Microsoft Trial Wends Onward

Sinistar2k writes: "Showing remarkable restraint and an unwillingness to shout 'Give it up for me!', Steve Ballmer comes across as a poor, beat down soul in the video deposition (Windows Media or RealPlayer required) released today by US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. Also available are text depositions of Ballmer and Allchin." gouldtj adds: "Here is a timeline on the Microsoft trial. It is pretty complete, and it goes back to 1990. It is nice to see all of this in one place, I'd almost forgotten about the old stuff. It just reminds you how long this stuff can take." Finally, ackthpt writes: "The nine non-settling states have modified their requirements, rather than Microsoft having to sell various versions of Windows, they would have Microsoft Windows sold as a modular platform, where the user could opt for different vendors software for different uses. Just days ago the nine settling states were rattled by Microsoft's end-around, challenging state attorneys' general participation in anti-trust procedings." And if your own computing (or career) depends on a Microsoft operating system, Roblimo suggests that you stop using it, because Steve Ballmer says Microsoft may take it away.

Comments

What are the Nine States?

[jchawk]

In case you were wondering the nine states that are not settled yet are:

1. California
2. Connecticut
3. Florida
4. Iowa
5. Kansas
6. Massachusetts
7. Minnesota
8. Utah
9. West Virginia

Also the District of Columbia.

I wish they would state this in each article. :-)

Re:And the Register adds this MS Tidbit...

[Anonymous Coward]

The only thing that keeps you from removing IE is the WFP, Windows File Protection.

1. Disable WFP (registry hack)
2. Delete IE files
3. Wohoo!

You can also create your own Win2k install media where the file lists & install scripts do not even originally have IE along. WFP will not worry about IE being absent :)

What's the catch? SOME programs require IE to run. Not because they really really NEED IE, but because the developers have re-used some components that come with IE. For instance Media Player requires some .dlls but you can just simply insert them into your SYSTEM32 directory and voila.

Some programs though check for IE and if absent, just prompt you to install it back. You will have to stop using those programs, but there are always options.

Note that Microsoft can claim that WIN2k requires IE to function properly since some included tools and applications such as the Media Player require its presence. Most likely it will go through in the court as well.

Re:I can't replace a part of the Linux kernel eith

[Spoing]

In Windows, devices are controlled by things called "drivers", which are not part of the kernel. Windows NT (for example) has a driver subsystem that is part of (or linked to, I forget) the kernel.

So what you're describing is much easier to do with Windows.

While I agree mostly with what you've said -- both Windows and Linux have kernel based modular device support -- the ease of use part is not correct.

Under Linux, most distributions are pre-configured with the kernel consisting of modules. If you want to remove any module, you can without rebooting safely as long as it is not being used. Hotplug support and manual enabling/disabling of parts of the kernel using insmod/rmmod or runlevels make module management simple if not automatic.

Drivers under NT serve the same basic function as modules under Linux. NT Drivers are usually loaded at boot time and can not be unloaded. The exception are hot plug devices...just like they are under Linux.