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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.
someone should tell MS that they broke the law by including IE with Windows
Just like RedHat broke the law by including Netscape or Mozilla with Linux.
Now, tell me, what $3 cut crack have you been smoking?
First of all, Dr' Felton's little expirement did not fully remove IE from teh system. Basically it only removed the applicationIE but the rendering functionality still existed. When will this myth stop circulating around the internet? oops, I forgot, it won't, it's the internet - the utopia of gossip and rumor mongering. To put it bluntly, you might have recalled this, but it was incorrect, so no, you did not recall correctly.
Second, Apple includes a Dock in their OS. Should everyone else include a Dock then because another is doing so? They also use a PDF rendering system. Should all OSes then follow this method for creating their dispalys?
Perhaps you are wrong in assuming that the inclusion of the browser, or technically an HTML renderer, is not necessary for future OSes. Considering the impact the internet has had on communication I would say it is vital for OSes to include this level of functionality AT THE VERY LEAST. In fact, KDE is doing the same thing with Konquerer and the file manager.
Wrong. You cannot remove IE at all. While it is true that you can hide the browser interface... that is, you can delete IEXPLORE.EXE and unregister the components... but the core rendering engine remains.
That HTML engine is what powers Outlook Express, Explorer folder browsing/searching/etc, Control Panel and associated applets (like Add/Remove programs), the Help system, etc.
You can pretend the browser isn't there, but the core browser components are still powering the User Interface (and various 3rd party programs.)
The only version of Windows that can have the browser interface AND core components removed is Windows 95, because it was a true bolt-on after the fact. But I certainly wouldn't go back to Win95 from 2000/XP.
Quote: "They want the source, they want IE out, and they want other versions of Windows available at a lesser cost without the unwanted "features" Windows buyers pay for."
1) Source -- fine. If you wanna take a look, it doesn't bother me. Almost everything is well documented on MSDN anyway; it really won't help me that much to see the source code (in fact, I have access to the source legally right now.) There are no hidden APIs or other magic things to be found. Just a lot of boring code.
2) I've already established that the core HTML engine would be impossible to remove without ditching the entire UI and starting it over from scratch. This would also break tons of 3rd party enhancements and plugins for the interface that rely on the current standard, as well as screw over all the 3rd party apps that don't wanna take the time to write their own web browser so they use the available COM components.
3) While adding features has driven some companies out of business, it has also HELPED consumers by far. In 1994, you had to BUY a TCP/IP stack to get on the Internet with Windows. These days, it's standard... in fact, Windows 2000 Server's CIFS protocol and Active Directory run exclusively on TCP/IP. Are we to cry a river for Trumpet which can no longer sell their IP stack to hordes of Windows users?
Or how about we bemoan the reduction in the market for dialup terminal applications since Microsoft started including Hyperterminal.
The fact is that the OS needs to include more and more features in order to deliver better value to consumers and force the 3rd party marketplace to advance. You people seem to forget that capitalism requires that companies live and die as the markets change. That's life; deal with it.
Natural != (nontoxic || beneficial)
Ahh, the attitude of the typical RMS-worshipping CS student. Might want to take a few minutes to wash out those pizza stains from your ThinkGeek T-Shirt.
By the way, MS-Word supplies three synonyms for monopoly: domination, control, and cartel. Enjoy.
You've apparently also forgotten the judgement against Mickeysoft...
By the way, just wanted to say that makes you look really dignified. Wow, what a public speaker we have here. He can twist "Microsoft" into random words. Hoo-boy, a real genius here.
You can get a good update, that will fix xp to work up to the states expectitation at...
The Windows Update Site
It has all sorts of useful utilities for seperating IE from the main OS. And ways to stop bugs from crashing and shutting down your OS from remote internet attacks.