[nflug] good reading

[ron browning]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-9969231-16.html



June 16, 2008 6:37 AM PDT 

Vista's big problem: 92 percent of developers ignoring it
Posted by Matt Asay 
83 
comments

 digg_url = 'http://digg.com/microsoft/Vista_s_big_problem_92_percent_of_developers_ignoring_it';



And to think Microsoft used to be popular with the developer crowd...
Not anymore. A recent report 
from Evans Data shows 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 shows 
49 percent of developers writing applications for Windows XP.
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 
(13 percent writing 
apps for it this year and 15.5 percent in 2009). The Mac? I don't have any 
equivalent data via Evans Data. But the Mac OS has 
rocketed by 380 percent as a targeted development platform, Evans Data told 
Computerworld.
The numbers don't get much better for Vista in 2009: 24 percent 
(compared with 29 percent for XP). 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?
Nor has Microsoft made it easy to develop Vista applications, according to an 
article in 
ITJungle.com:
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.
Indeed. Microsoft doesn't need to handicap itself on the desktop given its 
difficulties competing everywhere else. With Linux 
and the Mac taking ever-increasing shares of the developer pie, Microsoft 
would do well to shore up developer support for Windows.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, that probably means re-investing in XP and 
forgetting its "New Coke" moment with Vista.




FOXNEWS.COM HOME 
> SCITECH   

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217820,00.html


Microsoft: Windows Vista Will 
Cripple PCs Running Pirated Software

Wednesday, October 04, 
2006
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Microsoft said it won't stop a 
computer running pirated Vista software from working completely, and it will 
continue to deliver critical security updates.
 
The company also said it has 
added more sophisticated technology for monitoring whether a system is 
pirated.
 
For example, the system will be 
able to perform some piracy checks internally, without contacting Microsoft, 
Lindeman said.
 
Microsoft also is adding ways 
to more closely monitor for piracy among big corporate users, who tend to buy 
licenses in bulk.
 
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.
 
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.
 
The Business Software Alliance, 
a software industry group, estimates that 35 percent of software installed on 
PCs worldwide is pirated.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
"Our goal is to really make a 
differentiated experience for genuine and non-genuine users," Hartje said.
 
Analyst Roger Kay with Endpoint 
Technologies Associates noted that Microsoft has the right to curtail illegal 
distribution of its software.
 
The new piracy measures, he 
said, "seem harsh only in comparison to how lenient it has been."
 
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.
 
"There will be an XP backlash, 
which is to say people [will] cling to XP in order to avoid this," he 
said.
 
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.
 
After many delays, 
Redmond-based Microsoft is expected to release Vista to businesses in November 
and consumers in January.
 


      
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