LXer: Microsoft on warding off the Linux threat

LXer · 10-04-2006, 06:21 PM

Published at LXer:

Q&A: Microsoft's head of platform strategy denies that open source is a credible threat to the software giant's empire, and rules out porting MS Office to Linux [So what do you think? I say we'll see MS Office on GNU/Linux by '08 or '09. If they're saying it ain't gonna happen, it's bound to happen soon. - dcparris]

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the_darkside_986 · 10-04-2006, 06:40 PM

No thanks. M$ Word is crap. I'll take Open Office instead of overpriced software any day. Open source software is not a threat yet because there is no open source OS that can run ALL MS Windows drivers and programs. ReactOS is alpha stage.

Vulpus · 10-07-2006, 11:41 AM

There is no way MS will offer a Linux version of MSOffice. To do so would be to give credibility to Linux and invite direct comparisons with OpenOffice. How could they hope to sell MSoffice for $100+ when OOo is free? But if they reduced the price for Linux then why should Windows users pay more?

The success of Linux in india has forced MS to offer a 'special' version of Windows for only $20. See this article:
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbi...921_463452.htm

What if they had to do that worldwide?

the_darkside_986 · 10-09-2006, 07:10 AM

If they did that then they would lose money because people would still pirate windows regardless of the price. But of course, the Windows OS is worthless anyway.

Dubious Dave · 10-09-2006, 10:59 AM

Did you read that? The special $20 version of windows can't do networking or open more than three apps at a time, but they've included ten different versions of indian languages. Then they say they want to be sure they're providing a valuable product. Ha, ha. They spend thousands of dollars to strip out networking and hamstring application capacity, and they say they want to provide value. The only real results will be increased Linux use and increased windows black market sales.