the next obvious move?

MS to scrap the OEM tax and instead install an OS that is free for 30 days and then asks you to did into your wallet and type in a credit card number.

MS will never allow this to continue without a fight, they drop the prices or allowed older operating systems anywhere they can to ensure machines are shipped with their OS.

It seems clear that threatening OEMS with more a expensive windows tax if they do not cooperate is becoming less effective these days.

They might even give the OS away free if they have no choice at all and get money back on cloud, upgrades, applications and web services. But I cannot see them ever willingly accepting PCs sold in large numbers without windows.

A visionary leader that understand technology and gets its user base is like hens teeth.

Without it decisions will once again be table by people with MBAs who base their decisions on the basis of finance and personal opinion. I am not saying there is no use in a firm for them (before I get flamed) but I think all genuinely innovative and successful firms need balanced representation in the boardroom.

I see time and again the wrong decision taken by those who have the power and responsibility but none of the technical insight and forward thinking. In some cases the people deciding on future product lines do not even use the current one.

I know this might be an inflammatory post (no insult is intended here), but it is really what I think.

ADA has me head scratching here.

A religion that enforces how you pray and stops followers talking to each other?

And what about assembler?

A direct line to god that bypasses religion, only for minor deities?

That does not sound practical. I mean obviously they will try it and sometimes it will work - but a company cannot just write away all liability for their goods in a contract, life does not work that way. And it rather depends on the local laws at point of use surely?

I am pretty sure that some risks cannot be written off in a contract and you are always liable.

But, INAL and I am sure that most of the people who browse this will know more than I do - so whats the real angle here?

Can MS simply add #17 to their EULA and expect all liability to vanish or are they being optimistic?

Hmmm, sarcasm is hard to get online. I apologize! As a Linux only user for >8 years at home, I assure you I am not a fan of MS.

In this case they reap what they sow - and this is nice illustration of the problems of security by obfuscation.

really what choice did they have? I can see a class action from *lots* of angry people who's computers have been hosed and bank accounts hoovered would cost far more then not acting. Not to mention the loss of faith.

Now all we need is a certain percentage of people who try the fox being either to taken with it or too lazy to change it back.

Poor MS, what with Vista they have been having a bad time of it recently.

I would rather it had an ON switch so I could turn it...

oh wait.

gaah. this is the sort of drivel that managers beat over and looks good in slideshows.

this smacks of first life... http://www.getafirstlife.com/

at the end of the day I can see the appeal of virtual models of real events, for example
1. police officers using stereoscopic cameras to build a very, very detailed model of the crime scene that can be explored later on or shown to a jury
2. virtual walk through of museums, natural wonders or education exhibits

but shopping and other mundane aspects of life? the obvious comment is that it will waste power, take longer and never be as satisfying as the real thing.

that said, if you can build me a holodeck then I am pretty sure I will never leave it, nothing could be as important as the simulated Monica Belluci and her simulated identical sisters.

so what if you run Linux, how long before you legislate so they can get the router/ISP?

yeah. it might hit botnets, spam, copy-right infringement (guess who will fund it) and other nefarious stuff - but the public will never allow it off the ground.

gaah! is it just me or did I mentally change "developing" into "smothering with patents"...?

well I guess its fair that if they want to pay for developing nice toys then they should get some payback, though I really wonder how much you can patent on touch sensitive surfaces? I would imagine you could be limited to copyright on your interface, right / wrong?

I was amused to see a touch sensitive interface in the new James Bond film. I was looking for a logo to see if they were advertising anybody on that one...

Because of the better inherent security in the operating system model is true that mac/linux is probably safer from direct attacks on the OS but is just as prone to browser attacks and social engineering attacks?

I mean, when root privilege is required to affect the core system this should inherently be safer then Win32 where everybody is an administrator.

Disclaimer: Feel free to flame me to a crisp on my lack of knowledge, but I'll make it clear that I am not an expert in computer security and I am interested in a genuine answer about how vulnerable Linux is compared to Windows.

From what I can tell of the article Win32 is hit hard because it is the softer more numerous target, but as Linux takes hold it will become a more attractive target. But because everybody has the source code presumably this means more eyes scanning for errors and potential security risks fixed faster?

well, part of me thinks its a bit of fun (like the IgNobels), it raises the awareness of their research and - quite frankly - anything that makes Engineering and Science look like a more attractive offering is fine by me as we need to increase the headcount.

but...

the other part of me thinks. what. the. fuck? these people fought hard for their funding and are doing dance?

another fine example of the barbara streisand effect in the making.

see...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect

stupid. sometimes I wonder how these executives think, or even if.

perhaps next time he could attempt to build a reliable web server?

haha! with delight! I will be reaching for the popcorn whilst I read what promises to be an amusing article and linked mails.

This will haunt them.

I suspect they will get little sympathy from the /. crowd.