It’s very ironic that just seventeen days after blogging about what I consider to be the state of Microsoft, they start making headlines.  People have always wondered if Microsoft would one day somehow attack the open source community based on some sort of patent dispute.  Today Microsoft went public with their intent to take on the free world.  The timing of this move is really quite perfect.  It’s been known for some time that Microsoft considers Linux to be a significant threat.  Today’s events do nothing but further illustrate just how strong their fear is.

Just look at the big picture.  Microsoft is loosing business internationally.  Linux is quickly becoming competitive on the desktop.  Linux is already a powerhouse on the server front, and Microsoft spent the last seven years building a shiny new operating system which is now being considered a failure.  What does this mean?  Answer: Microsoft is in trouble.

I really think it’s pathetic and sad that Microsoft is now going to attack the open source community legally.  It would make more sense for Microsoft to use it’s financial strength to simply build a better product.  Unfortunately they seem unable to compete in the long term, so the only option is to play dirty.

Here’s what I predict will happen.  Microsoft’s hold on the market will continue to loosen as it’s products become less and less competitive.  The legal action(s) taken by Microsoft will do nothing but make the world dislike Microsoft more than they do already.  More and more OEM’s will start offering Linux on their computers.  In five years I think Microsoft will find themselves [for the first time] being forced into doing certain things because the international community demands it.  For example I think Microsoft will be forced into fully supporting the majority of open source file formats because international business will demand it.  When U.S. companies find themselves unable to pass documents to a growing number of countries moving to open source Microsoft will be forced to listen to the demands of it’s customers.

Honestly I’m glad Microsoft is doing this now.  We all knew they would, so let’s get this crap out of the way so we can move on to more useful things.  Poor Ballmer, he’s going to wind up looking just as stupid as Darl does  :/

UPDATE: See here, here, here, and here

There, I said it.