| I don't often beat on Microsoft or their executives. | | | | and even the work-around causes massive |
| After all, they are a strong marketing organization and | | | | headaches. |
| good people to do business with once you suppress | | | | So if we forgive Bill this one lapse of insight, then |
| your gag reflex to the smell of sulfur leaking out from | | | | perhaps we must forgive the other, wherein he |
| under Steve Balmer's office door. | | | | crookedly claims that the Open Source model does |
| But when I see a Microsoft executive spinning out of | | | | not provide an ecosystem of accountability. His claim is |
| control, then I ample reason for rhetorical target | | | | odd to my ear... I have yet to hear of a Linux user who |
| practice. | | | | cannot edit old graphics files, use new features on |
| Bill Hilf, Microsoft's Windows Server GM, said | | | | existing architectures, or restore their backups. |
| something in an interview with Info Week that defied | | | | Hilf's assertion centers around the hot-line - who are |
| historical evidence, rational thought, and deepened | | | | you going to call when something doesn't work. But he |
| even my suspicions about Microsoft's marketing | | | | ignores the more pertinent notion that the degree of |
| integrity (yes, I know, they have none). To wit: | | | | support you need is inversely proportionate to the |
| When people buy commercial software, really what | | | | problems causes by the product. Phrased less politely, |
| they're buying is a guarantee ... there's someone you | | | | people need to buy Microsoft support because |
| can call up, and if things go really bad someone's liable | | | | Microsoft gives them more problems with which to |
| if something doesn't work. ... One of the challenges of | | | | contend. |
| open source and really the challenge with the open | | | | There are two marketing angles in my missive, and |
| source business model is: it's hard to replicate that | | | | both affect brand acceptance: |
| ecosystem of accountability and that guarantee. | | | | Performance: Detroit made crappy cars in the 1970's, |
| Perhaps we can forgive Bill an innocent mistake, given | | | | and Japan stole the hearts of American drivers by not. |
| that he is relatively new on the Microsoft campus and | | | | In the long term, people adopt solutions that perform. |
| has not experienced the recurring wrath from | | | | When Microsoft makes a bad product or provides |
| customers, torches and pitchforks in hand, who resent | | | | limited support, people seek alternatives such as Open |
| the non-guarantees they have received. Some | | | | Source. Today, Linux has the brand cache of Toyota, |
| instances over the ages from various news reports: | | | | while Microsoft's brand resembles that of the Ford |
| * Users of PhotoDraw were abandoned, and all the | | | | Pinto. |
| intellectual property they have created cannot be | | | | Credibility: When Microsoft allows an senior manager |
| migrated to another graphics editing program because | | | | to utter nonsense in public - verbiage that rapidly |
| of the undocumented and proprietary file format. | | | | shows a lack of understanding about their market, their |
| * Longtime FrontPage experts who have relied on | | | | customer motivations, and reality in general - then |
| Linux server extensions cannot get version 2003 | | | | Microsoft's credibility suffers. Credibility is a foundational |
| capabilities unless they switch to Windows hosting. | | | | element to all brands, and after Hilf's interview, they |
| * Vista users cannot (out of the box) restore backups | | | | have less than ever. |
| made on XP using the ever popular ntbackup utility, | | | | |