Microsoft

Being a bit of a luddite, I'm always a few years behind the game with technology, including developments on the internet. So maybe it will take me a year or two to catch on to Google Wave. But even I can see that Google is transforming the world with their innovations while Microsoft seems capable of nothing but crap software, financial bullying and monopolistic practice.

The next time you feel even the faintest twinge of believing that Microsoft are on your side, ask them why they would be wanting to patent the concept of CMDB. To advance ITSM? To create a fair and open market? To increase healthy competition? Maybe Goooogle are exhibiting a few signs of evil but Microsoft hold the franchise.

[Updated 18th July - I got it wrong]

The IT Skeptic got all excited about Microsoft's announcement in September last year that they were releasing MOF under a Creative Commons license.

A recent lawsuit suggests that Microsoft Vista might be a ploy to charge even more for Windows XP. It is not as extreme as my suggestion that Microsoft might have engineered the recession to disguise the productivity impact of Vista. You never know...

I'm sure I'm not the first to reflect on the evil genius of .docx document format but I feel the need to vent a little spleen. Only the Evil Empire of MickeySoft could be this twisted.

The ITSM community should ponder this for two reasons: (1) just how much do we trust Microsoft's 'free' MOF 4.0? (2) ITIL's inability to play nicely with COBIT or other de-facto standards might result in eventual convergence or it might not - watch the scrap between OOXML and ODF for clues.

Windows Vista makes the claim of "faster boot times". Faster than what? tectonics?

Just what sort of pacts has OGC signed with the money engines at TSO and APMG, or is HM still her own master? When will ITIL be set free?

The real significance remains to be seen, but Microsoft's announcement that MOF 4.0 (Microsoft Operating Framework, a MS variant of ITIL) is now available under a Creative Commons licence to not only Share but also Remix(!) puts additional pressure on Castle ITIL's proprietary grip on the ITIL content. The explicit mention of ITIL in the announcement suggests to me this pressure is not accidental. MOF was already freely available for download, as also are COBIT and FITS, but this takes open content ITSM another step.

Microsoft has made a practice of attempting to patent the obvious, not least of which is CMDB, but a recent court ruling gives hope that those they do obtain can be invalidated.

What is it about these big software companies and their inability to come up with decent branding of their products (and companies)?