Mistakes happen. But when software publishers make mistakes with their anti-piracy programs, it always seems to be the users who pay the price. That's certainly been the case with Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program throughout its less-than-illustrious history, and now a new pilot program for Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) Notifications nagware has started off on the wrong foot.

The previous post ought to have shown you that Microsoft is gradually losing its grip on Europe. Microsoft does not give up without a fight though. To re-use that phrase from the previous post’s title, when Microsoft fights, it’s willing to deal punches below the belt.

For many years this so-called ‘research’ group has been carrying out anti-Linux studies (read: manufactured publications for clients) that had been commission by Microsoft. Even recently, The Yankee Group’s founder called open source “a religion” and mocked it for some kicks.

Microsoft Corp. has yet to convince Yahoo Inc. to agree to a friendly takeover, but the software company is already hiring lobbyists to help it convince regulators to let the deal _ hostile if it has to be _ go through.

Last week, while I was at the Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit at the University of Texas Super Computing Center in Austin Texas, I was surprised to find that if I had wanted to cover the week’s most surprising Linux-related news, I should at been at the Gartner Conference in Las Vegas where two Gartner analysts declared, “Windows Is Collapsing.”

Ironically, Gartner's recommendations for how Windows should change sound eerily like a recommendation to become...Linux

Microsoft’s Windows juggernaut is collapsing as it tries to support 20 years of applications and becomes more complicated by the minute. Meanwhile, Windows has outgrown hardware and customers are pondering skipping Vista to wait for Windows 7. If Windows is going to remain relevant it will need radical changes.

Over at Microsoft, they've just celebrated their first Open Source Day. Wow.