I think something important was released this week, I can't remember, I think it was popular though...seriously though, congratulations to everybody who got a PS3 and Wii, I hope it brings you years of happiness.
Microsoft did something very interesting this week, not necessarily related to gaming, but with repercussions so far reaching that it's only a matter of time before the shock waves are felt in the entertainment sector. Microsoft's CEO Steve Balmer (of Steve Balmer fame), announced at a conference in Seattle that the linux operating system infringed on Microsoft's intellectual material, and that MIcrosoft should be reimbursed. Ignoring the obvious hypocrisy, there are far reaching implications of these actions, in that this may be the possible signal for Microsofts war on open source projects.
Already Microsoft has tried adapting a number of products to compete with competitors. For those of you who haven't seen the new version of Internet Explorer, it looks something like this. Look familiar? It should. Not to impugn the addage about where smart people get their ideas (people smarter than them for those of you not in the know), but the glaring similarities are downright malicious in nature, attempting to steal intellectual material from others. This isn't the first time they've done these kinds of things either, but like I said, we're not focusing on the hypocrisy, just the impact of the aformentioned assertion by Balmer.
Right now, the current response from just about everyone who isn't Microsoft has been predictable to say the least, and certainly it isn't arrogance fueling the fire, but hypothetically let's say that Microsoft succedes in a legal gambit for control of the Operating System wars; what does this mean for us?
The first conclusion is that Microsoft will essentially dominate the mainstream technology realm with control over every piece of software that would be released for the rest of their dominion. If you said "Nuh uh, I have a MAC!", curb stomp for you. It doesn't have to stop there. Microsoft has enough power (politicians are apparently cheaper than we thought and money (same link) to do just about whatever they please in the US, and could take the war to other areas of technology such as third party modifications using games under the "games for windows" logo. As preposterous as that may sound, it's something worth considering. With politicians clamping down on games and the content therein, it would be in Microsofts best interest to do so, not only to insure that the product remains whole, but also to reduce the probability of lawsuits. It's improbable, but not impossible.
Microsoft's purchase of Novell, as mentioned in the first article, basically contractually stated that Linux was infringing on copyright, so it seemed like fate that the issue would progress this far, but it's unclear how far Microsoft is willing to go to dominate the technology market. To those dismissing this move as benign, I remind you Microsoft has built it's foundation upon malicious business practices, and while windows isn't necessarily the best operating system out there, it has the biggest hand in the cookie jar at the moment.