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MS Putting the Squeeze on Alternative Audio
renard writes: "Some interesting developments during the last two days of the Microsoft antitrust trial, as reported by AP: MS Executive Linda Averett has admitted that Internet Explorer trumps user preferences for audio playback, and explains away a failure of IE6 searches to find RealAudio sites as a "mistake by the search team." My personal favorite: an MS-internal email exchange where one employee suggests that everyone "Remember the 'embrace and extend' campaigns we've used in the past," and an MS executive admonishes that "We need to keep all of this off the airwaves." See also related stories at Yahoo, CNN, and the NYT."
Then go back to Windows95 with IE4. Not a hard descision.
Feel that power? That's mah MOUSING FINGER
There seems to be 2 sides to this arguement. One side hates MS and the other loves it, both sides of course are guilty of being wrong. We need a ruler to measure MS. In this instance they are doing something that is simple in their minds. They are trying to make the user XPerience an easyness in using their computer, "one stop shopping" of the 21st century. Is that wrong? Sure they muscled different companies out of business. Sure they are arrogant jerks who just want to make money with a good product. Welcome to America!
Here is the another thing, so you want to use Netscape, Opera, or any other webbowser or mediaplayer, or unzipper, or pdf file opener go ahead install it and never, ever click on the IE icon or the Media Player icon, or any other, click on the other one that you lie silly! Really simple stuff man.
We have people trying to make MS give them their barebones version of XP so that they can use it as they please. That is like going to McDonald's and just buying a big bucket of their secret sauce or like getting upset because your Ford Expedition didn't come in Neon green and asking them to sell you an Expedition without any paint on it. Gimme a break, sure they are a big company and "we" do not like that, but let's be fair even to them. Sure, not all of you feel this way, but if you do please think it over!
If you want to mod down go ahead, I have a -3 karma so freedom of speech is no longer up to par with the rest of the world for me.
"Entertain the Brutes"
MS is no worse than any other company in the abuse department. MS just has more to abuse (i.e. a "monopoly in the Windows computer market as of 2 years ago).
--something witty
Oh, so does that mean future versions of Windows will Embrace Open Source/Linux, and Extend support of Windows Programs so that other OSes can run them?
In the words of Young Darth Vader, "Yippie!"
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Linux is only free if you're a pasty-faced no-life loser nerd.
Bastard moderator! I'll see you in metamod!!
Go home, download the latest build of *nix you deign the best... you now, one of over 20, all of which really are not very interoperable with each other.
Then try and get it working on that new computer you just put together from the lates parts... oh, wait, no drivers and no support from the manufacturers??? Guess you have to buy older, less compliant and functional junk and run it using half baked drivers built by some supposed guru in his basement one saturday afternoon while he was downloading porn.
Now, go out to the store and buy some non MS software that will give you office productivity and interoperability with the rest of the world... maybe throw in some of the latest games you really want to play, a couple of good graphics programs, etc... Whoops, can't do that, they don't exist. Games? Nope, nothing new at least, and most suck and are only available over the net. Office interoperability to ensure you can communicate with work and friends? Maybe, if you can download a huge program that is buggy and not ready for primetime (and hasn't been for years), and even then you can't use advanced features or see the advanced formatting and stuff others are using. Graphics software? Nope again... doesn't hardly exist, except for expensive tailored programs for CGI and the like, which you most likely don't need or want.
Now, get on your old, expenisve 56.6K hardware modem (most likely choked down through a serial connection) and surf the net. Wait a minute, these pages look all screwed up. What's going on. Oh yeah, that's right... there isn't a decent, standards compliant and fully functional web browser for *nix yet. And why can't I listen to music or see shock wave? I can? I have to download a complicated emulator program and figure it out based on some halfbaked documents written by someone in Norway who doesn't understand english? Damn...
Get the point moron???
Hey, mod me down like the previous two posts too so you can prove what a great Microsoft supporter you are! Fight for that poor ole misunderstood multi-billion dollar corporation! Only you can save it here on Slashdot!!!