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Gateway Testifies To Microsoft's OEM Treatment
unconfused1 writes "Gateway testified yesterday about the incredible power that Microsoft wields over OEMs concerning Windows being shipped on every PC. It seems that if an OEM does not ship Windows on every PC they ship that they are severely penalized, and can have their license revoked."
I installed windows 95,98,2000, and XP and deleted all of them, just to build up resistance.
talking about this like its new news? It's like every three months people forget and have to report it again. This has been constantly reported since at least since 1997.
This is why I think there's some kind of mind control going on in the windows OS environment that keeps people from remembering this story. Thats why only alternate OS (Mac Linux etc) users really remember it month to month. Oh well, I guess it gives C-Net something to publish.
Witness the rebirth of ENRON!
tcd004
Well, I thought it was obvious..
If you testify against MS, their henchmen will cut your hair Bill Gates stylee.
WWJD.... for a Klondike bar?
"Uh, your honor? We'd like to delete this testimony since it makes us look guilty. We're really not guilty, so you shouldn't allow anyone to intimate otherwise."
They're pretty dumb if they thought they were going to get away with that. Once has to wonder what will happen to Gateway now... I think MS will take the cow boxes to the slaughterhouse while they still can.
There is no sig, there is only Zuul.
This is what Dell has to say: "Dude, you're getting a blue screen."
God is real unless declared integer
My name is Anthony Fama, you made me put windows on every machine we sold, prepare to die!
I am going to re-invent the wheel, and this time I will make it round!
If you were a game geek would you wait?
... because it would take 2 months to get Linux running on my hardware and Windows XP is running perfectly.
Yes
Looks like Bill Gates and Co. are going cow tipping tonight...
Microsoft Who? Don't know who you are talking about.
You'll find out when you get a job in the tech industry. For now, enjoy school.
billg: "Buy him out, Boys!"
[thugs trash Homer's house]
billg: "I didn't get to be the richest guy in the world by writing a bunch of checks!"
Carthago delenda est!
I've always known this was true, but now we have a REAL company vouching it..but how does MS do it? Do they send goons in and say "if you don't install Windows we will break your legs?" I mean, how is this different from racketeering? The Mafia does that in major cities with Waste Management. You can only use THEIR company, or they break your legs or set your building on fire. WHich is very similar to how tings work in Eastern-bloc countries.
I don't know where you are from but in the United States exclusive contracts are a typical occurence in the business environment. The only thing that makes MSFT's an issue is that after a company has achieved a certain amount of market share it may be unfair for them to have exclusive deals with other vendors because it may effectively shut down the competition.
AFor instance a common example of such exclusive deals is schools, stadia, fast food places and restuarants that only serve soft drinks from a particular vendor (e.g. only Pepsi or Coke products).
However it is up to the courts to decide whether there was anything inappropriate about these OEM deals and if so to come up with a decision. Likening it to racketeering on the other hand is a gross exagerration and implies that you think that MSFT forces its competitors to accede to its demands through violent means. If you know this for a fact I'm sure the courts would love to hear your testimony.
They actually had a Simpsons episode about how Microsoft does business.
Hi.
My name is VERSION9.DLL and I'm a time travel from the distant future. Would you please do everyone in 2271 a BIG favor and DELETE Mr Gates?
You can't imagine what he does next.
BRB, have to cloy the Triscuit and degen the loop moderator.
The other weakness in the tire analogy is that tires are more or less interchangeable components. While an auto manufacturer may have an exclusive deal with Goodyear, if Goodyear starts misbehaving, the auto manufacturer can switch to a different brand and the car will still work just fine.
Now if you could only use Goodyear tires on 90% of the roads in the country, that would be a different story, and the auto manufacturer would be in a tighter place.
I agree with other posters that PC manufacturers brought this situation upon themselves by agreeing to exclusive deals back when Microsoft didn't really have the muscle to force its own terms. MS made them a great short-term deal, and now they're learning the hazards of short-term profit over long-term strategy.
Compound this with other OS providers showing similar lack of vision (Apple, IBM), and we Microsoft telling us where we'd like to go today.
Slashdot comments... splitting hairs since 1997.
You can work directly with the contents of his hard disk, even if he's using XP. All you have to do is write some javascript at the end of a special URL, and tell him to visit it.
Errors like this are pardon parcel... ...nobody expects a slashdot post to win the pullet surprise...
Hey, that's a pretty funny way of making a point. Did you just invent these, or did you get them from some humorous reference ("Excrements of Style"?)
A dingo ate my sig...