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With Microsoft deciding to withdraw support for Windows 98 from December 23, Sun Microsystems has decided to hawk its desktop software Java Desktop System at a 50 per cent discount to any offer that Microsoft makes. According to Microsoft, the no-charge support for Windows 98 ended on July 1. Paid support will continue at $35 per incident until January 16, 2006, two years after phone support ends on January 16. The list also includes the popular Outlook 2000.
We will agree to match any offer Microsoft puts on the table for desktop software at 50 per cent of Microsoft's quoted offer. No matter what their offer, we'll agree to provide the software for half their price. If they offer Windows and Office for $200 per desktop, we'll offer them for $100. If they offer $50, our offer will be $25, Sun Microsystems vice-president executive-software group Jonathan Schwartz said in an open letter.
Schwartz said the Java desktop, which runs on Linux, is available at one-tenth the price of a Microsoft desktop with ten times greater security. He further said Microsoft's decision to stop distributing and supporting older products is a deliberate attempt to coerce customers to upgrade to newer software. It's a lesson in how a company with legendary market dominance can lose sight of customer priorities and force a transition on to a customer base already paralysed with viruses and security breaches, Schwartz said in the letter.
News source: LinuxWorld
We will agree to match any offer Microsoft puts on the table for desktop software at 50 per cent of Microsoft's quoted offer. No matter what their offer, we'll agree to provide the software for half their price. If they offer Windows and Office for $200 per desktop, we'll offer them for $100. If they offer $50, our offer will be $25, Sun Microsystems vice-president executive-software group Jonathan Schwartz said in an open letter.
Schwartz said the Java desktop, which runs on Linux, is available at one-tenth the price of a Microsoft desktop with ten times greater security. He further said Microsoft's decision to stop distributing and supporting older products is a deliberate attempt to coerce customers to upgrade to newer software. It's a lesson in how a company with legendary market dominance can lose sight of customer priorities and force a transition on to a customer base already paralysed with viruses and security breaches, Schwartz said in the letter.
News source: LinuxWorld
When additional changes were passed by Congress last Thanksgiving, only a few scattered outlets - like Wired News and oddly - Adult Video News - paying attention. While the original Patriot act allows the FBI to request data from your ISP with no court order or judicial oversight, these new changes, tucked away in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, broaden those powers further. The provisions expand the definition of "financial institution" and "financial transaction", allowing the FBI to monitor everything from Pawn Shops to your ISP with more authority.
Opponents claim that the already weakened system of checks and balances is being eroded futher, and the Fourth Amendment (protection against unreasonable searches and seizures) faces a serious threat. Supporters claim the changes are necessary to track the money funding terrorist operations and prevent further attacks. In between these two groups are usually those who don't care either way, since they're "not doing anything wrong".
The debate between these groups was overshadowed (intentionally or otherwise) by three days of Saddam capture video and elaborate (and fully 3D) explorations of the hole Iraq's one-time leader crawled out of. As usual with American media, all other news is often buried during major events - something all politicians have learned to use to their advantage to minimize controversy.
A few weeks later finds the changes being noticed by a few. This San Antonio Current article takes a look at the recent changes, and discussion is ripe over at Dave Farber's Interesting People mailing list (explore the thread index to see multiple and opposing opinions).
and don't give me that money is in support bs... you make less money in support then you do selling actual software...
It does remain to be seen if Sun can transition from a High-End hardware and software dealer to a real backer of Linux and open source. Sun being able to keep its existing customers and show that it isn't just another "me-too" linux provider is the real long term challenge.
Sun may fail, but not because of the reason your suggesting.
Personally I think its a really smart move. Microsoft is under attack on all fronts now. Having a Solid OS and Office Suite avaiable for half or what MS charges complete with Support is a great carrot for businesses and governments. Either way consumers will benefit because eventually Microsoft will finally start having to make the same sweetheart deals for small businesses and consumers that they currently make with foreign governments and big businesses who threaten to to move to Linux.
Last edited by 44113 on 31 Dec 2003 - 23:18
Sun has said they will sell the whole package for $100 USD or 1/2 of whatever Microsoft offers. Can Microsoft afford to match $100 a seat? How about $50? ... $12.50?
Keep in mind that this is not for your parents, and it's not even for you as an individual. It's for corporations, so the economics are entirely different.
Sun does not have to pay or create most of what's in Sun Desktop for the same reason everyone else doesn't; the software is available for the cost of a download -- yet polished, including extra software, and corporate-level support.
Microsoft has to buy or write most of what they offer leaving them at a distinct economic disadvantage.
Is what Sun's offering Windows XP? No. Yet, from the comments on this forum it looks like most people here don't know what Sun is actually offering.
Last edited by 44113 on 31 Dec 2003 - 23:18
Microsoft can afford to loose money and not loose a sale at that scale. If everyone demanded the bundle at the $37 (or lower) price, would MS agree? Could they be profitable ... make it up on volume?
In comparison, if Microsoft sells Windows + Office for $50 (or less) to one corporation, they will be pressured to do the same for other corporations. Having Sun say they will do it for 1/2 the price MS charges puts quite a bit of bargining power into the hands of many corporations. National governments are already demanding this level of discount if not deeper.
If this continues, will Microsoft's stockholders understand a drop in profitability even if MS had enough to bank roll the cuts?
a Microsoft add on linuxworld
You know what I say to that?
Thanks for the support!
Well, I guess it's the right target market for them
I love comments like this! Truely quaint!
Microsoft's massive, always increasing, profitability is largely over and I don't see them getting the embedded device market at all with the exception of the pocket PC; embedded now means "any appropriate no-per-unit charge OS" (note: not necessarily Linux and not necessarily without any charge for the OS). The drop in price from $15/unit to $3/unit for WinCE is a reaction to that market change.
As for Linux eating MS's lunch elsewhere, I don't think it will happen.
Microsoft, short of lawsuits and government regulations, can't harm Linux or any software that is developed partially outside of a corporate financial cycle. I think that's why MS has changed tactics because they realize they can't crush these 'upstarts' through the usual tactics.
You only have to take one look at the java desktop to count the number of places where sun are DIRECTLY ripping ideas, terminology, design practices, and functionality straight out of microsoft applications and platforms. Isn't this the kind of practice which would cause sun to go running to the DoJ if the tables were turned?
So, sun comes along and, with it's usual lack of understanding offers a desktop solution, which i can only assume it is geating towards non-tech savvy users running 6 year old hardware platforms. With the exception of star office, i have yet to see a piece of sun software which even nearly hits the same softspot of usability that windows 98 has, let alone windows XP, and i'm including their god-awful java virtual machine in that judgement. Sun are, and have been for far too long overly complacent about microsofts market share, because like it or not microsoft have better, more innovative products which fulfull the users' needs.
As for cutting off of FREE-support for a 6 year old operating system (and then only charging a nominal cost for extended support).. well, since when were sun ever competitive in ANY kind of support / maintenance it has offered?? Infact you only have to visit sun's support pages to see that a lot of the subsites are immediately locked off to those not under support contracts, or fee payers. ROFL, those sun guys are truely funny... in a f&^ked up hypocritical way of course.
Linux will win because of the market it's self, there is no way on earth that governments and big companies are going to let one company like Microsoft have as much power in something as important as the OS is, more so with how big the computer will really be in our lives in the future, Linux will win because of flexibility and because of trust, Microsoft can never beat Linux on those two things, the PC became what it is today because of openness and no real control, the same thing for the internet, would the PC and internet be what it is today if one or two companies controlled it?, very unlikely.
It will take time for people to move over from Windows to Linux, more so on the desktop, but I expect it to happen, more so when theres a standard hardware and software installer and when more people have high speed internet, two things Linux really needs to take off on a mass scale.
Shao, they can copy all they want, Linux offers pretty much the same thing for less, and beside, Microsoft copy of others a lot as well, and you forget, Linux needs to copy a lot of Windows because thats what most people know and people wouldn't move if something is too different.
Microsoft is facing a battle against many big and small companies and governments around the world, theres no way Microsoft can win this one apart from in the US market, but even then, it's not in the US governments interest to let that happen as it would put the US computer market at a disadvantage to the rest of the world.
Look at the PC in the early 80's, did anyone think that would be what it is today?, we would of all laughed our arses off if anyone said it would be where it is now when there was so many other better computers at the time, what made the PC the ultimate computer was it's openness to competitions in it's own market, trust and because there was many companies battle-ling it out to make better parts for it, Linux as got all of that and even better still, Linux is almost free, just like with the PC we thought it would never be where it is today, most people think the same about Linux.
Also, another point, Linux is not compatible with most software today without emulators (which themselves have problems and often don't work), and that certainly doesn't encourage users to switch platforms. It is much easier and more profitable for companies to continue writing programs for the same platform that they have experience with, and not rewrite their programs from scratch for a new OS (especially since they can't make nearly as much money doing it). With open-source, the company tends to lose, and so the momentum for software development will continue to be with the Microsoft products for a long time yet, with Linux holding only a niche market.
When most people buy a product, they look for a name, which suggests a reputation as well as support and security. Microsoft can provide this; Linux cannot (although I may be mistaken, I don't think there is a Linux tech support to call). They don't want a product that requires huge amounts of user time to get working and doesn't work with most of their existing software. Microsoft works, and works well in most cases (the instability of Windows is mostly a thing of the past, and yes, I wholeheardedly believe this, having used Windows XP for several years and having it installed on four computers). It is definitely overpriced, but if Microsoft feels sufficiently threatened by Linux to lower prices, then even that problem could be solved.
To finish up, I'd rather pay too much for a working, easily usable, widely-used, and compatible product with good technical support than something like Linux, which is free, and that's about it. If you want to fiddle with code and do strange things with your OS and save a few bucks, but I'd rather be able to come home with a new game or piece of software, load it up, and be done with it.
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