I think that the majority of people here are jumping to conclusions. Mindcraft's behavior can be explained without them being a puppet of MS.

I'm guessing that the guys at Mindcraft aren't real hardcore Linux hackers, and so when the time came for a head-to-head, they setup Linux as best they could, setup NT, and did some tests. The Linux community, such as it is, felt their OS was being dissed, and wah lah, holy war.

Thanks to the great reaction of the Linux community, the mainstream media began looking at the study with honest-to-god skepticism instead of reporting "LUsers Hate Mindcraft".

Now Mindcraft more than likely feels like they're under attack, which they are. If you put out a study saying NT is better than Linux, prepare to deal with a lot of criticism.

Mindcraft's money comes from people wanting to hire them as independent testers. If no one trusts them, they lose big time. Right now they're trying to get trust in their company back up by making another test which is much more open.

MS doesn't have to figure into any of this, and I think if you all run around looking under your beds for the Evil Empire of MS, you'll just look silly.

This does not mean that I think the study's results are valid, nor do I think that NT is better than Linux, nor do I work for MS or Mindcraft. IANAL, YMMV, and all the related disclaimers.

Just remember... if someone accused *you* of cheating, lying, and incompetence, wouldn't you try and refute those claims?

Something to think about.