So there seems to be some misinformation out there spreading about Linspire, Xandros and Microsoft. The question has been asked; Is Linspire and Xandros by extension in bed with Microsoft? NO!! Not at all. There are NO agreements in place anymore with regards to Linspire, Xandros or Microsoft. The patent protection that Linspire Inc and Bridgeways got from Microsoft has long since expired. There are no partnerships that need to be announced at this time.
So certain people want to throw a fit, make slanderous remarks, and start unnecessary drama because we include Powershell, .NET Core and VS Code in our distributions. NEWS FLASH!!!! They are Open Source pieces of software. Furthermore, the inclusion of this software was REQUESTED by customers for interoperability. Xandros OpenDesktop 2021 Office 365 uses the web based Microsoft Office 365 and other Microsoft centric web applications. Why? Because customers requested it. Xandros OpenDesktop Office 365 accounts for 90% of our enterprise and education customer sales. A minority chooses Standard Edition which includes the Google applications. PC/OpenSystems makes our products based on customer feedback. No more and no less.
What information do we give to Microsoft? Absolutely NONE. When you update the system does it communicate with Microsoft servers? Yes. As with everything Debian based software is stored in a repository. When you run an update and it communicates with Microsofts repositories and if an update is available it gets downloaded. This is the nature of the beast when it comes to upgrading software on ANY Debian based system. On Xandros Office 365 same thing and of course when you access Microsofts web apps a little bit of information is exchanged when you login to your Microsoft account. The point here is very simple, customers who purchase our products know exactly what they are getting. We don't hide it, we aren't embarrassed of it and according to our sales and subscription renewals; customers LIKE IT!!!
Now, some of the mundane trolls want to start a boycott of Linspire and Xandros. Listen to yourselves, really listen to your silly little comments. You want to boycott Linspire and Xandros for using OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE!!!! As with everything Linux you have the ability to remove any piece of software that you choose. Are you boycotting Ubuntu? They work with Microsoft closer than we do. How about Red Hat and SUSE? They work with Microsoft closer than we do. How about Deepin and Windowsfx? Who work as hard as they can to clone the Windows interface. Some people like to live in the past and if you are interested in trying to keep this war with Microsoft vs Open Source alive, you are 15 years too late. If you are interested in keeping the war alive with Michael Robertson and Linspire Inc. You are 14 years too late. The industry has spoken they would rather have interoperability than rhetoric, bullying and bullshit. When it comes to IT and services the end goal is the same and you don't have to reinvent the wheel to get there.
