Microsoft sticks up for Windows operating system

[demoleft]

Source: afp

AFP - Microsoft has publicly defended Windows in the face of unconfirmed reports that Google was shunning the operating system due to security concerns.

Google declined to respond to an AFP inquiry, saying only: "As a rule, we don't comment on operational matters."

Microsoft, however, felt that stories published in the Financial Times and elsewhere warranted a fast, firm rebuttal.

Unnamed sources at Google were quoted in the Times as saying that new hires at the US Internet colossus have been given the option of using Apple Macintosh computers or machines running on Linux open-source software.

Read more: http://www.france24.com/en/20100602-microsoft-sticks-windows-operating-system-0

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this is the related article on the financial times, to which the above refers, i suppose.

Google ditches Windows on security concerns

Google is phasing out the internal use of Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows operating system because of security concerns, according to several Google employees.

The directive to move to other operating systems began in earnest in January, after Google’s Chinese operations were hacked, and could effectively end the use of Windows at Google, which employs more than 10,000 workers internationally.

“We’re not doing any more Windows. It is a security effort,” said one Google employee.

“Many people have been moved away from PCs, mostly towards Mac OS, following the China hacking attacks,” said another.

source: ft.com, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/d2f3f04e-6ccf-11df-91c8-00144feab49a.html

[RoyGBiv]

1. Well, I'm just shocked ...

...to think that Microsoft, of all companies, would stick up for the Windows operating system.

I never would have imagined.

Microsoft? Defending Windows? Really?

I'm being smarmy about the editor/writer who chose that headline, not your posting it. Indeed, the whole article seems to be written by someone being intentionally obtuse.

[demoleft]

2. ;) i see it, never mind. the news is about the official reaction of MS to an article on the FT...

...which is due, of course.

appearing on the FT with google's covered unofficial sources stating what they state is, of course, something that asks for reaction.
what would you do in their shoes? ;)

[RoyGBiv]

3. I expect a reaction ...

Were I in PR at Microsoft, I'd have made a more forceful one than they have given thus far, I think.

I'm not really sure why, but I was just taken aback by the shallowness of that first article.

[demoleft]

4. agreed, MS reaction is very "light" and feeble, so to speak. they sound extremely careful. n/t

[ozymandius]

8. Honestly. I thought they would have abandoned Windows by now.

:sarcasm: It must have taken the writer all of two minutes to create that headline.

[Syrinx]

5. I guess I'm veering off-topic here, but so be it

But I don't really get Bill Gates. I guess he has given more money to charity than any person in the history of the world. And that makes him a hero. Yet he amassed the fortune that has allowed him to do so by using the most dishonest, diabolical business practices that I've ever heard of. That makes him a villain. He so neatly epitomizes the duality of good and evil. Quite the curious case.

[Jester Messiah]

16. In D&D terms, he's a Human Paragon.

He epitomizes what it is to be human.

Okay, okay.. </nerd>

[Toucano]

17. Look at Carnegie, Mellon, Rockefeller, Getty, Vanderbilt

There's a precedent for this duality.

Ruthless businessmen sometimes have guilty consciences, I guess.

P.S.

I like those who veer!

[fascisthunter]

19. And his father co-wrote a Book called, "Wealth and Our Commonwealth"

in which he states that the rich do not pay their share and goes into detail of how the wealthy have used "Death Tax" instead of "Estate Tax" in order to fool the middle class into thinking it would effect them as well.

[Turbineguy]

6. Having just completed a reformat

after getting my OS destroyed by an update, I can see their point.

[Xipe Totec]

9. Funny, that just happened to me on my Ubuntu box nt

[RoyGBiv]

10. What update?

I haven't heard any scuttlebutt about a bad update from Ubuntu's repos lately. Not suggesting it didn't happen. An update to X killed an old installation of SuSE I had to the point reinstalling was just easier.

Kernel update or other software?

[Xipe Totec]

11. 10.4 64-bit

Foolishly accepted the update, not realizing it was a major release.

Now it hangs on the busy box every time I reboot (can't find the hard drive)

For the moment, I can just exit the busy box and proceed.

But this means I cannot reliably VPN from home, because a reboot requires intervention at the console.

[RoyGBiv]

12. Ah!

Yeah. Major release updates can screw up everything. The more customization you have, the worse it is. The only time I've ever done what you do with no glitches at all was one time when I installed a release and then immediately updated to the next release. (I think that was SuSE.)

You have my sympathizes, not that it helps, but it's there anyway. :)

[KeepItReal]

15. Windows Vista sealed my fate. I'm switching to MacOS this week.

My old laptop crashed and the only choice of PC operating system was Vista back then. It has been a nightmare of an operating system. Now that that laptop needs replacing, I've got a new MacBook.

p.s.
I tried installing XP on the Vista laptop, but alot of functionality of the machine was lost with the downgrade.

[ixion]

7. Windows is a security sieve

despite implementing their clumsy, ham-fisted, 800 lb gorilla, a.k.a. 'Longhorn' security model.

[robcon]

13. The next headline should be that Apple "sticks up" for iPhone.

stupid headline.

[Grinchie]

14. It looks like a lot of people think Windows no longer functions effectively.

Just step back and count the number of Updates, Bug Fixes, Security Holes, and other nonsense are dumped down the pipe into your "Brand New" Windows 7 machine.. Nearly every day, a new steaming pile of "Security" hacks makes it way into our machines.. And for what purpose? Obviously, it hasn't plugged the holes.

No, it's just another form of dependency developed by just another General Motors business model behemoth.

They hope that people won't notice that user interface standards have been thrown out the door, and now we can look forward to happy clown interfaces that any psycopath can think of, instead of the "Tired", "Old" interface that actually functioned efficiently.

Windows has been co-opted by the Patriot Act! Be afraid! The Terrists want your family photo's, but Microsoft wants application to be "Location Aware" with the built in Location API!. It's new! It's Improved!, It's Big Brother!

[Turbineguy]

20. It may be that Microsoft isn't working.

My new Office 2007 came with an install code that did not work. Microsoft's answer? No support. A fix in their website. So after you spend money to buy their product, you have to research what's wrong. Then you have to spend additional hours to make it work.

My answer? Send it back as defective for a refund.

[Toucano]

18. Open source and interoperability are the future

No operating system is perfect.

At least with open source systems the "cream" has a better opportunity to rise to the top, and needs of the users truly drive innovation.

The dominance of Windows in the marketplace is unhealthy for everyone, including Windows itself.