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posted by martyb on Saturday November 09 2019, @07:59AM   Printer-friendly
from the antitrust-works dept.

Bill Gates Says You Would Be Using Windows Mobile & Not Android Right Now If It Weren't for the Pesky Feds...

Bill Gates has said that he thinks everyone would be using Windows Mobile right now and not Android if it weren't for his distractions and the antitrust investigation that his company got caught into.

"There's no doubt that the antitrust lawsuit was bad for Microsoft, and we would have been more focused on creating the phone operating system and so instead of using Android today you would be using Windows Mobile," Gates claimed during his speech at The New York Times' DealBook Conference.

[...] Microsoft cofounder also revealed that the company was almost launching Windows Mobile on a Motorola handset but missed out on it by a few months, giving Android an unbeatable advantage. While there were a lot of factors, Gates says it's this 3-months delay that led to Android's supremacy and the downfall of any mobile efforts by Microsoft.

"We were just three months too late on a release Motorola would have used on a phone, so yes it's a winner takes all game."

Related:
Nadella: Microsoft Isn't Killing Windows Phone and Will Go It Alone
Steve Balmer: Use Android to Save Windows Phone
Microsoft Breaks its Windows 10 Mobile Upgrade Promise
Microsoft Axes 2,850 More Windows Phone, Sales Staff
Windows Phone Dies, Aged 6
It's Been 5 Years Already, Let's Gawp at Microsoft and Nokia's Bloodbath
Microsoft is Embracing Android as the Mobile Version of Windows


Original Submission

Related Stories

Nadella: Microsoft Isn't Killing Windows Phone and Will Go It Alone 54 comments

Windows Phone isn’t going away.

You might think it was doomed, following Microsoft’s reorganization of its phone business just days ago, especially after Microsoft wrote down the value of the business. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella put those fears to rest, however, in an interview with ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley.

Nadella has emphasized, time and again, that his goal is for Microsoft to establish new product categories that partners can build upon. In the phone business, however, partners haven’t followed Microsoft’s lead.

Nadella seems to be fine with that. “If there are a lot of OEMs, we’ll have one strategy. If there are no OEMs, we’ll have one strategy,” Nadella said of Windows Phone's future. Microsoft seems content to go it alone, or if a hardware partner like HTC or Samsung commits to the platform, that’s fine too. 

Nadella has previously characterized Windows 10 as an operating system that straddles multiple hardware platforms: the desktop PC, the notebook, the tablet, the phone, the Surface Hub, HoloLens, and the Xbox. The market hasn't really bought this story so far, at least where Windows phones are concerned.

[...]

Still, we now know this: Microsoft’s in phones for the long haul. And that’s reassuring both to fans of the platform and to those who are keeping an eye on Microsoft’s long-term vision for Windows 10.


Original Submission

Steve Balmer: Use Android to Save Windows Phone 19 comments

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was busy explaining to a stock holders meeting that the company's plan to improve the Windows Phone's sales was to appeal to Windows developers by allowing them to write universal applications that work on computers, phones and tablets, targeting a larger array of devices than just Microsoft's handsets.

Steve Ballmer, still a major stock holder, blurts out

"That won't work, Instead, the company needs to enable Windows Phones to run Android apps."

He was possibly right, but the outburst was about as welcome as a cactus in an outhouse.

The Application market for Windows phone is a mess. If it is free, Facebook, Skype, Twitter, it gets downloaded. If the developer charge much of anything at all, apps just don't sell. And developers just aren't spending any time developing for Windows Mobile.

It's not clear exactly what Ballmer meant by his comments, however. Was he implying that Windows Phones need to run apps that were originally designed for Android, and then ported over to Windows? In that case, he's probably aware that Project Astoria, the Windows "bridge" tool that will allow developers to port Android apps to Windows, has been reportedly put on hold.


Original Submission

Microsoft Breaks its Windows 10 Mobile Upgrade Promise 30 comments

Tom Warren at The Verge reports that Microsoft has once again broken its promise to upgrade Windows Phones. From the article:

Microsoft has screwed up its Windows Phone upgrades once again. While the software maker promised that all Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices would be upgraded to Windows 10, it's breaking that promise. Microsoft started rolling out Windows 10 Mobile to existing Lumia devices this week, and revealed that handsets like the Lumia 920 and Lumia 1020 will be stuck on Windows Phone 8.

[...] Windows Phone fans aren't necessarily angry at the lack of upgrade for their chosen devices, it's more the broken promises. Windows Phone 7 handsets were never upgraded to Windows Phone 8, and Microsoft set the expectation this time that history wouldn't repeat itself. Another broken promise is bad news for a mobile operating system that is practically dead, and once again Microsoft has angered its small but loyal base of Windows Phone users.


Original Submission

Microsoft Axes 2,850 More Windows Phone, Sales Staff 50 comments

The job cuts were revealed in paperwork filed on Thursday with US financial watchdog the SEC. The doomed staff will leave the business by the end of next June. They all work in Microsoft's sales teams and its Windows Phone hardware division. [...] We understand 900 people in the global sales unit have already learned of their fate.

As for the latest redundancies, here's the relevant sections of Microsoft's annual 10-K report to the SEC:

In addition to the elimination of 1,850 positions that were announced in May 2016, approximately 2,850 roles globally will be reduced during the year as an extension of the earlier plan, and these actions are expected to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2017.

As of June 30, 2016, we employed approximately 114,000 people on a full-time basis, 63,000 in the U.S. and 51,000 internationally. Of the total employed people, 38,000 were in operations, including manufacturing, distribution, product support, and consulting services; 37,000 in product research and development; 29,000 in sales and marketing; and 10,000 in general and administration.

While the layoffs affect just 2.5 per cent of Microsoft's workforce, they are very precise and telling cuts: Windows-powered mobiles managed to seize just three per cent of the global smartphone market, and now Redmond is dismantling that failed operation.


Original Submission

Windows Phone Dies, Aged 6 78 comments

Windows Phone will not receive new features, and there will be no new Windows Phone hardware. The initial release was on October 21, 2010:

During the weekend, Microsoft's Joe Belfiore tweeted confirmation of something that has been suspected for many months: Microsoft is no longer developing new features or new hardware for Windows Mobile. Existing supported phones will receive bug fixes and security updates, but the platform is essentially now in maintenance mode.

Microsoft's difficulties in the mobile market are no secret, but for a time the company looked as if it was keeping Windows Mobile as a going concern regardless. Through 2016, Microsoft produced new builds for the Windows Insider program and added new features to Windows Mobile. At around the time of release of the Windows 10 Creators Update in April this year, that development largely ground to a halt. Windows Mobile, which already lacked certain features that were delivered to Windows on the PC, had its development forked. PC Windows development continued on the "Redstone 3" branch (which will culminate in the release of the Fall Creators Update later this month); Windows Mobile languished on a branch named "feature2."

[...] We might well wonder why Microsoft didn't say so sooner and instead strung along not only the platform's fans but even OEM partners; it's hard to imagine that HP would have built its Elite x3 phone had Microsoft been clearer about mobile.

Even with this announcement, there's still speculation that Microsoft is going to bring out a new device—something phone-like but not a phone—that'll compete, somehow, in the mobile space. For all the rumors about a "Surface Phone," though, it's unclear precisely what this device would do that is meaningfully different from anything else on the market or if it will be compelling enough to reverse the company's mobile fortunes. For now, all we can do is mourn: the best mobile platform isn't under active development any more, and the prospects of new hardware to run it on are slim to non-existent.

They should release an app that runs full Windows on an external display when an Android smartphone is docked. Put those 8-10 cores to good use.


Original Submission

It's Been 5 Years Already, Let's Gawp at Microsoft and Nokia's Bloodbath 32 comments

From The Register:

Five years have passed but the wounds left by the acquisition and dismemberment of Europe's biggest technology company at the hands of Microsoft remain open.

Nokia today is a considerable multinational, of course, booking €23.15bn in FY2017. But that's around half of what Nokia was at its peak in 2007 (€51.6bn). It's the intangibles that have been lost: Nokia was a trailblazer, the speaker of a global language that could sell electronics to every class or culture, and the pride of Finland – a nation most Americans couldn't find on a map before the 1990s. Many probably still can't.

(On arriving in San Francisco in 1999, I remember my Chinese-American buildings manager, a great technology enthusiast, telling me: "I love Nokia – I love all Japanese technology.")

Almost all of the 32,000 employees of Nokia's phone division subsequently lost their jobs, and CEO Stephen Elop was personally vilified as the agent in an elaborate conspiracy theory.

[...] The axe soon started swinging.

It was painful. Nadella had wanted to cut the fat from Microsoft even without the addition of Nokia's phone unit – which included not just the smartphones but the dumbphones that Microsoft never wanted, too, as well as manufacturing plants in South Korea, China, Hungary, India, Mexico and Vietnam.

Original URL


Original Submission

Microsoft is Embracing Android as the Mobile Version of Windows 10 comments

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Microsoft is embracing Android as the mobile version of Windows

Microsoft unveiled a bunch of Surface hardware during a press event in New York City last night. While matte black Surfaces, headphones with Cortana, and a new Surface Studio were the highlights of the hardware side, Microsoft unveiled an interesting change to its Windows operating system. Windows 10 will soon fully embrace Android to mirror these mobile apps to your PC.

The Android app mirroring will be part of Microsoft's new Your Phone app for Windows 10. This app debuts this week as part of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, but the app mirroring part won't likely appear until next year. Microsoft briefly demonstrated how it will work, though; You'll be able to simply mirror your phone screen straight onto Windows 10 through the Your Phone app, which will have a list of your Android apps. You can tap to access them and have them appear in the remote session of your phone.

[...] Microsoft Launcher is designed to replace the default Google experience on Android phones, and bring Microsoft's own services and Office connectivity to the home screen. It's a popular launcher that Microsoft keeps updating, and it's even getting support for the Windows 10 Timeline feature that lets you resume apps and sites across devices.

[...] Windows Phone has vanished in the last couple of years, and Microsoft finally admitted Windows Phone was dead nearly a year ago. The software maker has now embraced the reality that people don't need Windows on a phone. Instead, it's embracing Android as the mobile version of Windows.


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by MostCynical on Saturday November 09 2019, @08:07AM (1 child)

    by MostCynical (2589) on Saturday November 09 2019, @08:07AM (#918182) Journal

    early adopters (not trendy bandwagon types, but tech people) are not 'microsoft people' (they are barely android people, but "COMPUTER IN MY POCKET!!!")

    trend-types like 'new and shiny', but aren't likely to want to have to 'learn' a new interface..

    so... neither type of early adopter would every buy an ms (or Sailfish, or whatever) phone.

    Poor Bill.

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
    • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @01:19PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @01:19PM (#918225)

      Microsoft had early adopters. They tried Microsoft PocketPC in 2000. Then they tried Windows Mobile 2003. Then Windows Mobile 5. Then Windows Mobile 6. Then Windows Phone 7. Then Windows Phone 8. Then Windows Phone 10.

      Each time, Microsoft announced something, sold it, and then dumped it and released something new with different features and new APIs that was largely not backwards compatible. Windows Mobile 6 apps didn't work on Windows Phone 7, etc... etc...

      So the early adoption customers got burned, and more importantly the early adoption application vendors got burned too.

      I hate Microsoft and I hate Bill Gates. But Windows conquered the desktop world due to a combination of dirty tricks and fanatical focus on backwards compatibility. Microsoft brought the dirty tricks to mobile, but dumped the backwards compatibility and that's what killed them. If Google dumped and restarted Android six times, it would have never gone anywhere either.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Coward, Anonymous on Saturday November 09 2019, @08:20AM

    by Coward, Anonymous (7017) on Saturday November 09 2019, @08:20AM (#918183) Journal

    Props to the anti-trust investigators for helping a Microsoft competitor enter the market.

  • (Score: 5, Funny) by aristarchus on Saturday November 09 2019, @08:36AM (13 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday November 09 2019, @08:36AM (#918184) Journal

    Ha, ha! Ha, ha ha! Multiple ha, has! If only we had not been criminals, we could have been a contender! Ha, HA, HA HA AHA, Ha!! Too funny! Zune!!!!

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @10:38AM (7 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @10:38AM (#918197)

      Yes, I had the exact same thought. In a fair world, the way that Microsoft came to dominate the computing market would bring charges of crimes against humanity. It is sickening to see how successful he has been in whitewashing his reputation with his charity/PR schemes.

      • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 09 2019, @02:56PM (6 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 09 2019, @02:56PM (#918260) Journal

        Keep that in mind when you visit most any museum. Carnegie-Melon? They felt guilty for exploiting people in their day, so they got into philanthropy to get right with God or something like that. Not much different from the Pharaoh, who were all real SOB's but wanted to be remembered as some kind of nice guy.

        The poor man (or woman) who gives a sandwich to a hungry guy is far more praiseworthy than some asshole giving away money that he can't possibly spend in his lifetime.

        Fuck Bill - he'll answer to God just as surely as any of us. You won't find me giving him any sympathy.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @06:47PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @06:47PM (#918358)

          You only have to be in with the right sky-daddy. My god doesn't care about small details such as how much money I give away or what day of the week I rest or even how I have sex.

        • (Score: 2) by jasassin on Saturday November 09 2019, @11:21PM

          by jasassin (3566) <jasassin@gmail.com> on Saturday November 09 2019, @11:21PM (#918440) Homepage Journal

          The poor man (or woman) who gives a sandwich to a hungry guy is far more praiseworthy than some asshole giving away money that he can't possibly spend in his lifetime.

          This is so true and so wise, I wish I could mod you +20 Insightful.

          --
          jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
        • (Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Sunday November 10 2019, @07:34AM (3 children)

          by PinkyGigglebrain (4458) on Sunday November 10 2019, @07:34AM (#918548)

          The Gate's foundation is pouring US$ 5 Billion into Africa.

          And yet in the USA, where Billl made his fortune, met his wife, and where they and their children live, there are families and individuals who have no homes, or even basic shelter and have no guarantee that they will even get any food from day to day.

          Isn't there some line in the Bible or one of those other "Holy" books everyone claims to follow about how "Charity starts at home"? If Billy boy doesn't believe in God then why the Hells is he trying to clean up his rep in the first place?

          If B&M spent that money taking care of those people who are going hungry in their own country they actually get some respect from me, until then both of them can rot in the deepest pit of Hells for all I care.

          --
          "Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @08:35AM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @08:35AM (#918555)

            He got that money uh... fair and square.

            OK maybe not, but there are still better ways to attack the B&MG Foundation.

            • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday November 10 2019, @08:50AM

              by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday November 10 2019, @08:50AM (#918559) Journal

              Are there, really? I suppose that Bill and Melinda have lived so far inside of a gated community that they have never witnessed a hungry American? Or, an American with holes in his shoes? Or, an American with shabby clothes, headed for a job interview for yet another dead-end job that won't pay for a new wardrobe?

              Despite the fact that America is one of, if not THE richest nations on earth, there is plenty of opportunity to be charitable at home. GP makes a valid point, IMO. If I were to load up my truck with all of the cash, in US twenty dollar bills, and drive around looking for worthy causes, I could empty the truck in pretty short order. Take your choice of cities, or small towns. You may (or may not) have to look a little harder out in rural America - that's debatable.

              For clarity, "worthy causes" for me would be individuals with hard luck stories, not "not-for-profit" charities. Those "charities" that actually pass on 50% or more of the money they rake in are exceptions, rather than the rule.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @02:54PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @02:54PM (#918946)

            I would attack billionaires at a more fundamental level. I would argue the most noble, virtuous, valuable job any human can have is working as a doctor. The average American doctor - the best paid doctors in the world - would have to work 50,000 years and save every penny to become a billionaire. So no billionaire, anywhere, ever, truly earned their fortune. Nobody works 50,000 times as hard as a doctor, or is 50,000 times as smart as a doctor, or even is 224 times as smart and works 224 times as hard (224 * 224 = 50,176).

            So the existence of billionaires represent a policy failure in society. They're the most successful thieves in history.

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @12:56PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @12:56PM (#918221)

      "You don't understand, I could have had class. I could have been a contender. I could have been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am." -- Bill Gates

    • (Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Saturday November 09 2019, @06:11PM (3 children)

      by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 09 2019, @06:11PM (#918345) Journal

      As a result of Android not coming into existence, Apple is allowed to complete its heavy water experiments and this enables them to be first in developing a smartphone without serious competition. This, together with switching to Intel processors, enables Apple to capture the world.

      --
      В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by sjames on Saturday November 09 2019, @09:18AM

    by sjames (2882) on Saturday November 09 2019, @09:18AM (#918187) Journal

    It could be MS's established reputation for a slow buggy and clumsy mobile OS.

    They actually did cram Windows on a Motorola phone. It's responsiveness was worse than glacial.

    They even tried buying a cellphone manufacturer, since that was the only way they could get their crap crammed into a phone at all. But even Nokia's former reputation for high quality phones couldn't keep that abomination afloat. The fact is, it was still slow, still clunky, and the hardware was underwhelming.

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @09:26AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @09:26AM (#918189)

    Microsoft had Windows Mobile before Android: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Mobile [wikipedia.org]

    The reason why Windows Mobile wasn't successful was because it was crap. Some versions didn't even do WiFi or DHCP properly[1].

    Also as Apple has proven, whether you're first or not doesn't matter.

    Even the newer ones are crap- I have one of the newer Windows Mobile phones at my desk, nobody wanted it, and it really is worse than Android (Google seems to be busy making Android worse and worse for me year after year though).

    [1] Random examples:
    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mobiledevices/forum/all/how-to-connect-to-internet-through-wifi-a-problem/561f18a8-5f64-4359-957e-adb003229f1d [microsoft.com]
    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mobiledevices/forum/wptips/windows-mobile-5-6-dhcp-error/95205f50-df31-4322-8bfc-69af03ab4ef9 [microsoft.com]
    Feel free to google more if you don't believe me.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Saturday November 09 2019, @10:29AM (9 children)

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Saturday November 09 2019, @10:29AM (#918193) Journal

    Wow, what loser things to say. Crying that Android is a better walled garden than WinCE and Windows Mobile, and trying to blame that on the government. You sound like a delusional Trump supporter.

    But Bill, MS still isn't listening to the users. Many of us don't want the walls. You're still trying to bully us into accepting your view that walls are good. We find particularly irksome and insulting the patronizing attitude that you know better than us what's best for us, while you do things that are obviously against our interests.

    • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @12:07PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @12:07PM (#918215)

      Russian "collusion" DELUSION anyone? Scumbag TRAITORS (like you) are the delusional welfare sucking swine you are. What happened to you LOSERS on "russia, russia, russia" loser? You did what your kind ALWAYS DOES - lie and lose (because you are brain-dead welfare sucking SWINE)! What is it like knowing the entire planet laughs at your kind? You wasted millions in taxpayer money on that bullshit just like you waste our hard-earned money supporting your useless wasted life, welfare sucker loser you know you are.

      • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @12:20PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @12:20PM (#918217)

        Hohohohoho truer words were never spoken! Welfare losers like the one you replied to want everything for 'FREE' impractical and impossible as it is and for what? Being lifelong losers who live in ghetto hovels miserably since they know they are complete wastes of life? Did the loser cure AIDS? No instead HIS KIND spreads it and slings drugs instead since they wasted their youth as wannabe 'gangstas' and 'crappas' (rappa on youtube) filth. I don't even need to state the obvious here but I do anyway to drive this set of facts home embarassing "bziptidoo" the fake name FAKE NEWS believing DELUSIONAL imbecile (uneducated wannabe delusional loser).

    • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @12:50PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @12:50PM (#918220)

      Welfare sucker fakename, answer the question https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=34553&page=1&cid=918215#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] instead of trying to hide it using multiple registered accounts. What's the matter? Your delusions won't allow you to tell us what happened in "russian collusion" welfare sucker? Go back to your welfare ghetto hovel and overdose on the heroin only a fool like you craves since you know you are truly a waste of life welfare sucker hahahahaha!

      • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @01:07PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @01:07PM (#918223)

        Once again you demonstrate how simple it is to get the DELUSIONAL welfare suckers to STFU when you confront them with facts. Especially facts about their fakename waste of life loser selves, hahahaha!

    • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @01:18PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @01:18PM (#918224)

      Russian "collusion" DELUSION anyone? Scumbag TRAITORS (like you) are the delusional welfare sucking swine you are. What happened to you LOSERS on "russia, russia, russia" loser? You did what your kind ALWAYS DOES - lie and lose (because you are brain-dead welfare sucking SWINE)! What is it like knowing the entire planet laughs at your kind? You wasted millions in taxpayer money on that bullshit just like you waste our hard-earned money supporting your useless wasted life, welfare sucker loser you know you are. I see you had to try "HIDE" my shutting your junkie waste of life mouth earlier too https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=34553&page=1&cid=918215#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] hohohohoho instead of answering my simple question. You are a delusional waste of life loser, fakename for your fake wasted so-called 'life'. Do us all a favor: Go get some of your Chinese pals' FENTANYL and overdose on it so we don't have to listen to your crap OR see you run like the cowardly failure you evidence yourself to be, ghetto fail loser you prove you are.

    • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @01:24PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @01:24PM (#918227)

      bzipitidoo fakename needs more welfare and heroin https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=34553&page=1&cid=918224#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] apparently. He can't even answer a simple question backed by facts his kind are nothing more than disgusting waste of life leeches sucking on welfare and heroin.

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 09 2019, @03:00PM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 09 2019, @03:00PM (#918264) Journal

      How can you have your Windows, if you don't eat the Wall? All in all, you're just another prick with no wall!

      (I think that's how the lyrics go, let's check with Bill.)

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @04:52PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @04:52PM (#918322)

      Doesn't run native Windows apps. Doesn't run exe's downloaded from the net. Doesn't have an app store. Can't wipe the drive for Linux because it's embedded in ROM.
      It's secure from most viruses but other than that another piece of shit from M$.
      I still have my Jornada 820 WinCE but can't even browse the net anymore because of a locked in IE 4 without java or flash.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @05:01AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @05:01AM (#918527)

        I still have a Casio Cassiopeia A11 with all the optional extras (powered dock, cardbus 14.4 modem, network card etc). It runs WinCE 2.0. Doesn't get a used much these days (ie. never). I don't even know if there are still ISP's out there that will let you connect through a dial-up modem.

  • (Score: 3, Touché) by SomeGuy on Saturday November 09 2019, @10:36AM (2 children)

    by SomeGuy (5632) on Saturday November 09 2019, @10:36AM (#918195)

    Sure, sure. And if it hadn't been for Microsoft, everyone would be using IBM ThinkPhones running OS/2 Mobile.

    Sorry, the main reason people use "smart" phones is so they don't have to have the perceived complexity and lock-in of a desktop computer. Any device with the Microsoft logo does not give that perception (despite the reality of how complex and locked in smart phones of any OS really are.)

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Saturday November 09 2019, @03:03PM (1 child)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 09 2019, @03:03PM (#918267) Journal

      Huh? I thought the reason people used "smart phones" is because they are so portable. iPhone users, for instance, are pretty locked in. And, Android users aren't much less so. There are really only two choices, choice 1 locks you into one walled garden, choice 2 locks you into another garden with lower walls. My "desktop" is far less locked than either Apple or Android. But, it's sure not very portable!!

      • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Saturday November 09 2019, @07:31PM

        by Grishnakh (2831) on Saturday November 09 2019, @07:31PM (#918364)

        I think SomeGuy is in error with his comment about lock-in; you're right, both iOS and Android users are locked-in to some degree, and don't seem to mind. I think he's right, however, about the complexity bit. Phones are generally simple to operate. They don't need regular virus updates and reboots. They don't have McAfee on them, slowing them down.

        I think MS's reputation from their desktop OS was a big factor in why no one wanted their phones. How many office drones have PTSD after having to use Windows all day at work, especially after their IT department has loaded it down with all kinds of corporate crapware and McAfee? You wouldn't believe how long it takes me just to switch to my Outlook window and read my email; it's much faster for me to look at my GMail account on my phone! And that's in 2019; back in the early/mid 2000s, using Windows at work was a pretty lousy experience, with constant virus alerts (I regularly came to work to see posters on the door saying "warning! don't open this email!" because a new Outlook virus was going around), updates, reboots, etc. What kind of moron would want a phone that worked this poorly?

  • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @01:35PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @01:35PM (#918229)

    Why's "bzipitidoo" fakename welfare heroin junkie running from answering a simple question here https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=34553&page=1&cid=918224#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] ? His kinds sits around all day living off YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY spouting complete crap online but when confronted, his kind does what it always does: FAIL! Just like they failed in life in all things.

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @01:42PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @01:42PM (#918232)

      I'm ok with welfare sucker junkies like bzipitidoo: They provide gigantic amusement when folks like you let fakename traitor failures like him show everyone just how completely stupid they are. You can't pay for this type of humor (well, in reality, those of you who actually earn their keep unlike junkie ghetto contaminated lifelong failures like bzipitidoo, do pay for HIS kind, unfortunately. At least we get to laugh at them. No small wonder why he hides behind his many fakenames online. George Soros PAYS for those losers to do what they always do - lose).

    • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @02:37PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @02:37PM (#918249)

      bzipitidoo admits he always fails hahahaha https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=34489&page=1&cid=916679#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] and what does he do? Complain and play the 'blame game' (even though you know he is lying and doesn't have a job at all). When he is asked to provide proof to the contrary, you see him run, again as he did from a fair question here on "russian collusion: (fucking traitor scum always yell "Mo' welfare YO!")_. Hhehehehe. Have fun losing ANOTHER presidential election swine.

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @03:05PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @03:05PM (#918268)

      What are you on the fag wagon about?

      • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @03:23PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @03:23PM (#918274)

        Dear fakename welfare sucker liar "bzipitido" I'll answer for him on your simple question: He is laughing at you running from a question on "russia" https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=34553&page=1&cid=918224#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] and your blamegame admitted fail (like your entire wasted life bzipitido) https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=34489&page=1&cid=916679#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] which you admit yet another fail in your wasted life fakename. Prove you even have a job welfare sucker. Only job you have is spouting more traitor "leftist" bullshit online and when you are confronted you run. No denying it. You are, a loser.

        • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @03:45PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @03:45PM (#918288)

          So - how many "spam" moderations do you think it will take to block your IP address?

  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @03:01PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @03:01PM (#918265)

    Blame some one else for your own failings.

    • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @04:30PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @04:30PM (#918316)

      Like nullo bzipitidoo does? He was asked a fair question, repeatedly ran from it and downmoderated it to hide it several dozen times already https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=34489&page=1&cid=916679#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] and also complains about a FAILED PROJECT (his life, not a real job) blaming it on others as defective product LEFTIST NULLOS (lmao) do.

  • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @04:27PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @04:27PM (#918315)

    bzipitidoo admits he always fails hahahaha https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=34489&page=1&cid=916679#commentwrap [soylentnews.org] & what does he do? Complain playing a 'blame game', as does all his waste of life kind, when THEY are @ fault from their defective birth, hehehe (even though you know he is lying & has no job). When he is asked to provide proof to the contrary, you see him run, again as he did from a fair question here on "russian collusion: (fucking traitor scum always yell "Mo' welfare YO!")_. Hhehehehe. Have fun losing ANOTHER presidential election swine. Instead of answering a fair question in the link I posted he runs. Facts do that to NULLOS (look it up, it's him and all his kind, fakenames galore losers and defective wastes of life) every time. Utterly priceless and hilarious. You can't PAY for better humor (but then, all taxpaying working folks do unfortunately, for these defect wastes of life).

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @05:02PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @05:02PM (#918324)

    There is this thing in econ where the total tax revenue collected tends to stay the same regardless of how you scale the tax system. The market adjusts on its own to the same total recovered taxes, at the expense of GDP if it isn't handled correctly.

    There are factors related to market transparency that will change things way more than shifting tax burden. Most of that is on SCOTUS. You can vote for whatever brand of the uniparty you want, it doesn't change the fact that SCOTUS and most of the federal court system have utterly abandoned article 1 and the bill of rights. Congress can pass whatever laws they want because SCOTUS can be relied on to ensure that the constitutionality of criminal systems of governance (the modern American fascism) will never be publicly debated.

    Though I find it weird to watch Bill in chill mode. I tried to look up some stuff from the 90's, and I couldn't find any. I remember this guy used to say batshit things all the time. Apparently with enough money you can erase history. Funny that.

  • (Score: 2) by stormwyrm on Saturday November 09 2019, @06:32PM

    by stormwyrm (717) on Saturday November 09 2019, @06:32PM (#918349) Journal
    Sorry, Bill, it wasn't antitrust that killed MS's efforts at mobile. It was your company's lack of vision. Microsoft was working on mobile computing long before Google even existed, but all their efforts in mobile were meh. Somehow they couldn't even manage to play catch-up to Apple when it was looking like they had a winner with the iPhone. Google managed it, and it shouldn't have been too hard for a company with as much resources as MS to do likewise. So MS buys Nokia's Mobile Handset division and scraps their efforts at their own mobile platform. So far, so good. But what did they replace Maemo/MeeGo with? Windows Phone 7, and later Windows Phone 8, neither of which is compatible with the other. So the developers who might have started making apps for it get the impression that MS doesn't really know where they're going with this, and dump the platform. Steve Ballmer was at the helm at the time, IIRC, but he'd forgotten all about "Developers Developers Developers!" If he hadn't, then maybe they might have succeeded in making a third viable mobile platform that would have been a serious contender to iOS and Android.
    --
    Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Nuke on Saturday November 09 2019, @09:07PM

    by Nuke (3162) on Saturday November 09 2019, @09:07PM (#918390)

    .... instead of using Android today you would be using Windows Mobile," Gates claimed

    No I fucking wouldn't. What's happening here - is Gates sinking into senile delusions in his old age?

  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday November 09 2019, @11:26PM (2 children)

    by Gaaark (41) on Saturday November 09 2019, @11:26PM (#918443) Journal

    So it had nothing to do with Android being better designed or Google giving it away for free? Nothing to do with MS dropping the ball over and over?

    It was all to do with the "antitrust" farce that MS basically bought itself out of and kept on going same old same old...

    WHAT A DOUCHE. He was a douche to start with, is still a douche and will die a douche.

    Why do people still pay attention to him?

    --
    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @06:26AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @06:26AM (#918539)

      Why do people still pay attention to him?

      Because he's a billionaire, and the muggles think he is computer god.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @03:39PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @03:39PM (#918613)

        AVADA KEDAVRA

        AAHHAHAHAHAHHHHHHHH HE'S KILLED ME

  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @06:06AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @06:06AM (#918534)

    Bill, I feel so sorry for you and MS that I bought you a gift. [thisiswhyimbroke.com]

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @06:18PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @06:18PM (#918659)

    "There's no doubt that the antitrust lawsuit was bad for Microsoft,"

    not bad enough, you shit weasel. be glad you weren't drawn and quartered on a live stream.

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