14 DAY TRIAL // Last week it was a tough one for Microsoft. Probably on Monday morning, the company's chiefs opened their eyes and realized that monopoly is not the key to success. Suddenly, after years of battle with Linux, the giant understood that trying to get along with its rival provides better results. On Monday, Microsoft announced a partnership with software maker XenSource to be sure its next virtualization solution can run versions of Linux.
"What Microsoft and XenSource are committing to, effectively, is building a bridge" between the two tools, sustained Jeff Price, a senior director in Microsoft's Windows Server group.
"Customers have been very positive about that. Customers want to have assurances that they can run Linux in a supportive and high-performance manner. If it is a problem with the Windows hypervisor, we'll fix it. If it's a Linux or Xen issue, he said, Microsoft will make sure they get the right Linux support," he added.
Same day, the company made public an advisory related to the PowerPoint flaw that is being exploited in targeted cyberattacks. "Microsoft is investigating new public reports of limited "zero-day" attacks using a vulnerability in Microsoft PowerPoint 2000, Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 and Microsoft PowerPoint 2003. In order for this attack to be carried out, a user must first open a malicious PowerPoint document attached to an e-mail or otherwise provided to them by an attacker. Microsoft will continue to investigate the public reports to help provide additional guidance for customers as necessary. Microsoft is completing development of a security update for Microsoft PowerPoint that addresses this vulnerability. The security update is now being finalized through testing to ensure quality and application compatibility and is on schedule to be released as part of the August security updates on August 8, 2006, or sooner as warranted," it is said on the giant's website.
The entire statement is available here.
On Tuesday, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Winternals Software, a small producers of Windows tools.
In a statement published on the Austin, Texas-based company website, it is mentioned that "Microsoft will continue to meet all Winternals customer support agreements through their terms. All Winternals customers are Microsoft customers and it is our aim to provide more value to you in the end as part of Microsoft." As with other Microsoft acquisitions the terms of this deal are not being announced.
Being knocked out by the fines imposed by European Commission, the giant said on Wednesday that all of its operating systems, starting from Windows Vista, will comply some rules aimed to promote competition and reduce monopoly.
The announcement is being made a week after the European Commission fined the company with $357.3 million for noncompliance with a 2004 antitrust ruling.
On the giant's website, Microsoft has written 12 principles to promote competition related with its operating system. "Microsoft Corp. recognizes the important role its Windows desktop operating system products play in the information economy and the responsibilities that come with that role. To promote competitive opportunities and otherwise enhance the appeal of Windows to developers and users, Microsoft is committed to running its Windows business in accordance with the following principles that address computer manufacturer and user choice, opportunities for developers, and interoperability for users. These principles will apply to Windows desktop development projects going forward," it is said.
The entire statement is available here.
Do you think these ideas were created to promote competition or they were written just for the giant's image? Do you think the fines imposed by the European Commission where really necessary or the company was able to control its monopoly? Let me tell you what I think: probably Microsoft made a big mistake when it decided to battle with the European Commission over the antitrust case. It should accept the accusations, pay the price and continue its expansion. Now, the company is facing a huge fine, many small companies filling lawsuits against the big software maker, hoping they will represent a little part of the Microsoft's decade.
On Thursday, Microsoft said it will provide music applications and players under the Zune brand. "Today we confirmed a new music and entertainment project called Zune. Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products, the first of which will be available this year," Chris Stephenson, a general manager of marketing at Microsoft, said in a statement.
Cesar Menendez, a Microsoft employee working on Zune said in his blog: "So what's Zune? It's Microsoft's new, holistic approach to music and entertainment. And yes, this year, we'll be releasing a device as part of the project. Under the Zune brand, we're looking to build a community for connecting with folks, all to discover new music and entertainment."
You can find the blog here.
On Friday, Microsoft continued to strengten its alliance with open-source software, saying that the company recognized its benefit and was becoming more open to this type of applications.
"I think one of the exciting things about the open source software movement is it actually brought together a very distributed group of developers. Ironically, when you go all the way back to where Microsoft started the company, it was a company that actually was built on this open innovation philosophy of publishing our application programming interfaces for things like DOS and Windows," said David Kaefer, director of Business Development, Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft.
Week's Conclusion: after " the fine week", Microsoft is working hard to repair it's image for customers and European Commission. After the regulators fined the company, the chiefs decided to: create alliances with open-source software, buy new software makers and finally release 12 principles to promote competition.
