Is enough being done to stop Microsoft being anti-competitive?

[CitrixEngineer]

We all know about the current case, which is focusing on Microsoft's integration of the browser into the O/S, but what about its other practices?

These are kept fairly quiet, in the shadow of the browser trials, and I think much is being missed as a result.

For example, How about the dual-boot restriction?

I didn't know about this until I was pointed to this article (which is very long, but contains some very interesting points);

http://www.byte.com/documents/s=1115/byt20010824s0001/0827_hacker.html

In how many other areas do Microsoft still practice the "crush the competition" approach?

Or is everything M$ do OK?


CE

 

[edfair]

Unfortunately, the 500 pound gorilla is the only gorilla in the zoo.
In the guise of making everything seamless they have made nearly everything MS.
If anybody believes that uncle Bill did it for the good of humanity they are naive. Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[butchrecon]

I think it may be too late to stop MS. They are now a World Wide company with an OS that that is easy to use. Goverments can do what they want. What they dont realize is that MS is the reason PC's are so inexpensive today (Compared to 7 years ago). I disagree with most of MS's business practices. I think the company is ANTICOMPETATIVE. There is nothing I can do about it. Lets say we kill MS totally. Put them out of business (I know will never happen, just bare with me). What OS will replace them the desktop OS? LINUX? No, not enough support available in both Application and OS. LINUX is not easy to use for beginners. It can be time consuming to figure out problems. (But Windows can be as well). So whats the solution? The LINUX community will say LINUX is the future. Maybe, maybe not. LINUX wont be if they dont make it easier to use by non-tech oriented users. Mac OS is great, but only runs on Mac equipment. That leaves us where? If there is nothing to replace Windows then PC and Server sales WILL begine to decline. The more sales decline the more Tech related jobs will go by the wayside. Thats a bad thing. MS is more intertwined with the market than people realize. Sure the Tech are will recover, but the damage would last a long time.

My two cents. James Collins
Systems Support Engineer
A+, MCP

email: butchrecon@skyenet.net

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[CitrixEngineer]

I'm not suggesting killing the Beast of Redmond, or even that no company should persue anti-competitve practices; the whole point of being in business is to try to be the best, make money and keep the share holders happy.

What I'm getting at is the point in the article that M$ have agreements with computer suppliers that says if they set up their PCs to dual-boot into another operating system - or even if they supply PCs with another operating system - that M$ will essentially cut them off from the deals that everybody else gets.

This stops ordinary people from ever seeing what another operating system looks like, and effectively crushes that O/S by restricting its exposure.

I have a soft spot for what the developers of Linux are trying to do - produce free software for all. It's incredibly naive business practice, and I think the product is all the more remarkable for it.

Maybe we can't do anything about Microsoft - but remember what happened to IBM? Also remember what happened to DEC; and also, today, I learned that Compaq (who bought DEC) have themselves been bought out by HP, to make the world's largest PC-making concern.

Microsoft's products are intuitive to use, on the face of them, but are packed with features that many users don't ever use - or are baffled by. I don't think they should stop other companies from getting their products on the market - people will always choose the products that suit them. If other companies then produce better software than Microsoft, then M$ can spend a little bit more on R&D and get rid of some of the thousands of bugs in their existing software.

Otherwise IT admins are stuck with supporting buggy, non-secure, feature-bloated software that confuses even long-term users.

I really think that competition should be encouraged - and blatantly anti-competitve measures such as this should be stopped. Maybe governments should subsidise new software development companies - and the US government should stop focussing on the browser integration issue, which is no big deal compared to the O/S restrictions, IMO.

What will the guys at Redmond think up next? Or what have they been doing for years that has been ignored?

/end rant

 

[edfair]

There has been enough publicity about MS forcing software and hardware upgrades that industry is beginning to rebel. So it is with great anticipation (considering the economy) that I am awaiting the intro of XP. If it bombs, which is a distinct possibility, maybe we'll see some MS changes.
Bombing, in the above sentence, would be total installs in the range of 10 million or less for a year. I don't know what they project, but with sales in the tank, I think upgrades will be a more visible part of the total. Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[gunthnp]

good old Larry's idea seemed to be the best I have heard. Everyone knows if microsoft is broken up we will have three monpolys instead of one, Larry's idea is to make three companys that sell the same thing windows, office, and games put them in the same market like the long distane phone companys in the usa when they where broken up. This will force them to compete with each other. gunthnp
Have you ever woken up and realized you where not alive.

 

[edfair]

The problem is the integration. I think an OS company, an applications company, and a browser company would be a better split. And no integration to the end user.
Maybe , with the HP-Compaq affiliation, there will be a hardware company that can get control of the desktop again. Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[CitrixEngineer]

I think my question has been answered.

http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2001/09/06/technology/microsoft/

At least they keep me in work - if it wasn't for Microsoft, many companies wouldn't need such large IT departments

 

[Kspade]

HTE JUSTICE SYSTEM COMES THRU AGAIN(HAHA), they are getting REALLY good at slapping big business on the wrist. "now now, don't do that again or we'll slap you again." I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every moment of it.