Linux, look out! M$ has you in its sights.

[Tony-S]

Good old Micro$oft (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033867/index.htm?postversion=2007051409). They seem to be getting desperate (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9019339&intsrc=hm_list), according to some writers.

[Glenn NK]

The only MS product I use is XP; I WILL NOT use their office software. Rather, I bought WordPerfect for word processing, and Lotus for a spreadsheet. If I was more computer literate, I'd be using Linux. The MS SOBs have made enough money and I don't like their attitude.

Perhaps they are starting to collapse (as all empires eventually do).

Incidentally, I also trashed Adobe's pdf reader and use Foxit Reader instead - it's faster, takes far less memory and doesn't continually require upgrades.

[hmv]

The funny thing about this business of bullying with patents is that Microsoft is doing the reverse of what patents were designed to do ... they are the big guys attacking the small ones. The whole software patent stuff is daft anyway as there too many examples of companies patenting simple concepts that they didn't invent in the first place.

For example, Microsoft holds a patent on using a keyboard to navigate between hyperlinks in a web page using a focus indicator to show where the link is. Hmmm ... you know that sounds exactly how web browsing in Lynx (a traditional text mode browser) works. I remember using Lynx as far back as 1993 and I've found a source code changelog that indicates it wasn't new in 1992.

I'm not one of those who say Microsoft has never come up wih anything new but almost every development these days is evolution of something that has already existed. In some ways it doesn't matter if Microsoft is entitled to their software patents and is entitled to defened them, using the law in this way just makes them look bad and will probably cost them more business than they can possibly do by taking money off various Linux companies.

[xpsentity]

The patent system here (US) is SO screwed up.

You can patent basically whatever you want, with no oversight. It's totally absurd - and everyone except the few in power (eg; those making the money) agree.

[bacchanal]

Man, they going after openoffice >:(! It's not like the openoffice folks have a lot to spend to fight a legal battle. I have used open office at home for the past couple years and love it. On the other hand, I just bought some MS office 2007 licenses at work...you don't want to know how much they cost (more than the hardware for the systems I was putting them on).

[aussieskier]

Wouldn't this potentially affect things like ACR etc.. if the process of reading a raw file or writing a document etc is patented, even if the code is different and the implementation is different, ACR could be challenged about patents it "violated" by accessing the raw data in a proprietary file. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else... but it made sense in my head :)

[bacchanal]

Wouldn't this potentially affect things like ACR etc.. if the process of reading a raw file or writing a document etc is patented, even if the code is different and the implementation is different, ACR could be challenged about patents it "violated" by accessing the raw data in a proprietary file. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else... but it made sense in my head :)

There may be some licensing involved, but I'm not sure. Who knows though. Anymore you could probably patent the way you put on your pants if someone hasn't done so already.

[E-Dude]

I recall seeing that MS patented the FAT file system and wanted to collect royalties for any device that formatted a storage unit using FAT. Maybe even tried to collect for devices that write to a FAT device. http://news.com.com/Microsofts+file+system+patent+upheld/2100-1012_3-6025447.html

Check out Linus Torvald's response.... http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199600443

[gparvan]

Balmer was saber rattling so decision makers would steer away from Open Source. SCO's effort failed miserably. I'm gunna buy a Mac next time around anyway.

[Glenn NK]

Balmer says in the article, "We live in a world where we honour, and support the honouring of, intellectual property". Oh yah, right.

Does anyone recall how Microsoft won the court battle over the "windows icons" concept that was developed by Apple? By any chance, was it by spending far more money on their high-powered legal team than Apple could afford?

They don't honour anything but their monopoly.

I have two machines running fully legal and registered versions of XP. Two or three times a week, I get an "important update notice" from MS wanting me to download the latest version of the "genuine windows validation". What a bunch of crap; once it's been validated, why do I need to keep validating it?:p

[gparvan]

Did you see in the news where MS sales have been flat and Apple's computer have jumped significantly? Balmer is on a downhill slide.

[aussieskier]

There may be some licensing involved, but I'm not sure. Who knows though. Anymore you could probably patent the way you put on your pants if someone hasn't done so already.


I (and a couple others from POTN...) were told by a Canon rep that Adobe has reverse engineered the stuff in ACR... and the colors will not be correct and all this... Then again, the last part, or all of it could just be FUD

[hannaxt]

Did you see in the news where MS sales have been flat and Apple's computer have jumped significantly? Balmer is on a downhill slide.

Apple stock has steadily climbed a point a day to over $107!
And yes there's evidence that Apple products including Macs have climbed in sales,
that's even evident by those i work with where every other day someone bought their first Mac and loving every aspect of OSX and the apps that come with it.

Didn't MS already try to bully Linux ? something about backing SCO into suing Linux?
The only thing about MS Office for Mac is that it is written by Mac users working for MS and they are their own entity away from the rest of MS engineers for the most part.

[nicksan]

When you are that low in the food chain, you can only go up.;)

I used to be a Mac lover, but the reality, at least for me is that most of the world uses Windows. I use Windows at my job...and I use Windows at home.

The powers that be at MS are either evil, brilliant, or both. I see Steve Jobs as a whiner...he dropped the ball with his hard-headed ways while a "nerd" called Gates swept the rug from under him.

But I couldn't really care less. When the day comes when most of the world is using OS X, then I'll switch back.

In the meantime, I'm not going to go on some anti-MS crusade...and refuse to use Office, etc...that's just plain silly.

Maybe I can ask one of the admins here to install OpenOffice. They'll just laugh at me!:D

Did you see in the news where MS sales have been flat and Apple's computer have jumped significantly? Balmer is on a downhill slide.

[Sathi]

Total FUD. Microsoft has no intention of actually suing anyone. If they were serious they would specify exactly what patents are being violated. This is simply a ploy to put it in people's heads that if they started to transition their organization to OSS that one day they might be sued by microsoft. Not a bad tactic. However by doing this they pretty much admit that Linux is a real competitor and a viable option. The reality of the situation is that companies like IBM are major contributors to Linux and microsoft would be suing their customers. And if IBM wanted to they could open up a can of patent whoop-ass on microsoft that they couldn't even hope to contend with.

I'm no knee jerk MS basher...but maybe this really is a sign of future trouble. It seems the trend lately for companies who can no longer innovate and compete is sue their way to profit by taking advantage of our retarded patent system.

Didn't the RIAA prove that the best way to protect your failing business model was to sue your customers? ;)

[Sathi]

Maybe I can ask one of the admins here to install OpenOffice. They'll just laugh at me!:D

Why? OpenOffice is superior to MS office. At least for 95% of the users out there. Their version of excel is much MUCH faster when dealing with large datasets and I find the user interface more intuitive. I also much prefer their MS Word clone. I can actually type stuff...it doesn't just skip 5 lines and put in a bullet when all I asked it to do was backspace.

Also the funny thing is, OpenOffice is MUCH more like MS Office than the newest version of MS Office. I bet you could train people a hell of allot faster to use OpenOffice than to use Office 2007.

[nicksan]

Why?

Because that's what banks, brokerage firms, and other big corporations typically use...

I work for a fairly large brokerage firm / bank...it's MS all the way. (Weeeeell...we do have some Linux and Unix servers running databases, web/app servers...:D)

Why? OpenOffice is superior to MS office. At least for 95% of the users out there. Their version of excel is much MUCH faster when dealing with large datasets and I find the user interface more intuitive. I also much prefer their MS Word clone. I can actually type stuff...it doesn't just skip 5 lines and put in a bullet when all I asked it to do was backspace.

Also the funny thing is, OpenOffice is MUCH more like MS Office than the newest version of MS Office. I bet you could train people a hell of allot faster to use OpenOffice than to use Office 2007.

[Sathi]

Why?

Because that's what banks, brokerage firms, and other big corporations typically use...

I work for a fairly large brokerage firm / bank...it's MS all the way. (Weeeeell...we do have some Linux and Unix servers running databases, web/app servers...:D)

Not trying to say what you use isn't what is best for you. Just wanted to point out that a system admin shouldn't laugh at you for asking for openoffice because it is a very good product and a viable alternative.

I work for the state of new york which is a 100% microsoft all the way. I use openoffice because I like it more. I open and save all my documents in MS native .doc and .xls format so other people in my office can work with them. Never had a problem. Granted i'm no office super power user or anything. I am sure someone who lives and breathes its functionality could uncover some compatability issues, but that is most likely rare. Kinda makes me angry as a tax payer when I look around and see 1000's of MS office licenses at $500 a pop for people who open up 1 word doc a month. I understand the merits of windows, and I recommend it for most people I know, but the waste of money on MS office is just inexcusable.

[Paul_B]

Torvalds tells Microsoft to put up, or shut up.
http://www.pcw.co.uk/vnunet/news/2189971/torvalds-tells-microsoft-put

You heard it here, today, (IMO) MS is done in the next 5-8 years. Linux and MAC will take over, both based on 70's UNIX code. Bill Gates will never go hungry, but Microsoft is over.

[ebann]

Patent litigations are the most expensive type. It could bankrupt a small company with limited resources.