microsoft

Microsoft's curious infatuation with Zimbra, redux

Wow. I had no idea when I stumbled across Microsoft's internal positioning against Zimbra just how little Microsoft feels there is to recommend its Exchange 2007 software against Zimbra. I'm not exaggerating. The best Microsoft can come up with to slam Zimbra falls into three buckets:

Zimbra is a small company. Zimbra doesn't integrate as tightly with Microsoft technology as Microsoft's Exchange does. Zimbra only offers Exchange-to-Zimbra migration.

I don't know about you, but I'm having a hard time getting myself pumped up to go fight the good fight against Zimbra after that battle cry. When the best Microsoft can say for itself is that its technology is incestuous and that it's a big company, it's time to look for alternatives.

Speaking of which, Microsoft lists several Zimbra strengths that sound much more compelling than its defense of Exchange 2007:… Read more

States file formal request to extend Microsoft oversight

Rather than letting Microsoft's antitrust oversight end in November, the current oversight should be maintained through 2012, prosecutors for six states and the District of Columbia said in a court filing this week.

The group of states said at a hearing last month that they would make the request. The filing, made Tuesday, argues that Microsoft took years to make fully available the communications protocols required under the 2002 accord, and that there are still few PC makers offering rival browsers to Internet Explorer with new PCs.

Microsoft brushed off the concerns.

"This is not new," company … Read more

Microsoft discounting heavily to keep market share

As reported on the MoneyforJam blog, Microsoft is heavily discounting Windows to keep market share in the face of cheaper Linux offerings. Reuters notes:

In a significant development, Asustek said it would also offer a version of the ultra low-cost PCs with Microsoft's Windows operating system, after initially saying that all the computers would carry the open-source, free Linux system. Windows versions of the computer would cost about T$1,000 more than Linux versions [T$1,000 = US$30.00], leading many to say that Microsoft had offered the Windows systems at a big discount from its usual … Read more

Apparently Microsoft prefers Zimbra, too

I saw this on Digg this morning. I'm not a Microsoft partner, so I can't access the file, but apparently it gives a competitive breakdown of Microsoft Exchange versus Zimbra, and candidly admits Zimbra's superiority in several areas. You can see the file in the image below.

I think it does Microsoft credit that it is admitting its fallibility. What I find much more interesting is that Microsoft is taking time to position itself against Zimbra at all. After all, Zimbra has almost no market share compared to Exchange. Yet Microsoft obviously views it as a threat.… Read more

IP Innovation: 'We are equal opportunity patent trolls'

Acacia/IP Innovation has gone on the record as saying that it's not trying to kill open source: it just wants to suck anyone and everyone dry of cash, regardless of license. I don't know about you, but I feel strangely comforted. :-)

Acacia says:

IP Innovation is not attempting to inject itself in the ongoing philosophical debate of whether products or services which utilize open source are subject to the same intellectual property laws/behaviors as non-open source offerings. Acacia and its subsidiaries do not philosophically differentiate any company, but rather seek to consistently and fairly monetize … Read more

Mac Office 2008 adds Excel templates, supports Exchange

Microsoft is revealing more details about new features in its Office for Mac 2008 suite, due for a release early next year.

Excel 2008 for Mac will offer worksheet templates with baked-in calculations designed to make it easier to balance household finances, manage inventory and other common tasks. The new Ledger Sheets features will include a gallery of elements, shifting formulas to the background.

In addition, the Entourage e-mail client will offer more support for Microsoft Exchange, which traditionally has enabled non-Mac PC users to make appointments and share notes and files with each other.

Each version of Office for … Read more

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