Anilrgowda

Microsoft has sparked a major debate in the blogosphere after the company gave away laptops and Windows Media Desktop systems running Windows Vista to several dozen bloggers.
Microsoft critics were quick to dismiss the handouts as a bribe. Although Microsoft labeled the computers that retail at $1,900 to $2,300 each, as " review PCs" but told the recipients that they could keep them.
"Sending them a 30-day trial of Vista to evaluate is one thing, sending them a very expensive laptop preloaded with Vista is quite another. It'd be like record labels sending journalists a free 80 gig iPod and stereo speakers with every new song they're promoting," a professor Unix commented on Slashdot.
Some of the recipients, including blogger and technology journalist Ed Bott, however were quick to point out that the promotion is the only way for them to legally obtain the final version of Windows Vista. Bot addmitted to receiving a Acer Ferrrari 5000 last Wednesday, but said that he would return it to Microsoft after he was done testing the device.
"But that’s my personal decision, and it’s based on my personal code of ethics, which says I don’t accept gifts."
Robert Scoble, a former Microsft employee who rose to fame by spearheading the company's blogging initiative, applauded the iniative but adviced bloggers to disclose if they received a free notebook.
"Did you sell your soul and you disclosed that? Fine. Now it’s up to the readers to decide whether anything you say is worth listening to. But you’re ethical.
A spokeswoman for Microsoft's public relations firm that coordinated the programme said that the laptops were part of ongoing efforts to reach out to bloggers. The company furthermore was primarily interested in receiving feedback from the bloggers, and never expected any editorial exposure.
"Should they write about it, we would asked that they disclose that the laptop came from Microsoft. Microsoft is trying to be very transparent and open about this,"