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Microsoft to limit capabilities of cheap laptops
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| Microsoft plans to offer PC makers steep discounts on Windows XP Home Edition
| to encourage them to use that OS instead of Linux on ultra low-cost PCs
| (ULPCs). To be eligible, however, the PC vendors that make ULPCs must limit
| screen sizes to 10.2 inches and hard drives to 80G bytes, and they cannot
| offer touch-screen PCs.
|
| The program is outlined in confidential documents that Microsoft sent to PC
| makers last month, and which were obtained by IDG News Service. The goal
| apparently is to limit the hardware capabilities of ULPCs so that they don't
| eat into the market for mainstream PCs running Windows Vista, something both
| Microsoft and the PC vendors would want to avoid.
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft notes that the OSes under consideration for the devices include
| Windows and Linux. Some PC makers have expressed a preference for Linux
| because it helps them keep down the cost of the devices.
|
| [...]
|
| By offering Windows XP Home Edition at bargain prices, Microsoft hopes to
| secure its place in the ULPC market and reduce the use of Linux, according to
| an official at one PC maker, who asked not to be identified because he was
| not authorized to discuss the program.
|
| "[Low-cost PC makers] have made some good inroads with open-source, and
| Microsoft wants to put a stop to it," the official said.
|
| The official did not seem opposed to the program. It should stimulate more
| competition between Windows and Linux in the ULPC market, and it could
| invigorate sales because consumers who want an easy-to-use PC are likely to
| prefer Windows, the official said.
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http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=D04AB1F8-17A4-0F78-310F5F4479DEEE86
Microsoft U-turn to stop Linux dominating ultra low cost PCs
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| By offering Windows XP Home Edition at bargain prices, Microsoft hopes to
| secure its place in the ULPC market and reduce the use of Linux, according to
| an official at one PC maker, who asked not to be identified because he was
| not authorised to discuss the programme.
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/technology/hardware/laptops/news/index.cfm?newsid=9006
Price-fixing, collusion, anti-competitive practices. Yep. That's Microsoft.
Recent:
Microsoft selling hobbled software to poor countries
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| Surprisingly, no-one seems to have told Microsoft that it is not good
| marketing strategy to treat your customers as if they are stupid. Which
| is exactly what the company is doing with the release in Africa of the
| stripped-down operating system it calls Windows XP Starter Edition.
|
| Microsoft South Africa launched Windows XP Starter Edition (XPSE) into
| the African market last week with very little fanfare and market hype.
|
| Which is not surprising considering how the product was received by other
| media on its intial launch in 2004. Known for its straight talking, The
| Register labelled XPSE "crippleware". Analysts Gartner said the product
| had "good intent, poor execution".
`----
http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?src=rss&id=983
The Problem with Crippleware
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| What Microsoft wants is that the third party products, whether written
| by hobbyists or professionals, serve Microsoft's business model, not
| their own.
|
| Microsoft has always had great developer programs, and even at the CEO
| level, they get why developers matter. (Can you imagine any CEO other
| than Steve Ballmer doing his famous sweat-soaked "Developers, developers,
| developers" chant? If you can, I apologize for the visual.) But I
| think increasingly, Microsoft is running into the limits of its own
| model. It's seeking grassroots support to compete against the growing
| momentum in open source, and it's at a disadvantage.
`----
http://weblog.infoworld.com/openresource/archives/2007/07/the_problem_wit_3.html
Microsoft patent hints at pay-as-you-go OS
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| A Microsoft patent application from June 2005, published only today,
| titled "System and method for delivery of a modular operating system"
| may signal a fundamental change for what an operating systems stands
| for and how it is sold.
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http://www.istartedsomething.com.nyud.net:8080/20061215/pay-as-you-go-os-patent/
Ninth Circuit declines to hear Microsoft appeal in 'Vista Capable' suit
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| That's the early word from lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the suit.
| Remember, Microsoft was seeking to appeal the judge's class certification in
| the suit. With the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declining to take up the
| case, it should proceed in U.S. District Court.
`----
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/techtracks/2008/04/ninth_circuit_declines_to_hear_microsoft_appeal_in.html
Vista Capable plaintiffs subpoena PC titans
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| Other notable names on the list include Intel and former Windows chief Jim
| Allchin.
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http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/135018.asp
Microsoft tries to stop more ‘Vista-capable’ e-mails from going public
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| Microsoft is trying to put the kibosh on more of its internal (and
| embarassing) e-mail messages around its Vista marketing plans going public.
|
| [...]
|
| With every version of Windows, Microsoft has worked with hardware partners to
| find new ways to try to convince users they need more and more powerful
| machines to take advantage of more feature-rich software. If Microsoft and
| its partners were/are successful, it means more money in the PC makers’ and
| Microsoft’s coffers. With Vista, this pact really back-fired, as the already
| published e-mails around Vista-capable — and more, as-yet-unpublicized
| messages — will make evident.
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http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1254
Microsoft challenges 'Vista Capable' class action
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| If granted, the motion would also postpone any new disclosures of potentially
| embarrassing company e-mails.
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http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9067400
They Criticized Vista. And They Should Know.
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| Act 1: In 2005, Microsoft plans to say that only PCs that are properly
| equipped to handle the heavy graphics demands of Vista are “Vista Ready.”
|
| Act 2: In early 2006, Microsoft decides to drop the graphics-related hardware
| requirement in order to avoid hurting Windows XP sales on low-end machines
| while Vista is readied. (A customer could reasonably conclude that Microsoft
| is saying, Buy Now, Upgrade Later.) A semantic adjustment is made: Instead of
| saying that a PC is “Vista Ready,” which might convey the idea that, well, it
| is ready to run Vista, a PC will be described as “Vista Capable,” which
| supposedly signals that no promises are made about which version of Vista
| will actually work.
|
| The decision to drop the original hardware requirements is accompanied by
| considerable internal protest. The minimum hardware configuration was set so
| low that “even a piece of junk will qualify,” Anantha Kancherla, a Microsoft
| program manager, said in an internal e-mail message among those recently
| unsealed, adding, “It will be a complete tragedy if we allowed it.”
|
| Act 3: In 2007, Vista is released in multiple versions, including “Home
| Basic,” which lacks Vista’s distinctive graphics. This placed Microsoft’s
| partners in an embarrassing position. Dell, which gave Microsoft a postmortem
| report that was also included among court documents, dryly
| remarked: “Customers did not understand what ‘Capable’ meant and expected
| more than could/would be delivered.”
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business/09digi.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin
Microsoft knew of Vista shortcoming prior to release
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsoft-knew-vista-shortcoming-prior/story.aspx?guid=%7B75BE59C7%2DEFA1%2D48B5%2DB4A4%2D90F5E01A52A0%7D&siteid=yhoof
Microsoft dropped Vista hardware spec to raise Intel profits
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/03/01/microsoft_intel_vista_capable_emails/
Microsoft 'Caves' To Intel
http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/28/microsoft-vista-intel-tech-ebiz-cx_wt_0228vista.html?partner=yahootix
Has Vista lost all credibility?
http://apcmag.com/8344/has_vista_lost_all_credibility
E-mail: Microsoft 'botched' dealings with Intel, HP
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| Internal Microsoft e-mails revealed through a federal class-action lawsuit
| arising from the troubled launch last year of the Windows Vista operating
| system have provided a provocative inside look at the software giant's
| machinations with Intel, HP and Dell.
|
| The e-mails include an exchange in which one senior Microsoft executive
| described dealings with computer makers as "really botched." Another manager
| complained Microsoft was "caving to Intel" and "really burning HP."
|
| The e-mails are included in 145 pages of documents unsealed by U.S. District
| Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle late Wednesday. They include internal
| reports and some handwritten notes that offer a rare look inside at the
| famed "Wintel" partnership, and touch upon the alliance's dealings with
| Hewlett-Packard, Dell and other computer makers.
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http://origin.mercurynews.com/businessheadlines/ci_8417811?nclick_check=1
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