This statement is false.

Ex Nokia staff now behind Meego just got a contract in China for phones. Boot to Gecko from Mozilla just got a contract in Brazil for phones.

Android got contracts everywhere.

Smaller players based on Linux are still able to move and play quite well.

Heck even http://makeplaylive.com/ Kde Vivaldi Tablet has sold out. Even that they were selling the device about 60 dollars above the market price of the same tablet with Android to get some funds for KDE. Yes I am not kidding it was exactly the same tablet right down to colouring only thing different the in loaded firmware and that it was unlocked.

Long term small margins favour FOSS. Reason Kde Vivaldi, Meego and Boot to Gecko all share the same kernel as Android so they just require an android device flashed with a different firmware to enter market. So large volume hardware is produced for Android is quite cheep to get that with custom firmware running something else Linux since that is what carriers order anyhow. Basically its not a extra cost to the carrier. Yet it allows them to look like in shops having more competition.

Tar
“If software makers like microsoft cannot make a profits from os, then soon all hardware manufactures will be like apple making soft linked only to a single device.”

I guess you can see where this is wrong. Hardware makers will be making Linux compatible devices because they can ship that hardware out more doors even re-branding it.

Carriers will want to appear to have few different options of customers. Linux times 3 on shelf customer will think they got to look at many different products even that they were all blood related. Also carriers will want to appear to have some of there own brand stuff on shelf right down to custom OS. Now of course that carrier custom OS could all becoming from different hardware makers.

Yes suit carrier down to ground change carrier no longer able to update you phone and the carrier gets a cut out of every application you buy.

Even debian is currently working on a mobile phone edition. Welcome to the world of wacky. Not only will Linux users have there favourite OS on there desktop it will be in there phones as well and possibly everything else with a computer in there house.

Basically the future is not about hardware makers being dominate at all Tar. Its going to be the carriers who are quite dominate and the hardware makers being quite flexible. So the up coming surface tablet by Microsoft I would not be surprised if that turns up as a android and other Linux tablets under different names and different colouring.

FOSS development will be quite happy on small margins. Microsoft on the other hand who has to try to get access to hardware companies to have drivers made is going to be quite problematic and quite expensive.

Linux shared cost.

Its also that the Linux guys have not stopped there cloning ways either. http://crna.cc/magenta.html iOS without apple on a generic Linux kernel. Now this is trouble for apple future.

Really think about it if a hardware maker spit out 1 million units. Do the hardware maker really care if 100 000 of them have meego 100 000 of them have B2G and 800 000 of them have android. Hardware maker only had to develop one set of drivers to support those 3 OS’s. So cost to hardware maker don’t change. Most important thing to hardware maker is the 1 million units go out door.

Now remember carriers could currently order 100 000 of X phone with there custom firmware. The smallest order is 20 000 in fact. So in this Linux friendly hardware 20 000 lots could go out the door to different distributions and firmware and the hardware maker really would not care. As Uoya just proved is possible to have the FOSS world preorder 30 000 plus.

Tar Microsofts margins are not small. FOSS world is offering people the chance at personalised.

MS can afford smaller margins due to high volume, but small companies cannot.

Ironically this favors MS in the long term.

This is a bad sign of the times

The last 6 months before windows 7 release upgrades here in Australia from Vista to 7 were free as long as you were willing to use download media from Microsoft and willing to accept on line provide of product key. This was on the packaged certificate for upgrade.

The 15 dollar claim for Vista to 7 here is bogus Phenom at least for Australia. This is also how it was for most of the Asian region. Yes Australia Microsoft disc supply comes out of Singapore.

There are 4 Microsoft disc production locations world wide. 1 in china 1 in Singapore. 1 in Europe and the USA. Never bothered with exact locations of ones I don’t order from.

Phenom there is some times difference in terms at migration between the 4 production locations. It would be interesting to know what production location you owned to where the upgrade from Vista to 7 was not free.

Phenom
“The downgrade to XP was discontinued long-long ago.”
http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/sblicensing/pages/downgrade_rights.aspx
This makes me completely not trust you. Windows 7 downgrade rights to XP is still valid to be used today. If your version of Windows 7 is professional or higher.

Yes downgrading Windows 7 home and starter was never possible. So the downgrade rights have not changed at all from when Windows 7 was released. There was talk about stopping it but it has not been stopped.

It seems to me that you have been saying this for years and years, Mr. Pogson. Do you really believe it? As much as you protest, the world keeps plodding along on this “treadmill” oblivious to the notion that they are oppressed.

I would think that a person as rational as yourself would formulate another theory that better fit the facts. I had previously pointed you to the Product Life Cycle information that is one of the things basic to product marketing and it should soothe your need to see Windows eventually disappear but give a more likely prediction of how fast and when and even why.

Gee, how did you make this one up?

Let me try once again: MS offered people, who just bought a laptop / PC with Vista an upgrade to 7 for $15 or so. The downgrade to XP was discontinued long-long ago.