Apple is hyping HMTL5 again, this time with a new website purporting to show open web development in action. But the company’s standards-following rivals have pointed out the Jobsian site is peddling nonsense.

Apple’s HTML5 ’standards’ hype debunked • The Register

Their ship is already sinking. Mobile is the next thing, and they need to wake up and smell the coffee, they represent a minor percentage of the market. The rest are all jumping in on open standards. Even Nokia has now made the Symbian OS open source. Other large players are beginning to realise it is in their benefit to follow open standards, because no one company is ever going to corner the market on technology. There will be always a new player out of no where. And the best way to control the competition is to ensure that the market follows the agreed open standards. Those who don’t live up to the standard, will whither and die, because the end user will have a substandard experience. Because what are the content developers going to develop for? Why the largest market / platform there is of course! Why else did Microsoft’s vision of things hold dominance for so long? Because they had the largest platform / market share. But that is no longer the case. The platforms that people access their information is rapidly diversifying, and so Microsoft have been caught napping. They thought there was no end in sight for the dominance of the desktop platform. Then along comes mobile. Bam! Now its a desperate catch up, which they will never do. Their worst nightmare is being realised. Linux is becoming dominant on mobile, largely thanks to Android. How can a commercial OS developer like Microsoft compete against a free OS like Linux? Answer, they can’t! So we come to Apple’s tactics. Build a jailed platform and broadcast propaganda. Hey fine for the fanatic converts, but they are fools to think they will ever win any sort of platform or market dominance like Microsoft ever did. So their pick and choose implementation on HMTL5 will ultimately backfire on them as it did with Microsoft and earlier web standards. Developers will curse their name, and develop for them second, if at all. They will ultimately be force to also play catch up.

However, I have discovered an alternative that works!

Wicd is an open source wired and wireless network manager for Linux which aims to provide a simple interface to connect to networks with a wide variety of settings.

Now when this software even has a page on the official openSuse website, why is it not in the official release?

Safari of course has only been released for OS X and Windows. So Wine comes to the rescue and allows me to run many Windows applications within Linux and without any virtualization or emulation.

OK, it kind of worked first go and then crashed. After some googling I discovered that you have to install Safari without Bonjour for Windows and Apple Software Update. Some extra Windows XP fonts are also required. Detailed instructions for installing Safari under Wine are available at WineHQ.

Safari appears to perform well, tabbed browsing works, HTML and CSS rendering is in order.

What doesn't work is HTTPS connections, and book marks.

So for normal everyday use it is a bit handicapped, but as a web developer's testing tool its just fine.

More can be found on the ZDNet article "Ubuntu, Red Hat reject Microsoft patent deal ".

What is exactly happening behind the doors of the Redmond giant is open for debate. One could speculate that the lack luster response to Vista, coupled with recent manufacturers such as Dell announcing the sale and support of Linux machines is what is goading them into action. Are their legal threats the right action?

Could it be that the large coporate giant has stopped listening to what computer users want, and is turning into a totalitarian monster that dictates what people should use and do with their computer. Could it be the complacency of years of successful market domination has led them to forget the basic tenent of sales: The customer is King. Could it be that the world has moved on, and Microsoft wants the world to standstill in the glory days of Windows 95 or XP?

Microsoft have attempted to make many soothing sounds regarding its perceived relationship to Open Source. Then the deal it struck with Novell for its version of Linux stirred deep supicion. But these recent actions may just come back and bite them. Will Microsoft suffer a popular peasents revolt, with its lesser rivals banding together to assist in the revolution? All empires benign or dictorial come to an end sooner or later, without exception. However their longevity and legacy is the question.

Where one large player goes, there will be sure to be others to follow. As one of the oft criticisms of Linux is its set up, bundling machines with it pre-installed will go a long way to making it more accessible to a wider public. On top of this with Vista's apparent lack luster sales, we could see the some chunks carved out of traditional Microsoft territory. There is a plethora of Open Source software now available for Linux which is now starting offer the standard functionality offered by Microsoft's Office suite. Plus with a growing number of government agencies the world over now moving over to Open Source, and looking to cut costs, especially with expensive licensing fees, the bands of small marauders could soon become a powerful alternative to the current Microsoft status quo. Interesting times lie ahead.

Further reading on Dell's offer can be found on pcworld.com, "Dell Promises Pre-Installed Linux".