I don't hate Microsoft, but - this time it's personal. A good friend of mine claimed that Microsoft will become even more powerful monopoly, an unparalled software giant in the next ten years. I just couldn't agree with it. As much as I hope that it won't happen I also genuinely believe that open-source software has a real chance of making it, becoming a credible choice for ordinary end users. So we made a bet.
Microsoft's market share in end users' operating systems is convincingly over 95%. Depending on which studies you believe, the market share of Microsoft's Office Suite among office software suites is either equal or bigger than its operating system market share. The bet then is about whether or not Microsoft can maintain its market share in operating systems and office suites. I'll win the bet if Microsoft has less than 94% of these markets in the beginning of 2009. Sure thing, don't you think? Though, I have to say, I'm a bit nervous - and not only about the bet.
Java 1.5 Tiger Beta 1 was released today! Tremble Microsoft, tremble. I truly believe that 1.5 will be as important a release for the evolution of Java as 1.2 was. More on this topic later.