Yeah, common russian people are unfamiliar with that fact that Windows has to be paid. Pirated WinXP prevail. Now government want to abandon pirated soft, but since there are no money to buy legal M$ soft, they will transfer to Lin.

Nice succinct post, hornet, ..."The Twin Guises Of Devolution" ... and all that I would agree to disagree on would be "When you are Infinity, there is no such thing as time nor space.", preferring instead to posit that when you are Infinity is everything Time and Space, which are probably definitely maybe One and the Same.

And it is as well for all to realise that the Games that people play for control of anything and everything with computers with Programs and Operating Systems, which are themselves only Programs too ....and there is no such thing as a Public Program for they are always designed and administered and rewarding to a Private and Personal Body dressed as a Public Service, with only a precious few being Worthy of Public Support aka Taxes ..... have Changed Fundamentally with ITs Cloud Controllers, more about which Time and Virtual Space Travellers/Virgin Pioneers/Magical Mystery Turing ZerodDay Trippers will more fully Reveal and XXXXPlain as Embedded NEUKlearer HyperRadioProActive Communications and Ninja NIRobotIQs share their Presents in the Semantic Web Field and make them Felt Sublimely.

Which would resonate in tune with The Iron Lady's epitaph/epithet/coded message/dismissive .... "And, you know, there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families." ..... http://briandeer.com/social/thatcher-society.htm

And you can use your imagination to decide on the nature of "families"

I think that Russia has come to the realization -- as should so many other countries, governments, businesses, and consumers -- that no one but Microsoft knows exactly what is going on in their closed-source code. Despite Microsoft's best assurances, no one knows what information is passed between the OS and Microsoft's servers. All we know for sure is that Microsoft's systems are expensive, easily hacked, and insecure.

These reasons make the move to an economical open-source platform understandable as a more logical and responsible choice on the part of the Russian and Chinese governments. This and the EU's increased vigilance of Microsoft (and increased use of open source) are not isolated incidents-- this is the start of a trend. Perhaps increased use of open source will even enhance the trend toward increased individual freedom in these countries?

When the freedom to be sensibile is mistakened as a licence to be nonsesical, that’s called “Democracy” by those lacking awareness in their reality. In contrast, when the lack of freedom to be sensible is mistakened as an opportunity to be sensible, that is called “Communism” by those pretending to be aware. Half empty or half full, it’s all the same when moralising is substituted for Morality.

So, one monopoly is complaining about encroachment by another. Who cares? The victim certainly, be the control covert or overt. When it comes to Round-Robin-Robbin’, only the bookie wins. By all counts, that which is overt at least offers the victim a chance to be aware whereas the subtle mind games of The Chosen Few are hard to identify.

Comfort controls through stealth using the route of beginning to ending whereas Hardship starts with the ending and works towards a beginning whilst within Reality, the beginning is also the ending at the same time. How so? Because Truth has no beginning nor an ending. When you are Infinity, there is no such thing as time nor space. One reason why the vastness of space and the eons of time can negate the minds of idiocy/ending/objectiviy-intellect/oxygen and lunacy/beginning/hydrogen.

"Ronald Reagan approved a CIA plan to sabotage the economy of the Soviet Union ... including software that later triggered a huge explosion in a Siberian gas pipeline"

Maybe the ruskies are returning some favors.

CIA slipped buggy software to Russia during Cold War
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4394002

Power to the Voletariate!

Putin should get some platform shoes or something. Maybe it would help his complex.

RedRusich, +1 :-)))

Russia has produced most talented programmers in the world, including Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google.
This should not come as a surprise when ANY software is readily available for around $3 per CD at any local PC market (i.e. the famous Gorbushka in Moscow).

The only way of generating revenue for Microsoft in Russia is from the government institutions and large companies who are made to use legal M$ software with the help of local police.

Maybe Microsoft decided to have a bigger cut, hence the slap on the hand. Watch this space, more fun news to come :)

Hm, a country that doesn't excell in democracy and Microsoft who is a FAT cat which likes to eat children for breakfast... Well in that case I don't feel sorry for MS at all. Taste your own medicine.

I hope you're being facetious. They've been shipping quite a bit of "reinforcements" to Cuba and Venuzuela for a couple years now. It doesn't make me "phobic" per-se, but it makes me a bit uneasy when the person making the calls is ex-kgb.

Wake up Nick! It's a 21th century, not a 17th, so please quit your Russophobe style.

..that is why they hate the US so much

More than a half of OS in Russia are *nix and pirated Windows. About year ago Russians take really acting law against cyberpirates, some pirated OSes were replacer legal ones, and Russians suddenly find Microsoft's monopoly.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Maybe MS wants to be on the list to be better loved by the EU, the US, Japan and Korea.

And right before Windows 7 is released too.