Let the embarrassing e-mails flow again! This article from ComputerWorld lets the world know that the US Ninth Circuit Court has shot Microsoft’s appeal out of the sky. According to the article, one of the things that Microsoft argued was:
“In papers filed last month, Microsoft petitioned the Ninth Circuit Court to hear its challenge and asked Pechman to suspend the class-action case while the appeal was heard by the higher court. The company argued that continuing the lawsuit might mean new disclosures of insider e-mails, which could “jeopardize Microsoft’s goodwill” and “disrupt Microsoft’s relationships with its business partners.”
Hmmmm…. I think they mean e-mails like this one, this one, and oh yeah this one too. The appeals court bought that argument and listened to the appeal, but in the end didn’t see things Microsoft’s way. So it’s time to go on with the discovery phase with the trial, which means more embarrassing e-mails for you to read.
At this point Microsoft should really just fold up their tent, settle out of court, and move on. That’s what most rational companies would do given what has already happened. But of course they won’t. Steve Ballmer and company are hell bent to make Vista the dominant desktop OS come hell or high water. This despite the fact Vista sucks has had some teething pains to say the least. So they’ll fight this to the end and I honestly think they’ll not only lose the case, but a lot of credibility along with it.
Ballmer Will Keep XP Around Past June 30th If YOU Ask Him To
Posted in Commentary with tags Microsoft, Vista, XP on April 24, 2008 by itnerdEverybody’s favorite chair throwing CEO Steve Ballmer said in a news conference yesterday that he’s open to the idea of Windows XP sticking around past the June 30th end of life date. The only thing is, nobody has asked him to keep it around:
“XP will hit an end-of-life. We have announced one. If customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter, but right now, we have a plan for end-of-life for new XP shipments,”
So, isn’t the fact that Vista sales suck have not set the world on fire the big hint that people want XP? Or maybe the hint that he’s looking for is in one of those infamous e-mails that’s part of the “Vista Capable” lawsuit (like this one, this one, and this one too). Or perhaps he should heed his own thoughts:
“Ballmer said most consumers are choosing to buy the current version of Windows, Vista. Many acquire Vista by default, however, since most new PCs ship with the operating system. Businesses have been slower to catch on, as many have clung to Windows XP and older versions of Windows.”
The fact that consumers are going towards Vista may have something to do with the fact that Vista is being force fed down the throats of users at every Best Buy on planet Earth as that is the only thing you can buy in that store and stores like it. Basically, consumers aren’t given a choice. (Of course you can avoid that problem by following the advice that I posted here previously). If they were given a choice at Best Buy, I think they’d be buying XP boxes.
Business however are smarter. They don’t want to risk having a “not ready for prime time” OS send their business straight to hell in a handbasket. They’ll run XP for as long as they possibly can. Given that the money Microsoft makes from businesses is higher than the money they make from consumers, it may be in their best interests to keep XP alive to keep the revenue stream healthy. But, as I mentioned in this posting, Ballmer wants Vista to be the dominant desktop OS at any cost.
I’m calling it now. XP will live past June 30th. Trust me on this one.
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