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<div class="datestamp"><font>June 16, 2008 6:37 AM PDT </font></div>
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<h1><font>Vista's big problem: 92 percent of developers ignoring it</font></h1>
<div class="byline"><span class="author"><font>Posted by <a title="http://news.cnet.com/8300-13505_3-16.html?authorId=9728254" href="http://news.cnet.com/8300-13505_3-16.html?authorId=9728254">Matt Asay</a>
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<p><font>And to think Microsoft used to be popular with the developer crowd...</font></p>
<p><font>Not anymore. A <a class="external-link" title="http://www.evansdata.com/press/viewRelease.php?pressID=135
CTRL + Click to follow link" href="http://www.evansdata.com/press/viewRelease.php?pressID=135">recent report
from Evans Data shows</a> fewer than one in 10 software developers writing
applications for Windows Vista this year. Eight percent. This is perhaps made
even worse by the corresponding data that <a class="external-link" title="http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/05/18/survey-programmers-shunning-vista-for-mac-os-and-linux/
CTRL + Click to follow link" href="http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/05/18/survey-programmers-shunning-vista-for-mac-os-and-linux/">shows
49 percent of developers</a> writing applications for Windows XP.</font></p>
<p><font>Such appreciation for history is not likely to warm the cockles of
Microsoft's heart, especially when Linux is getting lots of love from developers
(<a class="external-link" title="http://www.itjungle.com/two/two052108-story02.html
CTRL + Click to follow link" href="http://www.itjungle.com/two/two052108-story02.html">13 percent writing
apps for it this year</a> and 15.5 percent in 2009). The Mac? I don't have any
equivalent data via Evans Data. But the Mac OS <a class="external-link" title="http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9085478&intsrc=news_ts_head
CTRL + Click to follow link" href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9085478&intsrc=news_ts_head">has
rocketed by 380 percent as a targeted development platform</a>, Evans Data told
Computerworld.</font></p>
<p><font>The numbers don't get much better for Vista in 2009: <a class="external-link" title="http://www.evansdata.com/press/viewRelease.php?pressID=135
CTRL + Click to follow link" href="http://www.evansdata.com/press/viewRelease.php?pressID=135">24 percent
(compared with 29 percent for XP)</a>. That's a big step up from 8 percent, but
is it a sign of momentum to come or just a temporary stopgap while developers
wait until Windows 7?</font></p>
<p><font>Nor has Microsoft made it easy to develop Vista applications, according to an
<a class="external-link" title="http://www.itjungle.com/two/two052108-story02.html
CTRL + Click to follow link" href="http://www.itjungle.com/two/two052108-story02.html">article in
ITJungle.com</a>:</font></p><!--pagebreak-->
<blockquote><font>Unfortunately, that improved security posture makes it more
difficult for developers to write applications for Vista (read: no more
kernel-level access and UAC to worry about), and it also causes compatibility
problems with older applications. Ironically, the wave of attacks targeting
operating system vulnerabilities has largely passed, and today hackers have
moved on to target applications. At the same time, Microsoft has provided
iterative improvements in Windows XP security, bolstering its status as "good
enough" and further eating into Vista's pie.</font></blockquote>
<p><font>Indeed. Microsoft doesn't need to handicap itself on the desktop given its
difficulties competing everywhere else. With <a class="external-link" title="http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/05/18/survey-programmers-shunning-vista-for-mac-os-and-linux/
CTRL + Click to follow link" href="http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/05/18/survey-programmers-shunning-vista-for-mac-os-and-linux/">Linux
and the Mac taking ever-increasing shares of the developer pie</a>, Microsoft
would do well to shore up developer support for Windows.</font></p>
<p><font>Unfortunately for Microsoft, that probably means re-investing in XP and
forgetting its "New Coke" moment with Vista.</font></p></div></div><!-- /div section --></div></blockquote>
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<h1 class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>Microsoft: Windows Vista Will
Cripple PCs Running Pirated Software</font></h1>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1">
<p class="date" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>Wednesday, October 04,
2006</font></p><font><br>SEATTLE Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) forthcoming Windows Vista will
take much harsher steps to curtail piracy than previous versions of its
operating system, including crippling the usefulness of computers found to be
running unlicensed copies of the new software.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>The world's largest software
maker said Wednesday that people running a version of Windows Vista that it
believes is pirated will initially be denied access to some of the most
anticipated Vista features. That includes Windows Aero, an improved graphics
technology.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>If a legitimate copy is not
bought within 30 days, the system will curtail functionality much further by
restricting users to just the Web browser for an hour at a time, said Thomas
Lindeman, Microsoft senior product manager.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>Under that scenario, a person
could use the browser to surf the Web, access documents on the hard drive or log
onto Web-based e-mail.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>But the user would not be able
to directly open documents from the computer desktop or run other programs such
as Outlook e-mail software, Lindeman said.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>Microsoft said it won't stop a
computer running pirated Vista software from working completely, and it will
continue to deliver critical security updates.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>The company also said it has
added more sophisticated technology for monitoring whether a system is
pirated.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>For example, the system will be
able to perform some piracy checks internally, without contacting Microsoft,
Lindeman said.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>Microsoft also is adding ways
to more closely monitor for piracy among big corporate users, who tend to buy
licenses in bulk.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>Microsoft plans to take similar
tough measures with the forthcoming version of its Windows server software,
dubbed "Longhorn," and to incorporate it into other products down the
road.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>The crackdown shows how much
more seriously Microsoft has started taking Windows piracy, which for years has
been extremely widespread in areas such as Russia and China.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>The Business Software Alliance,
a software industry group, estimates that 35 percent of software installed on
PCs worldwide is pirated.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>In recent years, the market for
Windows one of Microsoft's main cash cows has become more saturated. That's left
the company eager to make money from users who may otherwise have obtained
illegal Windows copies.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>Microsoft has already
instituted tougher piracy checks for Windows XP users who want to get free
add-ons such as anti-spyware programs. But until now, the warnings and punitive
measures were mainly seen as annoying, rather than debilitating.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>Cori Hartje, director of
Microsoft's Genuine Software Initiative, said the company now wants users to
notice the difference between legal and pirated copies of Vista.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>"Our goal is to really make a
differentiated experience for genuine and non-genuine users," Hartje said.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>Analyst Roger Kay with Endpoint
Technologies Associates noted that Microsoft has the right to curtail illegal
distribution of its software.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>The new piracy measures, he
said, "seem harsh only in comparison to how lenient it has been."</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>Nevertheless, Kay said he
expects that the anti-piracy tactics will keep some people from upgrading to
Vista from the current operating system, Windows XP.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>"There will be an XP backlash,
which is to say people [will] cling to XP in order to avoid this," he
said.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>Kay also doesn't expect the new
piracy measures to be that effective against hardcore pirates, who have built de
facto businesses selling illegal Windows copies. But he thinks it will stop some
lower-level piracy.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div>
<div class="head" _extended="true" itxtvisited="1"><font>After many delays,
Redmond-based Microsoft is expected to release Vista to businesses in November
and consumers in January.</font></div>
<div><font> </font></div></div></blockquote></td></tr></table><br>