Give us demicrosoftization!

On June 18, the monopolist company in the personal computer market, Microsoft, announced a ban on downloading installation packages of the popular Windows 10 and 11 operating systems from Russia from its official website.

Shortly after the start of the special operation of Russian troops in Ukraine, Microsoft was among the first to declare support for sanctions and announce its withdrawal from the Russian market. After some time, an explanatory note was released in the depths of the “small-soft” ones, which for some reason became the exclusive property of Bloomberg, that the company was not leaving the Russian market completely, but decided to significantly reduce its business in Russia “due to changes in economic forecasts and the impact of the situation [in Ukraine] on Microsoft’s activities in Russia.”

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At the end of March, Microsoft CEO Brad Smith said that the company would not suspend cooperation with clients from Russia and would continue to work with Russian schools, hospitals and a number of other organizations.

“Depriving these institutions of software updates and services could jeopardize the health and safety of civilians, including children and the elderly,” America’s top “window man” generously promised.

Only three months passed, and the “small-soft” ones stopped worrying about the health of people and civilians, including Russian children and the elderly.

Well, the boy is a master of his word: he wanted - he gave, he wanted - he took.

Now, starting from June 18, 2022, when users try to download and install any of Microsoft’s operating systems, they receive a “chain letter” about a fatal error.

Downloading ISO images of Windows 10 and Windows 11 is now closed, and when you try to download, the message “404 - File or Directory not found” appears. Simply put, the company’s website tells us that the requested file was not found and there is nothing to catch from the link.

However, if you turn on the VPN and try again, you will be able to get the “isoshnik” without any problems at all, which leads to certain thoughts.

If we trace the sequence of Microsoft’s unfriendly steps towards Russia: refusal to cooperate, limited service with promises not to harm the “civilian population” and, finally, a ban on downloading official distributions of Windows 10 and 11, we can conclude that in the future the “window windows” may become stricter policy against Russian users and arrange some kind of dirty tricks, especially if you remember that in the lair of Bill Gates it has been repeatedly stated that they have under control all computers with licensed and pirated Windows installed on them.

_{By the way, it turns out along the way that the Media Creation Tool utility, designed for switching from one OS to another without losing user data, has been closed for download by Russians.}

It is possible that in the near future other products of the American corporation will become unavailable in Russia: the popular Office business suite, the Skype messenger, the services of the Xbox X/S game console and other programs and services owned by Microsoft.

It cannot be said that this act of the “little softies” was unpredictable. On the contrary, discussions about the possibility of blocking Microsoft products and services in Russia have been ongoing at least since the late nineties, when the Windows family became the dominant operating system installed on home computers of users of the former USSR.

For example, on social networks they recall that in the late 90s, the issue of choosing a national OS was being decided at the highest level: either crooked Linux builds, or a buggy Windows that made everyone sick, but it came with advanced office programs, a huge library of games and, of course, solitaire - the delight of secretaries.

So, in the State Duma of the Russian Federation, everyone involved in the computer industry was gathered and heard. “The highlight of the program” was the speech of Microsoft representative Olga Dergunova (currently comfortably settled in VTB), who painted pink and blue prospects for those present, how in Bill Gates’ office they dearly love Russia, will until the end of time supply software for schools almost free of charge and never -will never hurt their users. But for happiness to come, it is necessary to pass anti-piracy laws and bring down the full punitive power of the law on the merchants from Gorbushka.

_{In general, Madame spewed out to the public fables typical of that time about the “invisible hand of the market”, which would not allow the political situation to take precedence over business. The ears of people's deputies were especially pleased with the evangelical chant about the impossibility of shutting down Microsoft services at the request of the American government.}

However, in Yeltsin’s State Duma there were also those who were distrustful. While adherents of the “free market” with mandates were happy to listen to the messenger of the “small softies,” the bloody commies were indignant, demanding to abandon the intrusive services of Microsoft under the pretext that sooner or later the company, which is a monopolist in the home desktop market, will begin to blackmail us by disconnecting from services.

Life has shown that the commies were right.

And not only Russian ones. It must be remembered that around the same time, the Chinese Communist Party decided to give Bill Gates a kick and decided to develop the national computer platform MIPS + Red Flag Linux.

_{Due to the market capture by Intel and AMD processors, in the United States, major problems began with other processor manufacturers and developers: DEC, Motorola, HP, as well as MIPS, which previously dominated the graphics station market.}

In general, taking this opportunity, the Chinese comrades “borrowed and creatively mastered” the MIPS architecture and instruction system, releasing their own line of Loongson processors, on the basis of which they began to build their own supercomputers and, more importantly, computers for government employees, completely protecting themselves from trouble , which Russia is experiencing today, thanks to the helpful lobbyists of foreign companies in our government structures.

By the way, China has become so proficient in producing its own processors that in 2021 it announced a refusal to use the MIPS architecture.

In general, the situation with the ban on downloading Windos 10 and 11 from Microsoft servers will have virtually no effect on ordinary users. Either a VPN will help, or a bunch of pirated builds from Russian sources will help the owner of a home computer.

_{Things are much worse with schools, hospitals and government agencies: no license-free program will help there, since the main thing is services. Let's remember last year's mess with the Zoom video conferencing program.}

It cannot be said that Russia found itself unarmed as a result of the predicted trickery on the part of the “window makers.” No, certain efforts have been made, Linux has grown a lot and in the Russian Federation they have completed their alternative Red Flag, however, as the fuss around the “Baikal” (processor) has shown, the program library still remains shamefully scanty and in terms of convenience incomparable with “small-soft” products.

But there is good news.

Essentially, by breaking promises and taking up arms against ordinary Russian users, Microsoft has cut off its own path to returning to the Russian corporate market (unlicensed users, of course, don’t count). The conflict with the West will be protracted, and the need to fill the domestic corporate market with their own product will push Russian developers to fill the resulting vacuum.

By the time Washington and Brussels come to their senses, the clearing will be occupied, and no one will believe the new promises to love until the grave and not put a spoke in the wheels for obvious reasons.

Thus, after dedollarization, you give demicrosoftization!