[Steven W]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-2 ... ivals.html

Manufacturers will be charged $15 to license Windows 8.1 and preinstall it on devices that retail for less than $250, instead of the usual fee of $50, said the people, who asked not to be named because the details aren't public. The discount will apply to any products that meet the price limit, with no restrictions on the size or type of device, the people said.

Translation:

Windows is worth $15 unless your installing it on better hardware then it magically is worth $50. Oh, and of course, the retail version will be worth quite a bit more than that. Even magicicalier.

[Steven W]

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13970_7-57 ... hone-push/

Mozilla doubled down on its bet that low-end smartphones will give Firefox OS a place in the crowded mobile market, announcing partnerships Sunday that will bring $25 smartphones to the large number of people who can't afford high-end models like Apple's iPhone 5S and Samsung's Galaxy S5 that cost hundreds of dollars.

[!]

It is indeed magic.

devil,-pan,-saten,-faun,--witches,-witch,-goth,-gothic,-pagan,-psy,-goa,-occult,-pentagram,-pentagram,-666,-magic-dark,-Panink,-wicca,-metal,-rock,-hard-rock,-rock-a-billy,.png (4.59 KiB) Viewed 5968 times

[Steven W]

Yeah, it needs a new term. I'm thinking "Magic-i-lulz".

[MasterOne]

I still don't understand why people would pay for and use an OS that has a built-in backdoor in it. Microsoft should actually be paying people to use Windows 8.x.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... -to-the-pc

[Steven W]

The history of kill switches on smartphones and e-readers suggests they're double-edged swords for the companies that wield them. In 2009, Amazon reached into users' Kindles to delete e-book copies of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm that had been sold by a publisher without the necessary rights. The ensuing backlash caused Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos to call the move "stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles."

Winston was only doing his job. I hadn't heard about this. Incredible.

[MasterOne]

Kill switch/back door; same thing. When did MS publish to the public the exact capabilities of how the back door works, and who is in charge of turning the key? Does it remove user-generated data along with the app? Why is there no option for a user to turn this "feature" off, even though it should never exist in the first place? Why is there no option to not install the backdoor upon installation? What if there's a dispute between a developer and MS, and MS decides to just flip the switch? How can we trust that the backdoor doesn't work outside of the app store to do other nasty things?

Microsoft is practicing pure totalitarianism, and people need to wake up to the tyranny. Microsoft is seeing how much they can get away with, and it wouldn't be surprising to me at all if NSA backdoors have existed for years in Windows. The kill switch could be one more way the NSA or a cracker could compromise your personal files and/or software. Microsoft should be ashamed of themselves.

[Scorpius]

Never forget, that the Nazis burning all those jews "just did their job". Microsoft is indeed practicing totalitarianism inside Windows. Now, if the developers see this or not is another matter altogether. So far, WinRT has been a dud, however. Let us all hope that it keeps fizzling out.

vicki__s_victory_pose_by_rorydnumber2-d3j19vs.jpg (197.48 KiB) Viewed 5926 times

[Steven W]

My "Winston doing his job" crack was a reference to Orwell's 1984. Just so we're all clear on that.

https://archive.org/stream/ost-english- ... a_djvu.txt

https://ia600800.us.archive.org/17/item ... stopia.pdf

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xthahf ... rte_school

[!]

Windows 8.1 may become a freebie OS.

Remember! When you don't pay for something, YOU are the product! There is no free lunch.

6a0120a85dcdae970b01a3fcc55683970b-800wi.png (14.28 KiB) Viewed 5906 times

Microsoft is reportedly building a variation of Windows dubbed "Windows 8.1 with Bing." It's apparently part of an experiment to offer the operating system with tighter integration to featured Microsoft apps and services-primarily, at least at first, Microsoft's Bing search engine.

Windows Bing may also be part of a plan to boost adoption by giving away the OS for free or at a reduced cost to both individual users interested in upgrading their Windows 7 machines and PC makers. The Verge reported Friday that Microsoft might give away a consumer version of Windows Bing for free.

Last week, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft is cutting Windows 8.1 licensing fees by 70% for installations on low-cost computers of $250 or less. In that scenario, original equipment manufacturers currently charged $50 would only have to pay $15. It's not clear how (or if) the two approaches would work alongside each other.

Publicly, Microsoft loves to wax poetic about Windows 8, whose sales have surpassed 200 million licenses. But according to NetMarketShare, Windows 8 ranked third worldwide among desktop operating systems in February, behind Windows 7 and Windows XP. (Windows 8.1 comes in at #4; combined, Windows 8 and 8.1 are still third behind XP.)

Microsoft certainly appears eager to push its cloud services and apps to combat Google, whose Chromebook and Android initiatives are chipping away at Microsoft's business on both desktops and smartphones. Several reports have suggested that the company is mulling over free or low-cost variations of Windows Phone as well, plus a possible software mash-up of Windows Phone with its hybrid desktop/tablet OS, Windows RT.

windows 81.jpg (286.45 KiB) Viewed 5906 times