I wasn't aware of that one, this sure makes the current situation look even worst.

Sure, we can't comment on the specifics of the deal, but still... Nokia really looks like as though playing its cards against itself...

I'd say it's a market thing. Selling the best product for the lowest possible price is often a sugar-coated way of saying "Selling the worst possible sh*t for the highest possible price". As long as the market isn't rejecting it, why bother innovating and competing against oneself? Keep the fecal matter flowing, the cash coming, and everybody will be happy, right? Not that there aren't limits with that, as Vista managed to prove.

The thing is that, while M$ does produce OSs, their greatest selling point is the "ecosystem" around the thing, which carries a lot of appealing software, to the masses, at least. In the server area you don't get the same results, for instance, and it's the same for audio and graphic manipulation.

In the end we get a chicken and egg thing... Linux is safer, far more stable, and well, free... Why doesn't it take off? Simple, it might be tough running Crysys 2, Dragon Age, whatnot in it.

On a sidenote... Really, Windoze might not be open-source, but on the consumer market, it's nearly free. I've honestly only seem people paying for XP and Vista on laptops, and that's because they'll pay for it whether they like it or not. On desktops, in 11/10 cases you have a pirated windows copy.

M$ knows this, and it's part of its strategy. Linux is free, but so is Windows, in the consumer market (the office and corporate markets are entirely different animals). No wonder this thing has such market penetration...