What are your thoughts on this?
Check out my site:
Chief’s Domain
While I don’t condone the sort of practices that Microsoft has been found guilty of, I do have a problem with a couple of the accusations that have been levelled.
Why should it be wrong to bundle an Internet browser with the operating system? Competing products do it, and I haven’t heard anyone complaining about them yet.
Isn’t a good deal of the anti-Microsoft flak a load of sour grapes from others who would have played just as hard as Bill Gates, if given the chance, but missed out? Let’s face it, the biggest and most successful companies around usually didn’t get there by being nice guys.
Few people will give Microsoft credit for imposing a de facto standard on the PC industry, at a time when it was in danger of fragmenting in the same manner that quadraphonic sound did twenty five years ago.
When I bought my first PC a decade ago, I seriously had to think whether I would buy a PC, a Macintosh, Amiga or Atari. This was just prior to the release of Windows 3.0, so the “Wintel” PC platform did not quite have the ubiqity that we take for granted now.
Finally, woould breaking up Microsoft REALLY benefit the consumer, or would it precipitate a return to the anarchy of a decade ago? My personal opinion is that the only winners so far have been the lawyers, and those people who have an emotional need to see Bill Gates et al get hammered.
Knock softly but firmly, 'cause I like soft firm knockers…
Well, here’s the problem with MS’s browser strategy as I understand it.
- Operating systems and applications are their nest egg.
- Applications that run over the internet are platform agnostic – ideally it shouldn’t matter what machine or operating system the browser is on.
- Thus, MS perceives that browsers spell the end of their effective stranglehold on the consumer market.
One very effective method that Microsoft has employed to deal with cross platform solutions is to enthusiastically adopt (or even introduce them), promising that they will maintain compatibility across all platforms. Yet strangely, a year or so later, without much fanfare, the Mac and Unix versions get cancelled. (Active-X is an example of this). Or the version that runs on Microsoft software gets “enhancements” that are incompatible with everyone else’s version of the supposedly cross platform software (Java is an example of this).
Now this tactic works best if they have a dominant share in the cross-platform software. Netscape, for example, had a strong interest in making sure that their software ran on every platform. Thus, it was in MS’s best interests to do everything they could to sabotage Netscape. This includes developing their own free browser and integrating it tightly enough with their operating system environment so it is, at the very least, a grave inconvenience to use a different browser.
In doing so, they apparently stepped beyond the bounds of legality (according to the Judge’s opinion).
I don’t know if MS should be split up as a remedy. As a computer scientist, I do think that MS has made decisions that are not in the computer user’s best interests in the interest of their own profits. The result is an enforced dependance on single-source, mediocre software.
I used a program called IShare to get three networked PCs onto the internet. There are several programs that do this. All require some client sofeware. IShare won’t use another connection for a client, amodem for example. One of th others ate the modem installation on the server.
Windows 98 has internet sharing. The only thing required of a client is configuring it to look for the LAN connection.
The IShare guys are probably on the street wearing “Will Cut Code For Food” signs.
My network has great internet access.
Go figure.
Wayne
In the short term the breakup will probably be a little harmful to Microsoft’s business. But over time I think the individual companies will be worth much more than the single company. This is a good reason to hold onto Microsoft stock for the LONG term.
A hurricane is a breeze of a bigly size.
Its only worth about half of what it was 52 weeks ago. What kind of investment is THAT?
“‘How do you know I’m mad’ said Alice.
'You must be, ’ said the Cat, ‘or you wouldn’t have come here.’”
A poor one?
I don’t fault MS for including a browser. Hell, did the people that make Hoyle’s book of games sue over Hearts and Solitaire? Did anyone sue over Notepad? Those are probably the most used apps in Windows, and no one cares about them!
It’s a new gold rush, and everyone wants to be the next Levi’s.
http://www.madpoet.com
I am human, and I need to be loved
Just like anybody else does
It’s worth half of what it was worth in January. It’s only down about 15 or so from where it was a year ago. This might make it a pretty good investment right now.
Handy, it’s an ok buy now for the LONG term, NOT the SHORT TERM. Dumbo.
A hurricane is a breeze of a bigly size.