Posted on 08/15/2011 6:06:08 AM PDT by ShadowAce
It seems Matt Rosoff is having a little bit of snark over Microsoft apparently disregarding Linux as a threat to its desktop business.
The schadenfreude stems from a tweet from Wes Miller, Research VP at Directions on Microsoft, which points out that Microsoft's boilerplate from its last two annual SEC filings has some interesting revisions, as seen here.
Predictably, Rosoff pours salt on the wound by off-handedly cackling about Jim Zemlin's comments earlier this year that taking on Microsoft would be like "kicking a puppy."
To be fair, Rosoff did a little digging in the same SEC filings and discovered that Linux was still present in the documents, most notably as competition in the server and embedded spaces.
First off, let's be clear: in the passage Miller and Rosoff gleefully cite, Google is still mentioned as competition on the desktop. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Google's desktop offering ChromeOS actually Linux?
Why yes, yes it is.
So, while Microsoft seems to be sweeping the Linux problem under the rug, anyone with half a brain can see that Linux is still a threat here, if not in actual name.
I would be dishonest if I were to suggest that at this time ChromeOS has significant market share against Windows. Frankly, no operating system does. But Linux is still in Microsoft's radar, never fear.
And I wonder what Microsoft's mobile section of its SEC filings will say in the face of yesterday's news that Windows Phone 7 2Q sales are so bad they've slipped below that of Samsung's in-house platform Bada? Bada, ladies and gentlemen, Bada is selling better at 1.9 percent than Windows Phone 7's 1.6 percent, with Android sitting on top for the same quarter at 43.4 percent.
Gee, that's awfully bad news, considering that "IBM engineer Mark Dean, who was on the team that built the first IBM PC, says the PC era is basically over." I would point these stories out to Rosoff, but it seems he actually wrote the stories to which I just linked.
Let me see if I have got this straight: Linux, according to Microsoft, has lost on the desktop, even though one of its cited competitors uses Linux. Meanwhile, a lot of smart people (besides just Dean) are pointing at mobile (tablets and smartphones) as the Next Platform, and right now Windows' mobile offering can't get mobile traction to save its life, while a Linux-based OS is kicking butt and taking names on smartphones and isn't doing too bad on tablets.
Boy, I'm so glad Rosoff is here to point such things out to me. Otherwise I might actually be worried.
M-$oft regards Linux like Ron Paul regards Iran. Hmmmm....
for linux to be competitive it would need an a display as attractive and convenient as ms.
But the desktop pager in Linux automatically makes it head and shoulders above Windows in terms of convenience and usability.
I’m running Ubuntu Linux. It looks fine and works fine but what it needs is a few more apps like TurboTax (imo).
That is the one app (I use TaxCut) that I wish would get a Linux version.
Linux livecds make great rescue disks. Other than that it is nothing but beta software that will take many hours of frustration to tweak just right. Even then there’s still going to be numerous bugs.
I’ve found the same thing with Windows.
1999 will be the year of Linux on the desktop! No, 2000! No, I really mean 2001! No, make that 2002! I really mean it in 2003... LOL
Linux is a hobbyist platform for script kiddies and wannabees. It is not a serious operating system.
I’d love to ditch Windows, but it’s much more stable than the recent distributions of Linux I’ve tried. I just booted up on Linux this morning and found another bug.
That's how Ron Paul sees Iran. :)
However, in case you are serious, Linux runs in more Fortune 500 companies than Windows. CERN runs it for the LHC. JPL runs it. The army runs it. Argonne runs it. Sandia runs it.
None of those even consider running Windows for their real work. It is consigned to the desktop, where its damage can be contained.
Had to go back to a real OS to get anything accomplished.
It sounds like this article agrees with Microsoft. The threat to the desktop isn’t another competitor on the desktop it’s that the desktop market is going away.
With devics and cloud taking precedence...who has the desktop doesnt’ really matter any longer. For linux crowd to get all up in arms about this is silly and they too have the wrong target in their sites. For so many years they’ve been trying to take on windows they have lost their compass.
Kind of like a horseshoe company trying to take on Ford Motor.
For a real eye-opener; download the FREE Knoppix boot imgae, burn it, and boot off it.
Every driver, every windows function, plus office and a host of applications - all on a single DVD.
And, did I mention it’s free?
There is a web-based version of TurboTax that can run on any platform (if you're ok with having your personal information stored on a server)
Linux starts with the letter L.
Loser starts with the letter L.
COINCIDENCE?????????????
Possibly. I don't believe that yet because too many people want a larger screen than your phone will/can provide. Not to mention the keyboard functionality. I'll keep my laptop, and relegate my phone to actually being a phone.
As far as tablets, we'll have to wait and see. They're still a niche product. I can see them replacing the laptop, if done properly.
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