[gclUB-info] Resource Referred from Stephen's Web

Dma Jun 7 13:58:12 CEST 2005

This item was been forwarded to you by ilabastidaaub.edu,
who comments:

Un article interessant.

Here is the item:

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Microsoft vs. Open Source: Who Will Win?

Good analysis that doesn't toe the party line (sadly rare
these days). The authors argue that the market edge belongs
to Microsoft largely because of its initial position; Linux
is playing catch-up. But also, Microsoft can and will
leverage piracy to its advantage (people who pirate Windows
don't contribute to the bottom line, but they do contribute
to the user base, increasing the valkue of Windows). It can
also exercise price differentials to strategic advantage
(we have already seen this) and to advance the campaign of
fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) in the corporate market,
as we have seen with the SCO lawsuits. Surprisingly, the
author misses another significant advantage for Microsoft:
strategic alliance with chip manufacturers, who with the
embedding of DRM into the hardware itself will make
increasing quantities of content unplayable on free and
open source platforms. By Sean Silverthorne, HBS Working
Knowledge, June 6
http://hbsworkingknowledge.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4834&t=technology

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