Open Source: Microsoft's anti thesis

Legend (not confirmed reports) has it Bill Gates had remarked "The internet is just a passing fad" in a Microsoft press conference in late 1995. Then there is this famous "The Internet? We are not interested in it" attributed to Bill Gates, 1993. "640K ought to be enough for anybody." - said Bill Gates in 1981. Source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Bill_Gates
The idea here is not to belittle Gates. He is what he is and the significance of his contribution cannot be over looked (nerds, rookies and champions put together)

However, the internet has not been Microsoft forte and it has been playing catching up mostly. (The best example is the take over of MSN-Hotmail)!

Heres the latest on the OS front for microsoft. The latest to catch on is Ubuntu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu, a free and open source software owned by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth. What this allows OEMs is that they can develop Desktop, Notebook and netbook systems without having to pay the Windows License fees and undercutting the windows powered systems! Simply hook up --> Get an IM client --> Use web based services and voila.. there you are! The Ubuntus and Linuxes of the world coupled with a depressed economy and dissatisfaction of Windows usage are putting Microsoft in a tight place!

The battle between the Legacy systems and the open source development is gathering some momentum and the odds look stacked against the Redmond giant