[It's also about Linux. Watch that last paragraph.]
The low-cost laptop offer Microsoft can't refuse
,----[ Quote ]
| Industry analyst Roger Kay, founder and president of Endpoint Technologies
| Associates, agreed that the cost of licensing Windows Vista will prevent
| Atom-based PCs from reaching Intel's target price of $199 to $250. "Given the
| cost of the Windows license, which hasn't decreased anything like the rate
| that hardware has ... that makes for a greater incentive for customers and
| [PC makers] to look for an alternative," he said, calling Linux the best
| option. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| ^^^^^^
| If Microsoft makes an exception to its plans and offers Windows XP licenses
| for low-cost computers in the U.S. and other developed countries after June
| 30, the software maker may not have to worry about eroding sales of Vista.
| Intel is working hard to segment low-cost laptops and mainstream laptops to
| prevent any overlap in sales.
|
| To do this, Intel has set guidelines for low-cost laptops based on Atom,
| restricting the features they offer. For example, Intel has told hardware
| makers they can only use the chips in laptops with smaller screens,
| preventing vendors from producing a 14-inch laptop based on the Atom. The
| goal is to protect the mainstream laptop segment for more powerful and costly
| processors, like the Core 2 Duo, while catering to consumer demand for
| smaller, inexpensive laptops that complement -- but do not replace -- their
| main computers.
`----
http://www.itworld.com/Comp/1290/low-cost-laptop-080331/
So, Intel engaged in corruption to derail AMD and it believes it can now use
pieces of paper to tell manufacturers how to build their PCs (monopoly =
control). This gives more room for collusion and more kickbacks.
Another new one from Microsoft-sponsored [P|G]artner:
Gartner: Chip Industry in 'Indefinite' Slowdown
,----[ Quote ]
| Obviously, it's better than negative growth, but from a historic
| semiconductor view, it's not strong growth," Gordon told Computerworld.
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,143990-pg,1/article.html
Watch the links below. Poor Intel and Microsoft 'need' to meet targets... by
screwing customers and breaking the law.
Recent:
Vista Capable plaintiffs subpoena PC titans
,----[ Quote ]
| Other notable names on the list include Intel and former Windows chief Jim
| Allchin.
`----
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/135018.asp
Microsoft tries to stop more ‘Vista-capable’ e-mails from going public
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is trying to put the kibosh on more of its internal (and
| embarassing) e-mail messages around its Vista marketing plans going public.
|
| [...]
|
| With every version of Windows, Microsoft has worked with hardware partners to
| find new ways to try to convince users they need more and more powerful
| machines to take advantage of more feature-rich software. If Microsoft and
| its partners were/are successful, it means more money in the PC makers’ and
| Microsoft’s coffers. With Vista, this pact really back-fired, as the already
| published e-mails around Vista-capable — and more, as-yet-unpublicized
| messages — will make evident.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1254
Microsoft challenges 'Vista Capable' class action
,----[ Quote ]
| If granted, the motion would also postpone any new disclosures of potentially
| embarrassing company e-mails.
`----
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9067400
They Criticized Vista. And They Should Know.
,----[ Quote ]
| Act 1: In 2005, Microsoft plans to say that only PCs that are properly
| equipped to handle the heavy graphics demands of Vista are “Vista Ready.”
|
| Act 2: In early 2006, Microsoft decides to drop the graphics-related hardware
| requirement in order to avoid hurting Windows XP sales on low-end machines
| while Vista is readied. (A customer could reasonably conclude that Microsoft
| is saying, Buy Now, Upgrade Later.) A semantic adjustment is made: Instead of
| saying that a PC is “Vista Ready,” which might convey the idea that, well, it
| is ready to run Vista, a PC will be described as “Vista Capable,” which
| supposedly signals that no promises are made about which version of Vista
| will actually work.
|
| The decision to drop the original hardware requirements is accompanied by
| considerable internal protest. The minimum hardware configuration was set so
| low that “even a piece of junk will qualify,” Anantha Kancherla, a Microsoft
| program manager, said in an internal e-mail message among those recently
| unsealed, adding, “It will be a complete tragedy if we allowed it.”
|
| Act 3: In 2007, Vista is released in multiple versions, including “Home
| Basic,” which lacks Vista’s distinctive graphics. This placed Microsoft’s
| partners in an embarrassing position. Dell, which gave Microsoft a postmortem
| report that was also included among court documents, dryly
| remarked: “Customers did not understand what ‘Capable’ meant and expected
| more than could/would be delivered.”
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business/09digi.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin
Microsoft knew of Vista shortcoming prior to release
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsoft-knew-vista-shortcoming-prior/story.aspx?guid=%7B75BE59C7%2DEFA1%2D48B5%2DB4A4%2D90F5E01A52A0%7D&siteid=yhoof
Microsoft dropped Vista hardware spec to raise Intel profits
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/03/01/microsoft_intel_vista_capable_emails/
Microsoft 'Caves' To Intel
http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/28/microsoft-vista-intel-tech-ebiz-cx_wt_0228vista.html?partner=yahootix
Has Vista lost all credibility?
http://apcmag.com/8344/has_vista_lost_all_credibility
E-mail: Microsoft 'botched' dealings with Intel, HP
,----[ Quote ]
| Internal Microsoft e-mails revealed through a federal class-action lawsuit
| arising from the troubled launch last year of the Windows Vista operating
| system have provided a provocative inside look at the software giant's
| machinations with Intel, HP and Dell.
|
| The e-mails include an exchange in which one senior Microsoft executive
| described dealings with computer makers as "really botched." Another manager
| complained Microsoft was "caving to Intel" and "really burning HP."
|
| The e-mails are included in 145 pages of documents unsealed by U.S. District
| Judge Marsha Pechman in Seattle late Wednesday. They include internal
| reports and some handwritten notes that offer a rare look inside at the
| famed "Wintel" partnership, and touch upon the alliance's dealings with
| Hewlett-Packard, Dell and other computer makers.
`----
http://origin.mercurynews.com/businessheadlines/ci_8417811?nclick_check=1
|
|