microsoft

Microsoft licenses get open-source approval

Two Microsoft licenses have been given official open-source status by the group that bestows it, the Open Source Initiative. So yes, cue the tire-screeching, glass-shattering noises now.

The OSI has been working to reduce license proliferation, but evidently thought the Microsoft licenses not only met the criteria of the open-source definition but also merited approval.

"The decision to approve was informed by the overwhelming (though not unanimous) consensus from the open-source community that these licenses satisfied the 10 criteria of the open-source definition, and should therefore be approved," the OSI said in a statement Friday. "In spite … Read more

OSI gives two Microsoft licenses its blessing

The Open Source Initiative (OSI) has formally approved two of Microsoft's licenses:

Microsoft Public License and Microsoft Reciprocal License I never doubted that these would be approved, but am glad to see the studied manner in which the process was (mostly) carried out. To me, this shows Microsoft the correct way to engage in open source: through the front door, rather than through back-door patent FUD.

Michael Tiemann of OSI writes on the process:… Read more

Does software piracy lead to monopoly?

In a piece reminiscent of Tim O'Reilly's excellent "Piracy Is Progressive Taxation," Dagens Politik has written a provocative article arguing that "the actions of the pirates have merged with the interest of Microsoft to create a near monopoly in the operating systems market for the PC."

In other words, no piracy, no Microsoft monopoly.

The author suggests that piracy does the industry more harm (in sustaining Microsoft's monopoly) than it does to Microsoft (in any number of millions or billions of profits lost):… Read more

This week in mind-reading

You've been thinking, "Hey, where are all the updates on mind-reading devices?" All the appropriate scientists already knew this, so they decided to give you what you want today.

Here's this week's mind-readers' digest.

Microsoft applies for mind-reading patent: According to this New Scientist blog post, Microsoft applied for a patent in August that would help the company figure out what people really think about its products. The technology in the patent application, titled "Using electroencephalograph signals for task classification and activity recognition," would read a user's brain states while testing Microsoft'… Read more

Supreme Court dumps Microsoft, Best Buy appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to take on a case that accuses Microsoft and Best Buy of deliberately tricking customers into signing up for MSN Internet service and improperly charging them when a trial period expires.

Microsoft and Best Buy had asked the high court to review the matter after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals opted in May to let a class action suit against the companies proceed. The Supreme Court's decision not to review the case, which arrived without comment, means the class action can theoretically move forward.

The case began in 2003, when … Read more

Apple's looming challenge: customers

The problem with success is that it breeds customers, if you're a vendor. With customers come questions and concerns. Invariably, having lots of customers, including non-techie customers, means that the polish on a company can be smudged.

Such may be Apple's fate as it grows at a torrid pace, adding a range of Microsoft customers that bring with them lowest-common denominator questions and technical support issues.

By broadening its share of the computer market and diving into whole new businesses, the company has become a case study in the challenges of taking a cherished brand with a devoted (some would say cult) following into the mainstream. "The customer base is now more diverse, including students and mainstream consumers, and it's harder to satisfy as a whole," says Lopo L. Rego, a marketing professor at the University of Iowa who studies the impact of customer satisfaction on financial performance.… Read more

Linux server sales up at Dell

Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, has gone on the record as saying server-side Linux is growing faster than Windows at the computer behemoth.

On the server side Linux continues to grow nicely, a bit faster than Windows. We're seeing a move to Linux in critical applications, and Linux migration has not slowed down.

Dell also noted that for all Microsoft's bluster about Linux patent violations, Microsoft hasn't given Dell a call to talk through legal liability (or anything else related to its IP) for shipping Linux servers and desktops. Given the buddy-buddy relationship between the two, one … Read more

OpenOffice's apparent mission creep

Apparently, OpenOffice 3.0 is intent on picking a fight with Microsoft Outlook. Bonne chance, mes amis. I don't mean to imply that it can't be done, but am rather suggesting that this is not the right way to go about it. Zimbra, sure. Or Mozilla's Thunderbird (standalone), sure. But bundled into OpenOffice? I'm not seeing it.

This arises from a presentation delivered earlier this year at the OpenOffice conference:

One thing that really caught my attention was (a) reference to including a Personal Information Manager (PIM) (in OpenOffice). More specifically the presentation mentions bundling Thunderbird with their Office Suite, and refers to it as an "Outlook replacement."

Bundling a runner-up PIM/e-mail suite with a runner-up Office replacement? Not likely. Disruption is the way to go, and the combination is not disruptive.… Read more

Apache's lead over Microsoft's IIS goes poof

Technology writer Glyn Moody notes that open-source software developer Apache's lead in Web servers over Microsoft's Internet Information Services (IIS) is at its skinniest ever: 10 percent.

Apache continues to gain (1 million sites last month). But Microsoft's IIS is also growing--and at a faster clip (3 million sites last month). As Glyn suggests, it may not matter: Apache's job may well be done in proving the viability of open-source projects and paving the way for many more.

I doubt, regardless, whether Microsoft is resting on its laurels. If you click through to the Netcraft page, … Read more