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Posted in Deception, FUD, GNU/Linux, Hardware, Microsoft, Windows at 10:05 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: What do leaked antitrust documents teach us about the orchestration of competition assassins (Microsoft calls them “taskforces”)?
Remember when Microsoft commissioned a group of people to pressure Wal-Mart to take GNU/Linux off the shelves? Well, it worked, despite the fact that GNU/Linux was selling very well. Those who never saw this internal correspondence from Microsoft most certainly should.
=> when Microsoft commissioned a group of people to pressure Wal-Mart to take GNU/Linux off the shelves
The same thing appears to be happening at the moment in Microsoft’s war on GNU/Linux-powered sub-notebooks.
At an earlier stage, Microsoft used its friends from NPD and right now they are using ASUS to scare vendors who are stocking GNU/Linux. This also intimidates potential buyers.
=> Microsoft used its friends from NPD | they are using ASUS to scare vendors who are stocking GNU/Linux
According to this new article, Microsoft is very likely behind these latest developments.
The very next day, Asus’ chairman, Jonney Shih, after sharing a news conference stage with Microsoft corporate VP, OEM Division, Steven Guggenheimer, apologized for the Android Eee PC being shown.Shih said, “Frankly speaking … I would like to apologize that, if you look at Asus booth, we’ve decided not to display this product. I think you may have seen the devices on Qualcomm’s booth but actually, I think this is a company decision so far we would not like to show this device. That’s what I can tell you so far. I would like to apologize for that.”What the heck does he have to apology for? This wasn’t some put-together at the last minute skunk-works project that never should have been seen by the public eye. This was a system that, from all reports, could have gone into production immediately.The only thing I can think of is that Asus doesn’t want to tick off Microsoft. Microsoft has been losing money by almost giving away Windows XP Home to netbook vendors. The Evil Empire wants to make that up this year by forcing netbook customers into buying over-priced, under-powered Windows 7. But, if customers get a chance to buy Linux-powered netbook for a good deal less than Windows 7 netbooks, Microsoft is scared that they’ll lose the netbook market.If this was an isolated incident, I might not make so much of it. But, it wasn’t.On the other side of the world, PC World, Britain’s self-professed largest specialist chain of computing superstores, announced that, regardless of what was coming with Linux netbooks, it would only be selling Windows netbooks. [...]Microsoft, frightened by the sudden rise of new Linux netbooks, is doing it best to make sure that neither you, nor anyone else, get a chance to even see one, never mind buy one.It’s typical Microsoft strong arm tactics. Microsoft doesn’t dare compete on quality, so it pressures OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and retailers to keep people from even realizing that there are other, never-mind better, choices.
How much money has Microsoft spent (e.g. on kickbacks) in order to push GNU/Linux out of the market? Its people were not even successful. Microsoft reported a sharp decline in earnings and cited sub-notebooks as a reason. As Fewa put it a few hours ago, “a company can provide all the incentives it wants, they just can’t be based on the boycott of opposing products or tying.”
=> kickbacks | reported a sharp decline in earnings and cited sub-notebooks as a reason
Acer, unlike ASUS, has not yet been "closely tied up with Microsoft," so it will deliver sub-notebooks with Android on them. This is also covered in the following articles that contain interesting details which we highlight:
=> "closely tied up with Microsoft," | ↺ it will deliver sub-notebooks with Android on them
i. Acer to make first-ever Android netbooks
=> ↺ Acer to make first-ever Android netbooks
Acer at Computex today said it would be the first to produce netbooks using Google’s Android platform. Company IT product president Jim Wong expects the systems to appear in the summer and that the Linux-based systems will still use Intel Atom processors. He didn’t provide prices, though the Android netbooks should be less expensive than Windows versions as Google doesn’t charge for licenses where Microsoft asks for $15 for each copy of Windows XP. [...]Acer’s decision is a blow to Microsoft, which has managed to achieve a near-monopoly of the netbook market by consciously selling Windows below cost to reduce most of the price advantage that had led Acer, ASUS and others to choose Linux in the first place.
ii. Acer to make first-ever Android netbooks
=> ↺ Acer to make first-ever Android netbooks
The Google Android OS is coming to the Acer Aspire ONE netbook, and sooner than you might imagine. As a happy ONE owner myself, and a keen observer of all things Android, the news that it could be as soon as Q3 this year really pleases me.
Microsoft is using its pressure tactics (extortion, blackmail, etc.) to not only exclude GNU/Linux from OEMs and shops but from chipmakers too. We previously wrote about the relationship between Intel and Microsoft in:
Bill Gates: “Where Are We on This Jihad?” (Against Linux at Intel)Microsoft on Intel’s Anti-Linux: “Please Keep Confidential. This is a Nightmare”Bill Gates on Linux@Intel: “This Huge Driver Group Scares Me.”Steve Ballmer: “We cannot let intel do chip design on Linux ever”
Watch what this analysts group had to say about Intel and Microsoft:
=> ↺ this analysts group had to say about Intel and Microsoft
For over 20 years, Microsoft and Intel have partnered to grow the PC industry. Now, Intel is launching a netbook that will use the Linux operating system and not Microsoft. Could it be the economy and the need for more revenue? Or could it be such a huge revenue opportunity for Intel that they can not let the high price of an operating system slow them down?
What will Microsoft do next? Apart from ruining sub-notebooks as a whole by shutting GNU/Linux out, then elevating their prices and providing crippled versions of an operating system too heavy for the form factor? █
=> too heavy for the form factor
More about Intel and Microsoft:
Microsoft Accused of Profiteering ($1.5 Billion) from Crime with IntelA Gradual Fall of W|Intel… Thanks to OLPC?A Federal Court Judge Might Force Microsoft to Pay Up Money It Hardly HasMicrosoft Accused of Profiteering ($1.5 Billion) from Crime with IntelWilliam Poole of NComputing (Formerly Microsoft) Blamed in the Big CollusionMight Steve Ballmer be Deposed for Collusion After All?The Return of Vista Collusions: Will Ballmer be Deposed Soon?Eye on Microsoft: Intel Collaborations, Dumping, and Search ReduxThe Collusion/Collaboration Club Strikes AgainSpikeSource is Not Open SourceIt’s Not Innovation, It’s CollusionDo Intel and Microsoft Use SpikeSource to Fight GNU/Linux?Korea Offers a Glimpse Into Intel’s Serious CrimesWhat We Can Learn About Novell from Intel-Microsoft-Dell-Hewlett-Packard Collusions
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