The Linux Preformance Advantage
,----[ Quote ]
| What all this means is that Windows is becoming more and more resource
| reliant while Linux essentially maintains its requirements. Microsoft is
| already seeing the effects of their sloppiness in bad reviews of Vista and
| having to extend XP’s life, but unless they change soon, they will see it
| even more, and pay for it too.
`----
http://www.linuxloop.com/news/2008/04/10/the-linux-preformance-advantage/
Microsoft Memos Reveal 'Vista Capable' Concerns
,----[ Quote ]
| The company hasn't admitted that Vista won't work on such machines, but its
| ULCPC hardware specifications included a minimum system memory of 256MB, not
| enough for any version of Vista. The newer operating system also needs
| considerably more disk space than the 1.1GB cited by Microsoft for Windows XP
| in its ULCPC guidelines.
|
| Two years ago, Daugherty seemed to be sounding an alarm, albeit a muted one,
| in his last message included with the unsealed e-mails. In a message dated
| March 1, 2006, he urged more investigation of the move toward low-priced
| portables and how it would affect Vista.
|
| "My point is about the explosion in cheap laptops," he wrote. "Not sure
| how/why they are being purchased w/ respect to our premium sku aspirations.
| Guess I'd argue it's a new phenom that we should dig into."
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/144428/microsoft_memos_reveal_vista_capable_concerns.html
http://tinyurl.com/54vg62
Too Late to Fix Windows, says Microsoft-Watch...
Broken Windows Can't Be Fixed
,----[ Quote ]
| I concur that Windows is broken, but I don't agree that it's fixable.
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft could have maintained a happy, commodity-driven sales situation, if
| not for the Web 2.0 platform's success and Windows Vista's failure.
|
| [...]
|
| Windows is now in an inevitable state of decline that can only accelerate as
| people use more powerful, smaller devices. Web 2.0 is ideally suited to
| lower-powered, highly-functional mini-laptops and smart phones. Vista is not.
| When I say, "inevitable state of decline," I don't mean immediate. Windows
| will have a place as a /commodity/ operating system for many years yet. But
| real computing and informational relevance has shifted to the device, server,
| IP network and anytime, anywhere access on anything.
`----
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/operating_systems/broken_windows_cant_be_fixed.html
Recent:
Euro MP calls for Microsoft ban
,----[ Quote ]
| No purchases until Redmond plays ball
`----
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2214126/euro-mp-calls-microsoft-ban
EU: Europarlement testing Ubuntu, OpenOffice and Firefox
,----[ Quote ]
| The European Parliament's IT department is testing the use of GNU/Linux
| distribution Ubuntu, OpenOffice, Firefox and other Open Source applications,
| the British MEP James Nicholson explained last week in a letter to Italian
| MEP Marco Cappato.
`----
http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/7565
Is Microsoft Now Banned from EU Contracts?
http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=697&blogid=14
Euro MP thinks Microsoft should be banned from government contracts
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/10/member-eu-parliament-asks
Green MEP says Microsoft should be excluded from EU contract awarding procedure
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/106338/from/rss09
Recent:
EC probes OOXML standards-setting process
,----[ Quote ]
| A spokesman for the European Commissioner for Competition, Neelie Kroes, told
| The Register that regulators were continuing to scrutinise interoperability
| issues related to Microsoft’s products following complaints from the
| Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) group.
|
| As part of that process, the EC formally contacted a number of national
| standards bodies, including the Norwegian Standards Institute (NSI),
| requesting more details about possible irregularities in the OOXML
| standardisation process.
|
| [...]
|
| “It must be stressed that it is not the Commission's intention to influence
| the outcome of this process, but the Commission considers it essential to
| ensure that European competition law is not violated in the course of the
| standard setting process,” he said in an email to El Reg.
|
| In January the EC began formal anti-trust probes against Microsoft in two
| cases where it was alleged that the multinational firm had abused its strong
| market position. As part of the investigation into the first case, the
| Commission said that it would scrutinise OOXML on the grounds that the
| specification doesn't work with those of competitors.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/04/ooxml_ec_investigation_iso/
Related:
EU Commission Investigating Microsoft's MSOOXML Push
,----[ Quote ]
| I hope they think to investigate the smear campaigns that seem to always
| happen to anyone on the other side from Microsoft. What happened to Peter
| Quinn was by no means unique.
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080208151410252
Corrupt countries were more likely to support the OOXML document format
,----[ Quote ]
| Is this just a random coincidence? The median of the CPI index of the above
| mentioned 70 countries is 3.95. Of the most corrupted half (CPI index less
| than 3.95) 23 or 77% voted for approval (approval or approval with comments)
| and 7 or 23% for disapproval; 5 abstained. Of the least corrupted half (CPI
| index more than 3.95) 13 or 54% voted for approval and 11 or 46% voted for
| disapproval; 11 abstained - see the table below.
`----
http://www.effi.org/blog/kai-2007-09-05.en.html
|
|
