[SecurityMatters]

Howdy, 10 years ago, I was a happy user of Microsoft products and could not see any reason to use anything else. I never minded paying for software. I still don't mind, although now, all of the software I use is free(legally free). I don't even allow Microsoft software on my network, because I don't trust it. What drove me away from Microsoft was a steady history of the company lying to me and treating it's customers with contempt. Sometimes I hear that Microsoft has gotten better, but many things, including recently the behavior concerning Microsoft Office XML shows me otherwise. I disliked Linux when I started with it, but I did not appreciate paying money to be treated like dirt and I forced myself to convert. I think I understand the economic forces that drove Microsoft, but I think you were too short sighted. You looked on consumers as people who had little choice but to knuckle under to you. No consumer wants the DRM you crippled Windows Vista and 7 with. No sensible company wants an unreliable OS, which is all you offer now. I have discussed the unreliable nature of Windows with several senior MS engineers and they almost all agree about my points. One senior designer did not, although he could never find and deliver to me the evidence he though he had to the contrary. I am more productive now with Linux than I ever was with Microsoft products, and I feel much better about it, too. It seems to me that Microsoft is on it's way to irrelevance and I think there is very little chance you will reform. You think the actions you take are defensible. Most of them are, but that is not the only standard that matters. I feel dirty when I have to use Microsoft products now and that is 100 percent driven by your choices. I convert people to Linux every month. I still have an open mind, but I would need to see a real difference at Microsoft to change my mind. Thank you for asking.