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February 29, 2008, 12:02 pm
Vistaâs Price Falls; How Long Before Yahooâs Price Rises?
-------------------------------------------------------------
By Saul Hansell
If you want to understand Microsoft’s motivation for buying Yahoo,
look at the price cuts announced today for Windows Vista. (Stay with
me on this.)
The price cuts for boxed copies of Vista are especially big in
developing countries, where users will be able to buy full versions of
the operating system for the price they would have paid for an
upgrade. (The better to prevent piracy, Microsoft says.)
In the United States, the main difference will be with the Premium
edition emo clothing $129 instead of $159) and the Ultimate ($219, down from
$299).
Microsoft says the cuts are meant to lift sales in retail stores, a
small segment of the Windows market. The vast majority of operating
systems, of course, honda insurance sold bundled with computers.
Microsoft’s many critics are gloating that this shows Vista shipped
with far more bugs than streetwear clothing No matter how good Vista may be, there is another force at work here:
The price people are willing to pay for software is coming down.
A software package â even an operating system â seems out of whack
at $299 or even $159, when there is so much that can now be done free
over the Web or through free downloads like iTunes and Google’s
Picasa. Those prices also don’t really jibe with the cost of personal
computers, which now start at $500.
Microsoft itself has already confronted this by creating the “Student
and Teacher” version independent fashion Office. Now you can buy Word, Excel and
PowerPoint (not Outlook) for $129 (plus whatever guilt you feel as you
justify the purchase by saying that your spinning class at the gym
makes you a student).
One look at Microsoft’s high profit margins certainly raises questions
about how long this business model can continue before someone creates
a more efficient model. The combination of the open source movement,
the Web, and the advertising-supported software model epitomized by
Google are starting to have the long-predicted effect.
So while the prices Microsoft can charge for its boxed software may be
falling, the price it will pay for its own Web software and
advertising play â Yahoo â is likely to rise.
* Comments (87)
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* Software, Microsoft, Operating Systems, Yahoo In Play
Related
* Microsoft President on Micro-Hoo: We Can Do It
* Listening for a Peep From Sunnyvale
* Will Microsoftâs Executive Shuffle Scare Yahoo?
* A Guide to Yahooâs Unlikely Alternatives to Microsoft
87 comments so far...
* 1. February 29th,
2008
4:49 pm
It’s still a ripoff at those prices. The Microsoft paradigm of
piling on features and bloat is showing serious cracks. No one
outside Redmond thinks Microsoft is adding value. It’s a rapacious
monopoly whose obscene profits are ill-gotten gains, a tax,
directly or indirectly, on everything you promo playing cards â Posted by James Linkin
* 2. February 29th,
2008
5:13 pm
Well, better operating systems than Windows are available for free
+ the cost of burning a few CDs, so at $219 for Vista Ultimate,
Microsoft’s price is still about 218 bucks too high. FreeBSD,
Linux, Solaris - take your pick. All free, fast, and rock solid.
â Posted by XCSkierDude
* 3. February 29th,
2008
5:23 pm
I believe Office 2007’s lightest version is “Home and Student,” so
you don’t need the guilt over using your spinning class. But it
does have a “non-commercial use” badge at the top of each window.
â Posted by Pete
* 4. February 29th,
2008
5:24 pm
Vista is so unpalatable, that Microsoft is going to need to pay
people to use it - not cheap renters insurance other around. Linux is looking better,
and better.
â Posted by AC
* 5. February 29th,
2008
6:15 pm
Microsoft is running into a barrier now. Windoes XP is a decent,
solid operating system. Why must they change the interface and
start hiding controls and settings. Why the need to move away from
the classic MS interface that people have liked. It is an
inconvenience. Operating systems should be free. Microsoft should
only license Server operating systems and applications. To have a
computer without an operating system is insane. People are
comfortable with things they are familar with. Vista has been and
is unstable with other XP applications. I also agree that Linux is
looking better all the time and it is free and comes with a host
of applications for free. No need to by Office either.
â Posted by David Carlin
* 6. February 29th,
2008
6:16 pm
The most offensive aspect is that you can’t walk into most stores
and buy a PC computer without M$ OS. I wish it was more common to
find identical hardware packages with choice of OS
(linux/windows/none). This is where Billy makes most his $
â Posted by David
* 7. February 29th,
2008
6:16 pm
What ’s a spinning class? Free open source is the future and
Microsoft is the past.
â Posted by jojo
* 8. February 29th,
2008
6:18 pm
I agree with comments about alternatives to Windows with a big
however. Linux and the rest are still having real problems with
driver availability for common printers, media drives, and other
USB plugins.
Until this is addressed non-tech users will still be tied to
Microsoft or Apple O/Ss.
â Posted by Rick in the kitchen
* 9. February 29th,
2008
6:26 pm
Windows XP does the job. What does Vista buy you, headaches?
â Posted by Gary Silk
* 10. February 29th,
2008
6:26 pm
Why many insure quote I need to feel guilty? By downloading OpenOffice, I do not
feel guilty. In fact, I can feel even better because I can get the
same functionality and also save precious money (it’s free).
To me spending even 10 dollars for MS Office is too much, since I
am not getting a better product anyway.
The same can be extended for almost any proprietary program: Gimp
(as a substitute of Photoshop), Inkscape (Adobe Illustrator),
Thunderbird (Outlook).
â Posted by NickF
* 11. February 29th,
2008
6:26 pm
Microsoft recognizes the threat to its business model and is
nursing its core businesses along while trying to catch up to
speedier competitors. Virtualization, open source, and Web
services are all antithetical to the old (and once-revolutionary)
client/server licensing model that keeps Microsoft in the money.
They’re dabbling in these technologies (see Software plus
Services) but it’s playing with fire. I have yet to hear anyone
say that the Microsoft/Yahoo merger is a good idea–it strikes most
people as grasping at straws.
Windows and Office are installed on a chinese tutor chicago majority of business
computers worldwide, and Microsoft can count on the money rolling
in for some time since businesses, especially large businesses,
change relatively slowly (whatever you may have heard about the
fast-paced global economy, there are plenty of UNIX mainframes
still chugging along at insurance companies and manufacturing
facilities around the world). But what they’re really afraid of is
the paradigm shift–one in which cross-platform services commodify
the OS and lightweight productivity tools like Google’s steal
market share by appealing to those who don’t need the bloated
feature sets of Office 2007.
To be fair, though, Microsoft is really good in the IT and
developer spaces–look at the excitement around Windows Server 2008
and Visual Studio 2008 (although it’s rather subdued, since it’s
developers and IT pros who are getting excited) compared to the
blah performance of Vista.
â Posted by Matt Fontaine
* 12. February 29th,
2008
6:27 pm
The author chose theme over accuracy and style over substance.
First, the XP upgrade version was $99 so $129 is still a price
increase. Second, Vista is not very good, but anyone who says it
is only worth $1 should switch to those other free operating
systems. third, the author of the article did not even know the
name of the shipping version of Office, but was able to make a
joke about it. The Times should leave Tech to someone who knows
tech, not someone with an axe to grind. As for me, I think MSFT
offered to much for the dying Yahoo franchise.
â Posted by Monty
promotional playing cards 13. February 29th,
2008
6:29 pm
I swear had I known Vista was as cumbersome to use as it has
proven to be I would never have given my old computer to my
nephew. I bought a new desktop and HP photo printer for christmas
and have to scan everything on to a flaash disk on the printer and
then insert it into the computer to put it on my hard drive. After
5 tries at getting a driver from HP to download I just gave up. It
is actually easier to do it this way. This was one of the biggest
mistakes I made.
â Posted by HJB
* 14. February 29th,
2008
6:30 pm
“Linux is looking better, and better”
Second that. I switched to Ubuntu a couple of months ago -
couldn’t be playing cards custom poker Everything just works.
â Posted by JF
* 15. February 29th,
2008
6:35 pm
I like how everyone is quick to judge Microsoft at their “bloated”
OS. Vista is a great, rock-solid OS. No one seems to remember the
days when Linux first appeared, and how much DIDN’T work with it.
Oh wait, that’s right..IT STILL DOESN’T. Microsoft’s prices are
fairly priced, but all you look at is the “free” version of some
craptastic linux that boots up faster, woohoo.
I hate to bring it up, but in a gamer’s world, Linux can’t even be
compared. For those of you who can’t afford a decent machine to
run vista, or for those of you who seem to complain about every
little thing that Windows does..stop using it! Lets see you
survive on using Linux from now on, good luck!
I for one believe that MS is doing an excellent job at keeping
ahead of the game with Vista. It was built and designed for
security, and with that in mind they have done a damn good job.
Keep an open mind about things. If MS charged $50, you would all
still complain. Think about it.
â Posted by BT
* 16. February 29th,
2008
6:35 pm
I bought a new laptop in 2007. It came with Vista Premium. It was
so bloated with crap and difficult to understand that I returned
it.
No one needs or wants bullsh*t programs preloaded on a computer.
The majority of the so called programs were merely shells of
programs meant for Vista Ultimate.
Vista is a sham. And a poorly conceived sham at that.
Maybe Microsoft could work with a PC manufacturer to create a
smart looking laptop with an operating system that wasn’t bloated
with crap no one needs. Oh wait. That’s called a Macbook.
â Posted by Patrick
* 17. February 29th,
2008
6:39 pm
I agree with Monty on the point of MS offering way too much for
Yahoo!. Yahoo! was great at one point, but they made the mistake
of keeping one step behind the tech curve, not one step ahead. I
don’t however see the need for MS to buy Yahoo!, as they already
have a search engine and ad-revenue themselves. Look at Yahoo!’s
revenue reports for the past 5 years, what is MS going to gain
from buying them out? Billion dollar losses for years to come? I
don’t see the direction they want to take them, but I would like
to see them merge.
â Posted by Brad
* 18. February 29th,
2008
6:41 pm
I just bought a laptop with Vista home edition and upgraded to
Ultimate. This caused so many problems I flattened the hard drive
and put on XP Professional with SP2.
I tried to run SQL Server with Vista and it didn’t work, even with
the patch they had. How can Microsoft expect my company to ever go
to Vista when their own software isn’t compatible.
I had a friend buy me a few copies of XP Pro so I can put them on
computers I buy in the future.
â Posted by Mark
* 19. February 29th,
2008
6:41 pm
Why nobody just buy pirated version? there goes all the whines
puffing off.
â Posted by kenZ
* 20. February 29th,
2008
6:46 pm
Given the reality that M$ and Intel are in a serious legal debacle
over the understated super-BLOAT of Vista and reduced hardware
scam requirements law suit, I recommend they use the Vista boxes
and CD’s to create their own asteroid in space!
Yo Billy G. & Steve chair throwing Balmer…
It’s time to smell the free Google Linux OS coffee!
Oh did I mention Net Gener’s don’t do Micro-Klunk Dos OS’ FAT NTFS
file formats (Must still defrag hard cheap car insurance systems) like…
1980’s-Vista-XP-2000-ME-CE-98-Win 4.0- Yeah actually Win 95- Win
3.1 or the Win-3.0-kill-Lotus-Wordperfect-Novell&
*.*all-competitors with a criminal GNP error producing SDK 3.1
â Posted by Robo-Linux
* 21. February 29th,
2008
6:51 pm
Vista ($89 student upgrade price) installed on my main computer
beautifully - detected everything and never crashes. It does need
an extra 1 GB of memory to do the same thing as Ubuntu Linux also
installed on my computer but… Ubuntu
a. can’t see my RAID volume without endless tweaking and about 10
hours of learning (it now works)
b. can’t see my ATSC USB tuner no matter how much I use it.
c. can’t see my blackberry without tons of fiddling
c. crashes occasionally
d. won’t play DVDs cheap house insurance downloading and more fiddling. (It does
now work, took about 2 hours)
e. doesn’t come with Media Center. I tried MythTV - a nightmare of
configurations and crashes. Ultimately I gave up and just boot
into VISTA for watching TV
f. Comes with OpenOffice which stubbornly refuses to automatically
open email attachments in MAC or PC word format. It’s a great free
Office suite but it is still a pain swapping files with Windows
users via email or USB memory dongles. Plus, I have a legal copy
of Office XP which is also a fantastic office suite which I paid
$100 for 4 years ago I think. Microsoft happily allowed me to
install it again legally since I deleted the original
installation.
Conclusion: MS$ about $225 in software spread over a couple of
years including an extra 1GB of memory (about $25 these days, big
whoop)
Linux: Free but probably I have spent over 20 hours fighting
various problems with hardware. I’m not counting software learning
because of course I had to learn to use Windows over the years.
So it took me 20 hours to get my “free” linux. And it won’t work
with my scanner or my TV tuner or my blackberry.
Linux clearly is handicapped by hardware support which is not
totally linux’s fault. Vista sees all of my hardware and installed
drivers for me. All of it! Even my blackberry! (for charging and
use of memory card) My time is worth $200. I love installing and
fiddling with linux so I was happy to do it but it’s not worth
anything. Linux has to be free - free is exactly what it’s worth.
Now in 5 years that will probably not be the case. And guess what?
You’ll probably have to pay for it. Why wouldn’t you pay for it if
it provides a service?
p.s. this comment was typed in firefox on Ubuntu. Vista is too
slow on older hardware. Of course Ubuntu will not see the built in
webcam on the laptop. Sigh.
â Posted by josh
* 22. February 29th,
2008
6:53 pm
i recently purchased a new notebook with (of course, what option
do you have) vista preloaded. i had heard it was not that good but
was suprised at how bad it is. it freezes so much, im not sure
custom faces playing cards wrong. also, when you click on anything, it often minimises
the page for no reason and when you try to maximise it, it changes
it to something else. its rubbish. im not tech savvy but wish i
was so i could stop lining billy boys pockets. oh, and the new
office is rubbush too. so hard to use and all of the features are
hidden.
MS is in for a shake down.
â Posted by steve-nz
* 23. February 29th,
2008
6:53 pm
Vista is not an operating system, rather, it’s an annoyance. Hate
it!
â Posted by thrasherbetty
* 24. February 29th,
2008
7:08 pm
I paid $200 to remove Vista and replace it with XP on a brand-new
computer. That is how bad Vista is. HP junk-ware had such a
serious conflict with Vista that it destroyed the Vista OS that
came with the computer. I blame both Vista and HP, but with
Microsoft’s monopoly, I can only respond by giving still more
money to Microsoft, and avoiding HP in the future.
â Posted by Tim Dunn
* 25. February 29th,
2008
7:13 pm
I have to disagree about the comment that Vista is somehow
competing with Web services. Everyone has programs unique
to their own systems, be they spreadsheets, games, or their own
photos. The OS is not dead, despite repeated attempts to make it
so. Vista has suffered, rightly or wrongly, from some bad press
about its performance and functionality. Furthermore, Microsoft
failed to make a compelling case why people should pay to upgrade.
One can also fault them for their mistake of so many confusing
versions.
â Posted by Edward Beshore
* 26. February 29th,
2008
7:17 pm
I am not interested in buying Vista. XP works fine.
â Posted by Roy
* 27. February 29th,
2008
7:18 pm
I swear, you all whine soooo much. I have been using Vista 64-Bit
version for about a year now on a nice rig I built. I have had not
one single crash or problem. Beyond the one driver on my HP
printer, which by the way was easy to find a workaround for, I
have had not one device or program not work with it. I put the
driver blame on the hardware manufactures though, not MS. Yes,
Vista is a hardware hog, but that is pretty much known, so buyer
beware. If your machine is low on RAM or processing power, DONT
BUY IT. XP is fine, but in my view, there is not much I can say
about Vista that is bad. Sorry….
â Posted by Duffman
* 28. February 29th,
2008
7:19 pm
well,
buy the OEM version of vista ultimate and, before these price
decreases, it was only $189.
I dont know why you guys cant get vista to operate properly but
its rock solid on my rig. I like the features, it looks slick and
install was a breeze.
raid drivers are included so no hassle with a floppy drive. built
my system, popped in the dvd, and 30 minutes later I was done.
vista 64 bit to boot!
have not encountered 1, not 1, incompatability issue.
i heard there were some bugs, but after the automatic updates
patched them i havent chinese lessons chicago them.
iexplore x64 doesn’t like certain web pages right now, so what,
i’ll just use the 32 bit version until everyone catches up.
most problems with an OS origionate from the end-user in my
experience.
I am not defending M$ by any means. but its a quality product in
my summation.
mabey the machines you people are trying to run it on dont have
the power it requires.
I can see best life insurance argument for that, so, get linux redhat or ubuntu.
vista is about the slickest OS i’ve worked on. there are so many
features.
â Posted by mjw
* 29. February 29th,
2008
7:21 pm
I’d like to know why some of the companies which make pc hardware
won’t cooperate with linux developers who want to write device
drivers. Maybe Microsoft is paying these companies to keep details
hidden in order to slow down the public’s move from MS to Linux.
Certainly MS and the manufacturers have no motivation to let us
know why that is. The only thing I know is that manufacturers are
resisting giving up this info which could only help their sales.
How many people now won’t buy a device unless they know they’ll
find linux drivers? More every day.
â Posted by jay joffe
* 30. February 29th,
2008
7:23 pm
First, to HJB â Your first mistake was coming within 10 feet of
H-P. Read PCWorldâs January 2008 issue and youâll see how
unreliable H-P is. My own experience backs that up with the last
contact from an unresolved issue on Dec. 17, 2007. When PCWorld
asked me if Iâd buy another H-P product, my answer was, âNot
only no, but hell no.â
I agree with everything negative anyone can say about Microsoft.
Vista and Office 2007 are designed for gum-popping teeny-boppers
who have nothing substantive to contribute to the real business
world.
â Posted by George Schwarz
* 31. February 29th,
2008
7:45 pm
I bought a Dell with Vista and have nothing but problems since
Sept. a crash a day. Dell tech support wants to reload Vista,
Vista tells me the problem is McAfee anti spam, it will not run
Adobe. Vista is a ripoff and Dell is not very helpful. We have
three other Dells running XP, no problems.
â Posted by Jim Donatelli
* 32. February 29th,
2008
7:51 pm
If Micro$oft wants me to use Vista…give it to me for free….then
rip me off for the additions that I need….like drivers for my
printer….etc..etc…etc…
Im just waiting form MS to buy out Linux so the monopolization
really kicks in.
Just a thought in passing….why would I spend more money on an
operating system than I paid for my computer???:
I can buy a dual core computer for 35 dollars more than windows
vista ultimate. It has winxp installed. Do I nee anything else?…
HEY BILL>>>>Wake up whole life insurance smell the dirt!!
â Posted by rick
* 33. February 29th,
2008
8:01 pm
XCSkierDude,
All those OS take a huge learning curve to get even a small level
of functionality…When those get more user friendly then let me
know..
â Posted by Ron
* 34. February 29th,
2008
8:16 pm
My new Lenovo laptop came with Vista Home Premium bundled … and
“Lenovo recommends Vista Home Premium” its website told me. Don’t
know why. Could money have something to do with it?
But heck, it was PREMIUM, multiple insurance quotes Vista BASIC. Obviously, I was
getting something that would be an improvement over my old XP,
right?
Wrong.
So now I have two scanners that won’t work properly with Vista
Home premium (thank you Microsoft; thank you, Epson)and whaddya
know, to have the fax capability I had with XP, I would have to
have Vista Ultimate.
Will I ever buy another Microsoft product? Not if I can help it.
Am I alone? No way.
So long, Bill.
â Posted by Walt Gray
* 35. February 29th,
2008
8:16 pm
Microsoft is getting hit … deservedly so … on every corner of
their plate.
In addition to Vista, go check out the level of customer
dissatisfaction with Mac Office 2008. In a nutshell, MS Word and
Excel were both hamstrung and Exchange Server compatibility
problems have languished for another 4 years. About the best thing
that can be said about Office 2008 is that they didn’t seem to
also screw up Powerpoint.
-hh
â Posted by -hh
* 36. February 29th,
2008
8:16 pm
I don’t know why people are so frustrated by vista. Your computer
won’t run the same with a new operating system. This just seems
obvious to me. I think everyone will be just as pissed off when
vista’s successor comes around the corner. Everybody will ask why
it isn’t as easy to use as vista. XP had the same driver issues.
XP had the same software incompatibility. XP saw the need, for
whatever reason, to change the control panel to the point where it
was nothing like the 98/2k version (and most people I know change
it to classic view. Apple dropped support for many OS9 apps when
it introduced OS10. Quit complaining. If you want no headaches,
run XP for the next 3 years.
Vista is here to stay. Open source is looking better and better
all the time. That said, I tried running it on a test machine and
couldn’t even connect it to my network, and I fix computers for a
living. MS is way simpler, way better with drivers (even with
vista’s weirdness) and has way more support.
That home insurance I’m still too cheap to pay 300 bucks for their
software, so I’m happily running a version I got off Bittorrent.
â Posted by PH
* 37. February 29th,
2008
8:19 pm
Here in India I can get a decent assembled (no-brand) PC for about
$400. In addition paying $219 for an operating system is too much.
I am willing to pay a price of $40 for Vista operating system. If
not, pirated XP is better option for me.
Even though I speak for myself, lot of middle class Indians would
agree with me.
â Posted by Prem Kumar
* 38. February 29th,
2008
8:21 pm
WHy don’t you jumbo playing cards at the double-standard smart folks? Apple
charges os x for 130 dollars, prevously 30 dollars less, and now
the same. and I have os x and windows xp, and I have used windows
vista. vista is alright, it does suck, but so does os x. They are
both terrible products, all os x is os 9 with a little nifty menu
bar on the bottom. wow! And apple is not easier to use, it is
stupified. It gives you less control over your operating system
and what you can do. The same options exist for window, to chose
or not to chose. however you have that option. Regardless os x is
a bigger rip off in my eyes.
Every year you have to upgrade, you have to spend more money. so
in reality and by fact windows operating systems which run for an
average of 5 years and for xp probaly 8-10. are much much cheaper.
as you are not forced to upgrade to run the newer programs.
And lastly, everyone is critizing microsoft as being weak for
reducing the price of vista. it’s a smart business move, demand
isn’t as high as it should, reduce the price, you move more
products and make more money. ‘
And for “open source” for all you reguar cool people, that’s geek
talk and geeks are rabid. But regardless, open source is basically
open software that is free and is “improved and fixed” by regular
programmers for free. But you fall into a problem, open source is
free now, and it works. but it isn’t stupifiedy for normal people,
so it’s harder to use. but essential problem is, open source
domniatnio is based upon the assumption that all these programmers
are going to make programs for free. that as the hundres of
millions of sales of office are replaced by open-office, that the
same work-force needed to make that are magically going to do it
for free. works in small numbers, but it won’t in big.
â Posted by mason
* 39. February 29th,
2008
8:32 pm
Operating systems are “old Europe.” Connect me with the Web and
I’m out of here. There is no longer value added with an OS. I
believe Google calls it “cloud computing.” I did not bite the
Vista bullet. Microsoft, like an old soldier, should just fade
away.
â Posted by Dan the Man
* 40. February 29th,
2008
8:37 pm
After using Vista that came with my computer for almost an year I
upgraded to Ubuntu linux. I think linux is a good choice. It can
recognize almost any hardware without much trouble. If linux can
run on your computer I don’t see any reason to upgrade your XP to
Vista. OpenOffice is pretty solid. And if you need some Windows
specific programs you can keep a dual boot linux/Windows or you
can install a Windows virtual machine in linux.
Vista price is too high to justify it. Right now Vista has a huge
marketing problem. Most of the people around me talk how bad is
Vista. Most of them never used it and they don’t plan to use it.
I wish to see more OS choices when you buy a new computer:
Windows/Linux/Free BSD/none.
â Posted by Dan
* 41. February 29th,
2008
8:38 pm
Got vista bundled with my Laptop, struggled with it for almost 2
months and finally replaced it with XP. SOme one tell me, is it
legal to downgrade? I needed to do that as my productivity was
taking a hit.
â Posted by DrTelmed
* 42. February 29th,
2008
8:41 pm
Interesting thing is that the price break brings Vista Premium in
line with OS X Leopard, each of which are $129.
â Posted by Charles
* 43. February 29th,
2008
8:42 pm
I have been using Thunderbird for close to three years now. Its
free, and it is much better than MS Outlook.
â Posted by Jorge
* 44. February 29th,
2008
8:45 pm
Windows is the AOL of operating systems: expensive, proprietary,
crippled and crippling. It’s only a matter of time before Windows
loses its relevance.
â Posted by Henry
* 45. February 29th,
2008
8:48 pm
Please use the operating system’s correct name… ‘Longhorn.’
It restores the correct level of industry contempt that was
largely obscured by the marketing makeover.
â Posted by Hasta la Vista
* 46. February 29th,
2008
8:54 pm
I have six computers I use for work. Two run WinXP and four run
Linux (Redhat & Fedora). Coming from a mostly Windows background,
Linux took a bit to get the hang of. But now I much prefer Linux
over Windows. The two biggest advantages are speed and ease of
maintenance. In Windows, when something isn’t working right, it
can take days or weeks (or never) to figure out what the issue is.
With Linux, first off there are rarely any big issues, full color playing cards when
there is, they can usually be solve via a simple web search. This
can happen because Linux is open source and has a vibrant and
resourceful user base.
Anyway, since seeing what is going on with Vista I decided that if
I ever need to retire my WinXP computers, I’ll replace them with
more Linux systems.
â Posted by MG
* 47. February 29th,
2008
9:03 pm
You guys forgot to mention that Bill needs to continually modify
his software so that it is compatible with fewer and fewer formats
of the companies that he is targeting for his next acquisitions.
Of course, this costs extra. Aren’t you proud to help Bill finance
his takeover of the world?
â Posted by Bob Alexander
* 48. February 29th,
2008
9:05 pm
I’ll keep this simple so as not to confuse the free OS crowd.
Windows PC = Computer that is compatible with just about
everything ie. gaming, multimedia, office apps, web development,
programming etc….
Free O/S PC = typewriter/good programming environment.
Simple enough?
I think that sort of ends the discussion really :)
â Posted by Frosty
* 49. February 29th,
2008
9:08 pm
I decided to buy a laptop this year, partly as a replacement for
my Dell when it succumbs to old age (something that is probably
coming soon; it’s nearly 5 1/2 years old and has been used just
about every day since it arrived) and partly because I wanted to
have a laptop. No way did I want anything with Vista, so I got a
MacBook, running Leopard. I am really getting comfortable with it.
Getting used to Leopard has turned out to be easier than the
adjustments I’ve had to learn to make with the laptop-style
keyboard.
â Posted by BrooklynCalico
* 50. February 29th,
2008
9:09 pm
You couldn’t pay me $1000 to use Vista. A co-worker of mine has it
and half our usual software doesn’t work on Vista so we had to
find ‘replacements’ in order for him to continue working… the
system constantly second-guesses what he’s trying to do and customized playing cards up barriers… I’ve Googled forum discussions for him over and over
to find the fixes for various annoyances, but there’s always
something else coming up. Geez!
â Posted by Lorelei
* 51. February 29th,
2008
9:17 pm
All of the features in Vista do work except it is not called Vista
it is called Leopard by Apple.
â Posted by CPW
* 52. February 29th,
2008
9:19 pm
It’s about time microsoft does something to ease the pain of
lowering Winblows. Look how long winxp has been out and you
are still paying over a $100 for home edition. If more people
would use Linux instead of winblows life would be a lot easier. It
would be in Microsofts best intrest to keep winxp for a very long
time because i feel that it has been the best os since it’s
creation of Windows!!!.
P.S. Linux rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
â Posted by Mike
* 53. February 29th,
2008
9:23 pm
I dont see what all the Vista complaint is. I have 3 copies
running in my house. Basic, Home Prem, and Ultimate. All work
flawlessly. All my Printers work Flawlessly. Even my all in
wonder. I have the same install of Vista Ultimate Running since
the day after official release. I Swear it is faster then the day
i installed it. It fixed security, added features, and updated the
gui. Im sorry Clasic was getting tired and XP theme was dreadful.
You can even default your “settings” to an original format and
still keep the Aero look and feel. As far as XP programs not
running, it was due to shoddy programming by the software amker.
Shoring up the security holes and making kernal mode more secure
like Lunix broke these programs. Any progam worth its salt has
released an update . Dont get me wrong, i still have 2 copies of
XP running 1 2k pro and FreeSpire on a laptop. I will also agree
that it is grossly over priced. $99 i think is fair for a full
version, $40 upgrades. That is Ultimate, Others should be priced
accordingly. I also think Media Center should have been a
purchasable addon for any version, as most will never use it.But a
Bad Operating System? No. Better then XP? Not on the long haul. XP
Still has Long Term Performance issues. Finaly decent support for
64 bit? You bet! I have a Copy of XP 64 rotting on the shelf due
to the lack of support for drivers on that version. Linux Rock
Solid? LOL i think not, im always breaking my install and having
to fix something. Gods forbid you suffer a crash and the system
reboots without a proper shutdown whith a program open. I still
cant get my Azurus working right again! Vista is NOW people. Quit
whining like children, update your box’s and your programs like
you had to do with every other major release Or stick with your
current untill you buy an updated machine that can handle it. You
probably would not benifit from its advanced features anyway
without an upgrade, and if you cant handle going to a website and
getting a patch for your program, hardware installs are beyond
you.
â Posted by Scaldari
* 54. February 29th,
2008
9:34 pm
I have had no problems yet with Vista. I run it on an HP DV9500t
lap top. It is somewhat cozy to know that I must be among the
favored ones; those with no Vista problems, yet. Lets have this
conversation in six months.
Straight8
â Posted by Straight8
* 55. February 29th,
2008
9:35 pm
I get more and more requests from people who have bought a new
computer with Windows Vista preinstalled, and are willing to pay
more to have it downgraded to XP… that’s proof that Vista isn’t
even a worth while OS at $0.00!!
â Posted by IT Tech
* 56. February 29th,
2008
9:36 pm
ugh vista. The worst part of it is trying to buy a new computer
these days… it’s almost impossible to get one with XP… and really,
who needs Vista? It’s such a shallow attempt to steal customers
from the Mac market… Hey Microsoft! Efficiency, flexibility, and
compatibility are more important to me than stupid graphics
effects that I could already get with XP and window blinds!
â full color custom playing cards by Anthony
* 57. February 29th,
2008
9:43 pm
I use 64-bit Vista on custom-built PCs. It’s fine. In fact I like
it better than XP, mainly because of the search features.
Linux isn’t an option for me, because there is just no substitute
for my pro uses of Photoshop, Sony Vegas, and MS Office. I’ve been
looking at alternatives like Gimp, OpenOffice, et al, for the last
10 years, and they’ve always fallen short of those extra features
that make all the difference in my work.
Macs are viable, but unfortunately I’d have paid double or more
for comparable Macs.
I’ve seen so much FUD about Vista in the past year and I
understand some of it, especially if you’re talking about older or
lower-powered machines. But for me, on machines built with Vista’s
requirements in mind (including ensuring driver compatibility),
it’s as stable as every other version of Windows I’ve had since NT
4.0. Applications sometimes crash, but I can’t remember the last
time the OS itself crashed.
â Posted by JoeSchmoeFromIdaho
* 58. February 29th,
2008
9:44 pm
Have you all forgotten? back in the 80’s Microsoft made it
possible for the masses to buy PC’s and use them effectively.
Apple PC’s were around THREE TIMES the price of a Microsoft
operated PC.
The real crook is Apple! they rip off every customer.
The price ALL Apple’s software and PC’s (and other peripherals)
are over priced and totally hands off to anyone who wants to lift
the hood so they can save money.
Linux and Solaris will NEVER replace Microsoft’s products. Stop
biting cheap homeowners insurance hand that feeds you and start supporting it.
â Posted by Siliconweb
* 59. February 29th,
2008
10:06 pm
“To be fair, though, Microsoft is really good in the IT and
developer spacesâlook at the excitement around Windows Server
2008 and Visual Studio 2008 (although itâs rather subdued, since
itâs developers and IT pros who are getting excited) compared to
the blah performance of Vista.”
Ironic, really, since W2K8 shares the exact same kernel as Vista
SP1. But the Vista anti-FUD just keeps on coming…
â Posted by Eric
* 60. February 29th,
2008
10:10 pm
Google is starting to challenge Microsoft at a a very serious
level.
With products such as Google Apps, and not mention Microsoft can’t
compete when it comes to Search, or Advertising.
Google Apps - Microsoft Office Alternative
FREE edition that can be used for up to 100 users
http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/index.htm
⢠No hardware or software to buy, install or maintain, even as
you grow
â¢Â Access from anywhere, even from mobile devices
⢠Quick access to Google’s innnovation, like more efficient ways
to collaborate
â¢Â Improved security and compliance
Biggest Challenge - Modifying your domain’s MX records, but google
walks you thru how to do this step by step.
Good Luck
Chadwick
Conte Media
â Posted by Chadwick
* 61. February 29th,
2008
10:17 pm
Unix mainframes? I think not. Mainframes are 90% IBM these days,
with an even more dominant legacy bass. While IBM will virtualize
Linux and other environments, it uses it’s own proprietary
operating systems.
custom playing cards impression that Unix is a mainframe and business environment
is false. Invented in 1966, Unix came to dominate the so-called
minicomputer market dominated by DEC computing, which replaced
poker shape playing cards own Unix offerings with VMS. DEC is no longer in business,
and the minicomputer market is pretty much gone, given the rise of
the client/server. There, you’ll find mostly MS Windows these
days, with a fairly hefty sprinkling of Linux, which is a
unix-like open source operating system.
Nor is Linux the first open source Linux; BSD is the latest
incantation of open source Unix, which has been around for years.
Now that Linux is evolving into commercial distributions which
largely replaces the formerly arcane and overly technical Linux
community from the user experience perspective.
The most remarkable evolution of Unix is in MAC OS 10.x, which is
based on a combination of BSD Unix and the MACH Kernel, which were
incorporated in NEXT, Steve Jobs avocation when he got the boot
from the company he co-founded. Upon his return to Apple, he
influenced the adoption of the best parts of this OS. Indeed, if
you bring up a command line window in 10.x, you may be surprised
to find you can access many of the famously arcane Unix utilities
in a bash shell.
It is remarkable that the operating system most threatening to
Windows dominance is the unintentional consortium of MAC 10.x and
Linux, both of which are based on an OS first invented more than
40 years ago. The MS strength has from the beginning been in
ensuring that new PC users buy Windows whether they want to or
not. Pricing is not good on MAC, but when compared to the wretched
VISTA imitation, is well worth it. Bill bailed out just in time to
miss the slide.
â Posted by Len Johnson
* 62. February 29th,
2008
10:24 pm
Make it simple. I switched to a mac several years ago and almost
all my problems went away. I can still use all the PC programs I
need, but get the more stable Mac OS system based on Unix.
Everything seems seamless and integrates close to perfect. The
hours I use to spend fixing bugs, updating patches and working
with peripherals are down to minutes.
â Posted by Drew Christenson
* 63. February 29th,
2008
10:26 pm
Is it really that hard to offer 1 version of OS versus 5?
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2068721,00.asp
You buy 1 version then realize it doesn’t have that 1 feature you
need so you are forced to pay again.
Keep it simple. 1 version w/ all the features at $129.
But why even run Windows at all? Not worth it. lol
â Posted by Ron Jon
* 64. February 29th,
2008
10:27 pm
What kills me is the only people that post on any article are
microsoft haters. Microsoft built their empire fair and square.
they started in a competitive market with the best idea if not the
best product. the industry needed the stable standard that MS
gave. had linux, os/2 or any other of the startups had the same
business model they would be the one everyone hated.
They may be a monopoly now, but they are a needed monopoly. the
tech industry can not deal with multiple standards and the average
users cannot deal with multiple operating systems. Linux is great
for a technical user, but granny needs the security blanket of a
MS operating system. If you dont like MS, dont use it, but dont
knock the company for making money. that is the goal of all
companies.
â Posted by Realist
* 65. February 29th,
2008
10:43 pm
Consider the cost of a Microsoft operating system in 1981-1985 —
as a PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL COMPUTER SYSTEM COST. It was less than
2%-3%. As computers became less and less expensive, the operating
system became an increasingly large part of the total price. The
same applies to other software, such as Microsoft Office,
Wordperfect and so forth.
We are now in the era of the capable $500 laptop. The laptop I am
typing on right now is a $700 machine, 3 months old, with a dual
core processor and a 17 inch monitor. It shipped with Windows
Vista Premium.
Simple economics, if nothing else, is changing the software market
forever. My next laptop will probably run Linux. It’s become quite
graphical, stable, sophisticated and user-friendly, with excellent
interoperability.
The Microsoft buggy whip franchise is ending.
â Posted by Ned
* 66. February 29th,
2008
10:54 pm
Those that yell “open source!” and “Linux” are missing a big
point. Businesses like a chain of culpability, and BUYing software
from vendors is a method of having that. Regardless of how good
open source is, businesses always want someone to blame when
things go wrong and to have the warm fuzzy of saying to a vendor
“You made it, I paid for it, it is broken, it is your fault,
therefore you have to fix it!” This is why MS and all for-profit
software vendors will stay alive, even tho free stuff may be great
for the public’s desktops, “FREE” is a tough sell for the
corporate world. Therefore MS must fix or replace Vista with
something else or Google needs to offer true business-class
software with business-class support.
â Posted by Jeff
* 67. February 29th,
2008
11:07 pm
Yeah it is really amzing that folks forget that open source is
glitchy and prone to lockup and continual tweaks and restarts> Not
a pratical OS for the uneducated masses out there. Apple is for
the folks who can be lead around like sheep to slaughter by the
real huckster of this generation Steve Jobs. Name me streetwear clothes Apple
machine out there and the average PC with Vista installed will
stomp it in the ground.
By the way Vista has over 100 million license out there since
2007. Pretty pathetic when you consider Apple announced 10 million
for 2007. Oh and another tidbit for you haters out there. Most
security firms announced Vista as more secure than you guessed it
Leopard. That nitemare, that abomination of an OS Aple put out
last year.
â Posted by Crash
* 68. February 29th,
2008
11:08 pm
That is why I use crack versions of Windows and Office or when I
am pissed of Microsoft I use free office and OS systems like
Linux.
I cannot justify the price which MS charges for their products and
will never buy them from the shelf.
â Posted by Pat Irvin
* 69. February 29th,
2008
11:09 pm
I agree with you 100% Realist…. If Steve Jobs had the main
operating system in PCs, the price of a PC would be about $10,000
and ALL software would have to be manufactured by him.
I sold all my Apple equipment way back in the 80’s (I believe)
when Jobs decided to force you to buy his computers ONLY from one
of his authorized retailers. He effectively eliminated ALL
competition in the retail market. There were NO bargains or price
shopping. He set the price on the equipment and you either bought
it or went to Radio Shack or some other such computer
manufacturer.
Luckily, Microsoft came along and now the WORLD has personal
computers. If it hadn’t have been for Bill Gates and Microsoft,
only a select few would now have computers…. using them to make
more money and keeping you relieved of yours.
â Posted by Tom McCormick
* 70. February 29th,
2008
11:35 pm
There is a few posters here that follow a good train of thought.
Yes companies make money. Wait until Linux has a larger market
share. Anything worth while linux products cost money too.
Vista is a good OS. I have used it from day one. At first I hated
it because none of my xp softwares worked, so I went back to XP.
When software companies finally met the Vista standard I
reinstalled it and everything has been great since. I did upgrade
from 1GB Ram to 4GB Ram. That made all the difference for
over-processing.
I use a lot of software programs that Linux does not offer. Yes
there are linux CAD programs, but they are not that good. Linux
cannot seem to get the driver thing down. I would be using linux
if they could work this. I would at least dual boot with it.
MS is slowly waking up to the reality that their day is coming,
but it is still a ways away. Like a previous post noted, MS is
very good to the IT world and big business. The US Government uses
it. It will be a long time before they are gone. The Military is
like a snail when it comes to change.
MS will open their code up to everyone one of these days. They are
coming to a point where they really have no choice. Once they do
they will continue to rule.
Just my thoughts and opinion. I won’t even start with the real
monopoly; Apple.
â Posted by subcan
* 71. February 29th,
2008
11:41 pm
> they started in a competitive market with the best
>idea if not the best product. the industry needed the
> stable standard that MS gave. had linux, os/2 or any
> other of the startups had the same business model
>they would be the one everyone hated.
This induces giggling and rolleyes amongst anyone who knows about
the history of computer science. Framing linux as a startup
competing in a market with a business model is silly - you’re
entirely missing the side of the development of computers that had
nothing to do with business or making money. Linux and BSD were
developed by communities who care about the long-term potential of
the computer and would share code, knowledge, and research freely.
They want to help the computer develop for the same reasons they
want science to develop. Believe it or not, this machine isn’t
just a whore to be used by business and industry; it’s going to
have a much larger place in the history of humankind than that.
â Posted by Realister
* 72. February 29th,
2008
11:41 pm
Windows is fine. Unix is fine too. Nothing wrong with either. Its
always the user who has to make the desicion to go either windows
or unix. As some one previously noted, windows is much easier to
use and is what most people prefer. Unix might be good and free,
but it just takes ages to get used to and to learn all the
different ways coming from a windows user.
If you hate windows then so be it, dont use it, just leave it.
â Posted by Colin Holmes
* 73. February 29th,
2008
11:42 pm
Whatever MS comes up with next it better be absolutely amazing!
After the complete and total disaster that is heart shape playing cards Gates Co. has
got one more chance. If the next MS OS doesn’t work or serve the
user rather than other’s interests MS is DONE.
â Posted by Dube
* 74. February 29th,
2008
11:44 pm
Today marks the one month mark on my newly built vista computer. I
love it! I haven’t run into any major problems that I couldn’t
attribute to the hardware itself. Granted, this computer isn’t
your $300 Compaq (Eew) from Best Buy, but vista runs perfectly if
your computer can take it. It does require a lot of resources, but
it does run (and well) if you can meet or exceed those
requirements.
Furthermore, I think Vista is actually easier to use. You have to
spend a little bit of time to find things initially, but once you
have, you realize that it’s a lot easier than earlier systems.
I’ve never really been a Mac fan and have, in all honesty, gotten
throughly lost in any one I have tried to use. As for Linux and
any other free O/S’s, I’ve never gotten the chance to try then,
but it sounds like they require patience; something the average
consumer doesn’t have.
â Posted by C.S.Putnam
* 75. February 29th,
2008
11:56 pm
It is a resource hog. The support for drivers
needs to be improved. But not everything is as
bad as it looks. They did improve the system (
I am not talking about the cheerypop GUI). They
added support for lot of new hardware. BTW, if you
are planning on buying new laptops, vista is the
only way (Xp lacks support for lot of new hardware)
â Posted by dude
* 76. March 1st,
2008
12:07 am
As for myself, I feel most operating systems come with way too
much bloat. I’m happy with a word processor called Atlantis, which
does just about all that MS Word will do. Atlantis cost $30, and I
can also send email with it. I don’t save pictures or movies on my
PC, and I have no problems with using Outlook express for emails.
I have a far better personal music system than anything I’ve ever
seen on a computer. For Banking I use Just Checking a soft ware
program that cost me $10, I did shell out for Spyware Doctor with
Anti virus and Regcure has taken care of my registry for several
years. If you want all the whistles and bell, then expect paying
for them. If wanting bare bones, then its available. Personally, I
very much like XP, but Linux…just forget about it. Nothing wrong
with Gates making money, try living without it in our modern
world, just don’t be greedy. Also,I think there are lots of good
posts here.
â Posted by Chevalier
* 77. March 1st,
2008
12:10 am
I don’t understand what all this complaining about. Get a Mac or
Linux. I use Linux…..
â Posted by tony
* 78. March 1st,
2008
12:12 am
I am far from a Microsoft hater. I used and touted Windows and
Office for years and bought almost everything Microsoft made,
including the upgrades. I told myself that was the price to be in
the technology game. Even after I used Apple products at my place
of work, I thought Microsoft is 90% of the market, so I better be
there.
Then my son bought me a Mac. That was two years ago. I still use
Windows PCs, but I’m no longer on the Microsoft merry-go-round. I
have 2 XP desktops, one laptop, and one desktop that uses Windows
98, another stable OS they got rid of too soon. I bought MS Office
for Mac: used it so infrequently, when I upgraded to Leopard, I
uninstalled it. Don’t miss it one bit. And when you add up all the
junk you buy, software and hardware, for Windows PCs, Apple is
actually cheaper.
I’ve never used Vista. I never thought about it when cheap life insurance were
asking $300 for the Ultimate version, which is obviously the only
one to own. I bought a family pack of Leopard, (that’s 5 licenses)
for $179. That would appear to be less expensive than Vista, any
version. My son has a MacBook and an iMac, my other son has an
iBook like me, and my next computer will be a Mac. So while I’m
not saying Apple is for everyone, it has worked for me. And I hope
I don’t have to buy another piece of Microsoft software ever
again. I don’t hate them, but I make it a policy to never buy or
patronize products or companies that don’t care about me. And that
became very clear: Microsoft does not care about its users.
â Posted by Lee Blair
* 79. March 1st,
2008
12:16 am
My first upgrade was from a 486sx @25mhz and no math co-processor
to a 486dx with one. Windows 95 said new hardware found, want to
install it?
Moved from 98 to xp because no longer supported. 1 virus in 9
years. I want to play games, and linux needs to get with it or we
cant get rid of microsoft. Will get an old mac for the web soon,
and keep using windows for true hi-def gaming only.I build
computers for friends, and can blow away any console for the
price. @ gaming……
â Posted indie clothing Keith Coyote
* 80. March 1st,
2008
12:19 am
given you have the proper hardware + the IT development NEEDS,
Vista Ultimate IS good
MS Office 2007 Enterprise IS good
i save hours per day if not days per week due to the added
functions
many people are against anything which is Microsoft
I just feel they have done and are doing a great job
everything has a price, that’s normal
could switch to Apple anytime, but working on a global (which
means always multiple local) basis, PC is what can go on anywhere
everywhere..
hope they keep it up.. and good competition should force them to
do so
(this post is meant for serious business development users, i
understand personal users or geeky for the fun users have very
different needs)
â Posted by Sushil
* 81. March 1st,
2008
12:33 am
Software is not life. There is no good reason that I can see for
this big EXISTENTIAL investment in one OS over another, one
machine over another, or one software product over another. Of
course, get the one you like the best, but get your loyalties in
perspective.
Since 1981 I have used “dedicated word processors,” various PCs
and Macs, and assorted software. In my youth I used 100%
mechanical typewriters with cloth ribbons. I’ve even used pencils.
You know what? They all worked.
â Posted by michael jefferis
* 82. March 1st,
2008
12:35 am
Vista is by far the best operating system out there, as long as
you understand some workarounds. The flip 3D on premium is genius.
â Posted by Jeffrey Henry
* 83. March 1st,
homeowners insurance 12:38 am
You Google supporters want a return to centralized Big Brother
computing. You’re nuts. At least the Linuxistas have a coherent
argument about freedom.
â Posted by Bob Silverton
* 84. March 1st,
2008
12:40 am
It still amazes me that people will put up with Microsoft
products. If you want a barebones but doesn’t break experience,
get Linux. If you want a full on modern computer that doesn’t
break, get a Mac.
â Posted by kboone
* 85. March 1st,
2008
12:48 am
MS Built their empire fair and square? Learn your history, because
that hardly true. They have always used shady business practices
such as purchasing DOS for $50K with an agreement already in place
to license it for much more than that without disclosing such, and
about a hundred other examples. You don’t get fined billions of
dollars for fair business practices.
Also, to the guy who said most mainframes are not UNIX, you may
want to check your information, since one, 90% of Mainframes are
NOT IBM these days (I work with tons of enterprise companies’
mainframes), and two, those that are are generally AIX, which IS a
form of UNIX.
Finally, on topic, I think they are realizing now how bad Vista
is, and that people won’t put up with it. Thats why many
businesses (a large part of MS’s customer base), are already
discussing waiting for the next OS incarnation, rather than even
bothering with Vista and its slew of incompatibilities (try using
it with VPN software). Thats one of the main reasons why I
switched my home PC to Linux, with a Virtual XP environment
running for necessary Windows Apps and an XP dual boot for Gaming.
They should have stuck with improving XP until they got a decent
successor, which Vista is NOT.
â Posted by Steve Duncan
* 86. March 1st,
2008
12:48 am
damn right.
microsoft like all others is into making money.
perfectly put. and it is not wrong to make money.
the rest arent as successful cause they dont have the right
package.. or why else would life insurance be so easily adopted and
become pervasive.
all agreed.
the problem lies at the point.. when the monopoly like MS starts
using its monopolistic power to determine prices.. simple
economics..
thats when it starts pinching the customer..
so instead determine what price you want to pay for a MS OS.. and
give that as a feedback..
that would be useful.
peace.
â Posted by King Checker
* 87. March 1st,
2008
12:49 am
I for one bought the Vista Home Premium Upgrade and quickly
regretted the whole thing. Photoshop CS2 crashed right away, most
of my music would not play (legal at that). Also I was running it
on a Duo Core 2.3GHZ Pentium with 3GB or DDR 667MHZ ram and the
damn thing still ran slow, it was truly a wasted, but then I met
Ubuntu and all problems solved, everything in my PC was detected,
extremely fast all my music worked and it came with tons on
software pre-installed, GIMP(Photoshop substitute), OpenOffice(MS
playing cards substitute), RhythmBox(Music player), FireFox Web Browser,
Evolution (MS Outlook substitute) and all sorts of other
applications all free of charge.
I use it now for work and home, my kids & wife love it too, they
got it on each of their Dell PCs and Laptop. So that last post
about that guy with his Myth TV clearly has no clue what he is
talking about, could have been an MS troll in disguised, but stay
strong Ubuntu/Linux is the future, hell they just joined IBM for
Database and office productivity software inclusion coming this
summer, very promising. But one thing is lacking which is mobile
device support, but that’s custom poker cards soon http://www.ubuntu.com get
the facts!
â Posted by reya276
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Google responded to a Bits post that challenged its view that Internet
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* Google Says I.P. Addresses Arenât Personal
Microsoft President on Micro-Hoo: We Can Do It
Kevin Johnson said the challenges of integrating Microsoft and Yahoo
are not insurmountable if the two companies do indeed merge.
The Browser Choices We Make
Firefox hit a milestone of 500 million downloads and it claims 17
percent of the Web browser market.
Google Health Begins Its Preseason at Cleveland Clinic
Googleâs technology for personal health records is getting a big
endorsement from the Cleveland Clinic.
Recent Posts
* February 29
9 comments
Judge Says Wikileaks Site Can Have Its Web Address Back
At a hearing, the judge appeared at times visibly frustrated that
technology might have outrun the law and that, as a result, the
court might not be able to rein in information disclosed online.
* February 29
3 comments
Will iPhone Developers Need Apple’s Blessings?
A report says that Apple will require all independent applications
for the iPhone to be loaded through its iTunes software. That
gives Apple both a cut of software sales, and the ability to
prevent applications from challenging its business and those of
its carrier partners.
* February 29
87 comments
Vistaâs Price Falls; How Long Before Yahooâs Price Rises?
By cutting as much as $80 from the price of Windows Vista,
Microsoft is confronting the fact that people are simply not
willing to pay much for software in an age when so much can be
done free online. Its other response: buy Yahoo so it can expand
its own free, ad-supported services.
* February 29
14 comments
The Gold Mine in Ads That Arenât on Google Health
The new Google Health service doesn’t (yet) have any advertising.
Google still stands to make a lot of money from drug company ads
on searches that the service will spawn.
* February 28
35 comments
More Twists and Turns in Wikileaks Case
For the first time since the Wikileaks.org domain name was turned
off in a dispute with a Swiss bank, the site’s owner, John
Shipton, has been heard from. Through lawyers, he filed court
papers Thursday in advance of a hearing scheduled for Friday in
San Francisco.
Comments of the Moment
“As a member of the Google Health Advisory Council, I advocated
for ease of use for patients and for the development of trusted
sources of information for health searches. Call me crazy but
Google is doing a good thing for patients and they should be
applauded before you launch the knee jerk reactions”
— Gregory C. SimonThe Gold Mine in Ads That Arenât on Google Health
“A Swiss bank having an issue with an Australian cheap auto insurance residing
in Kenya with a domain that happens to be hosted in the USA? As I
wrote, it raises interesting questions of legal jurisdiction,
rights, responsibilities, liabilities and ownership with regards
to the internet and the contents stored/transported/displayed
within its borderless framework.”
— CarlMore Twists and Turns in Wikileaks Case
“Namecalling is all you have left when you lose a fundamental
argument and refuse to admit you are wrong. We at MercExchange are
not patent trolls. We had three revenue-generating auction Web
sites and 45 employees when our patented technology was infringed.
We had to lay off nearly everyone to focus our fight on the
infringer. ”
— Michael R. CaputoEBay Settles Its Patent Dispute
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About Bits
Bits offers news and analysis on the technology industry throughout
the day with posts about the inventors and dealmakers trying to master
and profit from the digital age. We cover start-ups, giant
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