Linux Format forums

GMorgan · Posted: Sun May 21, 2006 4:12 pm Post subject:

What about that fact they have 1 middle manager for every 3 coders. Theres such a huge turnover there of staff with the devs being blamed for everything that they will struggle to get anyone talented to work for them. Given a choice between working for IBM or Sun and Microsoft who do you pick knowing that every bad middle management decision will be blamed on you at MS.

The thing that will kill MS in the end IMHO is a push towards open standards. With governments falling into the ODF line left, right and center then there are 2 posibilities for MS.

1. They refuse to accept ODF in which case there will be a reduced usage of MSO with those that do using the plugin to get ODF.

2. They support ODF in which case its a simple matter to switch from one program to another. The main reason people use MSO is that files are .doc .xls etc. When this goes more people will use something else.

Hello · LXF regular Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:51 pm Posts: 249

I reckon MS do still have a few years in them but when OEM`s start shipping with Linux there market share will probably fall quite a lot

TheDoctor · LXF regular Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:02 pm Posts: 325

shifty_ben · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 1:18 am Post subject:

Yup I remember reading somewhere about their contracts forbidding the OEMs from shipping with Realplayer and the like, let alone a non MS OS Wink

The way the contracts are likely to work out in future is the only OEMs that will ship with Linux will be the OEMs not shipping Windows. With any luck though MS will get called on these tactics again, or the OEMs will revolt against them Very Happy

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GMorgan · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 1:24 am Post subject:

I was thinking about the whole OEM license the other day. Would it not be possible to split a small section off say Dell and have them release Linux PC's as a totally different company. Thereby the OEM license is not broken. Anyway if the worlds largest PC manufacturer says we're going to ship Linux can MS really afford to tell them you can't have cheap Windows then. If Dell start selling Windows PC's with non-OEM licenses then their prices are going to go up while the hardy Linux box with security and stuff becomes really cheap and function complete (they could even go as far as shipping Debian and doing their own support.)

Dell have a big reputation and even if a conflict with MS would harm them it would likely do as much damage to MS. This way the M.A.D. means that they could get away with pretty much whatever they want on a small scale and by the time it gets big...

I think MS will still make a big profit on this OS. I think it could be the one that signals the begining of the end though. Whether the switch will be to Linux, Mac or another is still in debate though.

To be honest I'm actually glad Apple have started shipping on x86. My next machine (admittedly a long way off) might be an Apple just to make a statement of intent. I could always put Linux on it later and then it would be indistinguishable from a normal x86.

shifty_ben · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 1:31 am Post subject:

I think the beginning of the end started with XP, but thats just my opinion I guess. The thought occurred to me as well that technically Dell (or others) stand to gain quite a lot from selling with Linux preloaded. Lets say that with the windows boxes the box goes for 300 quid and windows is 59 on top of that, making the sale price 359. Take the same box at 300 and whack linux on, depending on which distro they use this could be free. However they could bump the price of the box up by up to 20 quid and people would probably not notice. The price increase would be on the box not the software so no GPL violation there, although IANAL.

The best way is and always has been to build your own Very Happy

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jjmac · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 4:09 am Post subject:

Just on the "activation" issue. Wouldn't there be a registry key somewhere that stores that. Maybe if you export the various branches to seperate files you might be able to replace or restore that record in the new build. Not the easiest way to go about things i know, but a possible option if everything else turns out to be stacked against you.

jm
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M0PHP · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 8:34 am Post subject:

I remember some time last year reading that Dell had a Linux option that was more expensive than the same-specification Windows PC Rolling Eyes

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nelz · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 9:16 am Post subject:

The GPL doesn't stop you charging for the software.
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nelz · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 9:18 am Post subject:

GMorgan · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 3:16 pm Post subject:

While I appreiciate that you can run Linux on PPC machines I think its fair to say the majority of distributions have a x86 option while a lot won't have PPC options. Just a matter of practicality.

nelz · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 4:32 pm Post subject:

Mandriva, Gentoo, (K)Ubuntu and SUSE all have PPC options. We've moved on from the situation of a couple of years ago when the choices were Yellow Dog or Yellow Dog.
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wyliecoyoteuk · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 6:37 pm Post subject:

Time UK are selling a box with Linux preinstalled, XP home costs £40 extra.
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TheDoctor · LXF regular Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:02 pm Posts: 325