Microsoft is preparing to force users - especially IT - to switch to subscription models in the cloud.
From 2025, many applications will be phased out and the push for cloud services will be a de facto logical continuation. This will of course be accompanied by the complete loss of our digital dominance.
Microsoft websites have published life cycles that show that many of their products are nearing the end of their support in 2025, 2026 or 2027. After all, they indicate that the development of home applications and operating systems will not continue, since Microsoft is aimed at cloud subscription models.
The German Open Source Business Alliance (OSB from the Open Source Business Alliance) is sounding the alarm because Microsoft has announced that it will no longer support software used by management until today, by the end of 2025.
Imagine that software used by federal, state, and local governments for Office and Communications tasks can no longer be managed and operated by governments themselves.
From now on, there will be Microsoft cloud, which is highly questionable in terms of data protection, and end-user privacy.
Consider telemetry and the term "data protection." Sounds ironic, because according to the GDPR, most Microsoft products may simply not do so because of data collection (telemetry). The paradox is that data protection authorities simply turn a blind eye to what we are experiencing since the release of Windows 10 onwards.
But consider the following:
The specialized procedures used in each administration will cease to exist as administrators will have to use proprietary programming GUIs and Microsoft cloud bidding features. Establishing open standards set by a wider community will no longer be possible.
The monopoly position will allow Microsoft to dictate virtually any price it wants. In addition, there is the risk of unilaterally terminating a contract by Microsoft, which would have unintended consequences.
Dependence on Microsoft may not only require concessions regarding data protection and security, but may also be directly dependent on decisions made by US authorities.
Microsoft may force Europe to adopt non-open, proprietary standards set by the company, to which other (EU) countries and large parts of their economies will have to align.
It will create a huge technological dependence that will result in significant public financial resources constantly flowing to Microsoft and providers developed exclusively by Microsoft standards, which will be permanently removed from the European digitization ecosystem.
Peter Ganten, CEO of the German OSB Alliance, writes:
"If politicians allow further consolidation of the existing dependencies of the German and European authorities on a single manufacturer, this will have deadly consequences for national digital sovereignty and the performance of the European digital economy. "We are issuing a clear warning that the future of Europe's digital policy must not be in the hands of a single company."
The OSB Alliance published the document Warum die Entscheidung für eine Microsoft Cloud den Aufbau echter digitaler Souveränität verhindert (German) which paints a frightening picture.
George is still wondering what he is doing here….
