Microsoft's Latest Strategy (no joke): Winning Against Linux the Smart Way

[floke]

Any thoughts on this?

http://www.linuxpersonas.com/

[raffytaffy]

lol this is funny. eyecandy - FUD

[nyinge]

OMG! I can't believe I can now persuade RMS to get into Microsoft products applying their techniques. Anyone betting on this?? \\:D/

[steven8]

OMG! I can't believe I can now persuade RMS to get into Microsoft products applying their techniques. Anyone betting on this?? \\:D/

I think to get RMS to fall in Line, they'd need a thumb screws and bamboo shoots under the nails technique. And even then, the odd's of success would be low!

[Redlance]

This is really a telling sign of things to come.
First off let me begin I am not Hardcore anti-microsoft.

What I see this as is Microsofts slow descent into obsolescence.
If an avid reader of OS news I see a fairly steady trend. Microsoft is losing market share.
Not to just Linux. But to Mac's OS. To Embedded solutions. To Multimedia conversion appliances.
Each year MS market share is falling and with the very dissappointing release of vista I only see it getting worse much faster for microsoft.

[mcduck]

Oh, that was just sad.. It actually advised to rely on "facts" in the "Get The Facts"-campaign's website to convert Linux users :D

[steven8]

The thing is, really, most all Linux users were once MS users who have abandoned ship. it shouldn't be 'How To Convert' Linux users, so much as 'How To Bring Them Back Into The Fold'.

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Flash only.... GROSS!

Isn't Adobe, what with Dreamweaver and PDF, one of the various things that Microsoft (with Office and their Office 2007 PDF-Killer) presumably should be staying away from?

(Typing this via a very bare-bones and perfectly secured Linux desktop on a hotel computer in Costa Rica, by the way. Nobody seems to notice a difference).

[lalakis85]

MS's counter-attack or just a joke?

[Kobalt]

MS's counter-attack or just a joke?
Funny anyway :D

[horace]

Wonderful grasp of how not to use the web displayed here - I have JavaScript switched off in my browser, but does the site make allowance for this? Elementary knowledge of accessibility rules would suggest that this should be catered for, but not here! Following the launch link gives a 404 error. Then, if I do enable JavaScript, out of curiosity, Firefox tells me that it has blocked a popup, and the link goes to a page which has only Flash. Again, this is an accessibility no-no. Of course, I have never bothered to install this proprietary software on my machine, so I have no idea what message MS hoped to convey.
Still, this gives a pretty good reminder of the importance of open standards and reminds me why I would never choose to use Microsoft products, so it has served a useful purpose!

[floke]

They even have a podcast about this on the MS website.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=fc78610a-711d-4de7-9ae5-cc8b57d38d7d&displaylang=en&tm

(all links from Slashdot btw, so I can claim no credit for original and intrepid research into MS strategy!).

[Kateikyoushi]

Judging from the personas I bet most people whom they target can't even view the site in their browser well done boys...

[NotTheSharpestTool]

Judging from the personas I bet most people whom they target can't even view the site in their browser well done boys...

thundering blizzards of cash is worse for your brain than T.V.......that looks like a really good way to chase more people from microsquish stuff..for those of you who didn't see it, basically, it shows users, geek, tweekers, marketers, and developers of Linux/Unix stuff, and how to target them, and to turn them BACK into microsquish zombies......how bout that vista??(wet my pants when it came out, and saw how expensive, lame, stupid, late)...i got my desk top to spin and do all sorts of cool stuff for free (that it would still be doing now, if i would have backed up my install of the gxl stuff)and i think that's just pie in the face of "THE MAN"

[floke]

Fort those who can't see it - here's a screenshot of the 'personas' that MS have identified.

[floke]

And here is one reason why we don't need them....

[Tomosaur]

So Long, Microsoft, it wasn't nice knowing you :)

[Somenoob]

With the on going progress of Linux systems. The instant Microsoft felt anger they had already ceased striving for the truth, and started making nonsense sites against us.

[tribaal]

1. Winning against linux the smart way.
2. *click*
3. 404 not found

Well I guess there's nothing to fear here, move along ;)
If they can't even get basic webdesign rules right, how are they supposed to convince me to switch to their Operating System?

- trib'

[Chemist]

they're really trying to go on the offensive! they must be bricking it

[derjames]

Fort those who can't see it - here's a screenshot of the 'personas' that MS have identified.

cheers for this... I could not seen the web site since I am using 'Lynx'... in a 'terminal' based computer

[floke]

I had to post a link to this...

http://reverendted.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/mac-vs-pc-how-would-linux-fit/

[kanem]

I'm surprised it's viewable to the public. It looks like something for their sales staff.

Letting everyone see it lets everyone see that they are worried. Which could make skeptics see value in Linux.
<phb>: "hmm, if MS is this concerned, then maybe there actually is something worthwhile about this Linux thing. Let's check it out".

[mykalreborn]

it's like an fbi file or something you know. this are the people who are targeted. i mean... how is this going to increase windows credibility, especially in the eyes of a linux user when we are all seen as specimens? really dumb idea if you ask me. and yet another proof that windows is afraid they will lose their position.
i'm just curious of how many linuxers will they manage to convert? :D

[gaspar]

I agree with mykalreborn...
Felt like, use Winblows, and we´ll be watching you... we will know what you do, who you are, etc... gee...

[Brunellus]

it's like an fbi file or something you know. this are the people who are targeted. i mean... how is this going to increase windows credibility, especially in the eyes of a linux user when we are all seen as specimens? really dumb idea if you ask me. and yet another proof that windows is afraid they will lose their position.
i'm just curious of how many linuxers will they manage to convert? :D
Targeted sales and marketing are a way of life in the capitalist system. It's not as if MSFT is using these profiles to select which computer users go to a gas chamber.

After a cursory glance at the website, I can say that MSFT does not make unreasonable assumptions about the sales potential of each class of Linux user. I note that while MSFT's materials see considerable sales/growth potential in the two "long-term" classes of *nix users, the materials also acknowledge that their products will be a particularly hard sell to existing Linux and UNIX shops

Put another way: MSFT wants to keep those users who are happy with the status quo happy with the status quo, and believe it will not take a great deal of effort to ensure that. They also want to convert *nix users, but acknowledge that people running *nix tend not to want to move from it.

Nothing we didn't already know here. Most of the "LINUX IS NOT READY" posts come from users on the extreme left (very short term sales potential) end of MSFT's user typology. As users become more technically competent and/or aware, you end up with the "long term" classes on the left: Linux advocates and existing UNIX users.

[mykalreborn]

Targeted sales and marketing are a way of life in the capitalist system. It's not as if MSFT is using these profiles to select which computer users go to a gas chamber.

well of course i was exaggerating... i guess it's just me - i never agreed with the world turning into a great capitalist resource. but still...

[gaspar]

And again, I agree!

[Brunellus]

You'll have to correct me at the next criticism session, then, comrades, because I simply don't see any problem here. I am constantly astounded at the degree to which the free software community seems allergic to--indeed, often hostile to--the market system. Free Software is not, in itself, an anti-market thing. If anything, it would tend to improve the efficiency of those same markets--with the useful side-effect of driving down costs and increasing productivity. Of course, MSFT wants to counter those claims, thus, they produce slides for their sales force.

You are being marketed to. The degree to which you accept or reject that is entirely up to you. Microsoft, of course, would rather thatn you accepted their marketing and bought their products and services.

The slides are nothing more than a set of instructions to their sales force. As such, they are not unreasonable. There is nothing inherently wrong about them. There is certainly nothing nefarious about them.

[floke]

Perhaps its something to do with the way in which a free market economy leads to an ever increasing commodification of all aspects of social existence, producing ever-rising levels of inequality and alienation in the process. Whereas, on the other hand, open source is more aligned to the needs of human beings, rather than their ability to pay.

I think you are conflating competition with the market system. The two are not the same.

[Brunellus]

Perhaps its something to do with the way in which a free market economy leads to an ever increasing commodification of all aspects of social existence, producing ever-rising levels of inequality and alienation in the process. Whereas, on the other hand, open source is more aligned to the needs of human beings, rather than their ability to pay.

I think you are conflating competition with the market system. The two are not the same.
We are drifting off-topic here. I still see no problem with the market for software. I don't see Free Software as necessarily inimical to the market economy, any more or less than Free Speech, Free (i.e., not slave*) Labor, or Free Trade.

We are doing ourselves a great disservice by attributing to MSFT actual evil where none exists. There are justified technical and legal reasons to dislike MSFT, their products, their services, and their business model. Those reasons alone are enough for me. I don't have to go around imagining sinister plots against individual Linux users in a slide presentation meant for salesmen.

- - -
* This week marked two hundred years since the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire.

[mykalreborn]

well, i guess it's all about something more than just software. for me at least. it's about a more universal idea. but you're right, we are drifting off-topic here.

[ArthurOrton]

Website froze on me. No surprise there. :roll:

[sanderella]

Gobbledegook!
And the website froze on me too!

Can M$ be seriously putting this propaganda out on the web? Maybe it's subversive stuff from a counter-agent?:confused:

[AusIV4]

I have no problem with Microsoft categorizing potential customers and trying to determine how to win them over.

Very rarely do I take a permanent stance on anything. Right now, I'm a Linux user because I like having an inexpensive, secure, non-restrictive operating system without vendor lockin, and Ubuntu seems to be the best way to get that.

If there comes a day that Microsoft can provide that better than Linux, I may switch back. It makes good sense that Microsoft tries to determine the best way to win users over, but many Linux users will require a serious overhaul of Windows before climbing back on board.

[Somenoob]

Microsoft forgot one persona

"Typical Linux user - Someone who desires to know therefore he/she needs the source codes"

[Brunellus]

Microsoft forgot one persona

"Typical Linux user - Someone who desires to know therefore he/she needs the source codes"
that's far from typical. I don't think most Linux users ever bother to read, say, kernel sources.

[Somenoob]

that's far from typical. I don't think most Linux users ever bother to read, say, kernel sources.

I went a bit too far there. I think "Linux power user" would be more appropriate.

[roderikk]

Also listen to this Podcast (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=fc78610a-711d-4de7-9ae5-cc8b57d38d7d&displaylang=en&tm)!

Really tremendously bizar!!! As I was listening to it on the windows XP pc of my housemate (it doesn't seem to play on *nix...).

Still, it is of course allowed for microsoft to profile their potential costumers, but I think I am too far down the scale to let it apply to myself. I don't want to bash MS products here, but personally I feel constricted whenever I need to use them. Stuff like this will however help to raise awareness of linux... I've even gotten my mother to use it ;-)!

[dasunst3r]

I did the pre-screening tool on myself and I was the "Linux Aficionado." I'm actually proud of being called that because I truly think that Linux is superior and I deliver better results. People are actually impressed that I run Linux on my Inspiron e1505.

What is everyone else's "person?"

Oh, yeah... don't forget:
http://images.wikia.com/uncyclopedia/images/c/cf/UbuntuGates.jpg

[sweemeng]

they forget one thing. the ridiculous licensing cost, the fact that people try to escape from BSA, and they want to be in control.

the last one is important, to me, because i don't like to be shown error, that i don't understand. or applying a fix to fix a problem, which i don't know why it is needed.

one thing i know, i'm not in their list. because i wanted to know how the system works in details. which include seeing the source code. something that i'm not allowed to do in windows.

[floke]

I notice the website is down at the moment. They're probably revising it as we speak to devise a new set of personas. I note the site says that it will be available 'to their partners', so I wonder if we'll get to see it again?

[Brunellus]

I notice the website is down at the moment. They're probably revising it as we speak to devise a new set of personas. I note the site says that it will be available 'to their partners', so I wonder if we'll get to see it again?
probably not.

Some fool made it world-readable...then it was promptly dugg and slashdotted. Game Over.

[Sunflower1970]

I notice the website is down at the moment. They're probably revising it as we speak to devise a new set of personas. I note the site says that it will be available 'to their partners', so I wonder if we'll get to see it again?

It got 'dugg' so I wouldn't be surprised if the servers became overloaded...



(glad I saw it before it was on dugg though....)

[macogw]

I had to post a link to this...

http://reverendted.wordpress.com/2007/03/19/mac-vs-pc-how-would-linux-fit/

Kind of offensive how many "girls don't use Linux" replies that got. My whole family uses Linux, and as you can see, there's an 18 year old girl (me) and a 17 year old girl who both use Linux (http://photos-221.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v44/192/38/5319221/n5319221_31270467_4788.jpg)

[mykalreborn]

Kind of offensive how many "girls don't use Linux" replies that got. My whole family uses Linux, and as you can see, there's an 18 year old girl (me) and a 17 year old girl who both use Linux

and they're both very cute. :D

[steven8]

and they're both very cute. :D

ditto.

[floke]

Damn - just noticed the podcast's down too :(

Mykalreborn, Steven8 - stop salivating, you'll ruin your keyboard!

[Spr0k3t]

I'm going to keep my eyes open on this. I have a direct channel with macrosloth where I work... so I'll watch to see what they are saying and propagate.

[floke]

Nice one.

[steven8]

Damn - just noticed the podcast's down too :(

Mykalreborn, Steven8 - stop salivating, you'll ruin your keyboard!

it's okay. it's my work keyboard. :)

[mykalreborn]

Mykalreborn, Steven8 - stop salivating, you'll ruin your keyboard!
what can i say:P

[glotz]

Wonderful grasp of how not to use the web displayed here - I have JavaScript switched off in my browser, but does the site make allowance for this? Elementary knowledge of accessibility rules would suggest that this should be catered for, but not here! Following the launch link gives a 404 error. Then, if I do enable JavaScript, out of curiosity, Firefox tells me that it has blocked a popup, and the link goes to a page which has only Flash. Again, this is an accessibility no-no. Of course, I have never bothered to install this proprietary software on my machine, so I have no idea what message MS hoped to convey.
Still, this gives a pretty good reminder of the importance of open standards and reminds me why I would never choose to use Microsoft products, so it has served a useful purpose!
They must be braindead or then this is a really funny joke. I never enabled JS for this prank.=D>


My whole family uses Linux, and as you can see, there's an 18 year old girl (me) and a 17 year old girl who both use Linux (http://photos-221.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v44/192/38/5319221/n5319221_31270467_4788.jpg)And for a moment I though there would be nothing too interesting in this thread! :lol:

[steven8]

And for a moment I though there would be nothing too interesting in this thread! :lol:

See, we were right!! :guitar:

[Pikestaff]

I'm disappointed that the site seems to be down now, I kinda wanted to see it, it sounded amusing :p


Kind of offensive how many "girls don't use Linux" replies that got. My whole family uses Linux, and as you can see, there's an 18 year old girl (me) and a 17 year old girl who both use Linux (http://photos-221.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v44/192/38/5319221/n5319221_31270467_4788.jpg)

I'm a girl who uses Linux too, unfortunately I'm the only person in my family who does... that's awesome that your entire family uses it. I'm still trying to get my parents to use Firefox instead of IE. (Got my siblings converted to that... next stop, Linux! Heehee)

[macogw]

I'm disappointed that the site seems to be down now, I kinda wanted to see it, it sounded amusing :p



I'm a girl who uses Linux too, unfortunately I'm the only person in my family who does... that's awesome that your entire family uses it. I'm still trying to get my parents to use Firefox instead of IE. (Got my siblings converted to that... next stop, Linux! Heehee)

My mom doesn't know what Internet Explorer is. She started using the computer after I installed Mozilla (part of the intro to Linux was "where's Mozilla?" "the little globe up there is Firefox. they're the same thing") ;) My sister and brother were forced to use Linux in order to IM when we were on vacation and they decided that they liked not having to worry about viruses and spyware and all that, so they said they want to use Linux when they go to college (my sister added "and it's stupid to pay for Windows when it's going to get viruses if there's something free that works a lot a better"). So I converted the family computer to using Linux so they could get used to Synaptic and avoid calling me when they go to college. I haven't actually gotten any tech support calls since the switch, except for from a Windows-using cousin. Mom says GNOME (well, she *means* GNOME, but she just says "Linux") is easier than Windows because she can actually find things in the menu. She also likes the speed increase associated with not having Norton running constantly.

[sanderella]

Yep, they took it off the web. Maybe someone at M$ reads the posts here in ubuntu forums. tee hee:)

[Brunellus]

Yep, they took it off the web. Maybe someone at M$ reads the posts here in ubuntu forums. tee hee:)
it was slashdotted and dugg. The fool who left it world-readable should have been punished.

[mykalreborn]

it was slashdotted and dugg. The fool who left it world-readable should have been punished.

now that was just plain old stupid. how can you release such a big thing by accident? probably they wanted to see the reactions and if they were good ones they left the site online, but since they weren't the happiest i guess they went offline. :D

[floke]

But the main problem with conspiracy theories is they require a substantial portion of intelligence on the part of the conspirators....

[sanderella]

it was slashdotted and dugg. The fool who left it world-readable should have been punished.

Thank you! I learn something new every day.

[EdThaSlayer]

This material is being updated and will be made available to Microsoft partners shortly. Guess I still need to wait...until they finish updating the page.

[Josey]

oops wrong thread :oops: