Home Messages Index
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Author IndexDate IndexThread Index

Re: Internet Explorer - The Long Read Ahead

  • Subject: Re: Internet Explorer - The Long Read Ahead
  • From: "Rex Ballard" <rex.ballard@xxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: 27 Aug 2006 21:43:53 -0700
  • Complaints-to: groups-abuse@google.com
  • In-reply-to: <pan.2006.08.27.20.08.30.141153@lazyeyez.net>
  • Injection-info: 75g2000cwc.googlegroups.com; posting-host=202.62.94.8; posting-account=W7I-5gwAAACdjXtgBZS0v1SA93ztSMgH
  • Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy
  • Organization: http://groups.google.com
  • References: <8574608.HuDzbYdeOI@schestowitz.com> <pan.2006.08.27.20.08.30.141153@lazyeyez.net>
  • User-agent: G2/0.2
  • Xref: news.mcc.ac.uk comp.os.linux.advocacy:1145986
alt wrote:
> On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 20:44:12 +0100, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> > ,----[ Quote ]
> > | Release Candidate (RC1) of Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP was rolled
> > | out today and so of course I ran right out, downloaded and installed it.
> > | Big mistake.

> > The author got the terminology wrong. In MS terminology, RC="Alpha" and
> > goldmaster="Beta". Service Pack is "RC1".

A legitimate point.  Of course, Microsoft has been touting this as the
ultimate solution to the "Firefox Problem" for quite a while now, one
would expect them to want to really knock people's socks off.

> Don't be so hard on Microsoft. When your release philosophy is "good
> enough", then sure, it looks like what you describe.

Microsoft knows that there have been over 200 million downloads of the
latest version of Firefox, that many corporations now offer a "blessed"
version of Firefox, and that these downloads are just the tip of the
iceberg.

They have been frantic to come out with a response that offers the
features of FireFox, yet lets them keep their monopoly control and
back-door access to any PC anywhere in the world.

They are losing the battle and they know it, and a really bad RC1 does
not help the situation.

Microsoft has also watched how the popularity of Open Office has
followed the adoption of FireFox, often even in an "official" manner.
Many companies are now offering OO and even offering corporate
stationary, logos, templates, and wizards for OO or ODF supporting
applications.

Open Source is a bigger threat to Microsoft revenues than Linux itself.
 The OEMs are likely to continue to pay reasonable amounts for Windows
or Vista, as long as it doesn't adversely affect their market to
preinstall it.  But if users know that they are going to use Open
Office instead of Microsoft Office, then this cuts directly into
Microsoft's largest single source of revenue.  It minimum, Microsoft
would have to lower their prices and improve their offerings, such as
offering Office Professional (with Visio and Access/SQL) for under
$100.  And this is just to retain their current volumes.

The other alternative, increasing the prices they charge to corporate
customers for the Windows/Office support package, could drive
corporates to switch to Linux completely.

The market may overrule the courts and impose sanctions that make those
divestature orders initially offered by the DOJ seem incredibly
generous.

Linux/OSS appears ready to undercut Microsoft on all fronts
concurrently.
And Microsoft cannot use it's usual tools to prevent this.


[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Author IndexDate IndexThread Index