In a time of turmoil for Microsoft with poor Vista sales (especially among the gaming community) and the patent battle clouds gathering the big question remains: What can Microsoft do to put the cat back in the sack after releasing it with its patent saber rattling? … There were a good reason to launch this indirect assault on Linux, which were slowly but steady building up steam. Microsoft’s main product that was set to dominate the remainder of the decade looks like a blunt failure in many areas. The requirements for Windows Vista is simply to consuming compare to the little, but expensive improved features you might get. Pirated version seems to be the most popular one, as the “unbreakable” Vista is now completely hacked and the main point Microsoft is selling Vista by, Security, seems to be dismissed all around the IT sector, as everyone finds the security level of Vista the same as Windows XP. While Microsoft is desperately trying to get people to adapt Vista in one way or the other, like trying to use DirectX10 in Vista Premium to force gamers onto this platform, another problem is hitting Microsoft where it hurts… Linux! This open source, freely available operating system has taken over servers across the world in an astonishing pace – a market that is very hard to keep for Microsoft, who is struggling to understand and battle this threat. Meanwhile Linux is slowly edging towards the Desktop Market in many businesses, which is where the alarms must really be ringing loud in Redmond. Microsoft’s approach to this problem with using a blinded patent scare has had great repercussions across the IT world – more than I think Microsoft ever anticipated!

There has already been a lot of discussion on this new approach to “competition” Microsoft has adapted. Many considers Microsoft’s move against Open Source Software and Linux in particular as unbelievably stupid, like the elevator of information at Microsoft doesn’t ever reach the top floor. They have angered a lot of their best and most loyal customers, who earn a good profit on Linux business as well, but never before would have considered dropping Microsoft, whom they considered an ally. While Microsoft’s “partner in crime” Novell, who signed the cooperation agreement with Microsoft, that has by many been feared to accept the patents, are choosing to side against Microsoft after their act of threatening they are themselves telling everyone that they simply hasn’t had time to release the patents yet! This is of course is pure bullshit and everyone knows it, since there is NO work involved in showing a range of patents to the public that are already available to the public in the patent database, if people knew where to look in that Hellish place… The comedy then continues when Novell suddenly releases the agreement made between them and Microsoft to the public, and suddenly Microsoft is out claiming that they promises not to sue open source … yet! Why they suddenly decided to pull the public saber rattling and rather keep it private is a curious one. One should think that if they are certain in their patent violation accusations that they would keep this matter public and let the world know that “thieves” get what they deserve. However, a lot of things are pointing towards an entirely different evaluation of their strategy choices. Eben Moglen’s return remark on the saber rattling strategy that Microsoft has become a Linux distributor themselves when they started handing out Linux coupons for SuSe Linux with no expire date will leave Microsoft to become affected by the GPL’s third and upcoming version soon. Apparently the prospects of the GPL 3 is a frightening one for Microsoft. Enough to launch a questionable assault on the draft process of the GPL 3. It is a curious change of strategies we are witnessing at Microsoft these days. A couple of years back Microsoft expressed great concerns on the patent system, fearing that big patent companies might push other companies around – and now they have adapted this strategy themselves?! Apparently such an opinion doesn’t count when you yourself become what you feared others would become? This playing mafia with patents is just a symptom of the many problems facing Microsoft. They have little left in terms of real competition power, as they can find no real approach to the competition in open source. Even though this might make them one of the most hated companies around, both among competitors and among partners who are affected indirectly by this stupid move, Mark Shuttleworth thinks that Microsoft in the end will end up fighting against the patent system, as they will also start to feel the annoying daily pressure from patent trolls. Innovation have left large parts of the IT business to become replaced by endless patenting. Lawyers are doing the jobs of developers and are trying hard to describe confused sentences that are somehow acknowledged as innovative and unique. Running through a series of patent in the WIPO database can indeed be a tragic experience…

While Microsoft is trying their new strategy of patent trolling Linux continues to win over more Microsoft’s partners, such as Dell, who are now betting on Linux as an alternative on the Desktop (and of course server-side). Microsoft’s response is to launch a new anti Linux propaganda campaign after their FUD-campaign “Get The Facts” (which should have been called “Get Around The Facts”). Microsoft is in desperate need of a way to get their message out. Get The Facts tried to make people convinced that Linux and open source wasn’t a vital way to go and the ROI was not there. However, Microsoft’s main problem is that software development and the software business has changed – and without Microsoft as a leader or even present in this change. Now code can be open source, which only means that you get access to it and can get the fruits of other’s labor freely available. Service, support and education is where the money is earned instead in this new business model that is becoming the new way to go. Companies such as Google earn a lot of money on using open source software and giving software away for free, instead pulling in a big profit on an advertisement service on the side – a service Microsoft have yet to be able to compete with. In this market Microsoft isn’t pulling the weight or even pulling any strings, even though they again and again tries to use their monopoly status on operating system to push their own search tools. In terms of using the new business model a company like SugarCRM is really showing the new way of Silicon Valley. They are making open source software and earning a lot of money doing it, showing that innovation still exists in the software market.

Giving away free code isn’t exactly something Microsoft can understand. If you want someone to give away free stuff you want to ensure that they are instead in some way forced into paying for another Microsoft product. This way of thinking is shown distinctly in the case of the developer behind the free solution TestDriven.Net, that has become a popular product, which has made many Microsoft customers and especially developers begin using Microsoft’s software. He was also made an MVP by Microsoft themselves, until they found out that his work could be used in the free Express Version of Visual Studio. Suddenly he was sued by Microsoft because he made a too good product for free for Microsoft. This is not exactly the way you create good relationships, good press or make developers put in their free time to develop freely available products for Microsoft’s products. You do not make customers happy either when you fill up the product you want them to buy with DRM, like Microsoft did with Windows Vista and are doing with Windows Media Edition as well. Instead you get a tons of support tasks and angry customers! In the much hated subject of DRM Microsoft is one of biggest distributors of DRM, together with Sony and the newcomer Intel (Who is now making hardware rootkits!).

The last battlefield Microsoft is currently trying to win against the competition in is in the ongoing document format war, which could lead to great financial problems for Microsoft, if they, as I have previously described, starts to loose customers on the profitable Office-suite sales! There are many good reasons for choosing ODF instead of Microsoft’s Office XML format, but unfortunately politicians doesn’t listen to reason when it comes to IT – they give up, let the big companies tell them what to think and just cash in from the lobbyist! This means that it is an area where Microsoft can ship some cash to central politicians and end up in the stalemate they want to archive, where they continue to cash in on the Office-suite sales.

In my opinion the patent saber rattling was a major strategy mistake by Microsoft, in a time where they need successes instead of the constant reign of fiascoes and stronger competition. They are doing somewhat okay in the Console war against Sony (not as well as Nintendo obviously), but in terms of direct competition Microsoft is simply no longer a driving force. They have lost the will to innovate and compete on equal market terms. In every area they try to compete on equal terms they loose, like their battle with Google is showing. They then continue to enforce their monopoly to get a more than unreasonable competitive edge. It is a sad story – but luckily in the story of the patents I think that Microsoft will find that this big mistake will be very difficult to clean up. Once you have shown your loyal partners that you can no longer be trusted not to back stab them at any moment you will loose loyalty – and Linux will gain from it! And in the mean time the wolves are gathering for the counter-attack… Not exactly the way Microsoft thought it would go, was it Mister Steve “Throwing Chairs” Ballmer?!