Microsoft at "most vulnerable moment" in its history
<a href='http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4516269.stm' target='_blank'>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4516269.stm</a>
From the article: "Already Microsoft is spending 30% to 35% of its research and development budget on security issues, [Gates] says. His promise: Longhorn, the next version of the Windows operating system, will make malicious software (malware) that gets onto computers without the users' knowledge 'a thing of the past'."
I'll betcha my sig to your sig for one month that:
A) Malware will indeed infect Longhorn
B) Longhorn will be riddled with scary DRM bs, most noteably Longhorn Media Player which can apparently fingerprint music you listen to and identify if it thinks you're engaging in copyright infringement and report you.
C) Longhorn will be missing MANY of it's early promises and probably release very late in 2006.
D) Longhorn will be just as hacker friendly as XP, as Microsoft's ghastly "next generation computing base" will NOT be included in Longhorn
My fundamental two points are as follows....
1) Bill Gates saw software as the future at a time when hardware was king. This is really where his loads of cash come from. He was the first to push real serious software. However, software has matured and has enough developers worldwide that I think the balance is back in hardware's favor. Linux completely undermines the software is king notion and Microsoft's buisness model. An example of Hardware is king in action....
You can get a brand new Xandros Linux desktop from Wal-Mart for $200. That includes Crossover Office which runs most major Windows based programs beautifully. The cheapest new Windows PC I've ever seen was $350, and slower.
2) Yea, there's that whole monopoly hurts innovation, market prices, the free market, etc.
