Today’s links Microsoft pinky swears that THIS TIME they’ll make security a priority: The monopolist’s bargain was made to be broken. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2004, 2009, 2013, 2019, 2023 Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I’ve been. Latest books: You keep readin’ em, I’ll keep writin’ ’em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I’ll keep writin’ ’em. Colophon: All the rest. Microsoft pinky swears that THIS TIME they’ll make security a priority (permalink) As the old saying goes, “When someone tells you who they are and you get fooled again, shame on you.” That goes double for Microsoft, especially when it comes to security promises. Microsoft is, was, always has been, and always will be a rotten company. At every turn, throughout their history, they have learned the wrong lessons, over and over again. That starts from the very earliest days, when the company was still called “Micro-Soft.” Young Bill Gates was given a sweetheart deal to supply the operating system for IBM’s PC, thanks to his mother’s connection. The nepo-baby enlisted his pal, Paul Allen (whom he’d later rip off for billions) and together, they bought someone else’s OS (and took credit for creating it – AKA, the “Musk gambit”). Microsoft then proceeded to make a fortune by monopolizing the OS market through illegal, collusive arrangements with the PC clone industry – an industry that only existed because they could source third-party PC ROMs from Phoenix: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/08/ibm-pc-compatible-how-adversarial-interoperability-saved-pcs-monopolization Bill Gates…Pluralistic: Microsoft pinky swears that THIS TIME they'll make security a priority (14 Jun 2024)