OpenOffice gives LibreOffice splitters the boot.

Open is as Open does.   Here’s the new Oracle OpenOffice being about as open as you’d expect.

 

Oracle wants LibreOffice members to leave OOo council

“Your role in the Document Foundation and LibreOffice makes your role as a representative in the OOo CC untenable and impossible. [I]t causes confusion, it is a plain conflict of interest, as TDF split from OOo,” he told TDF members during a council meeting that took place on an IRC channel. “If the TDF members do not disassociate themselves from the [Document Foundation] then they must resign by Tuesday.”

Windows XP SP2 updates ending

SP3 will continue to be supported through April 2014. 

Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 updates to stop this week – USATODAY.com

SEATTLE — Microsoft this week will stop issuing security fixes for computers running the Windows XP operating system updated with Service Pack 2.

Classic Windows Spyware now availble for Macs

Once you have given it your admin password, its just like old times.

Security Firm Discovers Spyware in Mac Software – PCWorld Business Center

As to the spyware’s invasive actions, it allegedly dupes users into handing over their admin passwords with a dialog claiming that it “market research” software will be installed to collect browsing and purchasing history. OSX/OpinionSpy then installs a process called “PremierOpinion” that runs as root. Intego says the spyware then opens an HTTP backdoor on port 8254, scans all accessible local and networked volumes, and injects code into Safari, Firefox, and iChat in memory (meaning it doesn’t alter the applications themselves). It also regularly transmits encrypted data to a variety of servers, which contains e-mail addresses, iChat message headers, and URLs–as well as potentially personal data like usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, bookmarks, and browsing history.

Wine 1.2 release coming in June

Wine 1.2 Planned for June 2010 Release

The next release will be 1.2-rc1, which will mark the beginning of the code freeze. This should result in a 1.2 final sometime in June.”

Triple Boot your Mac – reprise

Get the latest from Microsoft and Ubuntu working an playing we with Mac OS X.

How to Triple-Boot Your Mac with Windows and Linux, No Boot Camp Required – Triple Boot – Lifehacker

Apple has streamlined the process of dual booting Windows on your Mac, but when it comes to Linux, Boot Camp isn’t so friendly. Here’s how to triple-boot your Mac with OS X, Windows 7, and the shiny new Ubuntu 10.04.

Macs have a lower TCO than Windows

Here’s a survey result that you can quote if you ever run a project to assess how to save money by re-vamping staff computing strategy…

Survey: Macs cost notably less to support than Windows PCs

Macs are often the black sheep in the many enterprise environments which have been dominated by Windows for nearly two decades, but the growing consumerization of IT is slowly changing that perception. Though Macs often have a higher up-front price than many business-class PCs, Macs are usually believed to have a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) due to lower support costs. A recent survey of IT professionals in large enterprise environments that have a mix of Macs and PCs overwhelmingly agree that Macs cost less than PCs to support.

Microsoft and Newscorp

So this is interesting.  With Murdoch making noise about dropping out of Google lately, its not surprising that the newest search engine in town might be willing to fluff up a soft landing place for him.  Looks like Microsoft is willing to pay for access to old media content.  Could Google be in trouble? 

Let’s recap.  You have old media with a business model that used to generate huge profits from content – not because the content was in high demand by the readers – but because they had a lock on a very effective (if very expensive) distribution system.  Old media used the system to advertise, as well as distribute content.  All was well for about 100 years.

Then the Internets arrived.  Now anyone can write and publish content that reaches a potentially huge audience for pennies.  How to advertise using that next generation system?  Enter Google.

This leaves Newscorp et. al. with a very expensive alternative that nobody wants to pay for.  See CraigsList vs. the classified section, for example.  What people originally wanted was to hear the news over their back fence for free.  What they ended up paying for to get it was a massive profit machine and a steampunk internet constructed of bits of cheap paper, gigantic Gutenberg presses, newspaper boys, and Jimmy Olsen’s. 

You can’t continue to monetize that dying monstrosity with micro-payments and pay walls. 

What you can do to help pay for it, however, is to get Steve Ballmer to drop loads of cash in your pocket as he feuds with his search engine nemesis, Google.  And trust me folks, Ballmer has no choice.  Google is going for Microsoft’s jugular.

What will happen?  The only company in this menage a trois that has a firm grasp on a 21st century business strategy is Google.  Microsoft and Newscorp will still be engaged in trying to pluck coins out of each others pockets when the meteor strikes.

“Microsoft To Pay Content Providers to ‘De-index’ from Google”

It is no secret that Microsoft is doing whatever it can to eat away at Google’s immense market share of the search market, with Bing being its most ambitious effort yet. Well, it seems the battle just got a whole lot dirtier, as The Financial Times has uncovered news that Microsoft has approached several news content providers, offering them money if they “de-index” their sites from Google.

Update:  Seth Godin puts a fine point on the matter.   See his post to read why the following assertion is obviously true.  Unless, of course, you’re Steve Ballmer, looking to pay good money to hose up Google (instead of running a top flight search engine).  A strategy that reminds me of the time that Microsoft funded SCO allowing it to bring a lawsuit against IBM for Linux copyright violations.Seth’s Blog: Rupert Murdoch has it backwards

You don’t charge the search engines to send people to articles on your site, you pay them.

Download MS Office 2010 Beta

I looked.  It works with Windows XP (SP3) so you’re good to go.

TechBytes: Office 2010 Available – ABC News

Microsoft’s test version of the new Office 2010, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other programs, is available for download on the company’s Web site.

Microsoft behind Sun/Oracle stall?

So the folks at the Inquirer break down a little analysis done by Groklaw regarding the EU anti-trust objections to Oracle owning MySQL as part of the acquisition of Sun Microsystems.  

The thinking is that Microsoft’s hatchet men are behind some of the objections being raised, since an Oracle-owned MySQL would almost certainly be real competition in the market where Microsoft SQL Server likes to play. 

The delay in the merger deal is causing Sun some difficulty … with friends like Microsoft, who needs enemies?

Oracle’s sun acquisition war continues – The Inquirer

Thus, though Microsoft probably has little vested interest in purchasing MySQL for itself, Microsoft is pulling all of its resources into use to ensure that the EU Commission – its last chance to stop the deal from going through – brokers an agreement with Oracle to sell off MySQL to an organisation with less weight than Oracle, and one with a software stack considerably less than its own.

Facebook pays Microsoft back

So remember when Microsoft paid a hefty sum for a small slice of Facebook pie that valued the social service at $15 billion?   After yesterday’s round of announcements, only Microsoft’s Bing has the nod to rifle and index the social activity of their pricey chums. 

We’ll see how Google responds.  I’m guessing with oodles of cash that re-values Facebook beyond $15 billion.  Either that or they’ll starve Facebook of search traffic.  Carrot or stick?

Exclusive: Microsoft Cuts Deal With Twitter and Facebook to Integrate Feeds With Bing | Kara Swisher | BoomTown | AllThingsD

But the deal is a definite blow to the dominant search engine, since–for the first time–data will be available on Bing that are not available on Google.