A Look at Microsoft's Regulatory Problems

jrexilius writes: "The Economist has a great article on the state of the EUs anti-trust case against microsoft, background, and future troubles with google. One interesting comment was 'Microsoft is preparing to use its dominance in web-browser and operating-system software to promote itself in yet another separate market--search engines this time'."

Comments

Whatever...

[apoplectic]

'Microsoft is preparing to use its dominance in web-browser and operating-system software to promote itself in yet another separate market--search engines this time.'

If Microsoft were to begin selling bubble gum, the "interesting" quote would be: 'Microsoft is preparing to use its dominance in web-browser and operating-system software to promote itself in yet another separate market--bubble gum this time.' Whatever.

Calling the orginial quote "interesting" is a somewhat of an overstatement.

Re:Fishy company

[BuckaBooBob]

One of the things they could do is force MS to give 100% absolute full access to the API's required for a product to be intagrated into the OS so that rivals can also aproach vendors to include their product instead of MS's during preload so its there at the time of sale..

Having Software Preloaded is a termendous advantage .. It has proven to be a highly successful aproach to gaining market share... This is inevitable and will be done in the future... MS needs to be hobbled so that competing products can replace MS versions at preload time.. Allowing MS to keep their Verson on the system allows them to sneak in more bugs which many can attribute to their competeing product winding up as default ect..

This could really start to open up the Monopoly MS has in the Intel market and create Real cometition... It could be expanded into Desktop managers ect to really get the innovation going again...

What "Desktop" Innovation has there really been since windows 95? None really...

Breaking the 16 colour barrier for Desktop Icons.. Thats not a innovation

Quicklaunch Bars? Nope you have been able to get them while windows 95 was the newest MS OS on the Market.

The new Styled Start menu? Thats just simply Reorganization and fixing the inherent problems the old start menu had.. Innovation? not really Common Sense.

Hiding inactive systray Icons? again a solution to a inherent design flaw same as the start menu.. why do one and not the other.

Hmm what else?

New Widgets to make it looks as spanky as a Mac? Innovation? Nope. Been done before.. No Innovation.

So where is all of this Innovation that MS claims they are making... They have established their monopoly now there is little to no need for "innovation" for that element of their OS so then they go and look at the market to see what they should "Innovate" next... Browser, Media Player, Search Engine, Messenger, Content Service (The list goes on and on)..

So far the vast majority Business model consists of examining the marketplace and try to squeeze out the competeion using their OS.. The sectors where they do not have dominace with thier OS are where they repeatedly fail.. (Xbox, Cell Phones, Web TV ect).. It would seem when they cannot use their Windows OS as leverage to gain a market share their product are doomed to fail as they do not offer any real "Innovation"..