Microsofts dirty tactics, or: Microsoft begins to fear Linux and Android

[Nick_Jinn]

Touch screen and cloud technology is the potential death of Microsoft. The enlightenment web browser is better than anything Microsoft has to offer in a touch screen, and Gnome is becoming better and more user friendly than Windows (from a non-geek perspective, as it has always been so for linux geeks). Android and Google are also huge threats leading the way for Microsoft.


http://www.computerworlduk.com/technology/hardware/laptops/news/index.cfm?newsid=9006

Microsoft U-turn to stop Linux dominating ultra low cost PCs

Bargain priced XP if suppliers limit the hardware specs

By Agam Shah, IDG News Service

Microsoft is launching a program to promote the use of its Windows OS in ultra low-cost PCs, one effect of which will be to limit the hardware capabilities of this type of device, IDG News Service has learned.

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 programme is outlined in confidential documents that Microsoft sent to PC makers last month, and which were obtained by IDG News Service.

[Dayofswords]

be nice if you removed the advert lol

[Nick_Jinn]

You got it.

[Swagman]

http://www.technik.org.uk/lol/Old-NewsRocks.jpg

Clue... Vista

[fatality_uk]

http://www.technik.org.uk/lol/Old-NewsRocks.jpg

Clue... Vista

very old news indeed ROCKS!! :guitar: :guitar:

[Phrea]

The official did not seem opposed to the program. It should stimulate more competition between Windows and Linux in the ULPC market

Right...

[Nick_Jinn]

I am a noob on this forum and it was new to ME when I found it.

There are a lot of discussions lately about the ethics of microsoft, so while its not a new article from this morning it is still relevant to current discussions floating around here.

[mickie.kext]

When we at old news, here is some really old: http://practical-tech.com/business/who-is-microsofts-secret-power-broker/

But those are still true. OEMs are still efectively wholy owned subsidaries of Microsoft Corpororaition, and they do anything that cheaf of MS OEM division tells them to do.

[zekopeko]

When we at old news, here is some really old: http://practical-tech.com/business/who-is-microsofts-secret-power-broker/

But those are still true. OEMs are still efectively wholy owned subsidaries of Microsoft Corpororaition, and they do anything that cheaf of MS OEM division tells them to do.

The article you linked to is from 1998. You base your whole conclusion on information that is at least 13 years old.
Now correct me if I'm wrong but didn't HP buy Palm? By buying Palm they got a phone division and their own OS, webOS.
Dell is offering a number of devices with Linux and Android on it.
Other manufactures are also following with their Android and Linux devices. So I think you are wrong on your conclusion.

[Kai69]

LOL may be old news but it got me a cheap Asus eeepc 1000H with xp on it the only thing I hated about the xp version is the partitoning of the 160GB HDD C=61GB D=78GB D only had 500MB of data in it ??? Easily sorted with Gparted :P

[zekopeko]

I am a noob on this forum and it was new to ME when I found it.

There are a lot of discussions lately about the ethics of microsoft, so while its not a new article from this morning it is still relevant to current discussions floating around here.

There was a rumor floating around how the first eeepc ran Linux only to force MS to licence XP cheaper.

[zekopeko]

LOL may be old news but it got me a cheap Asus eeepc 1000H with xp on it the only thing I hated about the xp version is the partitoning of the 160GB HDD C=61GB D=78GB D only had 500MB of data in it ??? Easily sorted with Gparted :P

Portable computers usually have a hidden partition with an image of the OS. You most likely deleted that by partitioning.

[juancarlospaco]

XP is not Technology, its History, and about to be deprecated as Prehistoric

[Kai69]

Portable computers usually have a hidden partition with an image of the OS. You most likely deleted that by partitioning.
Nope just made it smaller and made C partition bigger then last week blew it away and dumped W7 on it it runs faster in W7 then it ever did in XP now Im looking for a Linux disto for it I did try out the netbook remixes I just cant get on with them I'll keep looking :P

[Kai69]

There was a rumor floating around how the first eeepc ran Linux only to force MS to licence XP cheaper.
But most of the earlier Linux netbooks only had 2-16GB harddrives in them to start with its only since XP netbooks came out that HDD sizes have got bigger.

[zekopeko]

But most of the earlier Linux netbooks only had 2-16GB harddrives in them to start with its only since XP netbooks came out that HDD sizes have got bigger.

So are you agreeing or not? Your comment is confusing.

[Kai69]

The netbooks were originally designed for third world markets to get internet access to everyone that is why they had smaller HDDs installed and Linux as the main OS. The problem came when western markets started buying these cheap netbooks, Microsoft saw them as a threat to their own market share so told the manufaturers to stop putting Linux on the netbooks or they would lose the licenses to put microsoft products in their main products.
I agree with you to a certain extent that the manufacturers were waiting for the XP license to come down in price but the main reason for the netbooks existance was to get third world markets online that is why they were so cheap. Now with XP installed they need bigger HDDs so the price of the netbooks goes up anyway.

[98cwitr]

Welcome to 2 years ago...please enjoy your stay

[Ric_NYC]

All we are saying is.. "give old news a chance"...
:mrgreen:

[Tristam Green]

Touch screen and cloud technology is the potential death of Microsoft.

sure.

[zekopeko]

The netbooks were originally designed for third world markets to get internet access to everyone that is why they had smaller HDDs installed and Linux as the main OS.

I don't remember reading anything about "netbooks were originally designed for third world markets".
The first netbook was EEEpc 700 with Linux. It wasn't marketed as a 3rd world computer.



The problem came when western markets started buying these cheap netbooks, Microsoft saw them as a threat to their own market share so told the manufaturers to stop putting Linux on the netbooks or they would lose the licenses to put microsoft products in their main products.

Could you please give a citation to your claim?
AFAIK they didn't threaten anyone with revoking Windows from their machines. They simply lowered the price of Windows XP so that it is a viable alternative to Linux until they shipped Windows 7. It was a stop gap measure since nobody expected netbooks to become so ubiquitous. The restriction that MS imposed on WinXP on netbooks was so that OEMs couldn't buy a cheap XP licence and stick it on a normal laptop.


I agree with you to a certain extent that the manufacturers were waiting for the XP license to come down in price but the main reason for the netbooks existance was to get third world markets online that is why they were so cheap. Now with XP installed they need bigger HDDs so the price of the netbooks goes up anyway.

Or the consumers wanted larger HDDs. WinXP can install on 1.5 GB which is less then what Ubuntu needs. I consider your reasoning faulty. Netbooks were never targeted for 3rd world countries AFAIK.

[Kai69]

Sorry I'm not getting into an argument over this but the OLPC started the netbook revolution in 2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Laptop_per_Child
I agree with you that microsoft would have put a restriction on only having XP on netbooks but also that the main reason Linux is not installed on more netbooks is because the manufacturers had a lot of returns due to people finding it hard to do things in Linux that is so much easyer in XP ( ie learning another OS ).

[aysiu]

The article in the OP is outdated (10 May, 2008). Closed.