Posts by Tyrion

Whitehall and Microsoft negotiate NHS Windows XP hacker survival plan

Re: Real life example

>> Some web based applications will work using compatibility mode but others will not, there are problems with getting some NHS wide applications with Win7 64bit as well.

This is everything that's wrong with government right there. Designing webapps for IE negates the whole benefit of doing them in the first place, which is platform independence. Your webapps don't even work across different versions of IE. If the developers had written against the W3C standards, they could just use a different browser.

The whole Micro$haft obsession in UK government makes my blood boil.

Re: When some knob tells you using Linux in an enterprise is too risky

>> What is the example? This seems to me to show that proprietary software was a great choice.

It isn't being supported any more, that's the exact reason the british taxpayer is having to pay Micro$oft additional patch support charges. It's called proprietary lock in for a reason, and Micro$oft loves it.

>>as it is still working and being used and supported after 13 years!

And by working, you mean it's full of exploits, security holes, and malware, sure.

>>No similar aged enterprise Linux OS is still supported.

Any organisation with any sense wouldn't be running Windoze software to begin with. Nor would it be running a decade old XP. But that's probably down to the fact that upgrading Micro$haft software is so costly and time consuming. All those NHS PC's would have to be replaced for a start.

If they were running GNU/Linux, those existing PC's wouldn't need to be replaced. And they should be upgraded to stable versions on a regular basis using a rolling release policy. And with a centralised package management, all the software is upgraded, unlike on Windows, where most of the software is outdated and acts as vectors for malware infection.

Re: When some knob tells you using Linux in an enterprise is too risky

>> If the NHS had adopted open source instead of XP, it like many very large enterprises still be using the same version of Linux and applications today, albeit with a few patches, as it installed back in 2004.

Then that would be the fault of their IT departments. Because unlike Microsoft platforms, GNU/Linux has a centralised package management, which means the whole system, including all the applications can be upgraded all at once.

And if they adopted a rolling release policy like many Linux distros, all the software, including the OS would be the latest stable version instead of being decade old, exploit ridden, and malware infected like their installations of XP.

Re: When some knob tells you using Linux in an enterprise is too risky

>> Point them to this. A perfect example why propriety technology is too risky.

And notice how the cost assessments of continuing to use Windoze and other Micro$haft software over switching to Linux never includes things like this or the recent malware infections.

>> In short- Move to web apps? You're having a giraffe.

The idea is that if the apps are properly standardised in accordance with the WWC, it won't matter what platform the browser is running on. That would eliminate all headaches about rewriting apps for Linux or OS X etc. And even the client could be made thin and barebones. Unlike running Windows 7/8 which requires a beefy machine just to boot and run the OS.

>> The one app still giving us grief is a WEB app... PACS. Used for viewing X-rays. It has a version checking script in it that asserts if you're using a browser with a version number higher than 9, you can't run it. The vendor has "previous" for this - they had the same issue when IE8 came out, then IE9... We've worked round it by hacking it but the point is we shouldn't have to.

That's your problem right there. You're running IE. It's a non-standardised mess, and was designed that way by Micro$haft in order to make sure sites wouldn't work with competing browsers. You lose the benefit of using webapps, which is platform independence, if they're written against IE.

>> Any one else have this experience? Seems like this is money for nothing if this is normal practise.

Yes I've seen this first hand. It's all about being able to report higher up the chain that you've covered your bases, or enough at least that it appears so. The truth is quite different, as evidenced by the recent malware infections in NHS systems.

XP, and other M$ software are accidents waiting to happen. There's so many zero day exploits targeting Windows, IE etc, that no patching by M$ will make a ha'penny of a difference. And as you point out, every other piece of software on a Windows OS is a potential vector for attack because there's no centralised package management and no automatic updates.

I wouldn't care if not for the fact that it's my money they're wasting on buying costly, proprietary, and non-standard software, from a company renown for milking the enterprise

and governments.

ROI

You'll never hear of these costs or that of malware included in ROI figures when it comes time to tender offers for replacement systems. These maladies are conveniently omitted in order to make maintaining the status quo more appealing. It's not just the extra support payments that's going to cost the taxpayer either. It's the upgrade cycle, which will require all new PC's to run the monstrosity that is Windows 8+.

What they should do is replace all XP software with GNU/Linux. No new PC's required. No extra payments to extend XP's life, and no malware infections, which just recently caused a lot of downtime and expense. It will never happen though unfortunately because all UK IT procurement officials suckle at the teat of Micro$haft.

Friends don't do tech support for friends running Windows XP

Really?

>> Suggesting Linux to someone unable to wean themselves off XP would probably strain the friendship to a greater degree than breaking the news that it's time to shell out for a new PC.

Implying that XP users will be right at home on that new Windoze 8 PC? Because that new fangled metrosexual UI is so similar to a traditional desktop paradigm...

Re: Who in there right mind is doing this

>> Who is actually advising there friends and family to upgrade to windows 8? I'll ask another question, who's telling people to get new computers with windows 8 on them?

No one, that's why M$ is bemoaning us ;) No techy worth his salt would recommend Windozze 8 (double z because it's even worse than previous incarnations).

>>Anyone who is tech savvy, and has friends and family asking them to look at their computer, or asking advice about operating systems will always (or at least I hope everyone is) recommending Windows 7, or Linux.

I don't recommend WIndows 7 for an XP PC because of the system requirements. Something like Xubuntu or Lubuntu would probably be better if an upgrade is desired. But I agree with the Linux bit. It also seems silly to go out and waste a load of money on a new PC with Windoze, when Linux runs great on older hardware.

>> From a technician stand point as well, who wants spend their time trying to explain to people how to use Windows 8, not only do we not have the time but we don't want to.

I fixed a PC for a family friend recently who got infected with malware. He had bought a brand new high end laptop with Windoze 8, and was infected with rootkits and other nasties within 2 weeks. Not only that, but even after purging all the crap, it runs slow as hell. Windows is just bloated and slow. He wanted something faster, so I installed Xubuntu for him. Safe to say he's extremely pleased with the result. Malware is a thing of the past for him. He can now safely do his banking online without worrying about keyloggers or other nasty stuff.

>> See, this is the sort of post that confuses the hell out of me.

If you install one of the *Buntu variants (Xubuntu, Mint, Ubuntu, Kubuntu) the install will take care of all dual boot partitioning for you automatically. The only thing you need to do is put the downloaded iso image of the distro on a cd or pen drive and boot to it. Can't get any easier than that.

Have No Fear Microsoft

>> But Redmond doesn't want you spending weekends or evenings doing XP-to-Windows-8.1 upgrades. “The easiest path to Windows 8.1 is with new devices,” the post intones.

I won't. I'll be installing Xubuntu/Mint etc instead. Users don't have to worry about increasing system requirements, or costly upgrades, and I don't have to worry about malware or Winrot then, so Win-Win, or Loss-Loss for Microsoft.

For Windows guest - KVM or XEN and which distro for host?

Dual Boot?

Why not just dual boot? Use a pure Linux environment when you need it, and a pure Windows when you need that.

Personally though, I'd ditch Windows altogether and go pure GNU/Linux. If you want to run Windows games, use Wine or something, or find a Linux port. Steam has a lot of games now on Linux.

Running a VM is incredibly wasteful and slow...

Google will dodge EU MONSTER FINES by 'promoting' rival search services

Re: Why?

Why? It's the result of relentless lobbying campaigns from Microsoft and its proxy minions like FairSearch and ICOMP. See here for more details:

https://falkvinge.net/2012/03/02/how-microsoft-pays-big-money-to-smear-google-audaciously/

It's similar to the way Microsoft took over and discredited the entire ISO process in order to ram through its bloated OOXML. Unfortunately, the EU commission isn't clever enough to see that it's M$ pulling all the strings in the background.

Tell us we're all doomed, MPs beg climate scientists

Autoimmolation?

>> They want the story to be a very strong one

Just like in any good piece of fiction...

>> and don’t want to be made to look foolish.

Too late on that front.

Haribo gummy bears implicated in 'gastric exorcism'

All sugar alcohols have that effect. I've felt the full force of it after being an absolute pig on a bag of sweets I bought, only to realise later that fine print on the bag warned of laxative effect, a gross understatement by the way. Safe to say I always read the labels now!

On the plus side, if you have constipation, this stuff will sort you right out :D

Boffins: Antarctic glacier in irreversible decline, will raise sea levels by 1cm

Re: A choice of words

>> You may wish to stop reading right wing media about global warming...

You may wish to stop portraying anyone who doesn't agree with AGW as right wingers. I don't agree with AGW and I'm not right wing, nor do I read right wing media. But as is typical of AGW, it's all about politics. It has nothing to do with real science.

>> Take a look at this page, which highlights just how much of a consensus anthropogenic global warming has..

The way you AGW proselytising zealots bang on about the consensus, one would almost think that you're unsure of yourselves and your ideas. Why does all this somehow remind me of religion? Denouncing non-believers who don't follow the so called consensus, of which there is none, as heretics (right wing?).

>> The idea of a sea level rise isn't "fear-mongering". It has happened already, and is >>continuing to do so. It has a direct effect on low lying countries (such as Tuvalu).

I'm going to break with tradition here and not write a rebuttal of that, but instead pose a question: So what do we do about it? Is it possible in real terms to reverse it? If not, what the hell point is there in worrying about it. Are you willing to give up your modern life and revert back to caveman status in order to stop it? Or are you just going to spout premonitions of apocalypse. I'd really like to know.

>> Loss of glacier ice is worrying, as it takes a *long* time for it to form in the first place.

I'm not worried. We'll all be dead long before it'll be a problem anyway. I'm more worried about job security and how I'm going to pay my mortgage than whether ice is melting or forming at the poles in all honesty. That might be selfish of me, but f**k it. I like to focus on the here and now, not a hundred years in the future.

The only way is Office: UK Parliament to migrate to Microsoft cloud

I am Jack's complete lack of surprise

That the government selects a Micro$haft solution. I'm pretty sure everyone involved in the procurement process is a M$ flunky.

>> Office 365 would ensure greater resilience against connection

>> problems causing delays to emails as there were more access points to

>> Microsoft’s servers than to Parliamentary servers.

Obviously they haven't heard of all the downtime Azure, 365, and Outlook.com have been experiencing.

>> Templates across both Houses would need to be redeveloped to

>> work with Office 365. Training would be needed to realise the

>> additional benefits of the software.

So there's absolutely no benefit to using 365 other than lining the pockets of "certified" contractors and Micro$haft. Everyone will have to be retrained anyway.

I'm sure the procurement officials enjoyed the wining and dining courtesy of M$.

Julie Larson-Green: Yes, MICROSOFT is going to KILL WINDOWS

Re: Why Windows is doomed.

>> From the second I press the power button on the front of the case, to the time I can enter my password is about 14 seconds for my Windows 7 machine

That's not booted. The desktop isn't even loaded yet, let alone usable. Turn on automatic login, then time it again. All Windows versions are slow including 8 once you discount kernel caching and such nonsense.

Re: Why Windows is doomed.

>> My windows 8 box in about 3 with UEFI or whatever it is called.

Using a cached kernel. Try dual booting or updating Windows, It'll triple that time easy. I'm running on a i5 3570k @ 4ghz, 8gb dual channel 1600mhz ram, a Vertex 4 SSD, and 10 seconds is average to boot Windows 8, not including post / bios delay. So I call BS on 3 seconds.

>>I don't think "boot time" is really going to kill windows.

No but system requirements will. Take a look at the 32gb Surface 2 tablet. Guess how much of that 32gb is used by the OS? Then there's battery life, lack of app ecosystem, and dearth of features and customisation.

In 10 years or less I reckon the only place you'll see PC still running Windoze will be in the enterprise, and even they'll be phasing them out by then.

>>That "lazy code" has mostly been ripped out with most developers now writing .Net applications the API's are fairly clean and fast.

Nobody uses .Net unless they want to be locked down to proprietary Windows platforms. Both in development, and in distribution. That's not to mention the fact that it's dog slow.

No AAA apps or games use .Net - That's a fact.

>>Merging windows phone and RT is the most logical thing Microsoft did in a long time

Yes I agree. Those Fisher Price tiles should be kept on Micro$haft's Phones and Tablets, not on the desktop.

Re: Why Windows is doomed.

>> The reason Windows is finished is speed. They've stuffed it so full of lazy code and pointless bells and whistles that it takes an age to start compared to phone or a tablet.

Case in point, my Arch Linux install boots to XFCE desktop in approximately 4 seconds from grub. Windows 8 takes considerably longer despite turning off half the services, disabling prefetch / indexing, etc. Probably about 10 seconds before the desktop is usable. That's from an SSD of course.

Re: Which one ? Windows 8 with luck

>> "Windows 8 is a disaster for those who wish to use keyboards & mice " I really don't see >> this, I've been using 8 since not too long after release. The updates with 8.1 are nice, particularly the start button's return.

What on earth's the point of a start button if it only takes the user straight back to metrosexual land? People want a START M.E.N.U, not a fricken start button for christs sake. Not that I really care anyway because I rarely have to experience the torture of using the schizophrenic Windows 8 these days (thank the gods).

Re: Which one ? Windows 8 with luck

>>Hopefully vendors will see the light & offer PCs with Windows 7 pre-installed with an option to "upgrade" to Windows 8.

I'd rather see more vendors start offering a range of GNU/Linux PC's than Windoze. There's an abundance of choice out there like Mint, Ubuntu, Arch, Fedora, and Debian. Why are consumers forced to pay the Windoze tax in 2013?

Microsoft touts SCROOGLE merch: Hopes YOU'LL PAY to dump on rival

Re: So...

>> It doesn't read your emails and scan your photos to do it.....And you can opt out...

Right, the same way Skydrive doesn't scan your Photo's then... Oh wait, it does...

Re: hmmm

>> Microsoft announced record profits not long ago

A company with no future will soon burn through a few billion - Just ask Nokia. The Xbox unit alone reportedly costs 3 billion. M$ hides these losses by putting them in the same division as the patent extortion scheme.

>> and seem to finally be making a big impact in mobile

Have I missed something? Where's this big impact you're talking about? The craptastic Windows Mobile had around 10-15% of the market at its height, yet Windows Fisher Price today only has 3.5%. If that's your definition of a big impact, then I'd hate to see mediocre.

Keep Calm...

While Micro$haft records your every move with their NSA-in-home-spy-cam called Kinect. And if that doesn't get you, the backdoors and phoning home ahem.. features of Windoze will.

Microsoft advertises Surface, Excel with maths mistake

Re: The gift that keeps on giving

>> If Android uses non-FRAND MS' technologies, the companies producing it have to pay.

If by M$' technologies, you mean broad, generalised, vague, and pre-mobile patents that should have been invalidated years ago, then yes.

>> Google could produce an alternative to FAT32/ExFAT (which seems the main issue), but they don't seem to be bothered.

They don't need to. EXT-4 is already far superior to FAT. The only reason it's included in some android OEM builds is for Windows platform (PC) support. It's unlikely Micro$haft will support any other file system except their own patent encumbered ones, ensuring a stream of revenue from pay up or else patent extortion schemes.

The good news is that the Nexus line of devices eschews sd ports, so that pretty much eliminates the need for FAT support. Of course that still doesn't stop M$ from abusing other broad and dubious patents to extort Android.

The FAT patent in question revolves around the storage of short/long file names, something that's both obvious and has prior art anyway. Clearly software patents in general need to be abolished globally, because it enables evil companies like Micro$haft to bully would-be competitors and forcibly hold on to its creaking desktop PC monopoly.

It won't matter in a few years anyway though, as M$ will be reduced to enterprise exclusivity, and patent trolling only. They're finished in the consumer market. And eventually they'll get kicked out of the enterprise market too.

Dodgy Kaspersky update borks THOUSANDS of NHS computers

Re: NHS

>> Re: Open Source Software - brilliant idea - retraining everybody to use Linux instead of Windows,

That's the typical F.U.D M$ and their dependents use to justify spending a fortune of tax payer money on software licences every year. If you go from 95 -> XP users need retraining, if you go from XP -> Vista->7->8 (especially 8), users need retraining. Hell, every iteration of M$ Office requires retraining. Retraining is a constant, and therefore it's a blatant lie to suggest it's more costly to move to Linux.

There are many examples of successful migrations to Linux and the subsequent long term savings. The cost of dealing with Anti-virus, Anti-malware, anti-world&dog alone makes Windows incredibly expensive to maintain.

When I hear about incidents like this I just laugh. Windows is disaster waiting to happen. I've seen it so many times, and yet the UK government loves to throw tax payer money at Micro$haft for the privilege of being $hafted. But this isn't anything new. Governments around the world waste vast sums of money on useless things. Procurement is rife with corruption and overpayment.

>>LibreOffice instead M$ Office, etc will happen by magic, be completely free and not disrupt the workings of >>the NHS system at all.

And events like this misbehaving antivirus software don't disrupt the NHS? Heaven forbid they actually get infected with a virus or rootkit. On Linux, the machines wouldn't even need to run an AV. That alone would save a fortune in maintenance and licensing.

Microsoft: Everyone stop running so the fat kid Win RT can catch up

Nokia / Microsoft can dump as many of the loss making 520's as they like on the market, but it won't change the fact that Windows Phone and RT are dead.

Pariah

How many App Stores has Microsoft got now? Four? LOL.

Xbox, Windows 8 x86, Windows RT / ARM, and Windows Phone App Stores are barren wastelands, with the ocassional fart app.

It's a complete nightmare developing for M$ platforms, so is it any wonder that everyone's ignoring it?

Windows 8.1: A bit square, sure, but WAIT! It has a Start button

More M$ Fail

8.1 - There's now a start button. BUT IT TAKES YOU BACK TO METRO-SEXUAL LAND!!!

Microsoft are absolutely hopeless. Users don't want to play tetris with a fisher price UI, they want the fricken start menu. Sheesh...

Scottish gov follows cutting-edge Italian Post Office with Win 8 trial

Re: Windows 8 today, full scottish independence tomorrow

As long as they waste their own money instead of ours I don't care ;)

Re: complete with the Start button

>>The Windows8 screen is an improvement - just press the win-key, and type. No need to hunt through endless submenus devised by some egotisitical branding committee (looking at you, printer vendors), just type what you want to launch, and press return...

Err.. You do the exact same thing with the start menu too. Press Super key and start typing. It has the added benefit of not flip-flopping back and forth being two UI's which should have clearly been separated into desktop and tablet versions.

Microsoft sold out of Surface tablets in the UK... YEP, all 2,000 units

Re: sell or given away?

I hear Dell and Delta Airlines like to foist M$ device inventory onto their employees.

Re: The real WTF here is that

>> IT Pros

Pros at wasting money on a paperweight maybe, but not an IT Pro. An IT Pro wouldn't waste his time on a 10 inch screen and integrated graphics. For the same price you could get an ultrabook with a real keyboard, and non of that metro-sexual nonsense. Or better yet, a custom built PC with Arch Linux.

Re: And yet again

Apple has no problem selling 10 million devices in a weekend, so why is it impracticable for M$ to make more than 2k devices for launch?

20 per day you say? Haha. You really have no clue do you. All of it's produced in China, and they have the capability to put out 100 times that.

The reason M$ produced so little is because - 1. No one's going to buy them, and 2. M$ love having their products in the news saying they sold out. They do it every time, and every time M$ fanboy / shill sites like WMPoweruser and Neowin eat it up.

Another Paperweight from M$

These M$ tablets are paper weights anyway. The RT version can't run the legacy x86 desktop apps so the only advantage it had for people invested in the ecosystem is gone. What's left is a barren wasteland with tumbleweeds rolling around M$' App Store. And if that wasn't bad enough, users have to deal with that Metro-Sexual blatent rip off of the Wii's Home screen.

Even the pro version is pointless as well. Who the hell wants to use touch on the Windows desktop? Because that's the only place the real apps will run. It's like trying to hit a needle with a hammer, it's horrid.

Microsoft should go back to patent trolling and antitrust abuse because that's the only thing they're good at.

Microsoft: Oh PLEASE, HTC. Who says Windows Phone can't go on an Android mobe? – report

Re: Hey Microsoft - here's an idea

>> Except there are the features in Android that MS have (or claim to have) IP for, which are paid by the manufacturers, so no, Android isn't free, it's just you don't see the cost.

That's what's called M$ F.U.D. They want everyone to believe that Android isn't free, where as in fact it is.

Want to know how it's free? I can download it right now from AOSP, build it, and run it, without cost. That's the definition of free.

M$ can extort companies all they want, but it won't change reality, nor will it reverse the opinion that they're an abusive monopolist and patent troll.

After the Nokia device unit acquisition, Windows mobile/phone will effectively be Microsoft exclusive. Sure, you've got Samsung, HTC, and perhaps a couple of chinese firms, but no one's committing serious resources to it now, especially in light of Microsoft now competing with its own OEM's in the phone business.

I have no doubt now that Windows mobile/phone will go the way of RT; that is to say, it's a dead-end platform.

Watch BLUBBERING BILLION-DOLLAR BALLMER: Microsoft goodbye love-gush leaks

>> Steve Ballmer: "This is a company that is innovative and ethical."

I don't know which planet Ballmer lives on, but it's not planet Earth. Microsoft has single-handedly turned the word 'innovative' into a platitude. And as far as Ethics go, you couldn't find a worse example of abusive market behaviour or underhanded tactics against competitors.

FairSearch, ICOMP, patent trolling, antitrust, outright stealing of competitor products, the list goes on and on. The sooner Microsoft becomes the next Nokia/Blackberry, the better as far as I'm concerned.

The REAL winner of Microsoft's Nokia buy: GOOGLE

>> I had to go and chase down a flash blocker

Isn't that what ABP + NoScript are for?

Re: @ Herby

>> Your logic is, mutatis mutandis, applicable to the situation with Google/Motorola vs all the other Android handset makers.

Actually it's not. Motorola operates as a separate company, whereas Nokia itself (the devices division) will be entirely assimilated into the M$ borg upon completion of the acquisition.

That will mean M$ itself will own 80% of the WP hardware market. Motorola by comparison has perhaps 10%. The only way it would be comparable (mutatis mutandis) is if Google had acquired Samsung, then dissolved the company and produced all the Galaxy devices under the Google name.

Re: Why would anyone target Windows Phones?

>> It doesn't matter if Android has a billion installs

Er.. Yes it does. Developers go where the users are, and currently Android is 75% of the smartphone market. If you don't think that's important, then you're delusional.

>> If you happen to like MS development, and Visual Studio Express for Windows Phone [free] makes it very simple and quick to do.

And what OS are you targeting? What ever you write for Windows Phone won't work on Windows 8/RT and vice versa. Good luck with that.

Can I write Windows Phone apps on my preferered OS - GNU/Linux, or perhaps OS X? No you say? If you write code for M$' proprietary platforms, it's not portable whatsoever. That's an expensive proposition considering the tiny size of the target audience.

>> Yes, I may get more downloads (possibly even sales) from Android but development is far less pleasant.

If you want something free and easy, why not try Android Studio ( https://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/studio.html ). It's cross platform, and your target audience is 75% of the smartphone market, and about 60% of the tablet market. Write it once and it'll run on both tablets and smartphones, unlike Windows Phone/8/RT. I know which is more pleasant to me.

>> and ultimately there is enough of a market in WP to compensate for the app developer who just wants to earn good money rather than take over the world.

Really? So why is M$ having to pay app developers to even consider writing for their platform? And when they get the money, they never update the app again. That's why the Windows marketplace has the highest number of dead apps compared to Apple's App Store, and Google Play.

Unless you have no overheads and your time has no value, then Windows as an App platform is financial suicide. 3% market share, highest no. of dead apps, lowest quality apps, most major apps missing, and that's just the app store. The OS itself is a disaster. It has all the failings of iOS without the benefits of the App Store, or Apple's brand. I won't compare it to Android because it's not even in the same class.

YouTube Wars: Microsoft cries foul as Windows Phone app pulled again

re: Evil

>> Wake up. Google IS EVIL. And they're going to get much worse.

Google is positively angelic when juxtaposed with Microsoft. M$ even has the distinction of featuring in some dictionaries as "The Evil Corporation". Can't get any more clear cut than that.

Re: Some toy throwing going on here.

>> Mind you, I don't like Google's "We don't have to use HTML 5 but you do" approach either. Anyone who operates under "do as I say not as I do" is someone I never want to deal with, as I despise nothing more than a hypocrite.

There are two API's for YouTube. Public, which uses HTML5, and private, which has to be licensed from Google. M$ neither licensed nor asked permission before reverse engineering the private API, and subsequently threw the toys out of the pram when Google shut them down.

It's perfectly within Google's right to create their own app on Android / iOS that uses a private API to access their own hosted service. That same principle applies to Apple, Blackberry, Facebook, Twitter, and numerous other companies that have a dual public/private API for a hosted service. Without such controls, it would be hard for a service to maintain a consistent level of service and prevent abuses.

In addition to M$ fragrantly abusing the YouTube API, it also decided to rip of the YouTube logo / brand itself, posing as an Official app. This clearly violates YouTube's TOS.

So M$ won't get special treatment and will have to use the third party API (HTML5) like everyone else, and if it doesn't like it, well there's always a web browser, though I pity anyone that has to use IE. Oh, and while we're on the subject, M$ doesn't allow competing browsers on WP8 or RT, so how about we demand that they fix that or we'll stir up some antitrust action via a proxy like FairSearch?

On a personal note, it's great to see M$ get Micro$hafted for a change.

Waiting for a Windows Phone update? Let's talk again next year

Nokia's Fall from Glory

Nokia is paying big money for tv spots advertising its latest Lumia Phones, as evidenced by the constant adverts while watching The Mill (good show btw). Unfortunately for Nokia, the only thing they could promote in the advert was their camera hardware because let's be honest here, the OS is a POS, and the apps people do want (instagram, youtube, googlemaps) don't exist on the platform, and probably never will. Nokia is fighting a losing battle here.

Had Nokia made the decision to go Android instead, or even multi-OS, I'm pretty sure they'd be rolling in the money right about now. But instead, Steven "The Trojan Horse" Elop went all in with his ex-employer (or is it current employer??). In my opinion, the entire board should be fired for that ignominious decision.

Work with Microsoft's stuff for a living? Its reorg will mean NOTHING to you

Re: There you go...

@ AC 17:37

>>Microsoft's enterprise products are already the best integrated stack with the lowest TCO on the market - Especially Server 2012 / Hyper-V.

Bullshit. GNU/Linux and FOSS based VMs are far superior to M$' proprietary spaghetti code. That's why they are the incumbent.

TCO is always higher on M$ products when vendor lock-in is taken into account. Not tol mention the retraining required to use the Windose 8 monstrosity. Then there is the GUI requirement for administrating Windose, and using the M$ Windose console (shudders).

>> Microsoft need to sort out the consumer side - they have got ahead of the curve - releasing a touch optimised OS way ahead of competitors - but ahead of customers readiness for it too!

I can't work out if you are a troll or just ignorant. You call the frankenstein schizophrenic OS that is Windose 8 "a touch optimised OS way ahead of competitors" ? HAHAHA. Clearly you've never used the desktop app (as M$ likes to call it these days). It's the most touch-unoptimised environment ever! It's horrible to use. And the tetris UI from the 80's (metro) isn't much better, especially compared to Android and iOS, which are true touch first OS'.

And M$ isn't "ahead of customer readiness" as you call it, it's just that no one wants anything with Micro$haft or Windose written on it.

>> If they sort out the learning curve then across the ecosystem they will win.

A well designed touch based OS doesn't have learning curve problems. It's intuitive or it should be. Windose 8 isn't, it's a horrible Jekyll and Hyde experience that's bad at both the desktop and touch.

>> Microsoft have a much more powerful and secure OS than the competition

Let's see shall we:

1. Slowest desktop OS out of GNU/Linux and OS X. Valve recently found that the OpenGL version of the Source Engine running on Ubuntu ran significantly faster than the Direct3D version running on Windows.

2. Windose Phone has the weakest app ecosystem, the worst multitasking, the lowest specs (can't even support a 1080p screen). Never gets updates, and when it does, it gets a crippled version (7.8).

3. x86 Windose has the most malware, rootkit infections of any other OS in history (probably billions of infections world wide). IE has zero day attacks against it seemingly every month. IE is a component of Windose.

>> just look at vulnerability figures for Android, Linux, OS-X, IOS, etc versus the latest Microsoft products

More vulnerabilities do not equal more exploits / attacks. Look at the real world exploits running in the wild and propagating to see which is the riskiest OS. In this case it's Windose hands down.

In addition, vulnerabilities often have nothing to do with rootkits / viruses, which is solely the domain of the Windose OS. GNU/Linux has peer reviewed software repositories, and Android has the Play Store, both of which make it virtually impossible to become infected by malware. And in Android's case, it even has a permission system which lets the user see what OS services the App requires before it's installed, with the latest builds containing a service by service allow/deny permission system. That never has and never will exist in Windose.

>> And compare the laggy, glitch, unstable insecureness of Android to the smoothness and speed of Windows Phone...

Laggy, as in Android's case was simply the user perceiving the changing frame rates. Since Jellybean, Android's UI has been running at a constant frame rate vsynced to the refresh rate, thanks to project butter. Exactly the same as iOS, and Windose Phone's silverlight (flash/SWF UI).

I've also seen laggyness on Nokia's Lumia line of phones too, which run Windose. And in terms of unstable or glitches, you can't beat M$' update which bricked many phones, or Nokia's Lumia's which wiped all user data, or perhaps the exploit where someone could send an SMS to a Windose phone and brick it.

Nokia wrings Lumia bling fling, but feature-mobes ding stings

Smart Devices volume (million units) Q2 2013: 7.4, Q2 2012: 10.2, YOY Change = -27%. So Nokia's smartphones sales have reduced by nearly 30% since the same quarter last year. And other figures are mostly negative volumes and growths, so it paints a rather bleak picture of Nokia's future.

I wonder what Elop's supposed plan B is? Sell to Microsoft?

Confidential Microsoft brief: 'We're TOAST if we fight Google on price'

Reliance?

I find it bewildering why companies still use Microsoft software. It's more expensive, incompatible with practically everything else out there, and completely standards non-compliant.

The only reason I can possibly imagine is that the people making the decisions in these companies are either uninformed, or worse still, rely on M$ software for their jobs.

Microsoft: 'Google's secret government meetings let it avoid import ban' - Report

Re: Google, just pull your finger out of your arse and start paying royalties.

>> Well said.! People forget that because of Microsoft more money has been through their success to needy people then has been given by all the other charities in the world, ever.

What a load of bullshit. M$ only gives money or products away if it benefits them in some way. Usually it's for indoctrinating children or educational institutions in the M$ ecosystem. Any monies given away are used for tax purposes.

And even if that were true, it still doesn't excuse all the damage they have done and still do to the software and technology world. Something which could have benefited many more people than a few tax-deduction motivated donations to charities could ever do. Working against free software using patents hurts the world significantly more. Funding SCO, spreading FUD against free software, suing small companies using said free software using bogus patents ( TOMTOM ). NDA's with PC OEM's intended to discourage the use of non-M$ software. The list goes on and on.

The world would be a far better place without M$ in it that's for sure. No amount of shilling from "M$ reputation managers" will change that fact.

>> Microsoft might not be perfect but that company and Bill's generosity have given the world more than anybody else.

Generosity! haha. Bill gates does nothing that doesn't benefit himself or Microsoft, whether it's privatising schools, funding big phara with its proprietary and expensive drugs, or contaminating our food chain by pushing GM crops through Monsanto, in which Bill Gates is heavily invested.

Use this search term on Google for more info on Bill Gates' so called generosity: bill gates site:techrights.org

>> I would rather see Microsoft succeed and Bill Gates make more money to give away then any other company.

So you'd like to see people get ripped off on software and hardware so that Monsanto and Big Pharma can get it all? What a great idea, why didn't I think of that.

Re: "There are 2 possible outcomes..."

>> 5) Throw the USPTO in the bin and create a new US patent system centered around sanity

Unfortunately the words "patents" and "sanity" can never be used in the same sentence. Every software patent system will eventually descend into the chaos we currently have right now because we inhabit a capitalist economy. Companies get bigger and bigger and so do their patent portfolios, and so eventually no software can be written which doesn't violate someone else's patent.

The only solution is to abolish software patents. Nothing else will work. Besides, copyright is more than enough protection against blatant code ripping.