Desperation is the tone of the evolving strip-tease that is 7. M$ has announced that they intend to lock down the desktop background on the version of their OS for netbooks. HAHAHAHA! The hackers will have another high-visibility target.
It is so sad to see M$ and the world waste time on this garbage. I make sure to see my desktops are fully configurable and enjoy with my students the intricate backgrounds they come up with. Sometimes they are original art, a photograph or an image from the web. How cheap/flimsy/worthless will the default netbook install feel to them. They can just buy one with GNU/Linux to escape to freedom rather than shelling out big bucks for another offereing from M$.
This will be the point where M$ finally competes on price and quality and loses badly. The customers will see folks walking around with FLOSS desktops of beauty when M$ comes only in bland stuff.
Is it Canute commanding the sea to roll back? Is it an attempt to freeze the market? Is it an attempt to get OEMs to put something more expensive on the market? Perhaps it is all of the above but it certainly is a depserate measure that shows they wear no clothes.
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I think you may have missed something Robert. Microsoft is very careful concerning the value their customers get. I’m sure Microsoft’s research will show that their customers asked for a single locked-down background for the desktop. I suspect in the future, Microsoft will ship all desktops with a single, locked-down desktop background. They will start with a day-glow orange for the Starter edition and continue on up to a pleasant green for Windows Grand Supremo. Microsoft have discovered the concept if introducing undesirable features and forcing their hapless customers to pay to have them removed. It’s easier than introducing real innovation into the product. I can only see this marketing ploy by Microsoft continue to grow.
There are customers who would value a locked-down desktop like large businesses. A locked-down desktop reduces the chances of a user booting/installing undesirable software without anyone noticing.
The idea that M$ would introduce undesirable features to encourage customers to pay more for something a little more desirable is a bit far-fetched. M$ is known to use focus groups and I am sure groups would object. I think it is more likely that M$ is using this strategy to dampen enthusiasm for netbooks which are a threat to Wintel. They can put this crap on store shelves as a form of negative advertising for netbooks. Delay has value for M$. Anything that delays the time when they have to compete on quality and price is billions more in the bank.
I believe OEMs will whine and either fall into line eventually, pushing more expensive stuff, or M$ will recant as they did with the death of XP, the three-app limit etc. It is their way of holding mind-share. Here we are writing about it …
On the other hand, no one can turn away from a good train wreck… I think this is what we are seeing. They may delay the ascension of GNU/Linux but their methods make it more sure than ever that GNU/Linux will have a good share of PCs very soon. M$ has the flexibility of their strip-tease, the incessant announcement of how things are going to be and then changing the situation. That is all they can control now. The FUD is just about worthless. The product has little to offer. The price is rising. Then there is malware which still runs rampant over that other OS. Pretty soon GNU/Linux will be in the mop-up phase of a military operation, leaving only a few obstacles bypassed in the campaign. The fanbois in the USA and big business and consumers who choose to remain ignorant will be the only customers M$ can count upon. As long as M$ looks at the short-term cost/benefit and continues to insult customers, the inevitable downfall will come sooner rather than later.