I play Microsoft's advocate from time to time, because as evil as people think they are they are more often just misunderstood, IMNSHO.
People seem to anthropomorphized Microsoft into the demi-God of computer problems. Dan Minette wrote: > What percentage of the operating systems business does Microsoft have? > Isn't it close to 95%? Last time I saw anything: 75-80% total, 50% or less of the Server market, 50% or less of the "nerd" market. Quick question: how many OSes would you like to know how to use every day? > Microsoft gives away features that are the main source of income for other > companies (i.e. Microsoft Explorer vs. Netscape). This is much more of a Vertical Monopoly problem than a Monopoly problem. Our Anti-Trust Laws do not affect Vertical Monopolies, otherwise Sony, Viacom, Times Warner and others should be facing court battles. Every feature that Microsoft has "given away" for free has been things that should be included in an Operating System. Do you want to be *required* to pay a third party to listen to music? Do you want to be *required* to pay a third party to use something as integral to the network experience as a web browser? Do you want to be *required* to pay a third party to use something as integral to the health of your PC as an anti-virus program? Microsoft does it and over-rich third parties whine about Monopolistic tendencies. Apple does it (iTunes, iPhoto, i*, Final Cut *, ...) and people hail it as the second coming! Linux does it every day, and has done it since the beginning... Why is Microsoft the exception to the rule? > I cannot think of a > comparable action by Wal-Mart. Price Gouging; Unfair Trade Agreements; Service Bundling; All-In-One-Stop-Shopping. There's an entire documentary on some of this if you care, but again, these are all Vertical Monopoly problems coming from the fact that Wal-Mart sells everything and "owns" quite a bit of the production systems as well. > If I own a PC computer (not including > Apples, which I'd label , it's hard to get away from Microsoft. If I want > to buy most retail items, I can and do go to Target. Depends on your definition of hard. You can install Linux on your PC pretty "easily" nowadays, and you can try before you "buy" (spend the time installing) with very easy Live CDs (ask your neighborhood geek for a good Live CD, or order the Ubuntu CDs, which has an included Live CD to help you decide to install Ubuntu). Sure, there's a learning curve, but have you ever had two VCRs that used the exact same menu system? An Operating System is like a Gaggle of VCRs, in that respect. That's a tough cookie to crack and one of the reasons business and individuals have standardized on one (Windows); whether they like it or not they can use it where ever they come to it. Imagine the mess we'd have if there weren't a standard OS on most PCs. How many OSes do you think you can learn and keep fresh on day to day? In this case, the fact that there is a Monopoly is not from evilness on Microsoft's part, but from request/need of the market itself. Before Computers that was unprecedented in Capitalist markets (which goes to show how Computer software may in fact be a Socialist organism). People need to start realizing that the blame for Microsoft's profluence is partly their own. (The only real solution to the "Microsoft Problem" would be to institutionalize/nationalize the Operating System. Some States and Countries are already working on this, in fact, at least for government work.) -- --Max Battcher-- http://www.worldmaker.net/ All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income. --Samuel Butler _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
