Microsoft's Sacred Cash Cow, Jun 03, 2004

A former Microsoftie says addiction to Windows revenue, mediocre products, and missed opportunities could doom Seattle’s most successful company.

Symantec CEO John Thompson has hit out at "the myth" that Microsoft's operating system is inherently less secure than the open-source alternatives, which he likened to a "dead-end alley". However, he still had few kind words for the software giant.

Thompson believes the reason Microsoft is so often seen as culpable for virus outbreaks and security flaws is simply because it is the biggest target – though he admitted that if "things get too homogenised, it is not a good thing" – especially where security is concerned.

Intel is moving to replace the antique BIOS code currently used to boot up computers with an open-source alternative. BIOS lets computer hardware communicate with operating systems and other software applications, but using the 20-year-old technology today is "barbaric," says Meta Group analyst Steve Kleynhans.

Enterprise software giant SAP is making a renewed push to build ties to the developer community, but that enthusiasm isn't likely to extend to making the source code for any of its core components available.

Speaking at Sapphire, the company's Asia-Pacific user conference, executive board member Shai Agassi boasted that the company's SAP Developer Network site had attracted 50,000 members since launching in September last year. By the end of the year, the company hopes to have 150,000 registered developers.

No, it's not a typo. The sum that software giant Microsoft Corp. has been ordered to pay software upstart Lindows Inc. is 944 euros, or about $1,200.

That was the judgement late last week when an Amsterdam District Court ruled in favor of Lindows following Microsoft's second attempt to obtain a preliminary injunction on trademark infringement against Lindows in the Benelux.

Microsoft's latest legal tactic to keep the Linux-based competition out of the Benelux countries of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg backfired. The Redmond company not only lost in court, but now is suffering the ignominy of having to pay Lindows' legal fees for this particular episode. The fees amounted to 241 euros for "standing charges" and 703 euros for "fee for counsel."

Four months after Intel promised to begin offering Linux support for its popular Centrino set of laptop chips, the company on Friday released pre-production drivers for the 802.11g-capable version of Centrino.

The "pre-beta" software, including driver source code and binaries for firmware, allows the Linux operating system to interact with the basic functions of the Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection chip - the Centrino component handing both 802.11b and the faster 802.11g signals.

 View older news this year: Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan
 View news from other years: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999