oh noes the end is nigh, whatever will MS do with their billions of dollars of surplus...

First of all Microsoft is very large corporation its hard to fail ,its supported by the US and its make a good profit every year not losing.

some Info.
Market cap US$ 230 Billion (Sept 2008)
Revenue ▲ US$ 60.420 Billion (2008)
Operating income ▲ US$ 22.492 Billion (2008)
Net income ▲ US$ 17.681 Billion (2008)
Total assets ▲ US$ 72.793 Billion (2008)
Total equity ▲ US$ 36.286 Billion (2008)
Employees 89,809 in 105 countries (2008)
Website Microsoft.com

...my point.

So you think it's a good thing that dummies build critical information systems? I don't agree. It takes an engineer to build those systems, and they usually have no problem understanding the technology they apply.

The truth is that Microsoft does corner the "business desktop" world (outside of the basic consumer desktop world). In most cases, if you go behind someone's desk at any given business, there is a 98% chance they're running Windows. However, the backbone of the most of the large companies out there run some sort of *nix (Unix, Linux, Solaris).

You also suggest that the "community" would "crumble" on a class-action lawsuit. Well, there are several problems with this theory. First and foremost, though there is a "governing body" (and I use the term loosely) there is no one owner of Linux and thus suing would have to be done to every single user and developer, which is really not feasible. In fact, Microsoft has already threatened Linux users with lawsuits, let me sum up:

**Linux and Mac are sitting around talking when Microsoft walks in**
Microsoft: Hey Linux, you're violating our patents.
Linux: Oh, really, well, tell us what they are so we can remove them or adjust them accordingly.
Microsoft: No.
Linux: No ?
Microsoft: Yes, that's right, No.
Linux: Well, we can't remove something if we don't know what it is.
Microsoft: No, you must shut down NOW!!
Linux: So you're not going to tell us the patents you say we violate ?
Microsoft: (Frothing like the tasmainian devil) Blwah, blwwasdlsosllsl VIOLATE blawh dwablabblawah
**pause, Linux blinks slowly**
Linux: (turns to Mac) So, anyway, I was saying....
**Microsoft stomps out of the room**

Though it seems silly, this is "basically" what happened. Microsoft accused Linux of violating patents (some 200+ iirc) but refused to disclose what patents Linux violates. So the "community" basically told MS to go suck an egg until they provide proof that Linux violates anything and when they do, developers would be happy to remove or adjust.

Anyway, if you're using a portable device, there is a high likely hood that you're using some sort of *nix. You can be sure that the backbone of your entire internet services are all *nix based. You can be sure that banks are NOT using Windows to keep all your client data safe and protected.

The simple fact is that you are ignorant to all of the things that go on behind the scenes of your little retail job and are unaware of how much of "big business" is run on *nix. If you want to see how afraid Microsoft really is of Linux, you should do some research into the "Halloween Documents".

I agree that Microsoft won't be open source... and it does it will be kicking and screaming.

Linux might see some more users now that money is tight, but the economic troubles won't cause people who didn't know or care about it to switch over. I know of very few people who use it as their operating system, and only a few more who even know what it is. Maybe Dell/HP can inform more people as they buy PC's.

Also Linux being open source really saved their butts this time. I don't want to even think of the layoff/shutdowns if Linux was owned by a single company!

Microsoft is very afraid of Linux.. sooner or later people WILL realise that Linux is a free alternative for Windows and sooner or later more and more people will jump aboard.. and fyi, corporates (e.g. Dell) are already jumping on the Linux ship, Dell currently ships computers with Ubuntu (i think 8.04) as the OS (also does Windows version, but windows is more expensive than the ubuntu version).. however, dell was only able to ship ubuntu instead of windows through a back hole in the contract.. but Microsoft does corner businesses to use only MS products..

also PS3's GameOS runs on a modified Linux kernel with a custom xserver :)

MS has had a strangle hold on the PC market for too long. They keep coming out with marginal updates due to lack of competition. Would like to see someone challenge MS' OS in the PC market.

Actually, you can get a refund for a bundled Windows _____, if you send it back to the manufacturer of the machine, along with the certificate of authenticity. A lot of people have already done it. It takes time and perseverance, but it works.