MS Attack Strategies

[@trophy]

Role Playing Time:

If you were Microsoft, what strategy would you use to try to destroy Linux either on the desktop or in the server room? Is this strategy viable? And if so, what should we do to protect against it?

Rules: You have nigh unlimited funds, and a 90% desktop / 60% server market share to start with... victory is defined as 98% of the desktops AND 85% of the servers.

Serious answers only please. And don't worry about giving them any ideas... they have enough lawyers that I'm sure they've thought of it already. The purpose of this exercise is a sort of pen-test against Linux. We need to find the soft spots.

[mthakur2006]

buy all the prominent brands. ;)

[Warpnow]

I'd put all my MS coders on making wubi work better. Let people seamlessly switch between Ubuntu and Vista without rebooting.

Then there'd be no reason for people to not install vista.

[M$LOL]

Yes there would, I can think of loads.

If I were M$, I'd make Vienna essentially a complete rewrite, to make Windows absolutely bulletproof. While it might not destroy Linux completely, at least it might convince more people not to switch.

[orange2k]

In the software industry, there is not much inovation MS has to offer, but in the corporate world they are doing whatever there is possible to stop the growth of Linux, with their lawyers, with their influence and their economic power. So, yes, entering the world of linux in their own way is a way to get involved in one way or another. But no strategy can win against pure numbers: the community developing Linux is SO much larger than the one developing windows. Even with all their marketshare and with windows still being more widespread they will probably lose at the end and take a role that matches their real value.

[PatrickMay16]

MS don't want to kill linux... they just want to keep it at a safe distance. As long as they have some token competitors taking 15% of the market, whenever a monopoly lawsuit thing comes up they can say "but look, we have plenty of competition" and point at mac, sun, etc... and linux.

[FuturePilot]

I'd say make a deal with all the major distributions of Linux then slowly wipe out all the others, and eventually take down the big ones.

Hmmm. sounds a lot like what they're doing now. Suse, Xandros, Linspire......:o

[justin whitaker]

Here is what I would do, if I were Head of Microsoft:

1. Release Visual Studio as freeware. MSDN becomes support.
2. Pull Linspire into the fold, and begin development on modularized Windows/Linux desktop.
3. Windows New Basic would be essentially a cobranded Linux desktop. Other levels, such as New Ultimate, would feature Microsoft certified emulation/compatibility status.
4. WMP would be ported over, and be given advanced podcasting capture capabilities.
5. For gamers, offer a coupon for an Xbox along with the purchase of any level of Microsoft New.

Embrace, extend, extinguish.

[@trophy]

Here is what I would do, if I were Head of Microsoft:

1. Release Visual Studio as freeware. MSDN becomes support.
2. Pull Linspire into the fold, and begin development on modularized Windows/Linux desktop.
3. Windows New Basic would be essentially a cobranded Linux desktop. Other levels, such as New Ultimate, would feature Microsoft certified emulation/compatibility status.
4. WMP would be ported over, and be given advanced podcasting capture capabilities.
5. For gamers, offer a coupon for an Xbox along with the purchase of any level of Microsoft New.

Embrace, extend, extinguish.


That's... just... evil. Fortunately, pride will probably keep them from doing this... but DEAR GOD, MAN!!!

Anyways, how would we defend against this?

[jrusso2]

Microsoft should do something similar to apple and use the BSD kernel for its next OS. Then it could use virtualization technology to support its old software making it an ideal situation where they would have a reliable OS, the use of free software, and their own. Plus they would not anger their old customers by being able to keep their old software working during the transition period.

[Adamant1988]

Do what Apple did. Transition Windows versions to a modified BSD kernel, play nicely with the community where it's important, and work heavily on usability and so forth. Using a BSD-based version of Windows, Microsoft can easily make it into a very excellent server OS, not to mention having access to every single piece of free software in existence, for their customers, I mean.

[a12ctic]

The easiest way for them to kill linux would be web censorship. Linux is a majorly online community, without certain sites the linux community would die away pretty quickly. Just pay at&t who owns most of the phone/dsl lines in america and comcast wo owns most of the cabel lines in america, have them sensor anything related to linux and opensource. Youre cutting off about 85% of america right there and probobly at least 95% of the potentail home users of linux.

[kamaboko]

Hire Neo to infiltrate and destroy the Linux machine.

[M$LOL]

The easiest way for them to kill linux would be web censorship. Linux is a majorly online community, without certain sites the linux community would die away pretty quickly. Just pay at&t who owns most of the phone/dsl lines in america and comcast wo owns most of the cabel lines in america, have them sensor anything related to linux and opensource. Youre cutting off about 85% of america right there and probobly at least 95% of the potentail home users of linux.

*Coughillegalcough*

[a12ctic]

*Coughillegalcough*

But it could be, and has ben talked about to be legalized to prevent pirating, once they win on that front my scenario wouldn't be so farfetched.

[orange2k]

But it could be, and has ben talked about to be legalized to prevent pirating, once they win on that front my scenario wouldn't be so farfetched.

Yeah, but it would be a VERY big step to suddenly render all open source illegal...
MS would like something like that, so they are doing what they can to make it appear in violation with their "patents", but I don`t see it happening. Maybe just in US something like that would seem possible...

[kripkenstein]

Oh, that's easy: Microsoft can kill Linux with almost no effort. The only question is how much money they are willing to lose in the process.

All they need to do is GPL Windows. Linux will vanish overnight.

But they would lose many billions of dollars of profit. Therefore the question for Microsoft is not whether or not to 'kill Linux', but how much they want to hurt it and at what price to them.

[a12ctic]

Even if windows used GPL I would still gladly use linux. I don't just use linux cause its free, and I think I would speak for the majority of posters on these forums.

[juxtaposed]

Simple: Spend all your money on making a good and efficient new operating system.

[smoker]

Simple: Spend all your money on making a good and efficient new operating system.

yeah, an up to date xp-like windows live-cd without bloat and drm, and at a max price of $10 for a copy, linux and piracy would be severely hit!

[orange2k]

yeah, an up to date xp-like windows live-cd without bloat and drm, and at a max price of $10 for a copy, linux and piracy would be severely hit!

I don`t see how piracy would be hit - you can get pirated windows for less than 10 $ now, and you would be getting it for the same price then...
10 $ is still 10 $ - way too much for me to spend on Microsoft...

[smoker]

I don`t see how piracy would be hit - you can get pirated windows for less than 10 $ now, and you would be getting it for the same price then...
10 $ is still 10 $ - way too much for me to spend on Microsoft...

if you're going to buy windows, and a legal copy is the same price as a pirate copy, then what do you think most people would buy?

[DoctorMO]

Quit while you ahead. there is no way to win against the FOSS world. Microsoft will die slowly as we turn the heat up bit by bit or it will turn into a FOSS company as it's currently being infiltrated by our programmers :-P James Bond style evil bad guy.

[orange2k]

if you're going to buy windows, and a legal copy is the same price as a pirate copy, then what do you think most people would buy?

My point is that a pirated copy wont cost 10$, it will cost less than that, probably the same as it costs now. I dont know what most people will do, but for me 10$ for something that has a Microsoft label is simply too much...;)

[smoker]

it's never going to happen anyway, not now bill is struggling for money!
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=491527

:-):-):-)

[phrostbyte]

Once Linux gets more marketshare in the desktop area the price of Windows will go down, if you look at places where Microsoft is losing, eg the web server market and embedded devices, the price of Windows gets cheaper and cheaper. Windows CE costs $3 per copy, and Win2003 Web Server edition is something like $300 (which is 10x cheaper then the limited "Standard Edition" used in workgroup/AD servers.. something Linux servers don't have as much marketshare in.) This is completely because of the market conditions, not like Web Edition was cheaper to make or something.