking for ways to stem the growth of Linux and still
> maintain as much revenue stream from Vista as possible.
>
> The cost of maintaining 5 different versions of Vista by a single
> corporation/organization would be very expensive, so it's
> understandable that Microsoft would want to release only one binary.
I am not entirely sure that *cost* is the motive for subdivision. I presume
that cost may be a separate factor altogether, which is why the BBC still
chooses to mention just 6 editions.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4754462.stm (published hours ago)
Microsoft are *not* adopting the Linux abnormal and ego-attributed
fragmentation. Microsoft, in their defence, distribute Windows Vista in a
rather additive form. It slaps them on the rear though as it makes Vista
more confusing to the buyer and potentially more expensive too. Developers
(software, Web, etc.) will no longer be able to target an individual Windows
user with confidence as to tools available at hand. Forking is /always/ a
bad idea if its avoidance is a possibility.
> They want to keep countries like PRC, India, Malaysia, and Brazil -
> which comprise a potential market of nearly 4 billion people - from
> going to Linux - since this could lead to Linux becoming the market
> leader in the global markets - how long before Western markets follow
> suit?
4 billion? I must refute. It would take *many* years (decades?) before
farmers in third-world countries have use for a computer. That said, The
national economy will be unable to afford it.
Given that China and India aggregates stand at about 2 billion (including the
extremities, both young and the old), 4 billion is an over-inflation.
> They want to have something inexpensive that can be used by students,
> teachers, and non-profit organisations - but have ways of preventing
> functions needed by businesses.
I bet that Origami is intended to compete with the $100 laptop, either
directly or indirectly. Others speculate that it was targetted at the iPod
audience/addicts. Microsoft have wanted an iPod killer for quite some time.
It ruins their media sales potential and gives Apple room to manoeuver. Many
employees in the Redmond campus are using iPods themselves, which is bad
reflection on self.
I also suspect that this mysterious little gadget (to be announced and
unveiled officially within 1-2 weeks) may be that "mobile phone to the
poor", which Bill Gates mentioned a month back. *giggle*
They will need to seriously re-model the Origami though, if they ever want to
compete with the $100 laptop or Open Source-based 3G phones, mobile devices
(PDA's) and tablets like the Nokia 770.
> They want a "Home" version which they can provide to the OEMs, those
> wanting to upgrade to the "Professional" edition will need to pay an
> extra fee.
What if I work at home? Is that Business or Home? What should I pull off the
shelf? What should I urge my 80-year-old grandpa to pick? Windows Vista? If
so, which one? That's almost as bad as having 8 cars in the garage; one for
each occasion.
> They want an "Enterprise" edition which can be bulk licensed for
> corporations under a support contract. Most of these are installed and
> configured over a secured corporate network or VPN and the Activation
> keys are not publicly disclosed.
>
> They may also want to release a "VM Edition" which will be stripped
> down to the functions required to run under VirtualPC, VMware, and Xen.
> This version would not need as many bells and whistles and wouldn't
> need to support every imaginable combination of hardware. This could
> be downloaded via the Web and installed using the activation key pasted
> onto the laptop or desktop chassis.
'Round lunchtime I pondered about the ability of Microsoft to fight piracy in
this way. They could finally begin to pull back installation CD's, which are
passed from hand to hand. As opposed to 2001, people nowadays have fast
connections, especially in developed countries. Many people have downloaded
their Service Packs over the Net as a matter of fact. What if Microsoft had
customers install Office by paying the bill and downloading the file -- or
even better -- having it directly injected and glued onto the system so that
it cannot (trivially) be 'passed on'.
Remember the golden rule: the day when Microsoft piracy ends is the day
people will begin to digest and comprehend the true costs of commercial
software (I never ever paid for software myself). That will immediately
drive people away, to FOSS (what else?). In a sense, when you come to think
of it, outside the enterprise (and often inside it too, especially in the
East) piracy /serves/ commercial vendors. It makes lock-ins and
dependencies-hungry systems more prevalent.
> They might also want to release a "Libarary" addition - a license
> similar to that offered by Crossover and Win4Lin - which provides
> Windows APIs and full libraries that can call WINE library functions.
> Essentially this would be "Vista for Linux" or about as close as you
> can come to "Microsoft Linux".
It obviates the need to ever use Windows though, let alone continue to
develop for it. It's a bye bye to that operating system, but Microsoft are
not stupid enough (let us show some repsect) to make yet another mistake.
They are entangled for so many reasons at the moment, but that's a subject
for a separate thread.
Best wishes,
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | Vista: Windows XP with bling-bling, nothing else
http://Schestowitz.com | SuSE Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
3:30pm up 11:41, 10 users, load average: 0.34, 0.15, 0.20
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