IE and Edge go into crash-dive

[Skybird]

Another thing where Microsoft has intentionally and completely messed itself up. This battle too is lost for them. Within 21 months from a market share of roughly one half down to roughly one fifth. Wowh, thats a steep dive plane angle.

https://www.computerworld.com/articl...sing-ways.html

However, that a privacy-violator like Chrome now rules over 60% of the market, is anything but encouraging. It shows that people do not care for their privacy at all. In such an environment, it is a hopeless cause wanting to get more privacy.

Chrome is a secure browser, little doubt on that, no other browser gets as qickly and as often updated on security-relevant issues like this one. But privacy and security are two different things, and relating privacy, Chrome is a worst-case-scenario. You have no privacy in Chrome, that simple it is. None. Rien. Keine. Nada.

[Rockin Robbins]

They also surrendered to Spotify on the music front. Is there a company-wide trend developing? Are they going to dump all their former core businesses in favor of being a cloud company only?

[Skybird]

Actually cloud compouting and server business is what not only keeps Microsoft aflat, but send their stocks flying. So you are right, their former business models, payware software packages that are bought-and-owened instead of leased-and-milked, means losses for them. And Windows was nothing they could gain huge profits with anymore in the old model. In principle, they would love to get rid of Windows once and forever, they still need to invest much more in "servicing" it, but do not get much profit out of it. Thats why it was turned into Windows-as-a-service and why they have cut back technical support staff for it. - They indeed want to focus on sever and cliud business for sure. This is wehre microsoft's future revenues lie. So they think, and so far they are right, both branches are flourishing.

[Catfish]

Only because people have their say in public surveys does not tell whether a product is really good, or if they even really mean what they say, or know what they are talking about. Microsoft bashing is as old as Microsoft, and a good part is sheer envy. Still, show me companies who do not use Microsoft products; domain and active directory technology along with the Exchange server paired with iPhone tech is much better than anything else on the market.
You can program Linux to behave like that, but then you have.. what? A clone. Like with those free office suites, which are just older Windows office versions changed a bit so they get no lawsuit. The ideas were and are coming from MS, like it or not.
No, i do not like Win 10, especially since you can only cut the complete transfer of data with the Enterprise edition, which makes no sense for private use. I would have preferred an improved Windows 7.

Germany has tried to switch over to Linux in a lot of ministries and institutions, the result was a big failure, and they went back to MS as fast as possible. Which is of course because people know how to handle MS, but not Linux, it would take some more years to change and adapt.
Apple as an alternative? Don't make me laugh.

Problem for high tech firms or companies like Volkswagen is of course that MS has all kinds of backdoors installed for sniffing on your data, which gives the US companies and secret services etc. an unfair advantage, when it comes to technology, patents and ideas.
But since Trump i guess technology and science are so being cut down that creationism will strive and the stars will become some strange lights in the sky for US citizens anyway

Chrome is secure? In a way that all your data are saved and published already so there is no need for concern anymore?
Edge will not be much better, but it is a fast and lean product, i use it daily since switching to Win 10. I still use Firefox, but maybe to an extent of 10% if at all.

That said, what i mean is they all suck

[Rockin Robbins]

Have you tried Vivaldi? It's a brilliant browser on Windows or Linux. The French police use Linux. Microsoft stays in Germany by buying the political process, not because Linux is a failure.

Libre Office is not a copy or even close to a copy of Microsoft Office. No, they did not copy Microsoft code and change it just enough not to get sued. Reverse engineering is a crime. Linux programmers are plenty good enough to outperform Microsoft, and they do so all the time.

Firefox, Thunderbird, WinDirStat, Steam, your home router, your cell phone, just about every site on the Internet, game servers, and many many more things we generally aren't aware of all came from Linux or run on Linux today. If you want dependability, Linux is the only game in town. If you want security Linux is the only game in town. Nine of the ten fastest computers on the planet all run Linux. There are good reasons for that.

[Skybird]

Libre Office is a split from Open Office, and Open Office roots back in Star Office by Sun Microsystems. And Star Office was was no split from Microsoft Office Suite, but a competing rival product to it. It based on a very early text editor named Star Printer or Star Writer, that was I think as early as in the 80s. It never had any link to Word, or Office Suite by MS. The open document format stems from this lineage, its no Microsoft format. The early founders came form Germany, btw.

There were so many simply factual wrong claims raised in Catfish's post that I got confused on where to start and then decided to just not care getting started at all.

Indeed the Paruis police has installed - in free time of the officers! - Linux, aga8inst the will of the French interior minsitry. Since years the altter demands the Paris polcie to move back to Micorosft, but the Paris flics just do not care, because Linux works safer and more stable for them. that has the French interior minister (before Macron) fuming since long. But the Paris police ignores him. Since I think three or four years. LOL

In many German towns and cities, indeed Linux is beign maintained, partially for overt ten years already. Amongst them my hometown where I live.

Munich however illustrates how Microsoft all too often tries to play the game. Munich also was on Linux, since years, but then the local government or mayor changed and the new boss in town is a close friend of Microsoft. Big MS told him they would move some representation center into Munich if he woudl force the public services to switch back to Windows - which they do not want at all. So he gave the order, simply that, and ran into stiff resistance. There were at least two oublic heairng by now where the guy tried to give practical arugmwents of why Windows is better for munich. He gailed. He claimed the poublic office workers want it, and they immediately rejected it. He claimed sdecurity soncerns,a nd was proiven wrong piont for point. He had no arguments that were valid. But Microsoft'S model is to cash in hilariously expensive yearly license fees, becaseu th software is no more bought, but just leased, these fees can reach easily into the millions. The mayor in Munich wna ts to waste oubkic tax money to give MS the wanted license fees to get a pointless Microsoft office into the city, all that at the cost and expense of the tax payer. I call that fraudulent conversion.

In some cities they have converted back to Windows indeed in the past years, however. sometimes indeed due to workers having problems with handling software. But that is due to incomepetent political administratoin that did not care fopr gettign staff trained comoetently. Where such training was invested into, usually Linux is preferred and works better - and muczh cheaper.

However, sometimes indeed certain specialsied software needed is not avialable under Linux. The old vulnerability of it: compatability. This is however not the general case in public administration.

And Catfish, get yourself some info on what the difference is between just polling consumers on a sample basis, and monitoring complete network traffic loads to come to empirical conclusions about market shares. Its not the same.

In the US, I recently have read, schools and universities by now have tipped the flood. No longer micorosft devices get ordered or donated predominantly, but Google and Apple devices.

Professional It admins hate Wujndows 10. I read two Engish and three German tech blogs frequently, more or less frequently at least, and the audfience as well as tghe authors are profesuisonals needing to know this stuff for thewir living. Catfish, realise it: they hate it. Many more working hours to maintain it, to repair all the things Microsoft breakes, to work around the many issues. MS cannot make money with Windows anymore, and if they could, they would just dump it and leave it behind. So they cut funding, fired any good people wokring on and knowing Windows since half their lives, and made others fleeing Microsoft voluntarily. A massive drain of experience and knoweldge, related to Windows. No wonder the patching is a mess. IT admins seem to try in significant numbers to convince their employers NOT to switch to Windows 10. And the boss of MS, Nadalla, just a short time ago inficated that they were wrong in their claimed rates of custoimerd adopting W10, in a recent interview the number he most naturally mentioned was by one third lower, than before. They have just lost one third of their global Windows 10 users? Wowh.

How the tide is shifting, Robbins has shown some weeks ago with a link to some statistics showuijgn that the number of Wiundows devices per one single Appole device sold, has drmataically dropped. It still is severla times as high as the sales by aplles, yes. But it has dropped by over one half, and this in relatively short time. And that has its own message. The new bully on the block for operation systems, is Android. The future ofor producers hwo create their own hardware for their own software, beliongs to Google, and Apple. Microsoft - is busy in cloud computing and server business (where again Linux already dominates, and with Novell a third contender comes in as well). Windows is no longer a core business, so is Office.

Today i have read that MS works on a new Windows, named Andromeda. I heard of this for the first time today. It again holds a message, ebcasue originally W10 was meant to be the last orioginal Windows that Microsoft woudl ever develope, and then constantly uodates in the way of the scheme they have tried to establish by now, they said so already before W8 was released. And some weeks ago they gave up their resistence to Linux, which before they fought against right to the bone, they say they now want to support it and assist development for Linux as best as they can. LOL Now they try to embrace it to death, but meet extremely cool reaction by the Linux com munity of course. Both pieces of info tell me that they have admitted the failure of W10, and their defeat by Linux in general. Hell, even MS headquarters in Redmont are said to run Linux!

Its Windowsdämmerung, plain and simple. It will die on for more years to come, but it dies. And this new Andromeda - we will see. To me it is an emergency reaction born out of despair. I do not b eleiove thnat the past will come back, so if somethign good comes from it, then due to it beign somethign totally new, but not an old Windows in new clothings. After the terribly bad experiences of the past two years however I will be so on my guard however , that they will find it almost impossible to befriend with me again. These two years really have blown it for them. And I learned that I only need Windows anymore to play some games.