“Software analysts called Microsoft’s surprising announcement on Wednesday, that it will provide its source code to rivals, little more than eye candy that would be almost useless to licensees of the Redmond giant’s protocols,” Red Herring reports. “David Mitchell, software practice leader for Ovum, a consulting firm based in the United Kingdom, said that providing a developer, who is looking to build products that interoperate with Windows servers, with over 100 million lines of source code is overwhelming.”
“Microsoft said on Wednesday that because its best efforts have met with the commission’s rejection, it will license the source code for its Windows Server software, on which the documentation is based, to its rivals,” Red herring reports. “According to Mr. Mitchell, the market is a very different place from what it was eight years ago when the Commission’s legal action against Microsoft was initially undertaken. A sense of battle fatigue may have been behind Microsoft’s surprising move. ‘I suspect Microsoft just wants to move on. Since this case started, iTunes has emerged. They just want to put this behind them,’ said Mr. Mitchell. ‘Some of the EU rulings were not 100 percent clear. Both parties should sit down and have an open and frank discussion as to exactly what the EU needs.’ Mr. Mitchell called Microsoft’s move to offer its source code ‘superficially appealing.’ ‘Putting source code on the table only confuses matters. The two sides need a more frank discussion of what is needed,’ he said.”
Full article here.
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Who wants source code from a dinosaur of an operating system? Did Amiga announce the source code of the Commodore 64? No? Damn! Go away Windows. You are no longer wanted or needed.
The Benny Hill Show
Steve Jobs: I own many black vests.
Bill Gates: I too own many vests!
Steve Jobs: I have strong white teeth.
Bill Gates: I too have strong white teeth!
Steve Jobs: OS X won best OS for desktops and servers.
Bill Gates: I have strong white teeth!
Perhaps they are actually doing the world a favor by giving us a detailed acount of what not to do. You know, learn from others mistakes.
Or perhaps it more like, “Can someone show us with how to fix this?”
I recalle the launch of Windows XP. Bill Gates stood on stage and said that XP was the best OS they had ever released.
I found it funny he never said it was the best OS in the world. He could only compare it to teh crap they had released in the past/
fin@11y! we c@n customize our own version of windows with non s$it c0d3!
this is good news!
All these big legal fights with microsoft have failed to attack the true problem. It’s not the media player or the source code, or even open formats, it’s forcing PC makers to supply ONLY Windows if they EVER supply Windows in OEM equipment.
That killed, most notably, Be and other OS designs that looked pretty good during the 90’s. It’s a terrible shame, it was a huge waste, like war. In the end we all suffered, but it’s over now.
It looks like the end of Microsoft’s domination, they are no longer the Monopoly they were. There’s Linux and our favorite OS. There’s Google, Firefox, Apache, and the huge opensource movement.
The World is a different place in this century. MS is done, let them conduct business like everyone else and die on their own terms, with dignity.
Wow, 100 million lines of code to read, how very dull.
What does the release of iTunes have to do with the EU’s problem with MS?
“Take the source code. There is no more documentation.”
no sh@t MS– that’s why Windows is a bloated POS! Millions of lines of CODE that NO ONE at MS knows what does!! Unreal..
ps KenC– i was wondering the same thing. They lost me on that one..
Go ahead. Take Windows Server. Vista is coming to take its place. Yeah, Server is worthless to us now. Take it and enjoy the empty calories.
If Microsoft put the entire wad of Windows code on Ebay my maximum would be 10,000 – Chines remimbi.
Best place for it would be in a museum – as an example of mankinds arrogance, inability to innovate and the greatest fraud of all time…
“You are no longer wanted or needed.”
Except of course for 95% of the computing population. By why split hairs right?
But I have to agree 100 million lines of largely bad code isn’t worth much. It looks like Microsoft has just started to figure that out.
Maybe they hope someone fixes it for them?
100 million lines of code…It supports my long held belief that no one at Microsoft knows how Windows works anymore. That’s why they can’t fix it. And Bill won’t let them abandon it and start over, like Apple did with OS X.
The article read…
“(Microsoft) it is having problems finding people with the necessary skills to produce such massive volumes of documentation.”
Same seems to apply to the compiling massive volumes of code to produce a safe, secure, enjoyable and stable operating system.
From: Zeke “:100 million lines of code…It supports my long held belief that no one at Microsoft knows how Windows works anymore. That’s why they can’t fix it. And Bill won’t let them abandon it a start over, like Apple did with OS X.”
Hate to defend Bill here, but he tried to dump the OS and start over. Longhorn was going to require all new software and hardware and be built on a brand new Kernel, sound familiar, only problem was that the MS user based said no way, there must be backwards compatibility, it has gone down hill from there. Some days the customer isn’t always correct, if he were we’d still be using OS 7.5.
OS X is only 26 million lines.
And it’s way better, too.
“OS X is only 26 million lines.
And it’s way better, too.”
Is that OS X client or SERVER?
“Who wants source code from a dinosaur of an operating system? Did Amiga announce the source code of the Commodore 64? No? Damn! Go away Windows. You are no longer wanted or needed.”
Uhhhh… I had both an Amiga and a Commodore 64… They werwe bot hmade by Commodore Busineess Machines… Amiga was the product, not the company.
People who get this backwards are as bad as those that think Apple’s are made by a company called “Mac.”
At Microsoft, klocs are important so it’s no surprise to see Windows hitting 100 million lines (klocs is thousands of lines of code and is how they (used to?) measure a programmer’s performance, which is totally ridiculous.)
100 million is a nice round number and would rape a few forests to print. Wonder if reading this will have the same sleep-inducing effect as The Road Ahead or Business at the Speed of Thought?
“providing a developer”… “with over 100 million lines of source code is overwhelming.”
MS doesn’t even know how Windows works. They even needed an outside firm to come in and diagram Windows’ architecture. It’s hard to think of any company with that poor of grip on their own product engineering.
Instead of source lines, MS should recode Windows in Rube Goldberg diagrams. At least those designs might actually work…
“At Microsoft, klocs are important so it’s no surprise to see Windows hitting 100 million lines (klocs is thousands of lines of code and is how they (used to?) measure a programmer’s performance, which is totally ridiculous.)”
Totally ridiculous indeed. It’s like measuring an auto engineer’s performance by how many hoses & wires they can jam under the hood.
Back when Steve was introducing Apple to OpenStep/YellowBox, he made a comment to the effect that programs are like buildings: you can only build so high before the whole thing falls over. At 100 million lines, Windows is clearly past topple height.
When it comes to engineering & design, simpler is always better. Sometimes the hardest thing is to not over-engineer whatever you’re building. Better to reward people to cut complexity, not to create it.
Antitrust laws says that Microsoft must be dismantled.