M$ Office goes free - why should you care?

Microsoft have finally launched a free version of their Office suite. Actually there are two versions, a web-based one, and a regular one. Why should anyone care?

We're already got Google Docs for our web needs, and we've already got Open Office or Lotus Symphony for our off-line needs. All of them are easy to work with, ad-free and work on a number of operating systems and browsers.

Microsoft Office, on the other hand, isn't. They've managed to infest the applications with ads (really???), and I can only presume that the regular version is only available for the Windows operating system, excluding all Mac and Linux users.

So why bother when there are better options out there?

No 3rd party app support = fail

Oh dear. Microsoft have once again followed in Google's footsteps and released their own line of cell phones. Unfortunately the similarities end there. The Google-phone, Nexus One, is a full-blown smart phone packed with bells and whistles, gadgets and widgets here and there, and with the option to download as many 3rd party apps as your heart desires through the Android app-store.

The Microsoft Kin One and Two, on the other hand, are basically toys, apparently running some strange version of the upcoming Windows Phone OS (?) that seems unable to accomodate 3rd party apps. Yes, believe it or not, that's what they say. Meaning you're stuck with your built-in twitter and facebook app, more or less the only thing these phones contain.

I don't know about you, but unless these useless little gadgets are given away for free I'm not interested.

The problem of acknowledging Internet as a global distribution channel

Aaargh!!! It never ceases to amaze me how certain companies refuse to acknowledge the wonder of the global distribution channel called Internet. Instead companies are clinging on to the idea of old geographically fragmented and costly distribution models where you would have to establish agreements in each country or region with wholesalers or retailers, you would have to have a lot of logistics in place to ship your products around the world... Sure, I could understand that certain products were only available in certain parts of the world back in those days, or that they had different launch dates in different parts of the world.

But downloadable software..."not available in your country"...really? I can't believe a company like Microsoft, who likes to think of themselves as innovators (of course in reality they're quite the opposite, but that's another discussion...), just recently opened up for European users to download and install their free security software Security Essentials, six months after making the same piece of software available for the Americans! That's just so 1990's.

"This item is available for shipping only"

Not that I'm in the market for a new OS, but I thought I'd check out Windows 7 anyway, just to see what the fuss is all about. And to be honest, I don't care how fancy schmancy it looks, an IT company that is not yet, in this day and age, able to deliver it's new operating system as a download on demand, but insists on shipping it to you in a big box with 2 DVD's, wasting it's own and my money, not to mention my valuable time and the environment, isn't worth it.

Luckily there's alway Ubuntu, that takes me an hour to download and install, without having to wait for days for the DVD's to arrive, and without any annoying registration processes. Oh yeah, and it's for free. Sure, it doesn't have transparent windows and features and functions you'll never use, but it's got something Windows has never had: Security.


"This item is available for shipping only" my ass. This is 2009, Microsoft!!!

Wasting taxpayer's money

No wonder the Swedes have one of the highest tax burdens in Europe when you start looking at how careless money is spent throughout the public administration.

I particularly love the fact that the morons at Skatteverket don't have a clue how much an e-mail system migration will cost, let alone how much money they will potentially, although not very likely, save on this migration some time in the future:

Hur mycket hela migreringen kommer att kosta - och vilka besparingar som kan göras - är ännu inte klart.

I'll give them a hint. We're probably talking of a migration cost somewhere in the 50-70 million SEK area. At best.

I'm also fascinated by the fact that Skatteverket is completely ignoring the intention that the authorities should strive for open standards when choosing IT solutions, and that these morons instead choose to "standardize" on a vendor which products are notoriously proprietary and unable to collaborate with any other product out there.

Furthermore, Skatteverket is complaining that their current system is way too expensive. Well of course it is, since you stupid bastards are paying through your nose for way more products than you need:

• Microsoft Office 2003 för ordbehandling, presentationer och kalkyler.
• Microsoft Sharepoint Portal Server för dokumenthantering och delar av intranätet.
• Senselogic Sitevision som content management system.
• Lotus Notes/Domino för brev, kalender, rumsbokning och intranät. Ska migreras till Microsoft Exchange och MOSS.
• Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 för chat och enklare videokonferens.

As far as I know, new versions of Lotus Notes include Lotus Symphony which is an office product based on OpenOffice.org. That would enable any sane organization to throw out at least most of the MS Office licenses, and save a lot of money there. The product can also be downloaded separately, and completely free of charge, so users can install it at home as well.

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 seems like complete overkill if all they need it for is "simple video conferencing". After all, a limited Sametime license is included with Lotus Notes, so they already have chat and awareness included in their Lotus licenses.

And do they need both Domino and Sharepoint for their intranet? I'm sure they could get cheaper Domino licenses if they only used it for mail (which is complete insanity if you ask me, but still...), and not for applications. Or they could use Domino for document management and the intranet, and skip those Sharepoint licenses. Either way a lot of money could be saved.

So, dear Swedes, this is where your tax money ends up. Down the drain. I just hope that Microsoft-sponsored all-inclusive family vacation to the Maldives was worth it for whoever made this astonishingly ignorant decision.

E-delegationen ska i sitt arbete sträva efter att den offentliga förvaltningens e-tjänster i så stor utsträckning som möjligt ska bygga på öppna standarder, använda sig av programvara som bygger på öppen källkod samt sträva efter lösningar som stegvis frigör förvaltningen från beroendet av enskilda plattformar och lösningar.

Riiiight.

Mac vs PC - the battle continues

Microsoft takes another sting at Apple with a new Laptop Hunters commercial, bashing the Macbooks for being to expensive and not having a large enough screen. I have to say I completely agree with Microsoft on that one. However, the solution, if you want cheap, safe and fully functional, is hardly a PC laptop with Microsoft Windows installed.

Instead, surf to ubuntu.com and download the latest version of this Linux based OS (there's even a Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix available for those low-spec'd netbooks). The Ubuntu packages is exceptionally easy to install, and it includes the Mozilla Firefox browser, a mail- and calendar client, OpenOffice (as opposed to paying 995 SEK for the Microsoft Office 2007 home and student version, that does absolutely nothing more...), and Gimp for retouching those digital photos (instead of buying Adobe Photoshop Elements, which will set you back another 1095 SEK). The package also includes various media players and other stuff. Plus, you won't have to worry about computer viruses, trojans and other malware anymore.

It's all there, ready to use out of the box - no annoying activation and registration process, and it's for free.

Linux FTW!


P.S. There's even a Ubuntu version for Mac, so if you do go ahead and buy that overpriced piece of white plastic anyway, you can still keep your software costs down...

Insulting the tax payers

Stockholms Stad, the city of Stockholm, is suddenly turning into a 100% Microsoft shop, stacking up on tons of unnecessary, expensive and proprietary software at the taxpayer's expense.

Whatever happened to the report that estimated an upgrade from Microsoft Office 2003 to Microsoft Office 2007 would cost between 3000-3800 SEK per user (this is an upgrade, mind you!!!), as opposed to a migration to OpenOffice that would cost a mere 795 SEK per user? I'm wondering which decision maker was paid off by Microsoft to make a U-turn like that, and just turn down open standards, platform independence and lower costs?

Not to mention the fact that Stockholms Stad's decision is the exact oposite of the government's intentions:

E-delegationen ska i sitt arbete sträva efter att den offentliga förvaltningens e-tjänster i så stor utsträckning som möjligt ska bygga på öppna standarder, använda sig av programvara som bygger på öppen källkod samt sträva efter lösningar som stegvis frigör förvaltningen från beroendet av enskilda plattformar och lösningar.

That's a laugh.

iPod versus Zune

It costs 30.000 dollars to fill an Apple iPod with music. It costs 14 dollars a month to fill a Microsoft Zune mp3-player (with what is presumably DRM-infested sh*t that is lost forever once your Zune calls it a night).

Obviously ripping your own cd's, copying from friends or family, or even downloading here and there, aren't options Microsoft have considered possible...