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Re: [News] Why Microsoft Fears Linux


amicus_curious wrote:
High Plains Thumper wrote:

http://blogs.computerworld.com/why_microsoft_fears_linux

Preston Gralla
Seeing Through Windows
November 6, 2008 - 4:39 P.M.
Why Microsoft fears Linux

[quote] What I didn't write about in detail, though, was why
Microsoft felt it was so important to make Windows 7 lean in
the first place: The skyrocketing growth of Linux on
netbooks.

An article by Bloomberg does a great job of digging up
statistics about Linux versus Windows on netbook, and it's
sobering for Microsoft. It finds that:

Acer Inc. and Asustek Computer Inc., which together account
for 90 percent of the netbook market, are using the rival
Linux software on about 30 percent of their low-cost
notebooks.

More disturbing still, the article says, is that

Netbooks will account for about a third of PC growth this
year, according to Citigroup Inc. Shipments will climb at an
annual average growth rate of 60 percent and reach 29
million units in 2010, compared with 18 percent growth for
standard notebooks, according to a September BNP Paribas SA
report.

Microsoft isn't just worried about ceding 30 percent of the
netbook market to Linux. It's also worried that if people
get used to Linux on netbooks, they'll consider buying Linux
on desktop PCs. Here's what Dickie Chang, an analyst at
research firm IDC in Taipei, told Bloomberg about that:

It's a real threat to Microsoft. It gives users a chance to
see and try something new, showing them there is an
alternative.

It's clear, then, that Microsoft sees Linux on netbooks not
just as a niche market, but as a threat to Microsoft's
desktop share as well.

That's why when Windows 7 is released, Microsoft will spend
substantial amounts of marketing muscle pushing Windows 7 on
netbooks. Expect it to go well beyond mere advertising.
Expect price cuts and rebates for Windows 7 netbooks,
special hardware on them, and more. [/quote]

Also expect increased anti-Linux FUD being spread in this
newsgroup as well as all other Linux channels.  AFAIK, it
has been traditional upon the eve of a new Microsoft product
on the horizon.
Tut.  You cite a no-name blogger who apparently cannot find a
real job who is citing a third hand account uttered by a
low-level functionary in Asia. From that he comes to a sage
conclusion about the US markets and suggests that this is
causing the largest software supplier for PCs in the world to
drastically alter their go to market strategy?  Please.
This is an example of an ad hominem attack, attacking the writer
rather than addressing the points brought up with the writer.

Linux has always been considered a threat to the Microsoft
Corporation:

http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=12800942

or http://tinyurl.com/3uhbpt

[quote]
Linux Ranks No. 2 On Microsoft Risk List

The open-source operating system trailed only the economic
environment in the biggest risks outlined by CFO John Connors.

By Gregg Keizer, TechWeb News
InformationWeek
July 18, 2003 03:00 PM

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is taking the Linux threat seriously. So
seriously, in fact, that open-source software comes in at the No.
2 spot on the company's top five list of risks.

In a teleconference to go over the Redmond, Wash.-based
developer's fourth quarter and fiscal 2003 results on Thursday,
CFO John Connors detailed the five biggest risks to his company's
business.

"The general economic environment is risk and driver No. 1," he
said. "Linux and non-commercial software is risk No. 2." [...]

Microsoft has been making noise this year about how serious it
takes the threat from open-source software. Microsoft chairman
Bill Gates said in February that he took Linux and its threat to
his company seriously, saying the operating system is "out there
and very pervasive." And in June, CEO Steve Ballmer identified
open-source products a major competitive threat in an E-mail sent
to all Microsoft employees.

More recently, the company has been stepping up its efforts to
convince potential European clients that they should steer away
from Linux and towards its products. But even though Ballmer
intervened in the attempt to win over the city of Munich, Linux
won out.

"When you see these big losses escalating as high as Ballmer,"
Cherry said, "you know that Linux has caught their attention."
[quote]

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-22_11-5232985.html

Microsoft: Linux threat is rising
Jun 14, 2004 1:34:00 PM
By Graeme Wearden
CNET News.com

[quote]
More companies are using the threat of Linux when negotiating
deals with Microsoft, one of the company's senior executives has
admitted.

A year after a letter from Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer to his
employees acknowledged the Linux threat looming on the horizon,
Microsoft remains adamant that open-source software isn't a
serious competitor on the desktop today. However, it may well be
forcing Microsoft's prices down.

"It's definitely more of a threat than it was," said Nick Barley,
director of marketing at Microsoft, when asked whether more
businesses are telling Microsoft that they're planning to migrate
to Linux rather than to one of its own operating systems or
applications in the hope of getting a better deal. [...]

McGrath also cited a series of recent customer wins, including
the London borough of Newham's decision to go with Microsoft
rather than open-source options. McGrath claimed that Newham can
look forward to potentially twice the productivity-associated
cost savings than if they had gone down the open-source road.

Those familiar with the Newham case, though, say it is actually a
prime example of Microsoft cutting its prices when facing the
threat of Linux.
[/quote]

Problem is the Wintrolls herein see it in American eyes, not in
the language or settings of another culture.

http://www.ameinfo.com/46391.html

Is Linux a threat to Microsoft?
In the Middle East, the answer depends upon who gets asked the
question. But many are now asking such questions about Linux.
United Arab Emirates: Saturday, October 02 - 2004 at 13:57

In his wildest dreams, Microsoft founder Bill Gates could not
have foreseen that the greatest challenge to his software empire
would come from a friendly looking penguin named Tux, the mascot
for the open-source operating system Linux.

Named after its originator, Linus Torvalds, Linux is the standard
bearer of the open-source software movement. In brief, this means
that the code for the operating system - which acts as the layer
between the hardware of a computer such as a PC and the
applications such as word processing - is not owned by any
corporation, but rather belongs to the worldwide community of
developers.

This provides tremendous energy and flexibility but does raise
issues of support and required in-house technical skills, which
have delayed a widespread adoption of Linux. Not any more Ð Linux
is now mainstream.  [...]  At present, there are dozens of
ongoing projects for porting Linux to various hardware
configurations and purposes.
[quote]

Ah, but Linux is profitable:

[quote]
As for HP, its Linux-based revenue for the 2003 fiscal year was
over $2.5 billion. Following an earlier, similar conversion to
the wonders of Java, the big boys see Linux as a key weapon in an
ongoing battle for the heart and soul of the IT industry between
Microsoft and other key players.
[/quote]

.... and the remarkable stability of Linux:

[quote]
Linux is inherently a more stable and secure platform than
Windows. This is partly because the viruses do not run on Linux,
thus security is more robust. Enigmatis recently installed a
Windows server that was riddled with viruses and worms within a week.

In sharp contrast, he adds, our Linux server has sat there for
over a year without a problem.
[/quote]

Ah, then there is the TCO FUD report. It is interesting to note that Forrester no longer does this type of market research:
[quote]
These are areas in which Microsoft can, and has, taken the fight
back to the Linux camp. One argument that has left many potential
users confused is the issue of total cost of ownership.

Yes, says Microsoft, Linux may be free, but when you factor in
other costs such as necessary staff training, rewriting software
and so on, then Windows is a better alternative. There is some
truth to this, but Microsoft's case was badly hurt by an
independent TCO report by leading analysts Forrester that was, it
later turned out, funded by the software giant. (Worth noting:
Forrester has also now withdrawn from future commercial research
of this kind.)
[/quote]

Mid-East is heavier into Linux than the Wintrolls would like to
admit:

[quote]
Sun shines on Linux

However, not all vendors agree with the cost issue. Mehmet
Iyimen, managing director of Sun Microsystems MENA, claims that
Linux is proving itself to be a key low-cost computing platform
for Middle East enterprises.

Regional customers are using Linux to manage IT infrastructures
by matching the right platform to the right task while managing
complexity, reducing cost and keeping an open standards focus.
Microsoft is also working hard on the security issues that have
been bedeviling it; although, to be fair, if users were more
scrupulous about applying security patches and system updates,
then the problems would not be so great.

According to Torvalds, Microsoft is not in trouble. I think they
are struggling to deal with Linux partly because Linux is
undermining them the same way they undercut their competition. If
you look at DOS, or maybe compilers, one thing that happened with
Microsoft was that these upstarts came out and had cheaper compilers.

DOS was also cheap and it undercut the competition, he points
out. They never had a competitor like themselves. Then along
comes somebody who undercuts them and they start acting exactly
how all of their competitors acted.
[/quote]

Ah, the clincher, Microsoft is an American company. (Not only the Arabs, but the EU wants to establish its software industries.) The Arabs want independence from Microsoft.
However, specifically in this region, Microsoft faces a major
challenge: it is an American company. It can make Arabic a
tier-one language for new software releases, but it can't
disguise its origins. That's a problem when there is a general
upswing of anti-American feeling in this part of the world; fatal
in countries where the US government has sanctions in place.

Want legitimate and supported Microsoft software in territories
like Syria, Libya and other non- players of the US game? Good
luck. Growth forecasts. That's why homegrown support services,
based on Linux user groups are mushrooming across the region.

That's why new Linux training and implementation vendors are
forecasting a good year ahead. That's why homegrown Arabization
initiatives - both in IBM's Cairo laboratory and at Riyadh's King
Abdul Aziz University for Science and Technology Ð are blossoming.

And that's why, most importantly, a whole region-wide community
of Linux developers is spreading across the Middle East, able to
use the openness of the operating system to adapt to local
demands and to help roll out lower-cost solutions to enterprises
and governments who have traditionally used the Unix operating
system.

Across the region, enterprises of all sizes and in all market
sectors are adopting Linux. The Al Ghurair Group in the UAE is
running Oracle applications, as is the Habib AG Zurich Bank,
Dubai, which is running core-banking applications with Linux.

Other regional Linux users are the Bahraini government, Saudi
Aramco and Emirates Industrial Gases, to name just a few big
players making the switch from Microsoft. According to Samer
Karawi, HP Middle East's marketing manager, Enterprise Systems
Group, Linux will take Unix's market share. Adds Hatem Al-Sibai,
group IT manager for the Al Ghurair Group, Our decision to
migrate from Windows to Linux was driven by the need to achieve
higher uptime for our business while improving information
security and reducing cost of ownership.
[/quote]

Even so, what do you suppose will happen to the netbook market
when a targeted version of Windows 7 is actually available for
it?  And what if it were predatorially priced to meet any
perceived challenge from Linux?  Right now, with no such
product, the best claim that anyone can make is that Linux is
ekeing out 30% of the business and even that is suspect.  A
cursory glance at Amazon shows that 8 out of the top 10 selling notebooks there use XP and that includes the top 6
models.  The return rate on Linux netbooks from people
disillusioned with their purchases have been significantly
high compared to returns of XP models as well.

The intial use of Linux on these machines seems to be a flash
in the pan that the market is quickly moving to set right.
Ah, so people are so disillusioned that 4 years after the above 
observations were made, Linux is gaining greater presence even in 
the US market?  Look again:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?Sort=3D=
4&Nav=3D|c:2814|&Recs=3D30

PC's configured with Linux:

[quote]
1. Everex CloudBook CE1200V Refurbished Netbook - VIA C7-M ULV
1.2GHz, 802.11b/g Wireless, 512MB DDR2, 30GB HDD, 7" WVGA,
Integrated Webcam, gOS V2
Item #: E80-7001 RB
Sporting a 7-inch WVGA display, this light as a cloud computer
weighs a scant 2 pounds, and offers as much as 5 hours of battery
life.
$289.99

2. Sylvania G Netbook - VIA C7-M ULV Processor 1.2GHz, 802.11b/g
Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 30GB HDD, 7" WVGA, Integrated Webcam, Linux
Based gOS Operating System
Item #: D516-7001
At just under two pounds, the netbook by Sylvania brings you
ultra light portability and wireless Internet connectivity built
right in.
$299.96

3. Acer Aspire One AOA110-1295 Netbook - Intel Atom=99 Processor
N270 1.60GHz, 802.11b/g Wireless, 512MB DDR2, 8GB SSD, 8.9"
WSVGA, Integrated Webcam, Linpus Linux Lite
Item #: A180-8001
Empower yourself with the incredibly light yet remarkably
productive Acer Aspire One =96 the new thin & light notebook that
weighs only 2.19 pounds.
$349.96

4. Acer Aspire One AOA110-1295 Netbook - Intel Atom=99 Processor
N270 1.60GHz, 802.11b/g Wireless, 512MB DDR2, 8GB SSD, 8.9"
WSVGA, Integrated Webcam, Linpus Linux Lite
Item #: S445-8001
Empower yourself with the incredibly light yet remarkably
productive Acer Aspire One =96 the new thin & light netbook that
weighs only 2.19 pounds.
$349.99

7. Asus Eee PC 4G Netbook - Intel Mobile CPU, 802.11b/g Wireless,
512MB DDR2, 4GB SSD, 7" WVGA, Webcam, Linux, Pearl White
Item #: A455-7212
The new Asus Eee PC 4G brings portable computing to the next
level. At 7-inches and weighing only 2 pounds, you can take the
Eee PC anywhere.
$369.99

9. Acer Aspire One AOA110-1626 Netbook - Intel Atom=99 Processor
N270 1.60GHz, 802.11b/g Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 16GB SSD, 8.9" WSVGA,
Integrated Webcam, Linpus Linux Lite (Onyx Black)
Item #: A180-8002
Empower yourself with the incredibly light yet remarkably
productive Acer Aspire One =96 the new thin & light netbook that
weighs only 2.19 pounds.
$369.99

10. Sylvania G Netbook Meso - Intel Atom Processor 1.60GHz,
802.11b/g Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 80GB HDD, 8.9" WSVGA, Integrated
Webcam, Ubuntu Netbook Remix (Onyx)
Item #: D516-7003
Free yourself from clumsy electronics and enjoy uncompromising
mobility with the g netbook.
$379.99

11. Sylvania G Netbook Meso - Intel Atom Processor 1.60GHz,
802.11b/g Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 80GB HDD, 8.9" WSVGA, Integrated
Webcam, Ubuntu Netbook Remix (Solar)
Item #: D516-7004
Free yourself from clumsy electronics and enjoy uncompromising
mobility with the g netbook.
$379.99

12. Sylvania G Netbook Meso - Intel Atom Processor 1.60GHz,
802.11b/g Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 80GB HDD, 8.9" WSVGA, Integrated
Webcam, Ubuntu Netbook Remix (Snow)
Item #: D516-7006
Free yourself from clumsy electronics and enjoy uncompromising
mobility with the g netbook.
$379.99

18. Asus Eee PC 900 Netbook - Intel Mobile CPU, 802.11b/g
Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 20GB SSD, 8.9" WSVGA, Integrated Webcam,
Linux (Galaxy Black)
Item #: A455-9504
You demanded it. We have it! The new 8.9-inch, 2.18-pound Asus
Eee PC 900. It=92s easy to learn, work and play when you own an
Asus Eee PC 900.
$429.99

26. Asus Eee PC 901 Netbook - Intel Mobile Atom Processor,
Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 20GB SSD, 8.9" WSVGA,
Webcam, Linux (Fine Ebony)
Item #: A455-8001
While plenty of PCs promise a revolutionary impact, few deliver
the goods. That=92s not the case with our new Asus Eee PC 901.
$519.99

27. Asus Eee PC 900 Netbook - Intel Mobile CPU, 802.11b/g
Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 20GB SSD, 8.9" WSVGA, Integrated Webcam,
Linux (Pearl White)
Item #: A455-9500
You demanded it. We have it! The new 8.9-inch, 2.18-pound Asus
Eee PC 900. It=92s easy to learn, work and play when you own an
Asus Eee PC 900.
$564.99

28. Asus Eee PC 1000 Netbook - Intel Mobile Atom Processor,
Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 40GB SSD, 10" WSVGA,
Webcam, Linux (Fine Ebony)
Item #: A455-10002
While plenty of PCs promise a revolutionary impact, few deliver
the goods. That=92s not the case with our new Asus Eee PC 1000.
$599.99

29. Asus Eee PC 1000 Netbook - Intel Atom Processor, Bluetooth,
802.11b/g/n Wireless, 1GB DDR2, 40GB SSD, 10" WSVGA, Webcam,
Linux (Pearl White)
Item #: A455-10001
While plenty of PCs promise a revolutionary impact, few deliver
the goods. That=92s not the case with our new Asus Eee PC 1000.
$629.99

Page 1 of 2
[/quote]

--
HPT
Quando omni flunkus moritati
(If all else fails, play dead)
- "Red" Green


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