It is no longer a secret that Microsoft’s brand is has slid down the gutter because various independent (and very recent) surveys were conducted to show this. Microsoft was seemingly the fastest-sinking brand and was also one of the fastest-sinking places to work for.

The evidence shows that Microsoft’s marketing department has not done particularly well with Windows Vista. Almost every story you see about Vista is a negative one. Even I, as a Linux user, think that Vista is better than its reputation. But Microsoft’s marketing is not always a failure, it appears.

UK businesses have backed calls for computers to be sold 'naked'--without a bundled Microsoft Windows operating system.

I wonder if these people realize they can buy a brand new computer for $139. Granted the hardware is a bit dated by today’s standards but it’s probably light years ahead of what they are running Windows ‘98 on.

Ok, so I just read in Linux Format for this month, that IBM have spoken out saying that they are going to be working with linux based companies (Canonical, Novell, Red Hat) and some hardware vendors (doesn't specify what) to work towards creating a "World without windows".

Windows hasn't been my desktop environment for about seven years now. I have found I have no need for it, a Linux desktop does everything I need to do very well... Yet Microsoft's recent announcements about "Windows 7", the new version of Windows, find me sitting here feeling I have no choice but to discuss it, or be drowned out as a hopelessly irrelevant columnist.

This article shows how ridiculous Microsoft's licensing policies are in regard to running Windows on virtual machines. It also shows how difficult Microsoft's support people can be. You won't have these problems with free software

Another good look at the way Microsoft coordinates the press

In a recent post I wrote called "Linux has no marketing, but what if it did?" I made the point that with Microsoft's Windows 7 OS coming out on October 22nd, there will be a blitz of marketing around it, and noted that there never is any such blitz promoting Linux.