[Lakshmipathi]

Seems like M$ changed there mind on open source.
I really wonder and seriously worried about this.
Open Source On (And) Windows: Radhesh Balakrishnan

what could be their real plan?

[Freston]

Originally Posted by Lakshmipathi

what could be their real plan?

To be smart in business.


No really. I don't think this is a coincidence coming from India. India is a fast emerging market. But the dominance of MS isn't as well established there as in the US and Europe. That also means that India doesn't carry the burden of existing infrastructure and existing investments and practices as much. Yet India is a _very_ serious market, and most people expect India to keep it's growth rate as long as it's demand for energy can be met.

That said, India is in a position to choose which IT solution will fit them most. If they shy away from MS now, MS will never be able to make up for that loss. It'll mean that MS has lost the most important market on contemporary Earth... and hence World Dominance(TM).

And if you think then that Indians are rational people who might find better uses for their money then licensing plans, and may even have more of a 'do it yourself' kind of mentality, one might wonder if MS really offers such a tight fit for what the Indian consumer and businessman wants.

I think MS is moving to close this gap. At least to an extend.



_____
DISCLAIMER: The above is presented to you 'as is', opinions expressed herein may be subject to change. I do not claim to be right. Flaws in reasoning or misrepresentation of facts, if brought to the attention of the author (me) will receive due blablabla you get the point I'm just thinking out loud. The question intrigued me.

[flipjargendy]

They were fined in the UK for not neccisarily dealing with open-source but for not complying with the European Union in an anti-trust decision. I wonder if anything like that will happen here, in the US. News article below:

EU Fines Microsoft $1.35 Billion...

[thesimplecreator]

microsoft has ran into alot of anti-trust cases in america. one not to far back.



putting open source software on windows like they are talking is just pretty much taking alot of reasons people would want to use linux,bsd,etc.

[Lakshmipathi]

Originally Posted by Freston

To be smart in business.

Yes.They are have smart business people in MS ..
but not sure about the technical people.

DISCLAIMER: The above is presented to you 'as is', opinions expressed herein may be subject to change. I do not claim to be right. Flaws in reasoning or misrepresentation of facts, if brought to the attention of the author (me) will receive due blablabla you get the point I'm just thinking out loud. The question intrigued me.

I really like this DISCLAIMER part


Most people in india, don't even know linux has a GUI interface and you can use mouse.
I believe ,things are started to change.We need more awareness about linux here.

[geniuz]

I think it will take a long time until microsoft establishes the same kind of open source software community allready present in linux. Do you really think companies like Norton or Adobe are willing to spread their software for free ? No offcourse not.
It's not about the open source software, it's about the mentality. Microsoft is a company, companies crave to make profit...very unlike linux where most is just vollunteer (or pioneer) work craving to publish optimal software.

And even IF microsoft becomes "open source" there are still a lot of reasons to use linux over windows (think about stability or speed). If Microsoft doesn't start all over and just wipe their dollar signs out of their eyes...they might just come up with a decent OS...they must have some decent programmers!

Last but not least I very much doubt they could convince any present Linux users to switch to Microsoft "just because they went open source"...heck I don't believe Microsoft could convince linux users with ANY argument.
It's all about the image they sketched of themselves, it will take much time for them rebuilding it.