Is it any wonder that the only interesting news on the 'net today hails from overseas? Everyone in the U.S. is too busy digesting obscene amounts of Thanksgiving food to tend to the business of updating web sites with fresh and vibrant content. That's why faithful viewer Kai Dambergs forwarded us an article from The Register; they're in England, you know, so they don't have Thanksgiving-- generally speaking, four hundred years ago their ancestors religiously oppressed our ancestors, who then got on a boat, came over here, and sat down to a hefty meal with a bunch of hospitable Native Americans who were, in retrospect, far too charitable for their own good. Which is why today those English Register blokes are happily and unbloatedly churning out humorous commentary while we yanks are all sitting around taking bets on whose stomach will pop first.

Oh yeah, the article. Well, basically it's poking fun at Microsoft for its bald attempts to persuade PC manufacturers to avoid selling "naked PCs." No, it's not some moralistic push to ensure that all computers are appropriately clad in demure and modest attire, though that wouldn't be all that much sillier. "Naked PC" is Microsoft's oh-so-subtly alarmist term for a computer that's sold without an operating system. According to Microsoft's web page about the dangers of "naked PCs," companies that are evil enough to sell their customers computers sans Windows are recklessly exposing them to "the risk of acquiring pirated operating systems" and all the "legal risks, viruses, and frustrating technical troubles" that follow. Oh no! (And by the way, it's definitely not just some self-serving effort to sell people software they don't want. Shame on you for thinking such a thing.)

Even better, Microsoft left a previous draft of the same document available on its public server, and that version is a lot less charitable. Instead of implying that customers who buy "naked PCs" are naïve marks just waiting to be exploited by nasty software pirates who target those who don't know any better, the earlier draft basically flat-out accuses those customers of (gasp!) intending to "illegally acquire and install operating systems." Well, whaddaya know-- suddenly this is starting to sound like a self-serving Microsoft propaganda push. Well, now we're all disillusioned-- and right at the start of the holidays, too. To think, Microsoft isn't really concerned for our well-being after all, just as long as it gets its licensing fees! Why, we're so depressed to discover that Microsoft isn't actually looking out for us, we think we'll have another slice of pie. Maybe two. Excuse us...