Google Chairman Says Android Winning Mobile War With Apple: Bloomberg

Booming demand for Android-based smartphones is helping Google add share at the expense of other software providers, Schmidt said yesterday in an interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York. Android snared 72 percent of the market in the third quarter, while Apple had 14 percent, according to Gartner Inc. Customers are activating more than 1.3 million Android devices a day, Schmidt said.

“This is a huge platform change; this is of the scale of 20 years ago — Microsoft versus Apple,” he said. “We’re winning that war pretty clearly now.”

Except for the slight detail that Google makes no profits from those Android activations, yeah. it’s exactly the same as Microsoft versus Apple in the 1990s.

Ironically, most of those companies building Android devices are paying Microsoft for the privilege, thanks to patent agreements, with two more signing up this week.

But … winning!

Outside observers don’t seem to have figured out that Microsoft’s Surface hardware is a long-term play. As the company proved with Xbox, it’s willing to spend big money for years to build a market. Analysts who take a superficial or short-term view will focus on the losses. Inside Microsoft, I suspect those are considered investments.

Because the company has refused to discuss its sales expectations in detail or provide hard numbers for unit sales to date, news outlets and analysts have scurried to make up both numbers. The result is predictable, as in this AllThingsD report that speculated (from the flimsiest of rumors and one analyst’s guesstimates) that early demand for Surface is “lousy” and that lack of distribution is “killing the product.”

That criticism is about to change.

As of tomorrow, Microsoft says it is increasing production on the Surface RT and will begin selling the Surface RT in non-Microsoft outlets in the United States, including Staples. Its holiday pop-up stores will remain open into January, with some of them turning into permanent outlets.

And the Surface Pro, which is similar in design to the current model but will run Windows 8, will be available from those outlets as well.

After two months with the Surface RT, I’ve come to appreciate its strengths. More details on that subject at ZDNet in a few days.

VideoLAN provides an update on the progress of their Kickstarter fund-raiser.

we’ve been in touch with Microsoft representatives, who are thrilled about our endeavor and ready to collaborate with us. They are looking into ways of supporting us directly through non-financial matters, notably hardware, technical and design help.

Imagine that.

Good lord, it just gets worse.

I thought I Had found the stupidest tech writer in the world, but ladies and gentlemen, we have a new contender.

This steaming pile of pseudo-journalistic crap appeared at CIO.com today:

Can Microsoft Survive If Windows 8 Fails?

Well, gulp. There’s a doom-and-gloom headline for you. Predicting Microsoft’s complete collapse seems to be all the rage among second-rate pundits lately.

But there are a few problems with this one. And by “a few,” I mean the whole fricken thing, which is a mess of misinterpretation and outright confusion from start to finish.

Behold the lede:

Microsoft is betting the farm on the success of Windows 8–its new and radically different operating system.

That at least is the uncompromising view espoused by Steve Ballmer, the company’s chief executive. “Our hardware partners are all in, companies like Verizon and AT&T are all in, there are hundreds of operators and retailers around the world who are all in, developers are all in, and–if anyone wasn’t convinced yet –Microsoft is all in,” he said at the Windows 8 launch event in San Francisco in October.

That’s the way it reads right now. A few hours ago, it read a little differently. Some editor tried to fix the really embarrassing parts (but missed the big picture). Fortunately, because IDG is a big, uncoordinated worldwide network of sites, mistakes like this get immortalized on foreign sites. Like the one in Australia, which has the original text:

But even as “corrected,” that original CIO post is just plain wrong. Stupidly, head-on-desk-smackingly, oh-my-god-where-is-that-bottle-of-Scotch wrong.

That quote is from the Windows Phone 8 launch. (You might have guessed that from the mention of hardware partners Verizon and AT&T.) The Windows 8 desktop launch was in New York City. For a different product that runs on different hardware sold through a completely different channel.

I hate it when web sites arbitrarily “fix” embarrassing and substantive mistakes without acknowledging the correction. It’s journalistically dishonest and a sign of hackery.

But seriously, when YOUR ENTIRE LEDE is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the product you are covering, you deserve to have your peers point and laugh at you. And when your editors try to fix it and still get it wrong, well…

Let’s go on. That paragraph is followed by a note that Windows desktop revenue represents 25% of Microsoft’s total sales, and most of that is from corporations that have enterprise agreements that allow them to use any Windows version. Conclusion?

So however Windows 8 is received, Microsoft will be just fine financially.

That is in the fourth graf. Please compare that sentence to the question posed in the headline, “Can Microsoft Survive If Windows 8 Fails?”

Let me know when you’re through laughing.

And it just gets worse from there.

The author quotes Michael Cherry, a friend and an extremely competent analyst:

“The current Windows code is now 20-years-old, so for Microsoft doing nothing is just as risky as attempting to introduce the new Windows. – Michael Cherry, Directions at Microsoft.

God, 20 years old? Who would use 20-year-old-code in a modern operating system?

Oh wait, I just got handed this by my producers:

Yeah. that’s the current version of OS X, which is based on 29-year-old code. BSD UNIX, to be precise. The same code that was at the core of the NEXT machines that Steve Jobs built when he was exiled from Apple.

Here, let Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, who should write more about UNIX and less about Windows, explain:

These machines all ran NeXTStep. NeXTStep ran on top of a multi-threaded, multi-processing microkernel operating system: Mach. On top of this micro-kernel, NeXTStep used BSD Unix. What most users saw was the Workspace Manager. This was an object-oriented GUI. You could take its individual elements, icons, menus and windows, apart and sew them back together to form an interface’s that’s custom tailored for the way you work.

NeXTStep’s Workspace Manager included “shelf” for files and an “application dock” for programs. On NeXTStep’s shelves you could place any frequently accessed programs, directories, or files. Launching programs and working with files is all accomplished by click, drag and drop.

Does this sound familiar? It should. NeXTStep, and its components, are the direct ancestors of today’s Mac OS X. Without NeXTStep, and its Unix foundation, there would be no Mac OS X. A NeXTStep user from 1993 would have little trouble using 2011’s Mac OS X Lion.

1993 – 2013. That’s 20 years, and the BSD UNIX code was well established when Jobs and NEXT were using it.

Linux and Android are no spring chickens either. The original release of the Linux kernel, which is at the heart of Linux and Android, was in 1991. That’s 21 years ago.

So, 20 years old? Meh. That seems to be about how long it takes for the core of an OS to mature.

Anyway, the whole CIO post just goes off into the weeds after that, stringing quotes together with transitions that look like they came out of a Mad Libs book.

If you are a CIO and you read this drivel, please stop.

And if you are the editor at CIO who let this one be published, please consider a new career.

In ComputerWorld today: Experts question Microsoft’s decision to retire XP.

How long until the “Save XP” petitions return?

I don’t normally like to reward really incompetent writers with traffic, but sometimes you just have to stop, point, and laugh.

Ladies and gentlemen, this article was published by Inc. magazine, which has been around for more than 30 years and bills itself as “the premier print publication for entrepreneurs and business owners.”

Why the Microsoft Surface is Doomed

Here’s the short version: Guy gets a rootkit virus on his Windows 7 PC. Pays $99 to Avast to remove it. Decides that this means DOOM for Windows RT.

Both the Microsoft support technician and the support technician from the anti-virus company Avast told me that “there is no way that any anti-virus program can completely protect your computer.”

Actually, I knew this already because I used to work in an operating system development group. One thing I learned back then is that any OS that allows applications to modify the OS will be inherently unstable and insecure.

Since Windows is designed to allow that to happen, both computer viruses and the gradual “rot” of the software installed on a Windows system are both inevitable. There is no way to fix the problem because it’s inherent in Windows’s design.

I’m assuming that when he used to “work in an operating system development group” his job duties primarily consisted of making coffee and emptying the trash.

Because, you know, all modern desktop operating systems (Linux, OS X, Windows) allow applications to modify the OS.

What’s refreshing is that the commenters on this insane load of drivel are handing this guy his proverbial hat. Reminding him that Windows RT is a completely different architecture and that it is basically immune to the current crop of Windows viruses. They would have to be recompiled for ARM and then would have no way to get on the system, because the Surface RT only allows users to install apps from the Windows Store.

They’re so brutally accurate, in fact, that the author felt compelled to add this update:

Just to clarify, I’m well aware that Windows RT is based on ARM architecture and that the stability and security problems with the mainstream Windows operating system may not recur in that environment.

However, in order to be viable as a new tablet architecture, the Surface will need to quickly attract a plethora of apps.  Microsoft’s plan to make that happen crutches on compatibility between the tablet-like layer atop Windows 8 and the Surface’s OS.

There is no question in my mind that Windows 8 will continue to be unstable and insecure because it’s part of the architecture and the addition of the tablet-like interface will make supporting Windows even more Byzantine.

That, my friends, is world-class gibberish.

PS: I would include the author’s Twitter handle, so you could make fun of him there, but as a commenter correctly notes:

Your Twitter feed speaks VOLUMES about what a hack you are. I can just imagine how many of your followers you PAID FOR considering you don’t actually engage with anyone and simply spew links to your latest silliness you call “writing”. Amazing.

Meanwhile, I checked at the magazine’s website and was relieved to find out that “Inc. permits links to the http://www.inc.com Web site.”

Whew.

Update: More comedy gold as the author dives into the comments to defend himself. Sample quotes: “Think, people!” and “I can program in assembly language. Can you?” But this one out-gibberishes all previous gibberish:

No, but it does mean that I understand what an ARM architecture is. I was also the EDA columnist for Electronic Business magazine for several years. However, I’m sure that you can’t possibly conceive of the idea that somebody who writes about sales can’t possibly be technically competent. Even though sales is the heart and soul of the business world.

Do not think about that last sentence for too long. If you do, I am not responsible when your head explodes.

Also, I might have missed the best part: The subhead, which reads “Why you should think twice about betting your business on Microsoft’s new device.”

People are betting their businesses on this thing? Who knew?

[Update 2, the next morning]

I loved this comment:

First Name Last Name commented:

Everyone has covered the RT vs. Windows 8 thing, so I will leave that alone. I will, however, take issue with “Even if the Surface were the Ferrari of tablet environments (which it’s not) overlaying an extra user interface atop Windows is like bolting a Ferrari body to the rusted out chassis of a 1985 Pontiac.”

There is the obvious problem of attacing a (late model, I assume) Ferrari body onto an generic 1985 Pontiac chassis. If you are going to make a statement like this, you need to be more specific. Pontiac produced no fewer than nine unique models for the 1985 model year while Ferarri currently produces three road models. That leads to 729 different possibilities of Ferarri-on-Pontiac creations, which is too many. I am partial to the 458 Italia body on the 1000 hatchback, FYI.

There’s more, and the punch line is worth reading the whole thing.

Belated hat tip to Neowin for flagging the original post.

This small box contains new content and is posted in a very prominent spot on the page where Microsoft sells its Surface RT devices:

It’s a reaction to stupid lawsuits like this one, apparently.

Good for them.

The current version of VLC is able to run on Windows 8 which was launched last month. However, VLC is currently limited to the desktop experience, which is hidden by default along with other classic applications, behind one of the tiles (interface element of the Start screen).

We want to allow users to get access to VLC from the Start screen and Metro experience too.

To run in Metro, important parts of VLC need to be re-written or ported and an entirely new interface needs to be created. This is very time-consuming and considering our current Windows design, we need professional designers to adapt the interface to Metro. Additionally, we would like to have it in the hands of our Windows 8 users as soon as possible.

Porting VLC to Metro by relying on volunteers during their spare time would take a long time, just as how VLC for Android has. This is why we decided to run this fundraiser. If successful, it will allow two developers to work on this project full time. Donors will get access to a broad range of goodies and users will benefit from quality software. The project is projected to be published early next year.

Here’s the Kickstarter page:

This project’s goal is a fully featured port of VLC media player to the new Windows 8 User Experience. A second release will also add support for Microsoft’s Surface tablets.

[…]

This fundraiser is run to allow experienced core members of the VideoLAN team to work on this new port full-time. We expect an initial release within three months after finishing the fundraiser. This would not be possible to do with volunteers.

A successful fundraiser will also allow us to hire professional designers to build a beautiful and clean user interface.

It’s worth noting that Microsoft funded VLC’s Windows 7 compatibility program participation. Perhaps they can kick in a few dollars here as well.

From the Windows Blog a few minutes ago:

As we pass the one month anniversary of the general availability of Windows 8, we are pleased to announce that to-date Microsoft has sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses. Tami Reller shared this news with industry and financial analysts, investors and media today at the Credit Suisse 2012 Annual Technology Conference.

According to Microsoft, “Windows 8 is outpacing Windows 7 in terms of upgrades.”

A few more thoughts:

• Microsoft sold 60 million licenses in the first two months that Windows 7 was on sale. So this is probably slightly ahead of that pace.
• Windows Vista sold 20 million licenses in its first month.
• The $15 free upgrade for anyone who purchased a PC with Windows 7 after June 1 probably helped a lot.
• The $40 upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for any Windows PC probably helped even more.

Putting that figure into perspective: That one month of sales is equal to more than half of the entire installed base of Macs. It is probably the largest number of Windows licenses ever sold in a single month. And this is happening in a weak economy, with PC sales down year over year.

Remember a couple months ago when news leaked that Microsoft was giving all 94,000 employees their own Surface RT?

The announcement was made at the all-hands company meeting in Seattle in September, as Todd Bishop reported at the time:

All full-time direct, employees (a.k.a. Blue Badges/FTEs) will get a Surface RT machine for use at work and home.

If you thought that meant “free Surface for everyone!” think again.

I’m told that the terms of the deal were spelled out more clearly today:

While personal use is not prohibited, these are not personal gifts and may not be given away or resold.

Oh, and if you leave the company, you’ll be expected to hand over your Surface along with your blue badge. You can’t take it with you.

I wonder if there are tax-related reasons for the sudden change of policy…

No word yet on whether any Hulk-style attacks of rage have been seen in Redmond.