OMPUTERS slowly penetrate the less developed nations. Only sheer ridicule can at times prevent this from happening, as Bill Gates once tactlessly demonstared. Possibly in response to the $100 Open Source laptop, Microsoft announced that they will launch Windows XP Starter Edition in Africa around July this year. Yet, do not get excited or raise your hopes prematurely. Starter Edition of Windows XP is very limited, much like the Starter Edition of Windows Vista. To quote an old writeup:

The cut-down software limits the users in a number of ways including number of applications running at once, printing and network abilities. Gartner’s research has pointed out that the lack of features and limitations with applications will be very frustrating for users who may have had access to computers before at school or in cyber-cafes.

A great proportion of today’s software is illegally copied

OR those who insist on using proprietary commercial software (or, in some cases, Open yet not Free open-source software), there are probably more reasons to fear. Apart from Genuine Advantage in Windows — that which delivers critical updates only to legal copies of the operating system — there is a further crackdown on illegal use of software in the UK. As one article suggests:

Anti-software piracy group the Business Software Alliance is offering a $36,000 reward to anyone who informs on employers who use illegal or unlicensed software.

The days are over when vendors turn a blind eye to piracy, wishing that the prospective cutomer becomes dependent on the package and locked in due to closed formats. With largely networked machines, network licences can be enforced, often in the form of invasion to privacy and communication that is made behind the user’s back. Be warned.

Probably the most ubiquitous wallpaper nowadays

ACH platform (including its distribution and/or version) can often be characterised by its default wallpaper (background picture), among other visual signatures such as the login screen and icons set. Here is a nice and fairly complete gallery of default wallpapers . It contains wallpapers many of us have seen in Mac OS, Windows, and Linux.

I thought that the following was very blog post-worthy…

How to fix your Windows Application when it doesn’t work:

  (1) Stop and start the program
   (2) Log in and log out again
    (3) Reboot the machine
     (4) Reinstall the application again
      (5) Reinstall the operating system
       (6) Dance naked around the machine, waving a rubber chicken
        (7) “Take your machine back for servicing”
            – Chris Wedgwood

Bill Gates arrested in his younger days (photo in public domain)

ICROSOFT embracing aggressive and illegal practices?!?! You don’t say…! As unshocking as it may sound, Microsoft continue to use anti-competitive means to prevent a quicker penetration of GNU/Linux, or Open Source software in general.

One of their methods is to deter OEM‘s from supplying Linux, as recently confirmed in a Novell testimony. So what is involved exactly? The Redmond software maker is apparently allowed to penalise shops for offering a Windows alternative, for merely having it in stock. Put positively (negativity in disguise), Microsoft can always offer ‘benefits’ (a bonus) for supplying an all-Windows range. This can put free software in a position of disadvantage. This rebatement has virtually the same effect as a penalty, a fine. It illustrates the litigious subtleties which Microsoft rides on. When Compaq placed the Netscape icon for Web browsing on the Desktop, Microsoft threatened to break the contract, even though Explorer was right there among the menus (as it “cannot be uninstalled”, of course, as dangerous as it may be).

This leads to another discussion on the issue of bad practices. Back when Microsoft faced court to defend itself against Netscape, it argued that Internet Explorer could not be removed from the operating system. “It was too deeply rooted in the core”, they argued. As it finally turns out, owing to the many security issues, Microsoft have just decided to separate Internet Explorer from Windows Explorer, making it separate from the core. In other words, they lied in court and got away with it.

Lastly, let us consider the endless delays in release of Windows Vista. First, the release date was estimated at 2003, then 2005, then 2006 and now it is said to be February 2007. Similar tactics have been used in the (rather distant) past by IBM, as means to prevent the customer from defecting to competitors. Saying that you are “just there” when clearly you are not, is not just deceitful; it’s irresponsible, selfish and disrespectful.

On some older dirty tactics: Operating System Monoculture, Bill Gates crucified by a lawyer in 1998 (video)

OW that Windows Vista’s release has been delayed (due to security, drivers, etc.) and a revamped Office has been delayed too, certain predictions seem truer than ever before.

It was only a couple of days ago that Apache’s head permitted 10 years before the complete eclipse, wherein commercial software ceases to exist ‘in the wild’. Essentially, such a scenario would make commercial software (binaries) lose all value. It may serve no purpose as accompanying code will just lodge on the shelves to collect dust. This outlook must be the rationale behind Xara Xtreme going from commercial all the way to the GPL — a complete 180!

It seems ever more evident that any Windows ‘box booter’ and Visual Basic-only programmer could soon become obsolete, unless Open Source skills are quickly acquired. The next couple of years will be rather intersting as they will bring radical changes to the software development market.

Bill Gates recently stated very clearly that the future of computing is in services. This must the reason why many of his executives have already defected to Google and certain governmental departments are migrating to Open Source, which is independent from opaque packages. All that is left, on the face of it, are big budgets for brainwash of businesses and vendors, as well as IT managers and the public.

Related item: Windows Vista is Service Pack III (parody)

Some argue that this would be the last operating system from Microsoft

HE release of Windows Vista has been delayed until January 2007. This of course implies that its emergence will miss the holidays season.

Windows users: Now should be an excellent time to put resentment or fear aside and migrate to Linux.
Just because you dislike it or do not know it sufficiently well, does not make it evil. If you are still unconvinced that Vista (formerly Longhorn) will be disastrous, see the links below. This has been said time and time again, but funded advertisements begin to mask the truth. Be misled no more; put apathy and resistance to change aside.

Related items:

• Microsoft Back to Day One?
• Windows Today Worse Than Windows in 2001
• Vista Re-built From Scratch
• Vista Perils
• XP + New Colours = Longhorn
• Longhorn: A Trainwreck?