Microsoft

Source: http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/microsofts_internet_driving_...

Barely a day goes by when you switch on your computer, plug into the web and come across yet another deranged scheme to restrict freedom in the name of security, safety or morality. RIAA, DMCA, RIPA, Pallidium computing, the list almost seems to grow exponentially. So, some guys got together in a dark room, brainstormed and came up with yet another ruse to curtail access to and use of the internet. Relax, this one won’t fly. Trust me. But the sheer audacity of it! Even the bovine docility of Windows users wouldn’t stomach this one (or would they?)—and here’s the irony. It seems to have been dreamed up by someone at Microsoft but in reality this nonsense has form. The wrap sheet’s a long one. Welcome to the world of “Microsoft’s Internet license”.

Source: http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/microsoft_hidden_malware_cos...

A couple of stories have hit the headlines this year concerning the huge cost that some UK Local Governments incurred when dealing with malware attack on their Windows machines. If you missed them, Manchester City Council had a single USB infected with the infamous Conficker worm and it cost them — brace yourself — £1.5m ($2.4m) of which £1.2m (US$1.9m) was spent on IT, of which a staggering £600,000 (US$980k) went on consultancy fees including money to Microsoft.

Source: http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/proprietary_browsers_built_p...

A friend of mine has an ADSL account with BT/Yahoo here in the UK. For some reason BT/Yahoo feel compelled to supply (nay insist upon) a customised version of I.E. as the browser for their customers. Okay so first things first: why choose I.E.? If you are thinking it’s for that old chestnut of greater compatibility with a higher number of websites, think again. That argument would work if your customised browser was simply IE rebadged and to all intents and purposes presented as IE. This monstrosity doesn’t — it presents as a BT/Yahoo browser based upon IE. Thus some of the IE compatibility works and some doesn’t. But there’s more — much more.

Source: http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/yes_linus_microsoft_hating_d...

The submission by Microsoft of twenty thousand lines of code to the Kernel has, predictably, caused many an eyebrow to arch. The phrase “beware Greeks bearing gifts” comes swiftly to mind. I checked the press release. I also checked the calendar just to make sure I hadn’t fallen into a wormhole and emerged back on April Fools Day. I hadn’t. That reaction was probably replicated right across the free software community. Given Microsoft’s track record it’s hardly surprising. Perhaps what was more interesting was Linus Torvalds’ reaction. After all, this is not an inconsequential flame war about using Gnome or KDE.

Source: http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/why_google_chrome_os_will_tu...

A small revolution in the IT world is about to happen, and we are about to witness it. Microsoft Windows’ domination has been challenged many times: first by OS/2 (failed), then Apple (failed), then Java and network computing (failed), then GNU/Linux and Ubuntu (failed, so far). And now, Google’s Chrome OS. After such a long list of failures, what makes me think that this latest attempt will actually succeed?

There is a list of factors. Let’s have a look.

Most of you have seen the news today from Google formally announcing their Chrome Operating System for netbooks using Intel x86 and ARM chips. The is painted as a classic “clash of the titans” between Google and Microsoft, with Google finally directly assaulting Microsoft’s top cash business. (They have already opened the war against Microsoft’s other cash cow, Office, with Google Docs.) While this is a great story, I prefer to frame at as David vs Goliath with the little OS that could, Linux, as the foundation of this announcement, as well as the other operating systems challenging Windows.

Source: http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/microsofts_secret_weapon_isn...

This is a story of hubris, nemesis and very bad language. Mine. We all like to have our egos flattered and I’m no exception, so when two old acquaintances told me their Windows laptops were infected with viruses I knew they were about to put the bite on me. They did. Could I fix them? Well, my vanity was flattered of course but it was to be a salutary experience that got me to thinking about whether it will ever be possible to wean users off Microsoft products.

Today the Linux Foundation issued a joint letter with Microsoft to the American Law Institute regarding a draft of their Principles of the Law of Software Contracts.

Who is the American Law Institute (ALI)

The ALI is a hardworking group that engages legal experts around the country who write “restatements of the law” or legal treatises in hopes that judges will use them in deciding cases. In order to participate in this process you need to be a member. You have to pay a fee to access material, and there is no public review prior to publication. This is why we decided to participate in drafting this open letter.

Source: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1122687

I ran into many problems trying to install Microsoft Office 2007 on Ubuntu 8.10, and quite frankly Open Office doesn't cut it for me.
It used to be that installing Office 07 on Ubuntu with wine was a large inconvenience, since you had to configure windows dll's and such.
This is how I installed Office, it is really simple to do. Make sure wine is not installed, and that the wine repository is disabled in your software sources.

Source: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1097080

apt-get install virtualbox qemu wine