Microsoft Attacks Linux at the Retail Level

If you’re reading our site and others like it, chances are you are well-versed where technology is concerned, or are at least trying to be. That’s great, because if you understand technology, life will be easier and you’ll always know what you’re looking for when you need to make some tech purchase. Sadly, that’s not how it is for most people, and like me and knitting, many people just don’t care or have the desire to learn about technology or computers.

Those are the people that companies like Microsoft and Apple like to prey on, because after all, it’s easy to be gullible about something you don’t have much interest in. The situation isn’t made much better when retail stores exist to mislead customers, either. Just walk into a Best Buy to see what I’m talking about. And speaking of Best Buy, there’s an interesting thread at Overclock.net that’s pretty eye-opening.

Whenever a hyped product is soon to be released, employees at stores like Best Buy (I should note that Best Buy is certainly not the only store guilty of this) are usually briefed about it, so that they know which points to bring up when talking to customers. With Windows 7, Microsoft for some reason considered Linux to be a large enough threat to have them create course material to explain to people why Linux is inferior. Of course, employees who opt for the training get a perk: $10 Windows 7. Heck, even as a Linux user I’d take the quiz for a $10 copy.

It’s not so much the fact that they are explaining reasons why Linux is lacking, but it’s the fact that a lot of their statements are untrue. In the slide below, they rank Linux extremely low with regards to camera and iPod support and also MP3 compatibility. Anyone who has ever used Linux knows how false this is. I’ve never had a camera not work in Linux, and most iPods work just fine as well. As for MP3 compatibility, Windows 7 might open up a bragging right for Microsoft where media support is concerned, but install Ubuntu and you’ll see an even wider range of support available.

I won’t point out all the false statements, including “Linux is safer then Windows” as being a myth, but I do recommend anyone to look through the thread and find them yourself. Even if you don’t use Linux, they’re clear as day.

No iPod support? Really? And the Zune doesn’t work on the Mac either although there has been some progress from the Linux community. And I’ve never had any problems pulling pictures from cameras. I’ve yet to see a printer that doesn’t have a driver. You might have to download it from the products website though (gasp!). Yeah yeah. Software. Although WINE has been vastly improving lately (we even got around that stupid Secu-ROM). There are free alternatives to all of the Windows Live “essentials”. WOW. Of all the games to mention, they mention World of Warcraft.