Windows is the Most Open Platform There is, Says Satya Nadella (zdnet.com) 287
On Tuesday in a conversation with Gartner analysts, Satya Nadella talked about the future of AI, the cloud, Windows, and what his company plans to do with LinkedIn. But the most notable remark from Nadella was when he said this, "Windows is the most open platform there is." ZDNet adds: It came in the context of Nadella talking about Microsoft's mission to unite the three big constituencies in the technology world. "That's the approach we've always taken," said Nadella, "bringing users, IT, and developers together... When you bring them together, that's where the magic happens." He reminded the audience of several thousand technology leaders that Microsoft began by making tools, then it made apps, and now it makes platforms. Or, it buys them.
All those guys writing Malware couldn't agree more (Score:5, Funny)
That's why its so easy to infect a Windows system. Open holes every where you look! ;-)
Windows 10 is possibly the worst spyware ever made (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Windows 10 is possibly the worst spyware ever m (Score:5, Insightful)
Windows is the platform most open... ly hostile. (Score:3)
Nadella: "Windows is the most open platform there is"
Translation: Windows is the platform most openly hostile to users.
I doubt that Nadella is actually CEO of Microsoft. He seems far too socially inept. I'm guessing he was chosen as a kind of front man because he was less obviously annoying than others who were considered.
I also doubt that the former CEO, Steve Ballmer, was actually CEO. Business Week Magazine called Steve Ballmer "Monkey Boy" [businessinsider.com] on the cover of t
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Here we go again!!!
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
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I happen to disagree w/ you here. While you are right that people hated Windows 8 b'cos of the UI, Classic Shell did not fix things like hot corners, or getting the Metro UI out of your face. Windows 10 still had the big icons when you hit the Windows button, but Classic Shell is a better add-on to Windows 10 than it ever was to Windows 8. I have made it look absolutely like Windows 7, and it couldn't be better
I had my issues w/ Windows 10 when I was working as an insurance agent a year ago. I had an
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It d/t f/x the th/g where ra/om let/s get rep/d w/ a / though.
Re:Windows 10 is possibly the worst spyware ever m (Score:5, Insightful)
Upgrades never works properly regardless of the OS(Windows, OSX, Linux, BSD).
You're obviously not a linux or bsd user! LOL
Upgrades rarely cause an application to fail. They do not routinely cause system crashes, freezes, etc. Even application failures are years between. And that is linux. Over in BSD-land, it is very rare indeed because they're basically allergic to adding new features in a bug fix.
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I assume you're talking about the kernel and the userspace. The constantly fluid desktop environments are no better than Windows. At all.
Should have been as good as VMS (Score:2)
The funny thing is that VAX VMS is the "parent" of the Windows kernel, and many approaches between the systems are very similar [windowsitpro.com] (to the extent that Digital sued Microsoft and won). The ACL permission scheme is the most striking.
VMS had very good security - the best in the business. It's hard to understand how that went so very wrong for Windows. There has been commentary that Dave Cutler himself practically threw the issue overboard.
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The funny thing is that VAX VMS is the "parent" of the Windows kernel, and many approaches between the systems are very similar [windowsitpro.com] (to the extent that Digital sued Microsoft and won). The ACL permission scheme is the most striking.
VMS had very good security - the best in the business. It's hard to understand how that went so very wrong for Windows. There has been commentary that Dave Cutler himself practically threw the issue overboard.
The best I can figure (and I've been thinking since win-vs-anything began) is that MS made the $ decision to make a change to their OS to accommodate for a large international-sized corporation. That lead to rush, poor debugging and safety testing. Heck, security wasn't a BIG deal back then, it was just localized. That was the proverbial gun. Once changes were introduced to accommodate something someone wanted to make MS more money, there were bugs introduced where some were discovered quickly and other
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Windows NT 3.1 and 3.5 were like VMS. They were also the only versions that were multi platform - were there on x86, Alpha and MIPS. But in version 4.0, Microsoft decided to move more stuff into the kernel to make it run faster, and that's where Windows NT went wrong.
But from what I read, Windows 8 reversed that trend and moved as many things as possible into userland, making it as close to a microkernel OS as possible. Problem really was them trying to pack both the Tablet mode and Desktop mode in the
Sigh (Score:5, Funny)
Well yes, if you're willing to just simply invent whole new definitions for words, you can make any claim you want. After all, I'm the strongest human being who ever lived, if you define human being as being a group of which I'm the only member.
Re:Sigh (Score:5, Funny)
This post is the first one in this thread.
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The propagandist at work, attempts to shed decades of not-invented-here, reminiscent of the Reality Distortion Fields of Steve Jobs, and hopes, no prays that the Gartner audience will swallow it whole.
Such tortious, mind-numbing blather is uncharacteristic of an organization that desires to be judged by its actions, not its lapdog propaganda.
The secret hope: The Stock Price Soars!!!
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The Gartner audience, by definition, swallows anything.
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Re:Sigh (Score:5, Interesting)
I dunno. "Open" and "porous" are somewhat related words. If he actually meant, "Windows is the most porous platform there is", I would tend to agree with him.
Re:Sigh (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sigh (Score:4, Insightful)
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Think in the server domain: Windows is very inferior to other alternatives in this matter (and by a huge margin)
+1
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> His argument is solid. What other PC operating system supports as many hardware devices,
Anything that doesn't choke as soon as you move away from x86.
Re:Sigh (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't quite follow the point you are trying to make. How much software is written for a platform, or how much hardware the OS supports seems to not be related to how open the OS is. It is kind of like relating how the vast amount of shag carpeting in the Atlanta suburbs in the 1970's is related to the juiciness of peaches shipped from Georgia. Atlanta is in Georgia, but the subjects of the statements are unrelated. Your comment just doesn't really make much sense to me.
I would also disagree with the hardware support statement. Whenever I plug a new device into a windows machine, windows goes and searches for a driver somewhere on the internet. If it doesn't find one, it asks me to load one. Windows seems to have almost no support for hardware built in and must rely completely on manufacturer's drivers. Windows isn't supporting the printer, the printer manufacturer is writing software (called drivers) that let Windows use the printer. That is hardware manufacturers supporting Windows, not Windows supporting hardware.
Linux supports a vast amount of hardware right out of the box, and almost never requires a manufacturer's driver.
It often surprises me at how little hardware Windows supports, out of the box, because the install footprint of Windows is measured in Gigabytes. Most Linux installs take up a few hundred Megabytes and yet include the drivers for tens of thousands of software devices. Just what is Microsoft doing with all that extra code, if Windows can't utilize most hardware until a driver is found, installed and configured?
In Linux, plug most hardware in and it just works. having to find a driver is a rare event. Yes I know, people are going to comment that they have a 'Lucky Panda collective # 5' (put name of obscure hardware here) touch pad that needed a driver, or that the latest version of some nVidia graphics card that only has beta-drivers for Windows is not supported. But those are the odd occurrences.
I just re-built a Windows 7 machine for my uncle a few months ago. To get his HP all-in-one printer working I ended up with a download from HP that was over 300 MB! I know the drivers for the printer/scanner/fax/copier were probably just a few thousand kB at most, and that most of the other crap was wasted on HP software that he'll never use. Just for fun I connected my Linux laptop to the printer via the wifi network and my laptop recognized the printer and I could print and scan without loading any additional software. Windows had no support without installing additional driver software. The printer was a brick to Windows without third party drivers, and yet Linux needed absolutely nothing else to use the printer, just plug and play. The printer was fully supported by Linux right out of the box.
The amount of software developed for Windows is due to the fact that Windows is the dominant OS in the PC market place today. Nothing comes close. Mac has 5%, maybe 6 or 7 % on a good day. Of course developers are going to write for the dominant platform in the marketplace, but that has nothing whatsoever to do with 'openness'. It's like juiciness and shag carpeting again, just completely unrelated.
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Its not a knock against Windows in any way. Microsoft designed it that way for a specific reason. Why should MS pay good money to hire a bunch of people to write drivers for a bunch of obscure manufacturers.
Microsoft creates and publishes a stable set of API's for hardware interface, and all of those myriad of manufacturers take the cost and responsibility of producing good drivers. It makes perfect sense. Microsoft Windows has the market share. All of the hardware manufacturers that want substantial sale
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Anyone can develop hardware for Windows (and until recently publish drivers with no interference from MS, that has changed and going forward Windows as a platform has and will become less open)
I think that's the kind of issue that some developers are concerned about.
Windows 10, with its automatic updates and push towards everything-as-a-service, gives Microsoft as much control of the distribution chain as it choses to claim, including retrospectively. Developing for Windows 10 is therefore no more future-proof than playing the Apple App Store approval lottery.
The development tools for Windows are increasingly falling behind other platforms as well now. You can't even run the free version of Visua
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His argument is solid. What other PC operating system supports as many hardware devices, has as much software developed for it? Regardless of the OS being open, Windows as a platform has been a very open to anyone who wants to develop for it.
Most open though? More open than Linux? Seriously? Not a chance.
Vendors (hardware, software) supporting Windows is not the same as Windows supporting the vendors. Linux supports more hardware than Windows out of the box. Linux supports all those non-out of the box pieces of hardware just fine, the vendor just has to write the drivers for them.
Windows is proprietary to Microsoft and doesn't implement an open standards backed API. Linux supports proper open standards, such as POSIX, and provides all the sourc
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> What other PC operating system supports as many hardware devices
I don't think that is the standard definition of being "open."
I think that is the standard definition of being "standard."
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Yes, but his audience was Gartner analysts. To reach that audience you have to make ridiculous claims. If you tell the truth they will dismiss you as not being innovative enough and stick you into one of the other three quadrants. The analysts themselves have shown over the years that they don't really understand computers and they have to call up their kids to get help when they act up.
You keep using that word (Score:5, Funny)
But the most notable remark from Nadella was when he said this, "Windows is the most open platform there is."
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
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I'm sure it's a tactic that has been used in other fields although I can't name a specific example. You change a definition of something so it's not the same as the meaning anyone else would use and apply some convoluted logic so that the altered definition applies to your product\brand... actually it's probably politicians that do that.
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Yes, Office Open XML as an example. Suspiciously by the same company now claiming Windows is the most open.
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Office Open XML is so open that there's 6000+ pages of documentation explaining how everything works. I don't see 6000 pages explaining how OpenOffice formats work. See how open Microsoft is being here. It must be open if they produced so much documentation.
Re:You keep using that word (Score:5, Informative)
you are kidding, right? or just ignorant? or maybe one more shill?
ODF is a official standard, older than OOXML, simple, consistent and very well documented:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
https://docs.oasis-open.org/of... [oasis-open.org]
OOXML on the other hand, was heavily pushed by MS to be a standard and only got approved by using very shady tactics. The format have fields of "closed binary" blobs for "compability" reasons and is not even correctly used by MS office, as their documents fail to pass the standard validation tools. The format is also extremely complex (that is why it needs 6000+ pages spec) and have patents (MS promises to not sue anybody due to this... but this is MS and history show that it can be trusted). Finally, it uses embedded objects in several formats that only exist in windows, instead of already existent standard format objects. Everything to lock up the format to windows and MS office, even if the format is (almost) "open"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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Fortunately there is probably a man page that will list every single possible flag under the sun... but not a single example of common usage.
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AT&T sells unlimited data plans. [slashdot.org]
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Re:You keep using that word (Score:5, Insightful)
Windows supports very little hardware.
Go buy a printer and set it up. Then connect it to your windows machine. Do not allow windows to search for a driver on the internet and do not load the drivers that shipped with the printer.
Try to configure the printer and print. Windows won't be able to. Windows does not support the hardware.
The truth is pretty much the exact opposite.The hardware manufacturer supports Windows. The hardware manufacturers write software drivers that allow Windows to use their hardware. The cost of the support is paid for by the hardware manufacturers. The distribution of the support software is paid for by the hardware manufacturers.
Microsoft supports almost no hardware, hardware supports Microsoft.
Try the same printer with any major Linux distribution. You will probably just have to plug the printer in and configure it. You won't have to download anything. Linux will already have support for the printer built in. This is true of almost all hardware for Linux. You usually don't even have to do any configuring in most hardware, just plug and play.
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just do not buy a cheap "win-printer", those that have as little hardware as possible and totally dependent of software to work...very hard to support without the manufacturer support. You get what you paid for... junk
If possible, choose printers with postscript support... if not possible, then PCL support. This printers have hardware and work always.
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Oh god, I forgot about those monstrosities! Do they still make them?
I would suggest that Windows users never buy a cheap 'Win-Printer' either. Why slowdown your computer doing all the rendering and layout computation on your main CPU when a relatively cheap completely functioning printer could do it faster?
Win Printer!
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He never said "open source", just "open" then went on to say that the platform is open to users, IT, and developers. By that definition, Windows is more open than Linux because no matter how hard you want it to be true, Linux is not open to normal users. The "year of the Linux desktop" still hasn't arrived.
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The word would be popular not open. It is not even the most popular if you include mobile. But your argument seems to arguing which is more accessible. The word "open" has a very specific meaning here and he is trying to dilute it.
Linux is more accessible to developers, (no need to buy anything to write drivers), any develop can download it and write for free.
Linux is more accessible to IT and even users, it is free do download and install for anybody, windows is not. Since linux very popular for servers,
Open.... (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't think that word means what you think it means...
Unless I can download the source code to the current version of Windows, make modifications and recompile, it's not really "open"...
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I think Nadella means "transparent" instead of "open" - as in, transparently abusing user privacy and forcing their customers to hate them.
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I wouldn't be completely surprised if they did open source Windows, but in a way that leaves out key drivers, subsystems, and applications.
We've entered the age of OPINO: open-source in name only. Android teeters on this boundary, because you've got to install the Google Play spyware to access most applications. (Tip-o-the-hat to the F-droid guys here... they almost make it possible to avoid Google.)
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Bingo! - The key word in that definition is 'compatible' - which is not the case when you're talking about Microsoft Windows.
More on 'Open Systems' can be found here: Wikipedia.org [wikipedia.org]:
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Clearly, he thinks "open" means... (Score:2)
I'd suggest that somebody sit Nadella down to explain what "open platform" ordinarily means, but I am unfortunately skeptical that somebody who would make a statement like this is likely to ever admit they were wrong.
Not a mistake (Score:2)
I'd suggest that somebody sit Nadella down to explain what "open platform" ordinarily means...
I have no doubt whatsoever that he knows exactly what the term means and is trying to twist it to his own purposes. Nadella is not a dumb guy and I think he chose his words very carefully. I'm sure he has some rules-lawyer definition of the term so he can plausibly make that claim knowing full well that it overlaps with the more common meaning of the term.
Maybe he was misquoted... (Score:3)
Arthur Dent Says... (Score:4, Funny)
Ah, this is obviously some strange usage of the word 'open' that I wasn't previously aware of.
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What I told you was true; from a certain point... (Score:4, Insightful)
Despite some unpleasant attempts in that direction(Windows RT, the exciting new Windows Store, Cortana-integrated-into-all-sorts-of-things, etc.), MS isn't nearly as control-freaky as Apple is; and, while they have gotten worse about it, aren't quite as ruthless about terminating everything that isn't the most current version. They are also arguably less enthusiastic about lock-in than Oracle(because who could be more enthusiastic?); and offer compatibility with a much wider selection of 3rd party stuff than IBM; but that's hardly the same as 'most open'. It is true that they are hardly the least open; but 'most open platform' isn't really something you have a shot at when you ship many of your core products as binaries only under proprietary licenses.
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Open? Open season perhaps... (Score:5, Informative)
Satya Nadella is an arrogant ass (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Satya Nadella is an arrogant ass (Score:4, Insightful)
Did you just defend Apple vs Microsoft in a discussion about openness of platforms? Great I have this Brooklyn Bridge App I would like to sell you (30% will go to Apple)
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Apple is there because Steve Jobs managed to put together a UNIX based OS that developers, hackers, artistes and grandmas alike can use and enjoy with relatively little fuss.
But they have to pay a bit extra for the privilege. Worth every penny in my book.
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Time is money and Apple saves me time. I would rather spend money at this point then time figuring out how to do something in Linux or removing malware from Windows. I loved learning and hacking Linux in the past when I was single and had plenty of empty hours where I could do as I pleased, but nowadays not so much. With OSX I get a stable and consistent desktop experience, tons of software compatibility without a goose chase of broken dependencies AND a UNIX command line that is integral to the system a
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After switching to OSX/NextStep for day to day use, I must say it is the most comely and consistent UNIX window manager I've ever experienced. More than happy to pay for the privilege of using it. Windows is a great gaming system and that's the only thing I will ever use it for.
He is right (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:3)
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ESXI and linux are big for base level but hyper V (Score:2)
ESXI and linux are big for base level bare metal but hyper V is very little.
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I think this is what frustrates me the most. I had a
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Nadella has finally lost it (Score:2)
Open (Score:2)
Yup. Consumers "open" their wallets, their private information becomes more "open", and then whenever MS decides to change something the customer can bend over and "open" something else too.
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Wow (Score:5, Funny)
Well, Microsoft has a tendency to copy everything Apple does. It was only a matter of time before they started copying Apple's Reality Distortion Field as well.
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Stand up comedian? (Score:2)
Um... (Score:2)
"I want what he is smoking..."
Because it would be nice to be that far our of reality sometimes.
CEO's lie, and we're expected to believe them (Score:3)
"Windows is the Most Open Platform There is, Says Satya Nadella"
"What a steaming, smelly pile of pure, unadulterated bullshit!"
says everybody in the world with a three-figure IQ and knowledge computers/software.
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That was actually their initial tag line.
Then they tweaked it.
What a Circus..... (Score:2)
I used/supported Windows for close to 20 years, starting back in the Windows 3.11 era. I retired in 2010, and at that time, I decided I was done with MS products.. Now all of my personal systems run one Linux distro or another. Its too much fun to sit back and watch/listen to the daily stories about the bullshit that MS now inflicts on those who, for whatEVER reason, *still* use MS products.. I laugh my ass off daily at these stories about how Windows 10 crashes, forces crap drivers onto systems, and shove
Windows? (Score:2)
It comes on floppies and CDs? That's what old people use, right?
Yeah, Windows is open (Score:4, Funny)
I mean, it's open in the same way that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is "Democratic", "People's", and "Republic".
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Could be a Canine's Republic, or a Kitten's Republic.
"Windows is the most open platform there is" (Score:2)
Cool! Where can I download the source code?
What? I can't? I thought you said....
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So when have you ever been unable to run whatever software you want in Windows? Use what ever hardware you want?
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>> So when have you ever been unable to run whatever software you want in Windows? Use what ever hardware you want?
Your question is irrelevant and a a non-sequitur to the claim that Windows is the most open platform there is. Open does not mean it can just run everything. ...and to answer your question, I just had to buy a new printer because Windows 10 does
I want to be able to at least see exactly what IS running on my computer. With Linux not only can I do that, but I can also modify it if I choose.
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...and another point, theres components of Windows 10 on my PC that I can see are using up significant amounts of CPU and network bandwidth for god knows what. I cannot tell what they are doing, and I am not allowed to uninstall them, or even delete their files even though I have so-called admin rights.
THAT IS NOT AN OPEN SYSTEM.
ROTFL! (Score:2)
i also want what he is smoking!! GOOD stuff!!
Psych (Score:2)
I like how he chose the words "open platform" rather than "secure platform", "stable platform", "reliable platform".
And now, a word from Pinocchio (Score:3)
Pinocchio: It wouldn't be inaccurate to assume that I couldn't exactly not say that it is or isn't almost partially incorrect.
Gartner: So it isn't an open system?
Pinocchio: On the contrary, I'm possibly more or less not definitely rejecting the idea that in no way with any amount of uncertainty that I undeniably do or do not know how it shouldn't probably be, if that indeed wasn't how it isn't. Even if it wasn't what I knew it was, that'd mean I'd really have to know what it wasn't...
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"because you are slowly fading away, and no one really cares anymore."
I lol'd
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You are aware that stock price notwithstanding Microsoft still makes more real money than Apple ? I would take that kind of fading away anyday
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Clueless ad hominem is clueless.
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So what exactly has MS innovated in the last 10 years ... ?