Roy Schestowitz apparently uncovers a subversive strategy Microsoft is using to block Linux from motherboards everywhere. How? By fighting its longtime partner, Phoenix Technology, which had developed a Linux-friendly virtualization technology (HyperWave) to grant a Linux operating system to run even when Windows fails:
The basic concept is that an embedded Linux OS will accompany the core system firmware or BIOS, allowing instant-on applications to be run from it at any time.
The spat seems to be over for now, but the fight with Phoenix is instructive. Microsoft is far smarter than we generally give it credit. The company keeps an eagle eye on its desktop prize, and is unlikely to grant anyone to build rival technology there. The only way to compete with Microsoft on the desktop is not on the desktop - it’s in the cloud. Perhaps Microsoft isn’t as vulnerable here as people think, however….
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