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Jintao Hu makes a toast to Windows of opportunity

Sometime ago, the area surrounding Bill Gates' home was placed into a security "zone" by the US' Department of Homeland Security. The event was a private party hosted by Bill Gates for various people of state and other important VIPs. When the government sets up a secure zone, the zone temporarily becomes private property of t he US government -- any trespassing is a no-no and being in the vicinity requires federal clearance.

This time around, security around Gates' mansion will be extremely tight, as more than 130 guests ranging from heads of government and leaders of Fortune 500 companies gather to welcome Jintao Hu, China's President.

Hu's visit to the US alone already marks a history event between the China and the US, but a direct flight to Gates' estate before shaking hands with the US' own George W. Bush is unprecedented to say the least. Hu will of course visit Bush during his tenor but not before sitting down for an elegant three course dinner and toasting off to a bright future between Chinese PC manufacturers and Microsoft. China's government recently introduced a mandate that requires all PC manufacturers include a licensed operating system before letting shipments out the door. This caused various manufacturers to setup contracts with Microsoft to bundle Windows for the next three years. The agreements are estimated to total more than $400 million. Lenovo will join in on the mandate soon.

The intention of the government mandate is to reduce software piracy, for which China is notorious. Software companies have been complaining that piracy robs them of many billions of dollars a year and Microsoft software is the most frequently pirated of any commercial software -- whether done in China or elsewhere.

Along with Hu, other notable guests include Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz, Washington state Governor Christine Gregoire and Boeing Chairman and CEO W. James McNerney, Jr.

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Can't Google cry foul?
By redbone75 on 4/17/2006 6:12:17 PM , Rating: 2
Sure this is an historic visit and all, but being that Microsoft is Google's chief competitor can't Google make some legitimate noise about this. I mean, it's only the president of the largest potential market outside of the U.S. making an appearance at the home of the head of your main rival.




RE: Can't Google cry foul?
By TomZ on 4/17/2006 6:48:28 PM , Rating: 3
Yes, Google can complain if they want to sound like a whining baby. Anyway, it's more up to Mr. Hu to decide where he visits - there's not really any notion of "fair" here.


RE: Can't Google cry foul?
By TomZ on 4/17/2006 9:48:45 PM , Rating: 2
I see from some of the other news services that his name is Hu Jintao, not Jintao Hu as the article here states.

So, I should have said, Mr. Jintao in my message above.


RE: Can't Google cry foul?
By figroc on 4/17/2006 10:12:53 PM , Rating: 2
Well, Hu is the first name.


RE: Can't Google cry foul?
By figroc on 4/17/2006 10:15:44 PM , Rating: 2
my mistake. Hu is the last name.


RE: Can't Google cry foul?
By DigitalFreak on 4/18/2006 10:09:07 AM , Rating: 2
Hu?


RE: Can't Google cry foul?
By kaoken on 4/17/2006 7:37:06 PM , Rating: 2
Sorry, how is google competeing with microsoft? They are in two different areas of marketing.


RE: Can't Google cry foul?
By TomZ on 4/17/2006 9:50:16 PM , Rating: 2
Google search competes with MSN search. Hotmail and gmail. Google and Microsoft are both rolling out services on "rich" web sites. Etc.


No, Google cant cry foul.
By Griswold on 4/18/2006 4:25:05 AM , Rating: 2
But Google makes a living with these services, while MS still barely breaks even with their investements in that field. Sometimes it looks more like a prestige project for MS to cut Google down to size.
The deal is all about licensing an OS. There might be follow-up deals, but that remains to be seen.


RE: No, Google cant cry foul.
By TomZ on 4/18/2006 11:43:43 AM , Rating: 2
Microsoft has a long history of sticking with investments that look like losers at the start, and turn out to be big winners in the end.


Hah!
By DigitalFreak on 4/17/2006 12:48:32 PM , Rating: 2
Hu's on first?
Guess Hu's coming to dinner?
Who's Hu?
Hu Tuk Wang?




RE: Hah!
By jskirwin on 4/17/2006 1:28:59 PM , Rating: 5
Bill Gates: Well then who’s coming to dinner?
Melinda Gates: Yes.
Bill: I mean the fellow's name.
Melinda: Hu.
Bill: The guy coming to dinner.
Melinda: Hu.
Bill: To eat with us.
Melinda: Hu.
Bill: The guy who is coming to ...
Melinda: Hu is coming to dinner!
Bill: I'm asking YOU who's coming to dinner.
Melinda: That's the man's name.
Bill: That's who's name?
Melinda: Yes.
Bill: Well go ahead and tell me.
Melinda: That's it.
Bill: That's who?
Melinda: Yes.


RE: Hah!
By poohbear on 4/18/2006 3:50:30 AM , Rating: 2
lol that can never get too old me thinks.;)


Money talks...
By ZardozFrayn on 4/17/2006 11:35:06 AM , Rating: 2
Clearly, such a monumental policy change by China would imply that the PRC is getting an overriding royalty on all mandatory software licenses. I'm sure that Gate's interest in wining and dining the Chinese brass is to let them see just how good it can be, and to lock in MicroSoft as one of the "authorized" software vendors in China.




RE: Money talks...
By TomZ on 4/17/2006 11:40:21 AM , Rating: 2
Is this just cynical speculation, or you have evidence of such payments?


RE: Money talks...
By tenguman on 4/17/2006 11:47:36 AM , Rating: 2
This has more to do with beating google n China than becoming a licensed software vendor in China.


RE: Money talks...
By ZardozFrayn on 4/17/2006 4:27:16 PM , Rating: 2
You are correct. Cynical speculation. Nonetheless, it is worth real money to MicroSoft to have such a government mandate, both in terms of licensing revenues and protecting market share. As the next post points out, Google is the threat to MicroSoft, and Google runs just fine with Linux on the client. Bill has got to re-assure the Chinese that he won't have back door gimmicks that can be used by the CIA/NSA, while, perhaps, at the same time offering such spying/monitoring capabilites to the PRC security forces. I personally think that an under-the-table "commission" paid to the PRC government would be more palatable to MS than engaging in assisting in the PRC's desire to control its populace.


Agh
By aGreenAgent on 4/17/2006 2:12:18 PM , Rating: 4
This is probably why traffic has been so bad in that area recently....agh.




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