Surprise Surprise, Microsoft Fails Again

Surprise! Still a thief. Are times a changing for Microsoft? Profits are down & Vista’s problems are blamed on the users!

Should we really be surprised that Microsoft just lost another court case to software piracy – about software piracy!? Apparently the software giant’s business plan is more geared towards stealing software and claiming it as their own than actually writing good software. What I can’t understand is why so many people choose to support such a company? We have no problem crying foul and raising our voices when the bankers and stock brokers on wall street behave irresponsibly, so why not Microsoft?

Microsoft has intentionally stolen software several times, falsely advertised and knowingly distributed inadequate products. All things that business schools teach as being ways to fail. So why is Microsoft still a big player? Why are so many still victims to the Enron-like micro-scum? Internal emails backup many of the points I’ve just claimed.

Is it because Microsoft deliberately tried to destroy free open-source alternatives? This document shows Microsoft’s fear and threat with Linux even back in the 90’s.

Here are some great quotes from skimming the Microsoft internal emails and papers:

Remember buying that Vista-capable, yet incapable machine? Microsoft executive John Kalkman tells us why: (from Seattle PI)
“In the end, we lowered the requirement to help Intel make their quarterly earnings so they could continue to sell motherboards with the 915 graphics embedded.”

Jim Allchin: (from Seattle PI)
“If we are to rise to the challenge of Linux and Apple, we need to start taking the lessons of ’scenario, simple, fast’ to heart.”
“I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft.”

Roger L. Kay who wrote the “White Paper” for Microsoft: (from CNNMoney)
“Microsoft did call for changes in his text — particularly in those place where he praised Apple. For example, he wrote in his original draft that Windows ‘copied’ Apple’s graphical user interface. That raised legal red flags for Microsoft’s lawyers. In the final version, the verb was changed to ‘followed.’”

At-least Apple is usually only stealing the show!
(Although, like all big players – lawsuits are unavoidable.)
Am I being more hard on Microsoft than Apple? Probably, but I believe Apple to be forward-thinking and innovative with large investments in research & design… where as Microsoft worked for how many years and all they had to show was Vista? Additionally, Apple would never blame it’s users for problems– problems are the result of poor planning, implementation, research and design. 

So I guess the latest case makes reason number 4,815,162,342 why I prefer to not support Microsoft.

Here is crafty “… and I’m a PC” ad response on youtube: