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Dan Gillmor on WinXP
A reader writes:There's a new column from Dan Gillmor on SiliconValley.com about Windows XP. The column calls for an injunction stopping the shipping of WinXP. Dan's got a well thought out list of reasons why and how it would work."
I don't want to come across as one of the "everything /. posts about MS is biased" crowd, so I won't comment on the decision to post this. However, some of the points in the article made me laugh.
.NET. Their attempts to do something with Java, rightly or wrongly, resulted in them getting their wrists slapped. No-one at MS that I've talked to really cares that much about Java. So why should they include it?
Microsoft has added ''code-signing'' measures -- verification, supposedly, that downloads will be safe -- that could scare customers away from using software that competes with Microsoft's offerings.
How do you spell FUD? This is just silly. Microsoft have added code-signing (which I thought had been around a while) - which they could use to scare people away? How? I suppose they could do something by only allowing MS code to get signed or something, but that's pretty damn unlikely. The idea is that you can be certain where the code has come from, and then it is up to you to decide whether you trust it. Microsoft add *no* commentary on whether they think you should trust it or not, and to assume they will do is just paranoia.
Microsoft removed the Java environment from XP, thereby breaking thousands of Web sites that use Java. XP customers will face endless downloads to replace the functionality they'd come to expect.
While I'd rather the JVM was still in XP (but I hadn't noticed it was gone, will check that tonight when I get home), I don't feel any anger towards Microsoft for removing it. They have a competing platform, in
Microsoft is bundling all kinds of services into XP in ways that block competition, from photography software to video/audio playback. If customers want to use other vendors' products they'll have to jump through Microsoft-designed hoops
Slightly more questionable this. But I do like having ZIP folders natively as part of Explorer. But I've never had any problems with replacing functionality with the alternatives. I am an *informed* user. It is my business as a user to remain informed, and to make the choices that are right for me.
I could go on, and the article makes points about the OEM market that do sound pretty worrying to me. But all this article does is regurgitate some of the common fears and rumours surrounding XP, without *any* real and substantial justification of this strange injunction idea. I agree with authentication of XP, since you can control what is being posted, and I don't think piracy is good. I haven't had to use my Passport once, and I've been using XP since Beta 1 (as in never - have never even typed in the password).
I guess I just don't understand why people are making such a noise about fairly minor complaints. My cynical side is telling me that it's indicative of a jealousy of success, but I don't think that's always the case.
Henry
i don't do sigs. oops.
The case isn't really about trying to help another OS establish itself in the market. Indeed, Microsoft has every right to have a monopoly position in any particular market. What they don't have the right to do is to use that monopoly position to aquire market share in another market. While the fact remains that MS has a desktop OS monopoly, they have the ability to prevent other companies from fighting it out in the marketplace, and from their claims to manufactorers that DRDOS wouldn't work with Windows to their refusal to license Windows95 to IBM unless IBM stopped putting their own OS on machines as well (with the actual phrase "who else are you going to go to? We're the only game in town." being used in one communication submitted as evidence during the trial) to using preditory pricing on their Internet browser and then bundling it as an included application in their os to the current efforts to include everything from firewall software to video editing software, that (using their desktop monopoly to prevent other companies from fighting it out in the marketplace) is exactly what they've done and continue to do.
That's what the case is about, and why even an appeals court that has shown itself to be very pro-marketplace upheld the full verdict of guilty.
Sun simply told Microsoft that Java would NOT be "embraced and extended", that their Java tools had to be compatible with the standards Sun set. Microsoft got pissy about not being able to make an MS Java that was only compatible with windows (forcing companies to block out other OSs or code more because most internet users are windows Users) and decided to come up with C# to kill Java. Suprised that all the Java programmers did not instantly flock to C# (after all it IS made by MS) they decided to take all Java support out of XP and force a large download for users that want Java. MS hopes this move will for webpage designers to use MS langauges rather than Java, thus accomplishign the same objective they had before....stop other OS users from using the web effectively.
"
The Ideal Windows XP
No Internet Explorer It stifles competition. People can download the browser of their choice.
Java Plugin Loaded Windows XP should support Java out of the box so that people do not have to download it.
No MSN Icon on the Desktop Windows XP is already one Microsoft Product. They cannot use it to 'push' other products they produce.
AOL Icon on the Desktop AOL Time Warner should have a right to advertise on and windows desktop. After all they are not Microsoft.
Passport should be removed If people want a crappy free e-mail account or Instant Messaging they should refer to the above AOL Icon on their desktop.
Code-Signing is bad Microsoft should not be allowed to tell people what drivers/software have been proven to run under windows xp. They can find this out on their own.
Windows Activation Microsoft has no right to attempt to stop piracy. After all piracy much like death is inevetible. Any attempts to prolong life.. err I mean stop piracy should be stopped.
In conclusion I also feel that the word Microsoft should be removed from WindowsXP. After all it's just an operating system. Obviously the internet is much more important therefore WindowsXP should be labeled accordingly as AOL Time Warner Windows XP.
..but personally, I could never support a court injunction preventing a company from shipping their product. Isn't this a little like Dmitri being arrested for the "innovation" that he did? I think that the day that we allow the government to keep a perfectly safe product from shipping is the day that we have finally undermined all our principles of capitalism and the free market.
The only problem with that is that in the findings of fact, it was found that Microsoft had abused their monopoly position. While it is not illegal to be a monopoly. It is illegal to abuse that power. The time that it takes for a court case to go from findings, to sentance, through all the appeals is just too long. If Microsoft is allowed to continue business as normal until the appeal process is over, any punishment given will be worthless. The punishment will fit the situation as it exists now, and will not be appropriate for the new sitution.
Warning, cape does not enable user to fly
According to the Register in this article from yesterday, the DOJ tried to get the case expedited for the purpose of getting said injunction, but was denied by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Just to save some time, I'm listing all the standard rebuttals that go with any Microsoft monopoly story. Please pick one:
( ) Oh, great, now every company is going to have to ask the government's permission before they add any new features
( ) Why does the government want to punish any company when they become successful? Sun, Netscape, Apple, Kodak, etc. are all just jealous of Microsoft's success
( ) If you don't like Windows, DON'T use it! It's not like their forcing you to use it
( ) I'm not a big Microsoft supporter or anything, but I like how they're giving me free stuff. Do we really want the government to force us to pay more for stuff Microsoft wants to give us for free?
( ) Oh, yeah, well Apple has a monopoly on PowerPC-based Macs as well. Try to buy a Mac without Apple's OS and see who REALLY has a monopoly
And to save time for the moderators, here are the mod points: Moderation totals: Troll=1, Flamebait=1, Redundant=1
On a completely unrelated note, remember the story that the LA Times reported back in 1998 where Microsoft "was secretly been planning a massive media campaign designed to influence state investigators by creating the appearance of a groundswell of public support for the company"? Every time I read the same tired arguments as above, I can't help but think about that story.
Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
Microsoft removed the Java environment from XP, thereby breaking thousands of Web sites that use Java. XP customers will face endless downloads to replace the functionality they'd come to expect.
I may be wrong, (Trust me it wouldn't be the first time) but isn't the removal of Java from XP stem from a court settlement between Sun and Microsoft. I don't think the settlement explicetly made Microsoft remove it from the operating system, but instead didn't allow Microsoft to develop a Java compiler or products anymore. Why should they be expected in include the VM if they don't have any control over it.
It will still be available for download. So while it may temporarily render sites using Java useless -- they aren't broken forever.
Bullshit.
Take a look at the Billboard Hot 100. Would you seriously argue that this represents the best music available? Or even the best music being made today?
Do you think that best-selling books, or highest-rated TV shows, represent the best work in these media? You beleive that "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" is the best television show airing in the USA today, and that the lastest Danielle Steel and Jackie Collins efforts are amoung the best works of the written word?
Quality and popularity are completely independent variables.
Microsoft got where they are by riding IBM's coat-tails, by clever business tricks, and industrial strength marketing. They've managed to make the quality of their product almost as irrelevant as the quality of a pair of Nike's is to a well-branded teenager.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
Then Kelley tried to repeat the trick and wrote a book about the UK Royal familly, oh dear. The problem was not that people did not want to hear bad things about the Royals, quite the contrary, after the soap opera divorces, familly feuds etc. the monarchy had become very unpopular. But Kelley's book made a whole series of unsubstantiated tabloid rumours that the Buck house PR team could explode with little difficulty. At the very time when the country was sickened by their reaction to Princess Diana's death the Kitty Kelley nasty-ography brought them undeserved sympathy.
I think that the Gillmore article and others like it are likely to cause the same reaction. It is very noticable that the Slashcrew have got seriously out of sync with the readership on this one. Most of the posts are saying 'why give us this ill informed made up crap?".
After all if we are going to start attacking MSFT on the basis of made up stuff it might as well be good made up stuff.
Looking for an Information Security student project suggestion?
Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
So Mr. Gates doesn't like these structural remedies? Perhaps he'd prefer a Mitnick-style behavioral remedy.
Gates and his descendant Mr. Ballamer are never again to run a technology company in any way, shape, or form. No CEO, no "head technologist", no shareholder, no V.P., no nothing. They've demonstrated that at the helm of a technology company they have no restraint. They will break the law every time.
Mitnick can't use a computer, they can't run a business. Fair is fair.
-Erik
Preventing the release of WindowsXP will not help to "turn the tides" against Microsoft. I think the majority of Windows users, frustrated over Microsoft's poor quality or not, will find contempt for an injunction against XP's release. I think that it would be best to let Microsoft push the envelope as far as they can in this case until the consumers get absolutely fed up on their own accord. Don't tell them they're fed up. People will reject MS trash when they want to and in due time.
Why bother.
Horse* theHorse = new Horse(theStory);
Kill(theHorse);
while (theHorse.IsDead())
{
Post(theHorse.GetStory());
Beat(theHorse);
}
Things you think are in the Constitution, but are not.
...but personally, I could never support a court injunction preventing a company from shipping their product. Isn't this a little like Dmitri being arrested for the "innovation" that he did? I think that the day that we allow the government to keep a perfectly safe product from shipping is the day that we have finally undermined all our principles of capitalism and the free market.
Woah. HOLD ON A DAMNED MINUTE!!
Fact: Microsoft has been found criminally GUILTY. Fact: Microsoft is attempting to release a product that Propogates the crime for which they were found guilty.
These facts go WAY BEYOND the idealistic free market motivations. They have been found guilty and before sentence can be passed, they are continuing and even going beyond in those practices.
Let's say, for example, a bank robber got caught, was tried and found guilty but was still out on bail before sentencing. While out, he commits another bank robbery. Most people would jump all over this story saying that he has no respect for the law or court systems, that he was out of control and beyond rehabilitiation. In short, they'd be crying out for "life without parole."
Microsoft is continuing "business as usual" in spite of the fact that their product structure has been found criminal in nature. Corporations are looked at in many ways as a pegal person entity...except in criminal cases? The justice system cannot put a corporation in jail but there are other remedies. There is nothing inappropriate about seeking an injunction against FURTHER criminal acts except that it seems somewhat redundant!!
What if I were selling illegal copies of MS software, was caught, tried and found guilty? Then while out on bail awaiting sentencing, I sold MORE illegal Microsoft CDs to cover my legal costs? That would be "business as usual" right? Who do these court people think they are!?!? Interfering with my right to do business like that?! The nerve of them!!
Hello? Have I brought my point home yet? They were found criminally guilty and they persist in doing it by releasing yet ANOTHER operating system with the browser illegally tied with the operating system. They ought to be slapped with an injunction and then with contempt of court to boot!!
Some of these people are freaking insane!!
Meddling in ordinary business practives, while it might give some satisfaction to some poor folks who have to drink tap water, but it won't really solve anything, and it certainly sets a dangerous precedent. Personally, I don't see what they're complaining about. I buy premium bottled water, and I've seen nothing in the polution infested public water utility that'd make we want to stop. We've got lots of great clean bottled water brands at every store, so why's everyone so scared over a few chemicals?
PJRC: Electronic Projects, 8051 Microcontroller Tools
It's not installed by default, but it is featured prominently on the Windows Update page. Here's the description Microsoft has for it;
It's a troll because you actually dared to critizise Microsoft. Anybody who says anything negative about MS gets modded down. You can easily get you karma back up by doing a "sure windows used to suck but I haven't rebooted my W2K box in a year and XP is even better" post. While you are at it also mention that "I love linux but I gotta have my (fill in the blank) app and windows never crashes anymore". These two formulas are guaranteed to get you a +5 from all the MS employees who troll slashdot and mod up pro-MS posts.
Really try it sometimes it works every time.
War is necrophilia.