Storm Brewing over Microsoft on the Horizon?

SexyFingers writes "Robert X. Cringely, of I, Cringely discusses one of the last anti-trust lawsuit beleaguering Microsoft. It seems like Microsoft is looking bad on these bouts... words like, lie, dissemble, ignores were applied to Microsoft."

Comments

Nothing will change.

[Anonymous Coward]

They'll worm their way out of it somehow, and after any publicity this generates dies down, they'll go right back to viciously fucking competitors, customers and business partners alike.

Re:Nothing will change.

[slavetrade55]

Well, if the customers are being fucked, they should stop buying MS stuff. And if their business partners are being fucked, then they should stop being partners with Microsoft. And as for competitors, which one, exactly makes a better operating system for x86 machines that normal human beings would want to use? And which one makes (ever made) a better office suite? Who makes a better media player? Answer: Nobody (Well, quicktime runs fairly well on my mac). That *does not* mean MS stuff is grandly spectacular, it just means their competitors are more litigious than they are innovative.

Oh, and someone will now say how the competitors remark meant that MS is anticompetitive, using their monopoly to blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda. "OH NO! MS is selling windows for cheap to vendors who bundle it with their PCs! That makes them cheaper for customers to buy and so they only buy windows PCs!! *AND* they package a (crappy) web browser with the OS!" As Jim Ross might say, "Damn their black souls!"

Firefox is a good example of how if a competitive product is released that people actually have a good reason to use, it will be adopted, even by people without a CS degree. Linux is coming along nicely too, but is definitely not ready for mom's desktop.

One thing I do know is my powerbook has been giving me wet dreams, and MS stormtroopers aren't banging down my door.

Re:Nothing will change.

[BasilBrush]

And as for competitors, which one, exactly makes a better operating system for x86 machines that normal human beings would want to use?

BeOS. Except it doesn't exist any more because Microsoft abused it's monopoly to stop PC manufacturers from offering dual boot PCs. That's a cse in point.

Who makes a better media player?

Apple. The combination of iTunes and Quicktime.

That *does not* mean MS stuff is grandly spectacular, it just means their competitors are more litigious than they are innovative.

Not true. It ignores all the monopoly abuse that Microsoft indulged in to get where it is.

Firefox is a good example of how if a competitive product is released that people actually have a good reason to use, it will be adopted, even by people without a CS degree.

No. It's evidence that a no cost application is something that Microsoft can't cross subsidize to undercut. Opera has been better than IE for years, but costs money, or needs adware.

Be happy with your PowerBook, as I am with my Mac. But realise that the superiority of the Mac platform hasn't stopped it from dwindling to 2% of the market. You aren't going to claim that is lack of innovation too, surely?

Re:Nothing will change.

[tulax24]

Again you missed the point. Microsoft can offer IE for "free" because they make such a whopping profit on their OS. You can even think of it as you are buying windows XP and IE together, so you are paying some amount for it. You just aren't aware of the explicit cost of it. Also, not having to advertise it because they bundle it with the OS saves them money as well. Opera has neither of these advantages, and so is relegated to a tiny market share even though it is vastly better.

Re:Nothing will change.

[BasilBrush]

You don't understand the concept that abuse of monopolies is a problem. If you don't understand that, none of the details will make sense to you either. Go back to the Sherman act. Go back to monopolies of the past, and find out why they are a problem. Find out why the Sherman act was invented.

When you say customers have choice, you lose all credibility.

Re:Nothing will change.

[Qzukk]

The stuff that is bundled with windows is good enough for most people out of the box.

The stuff that is bundled with windows is bundled with windows because Microsoft said so, and that was the problem. No amount of desire, fame, or money would have allowed Dell to install Opera (or Netscape, in the specific case of the original lawsuits) on a Windows pc it was selling, thanks to Microsoft's abuse of its monopoly position.

You say "Opera should make their own OS", but thats not the same. If a Chevy dealer wants to offer a TV with the purchase of a new car, should the dealer have to make their own cars? Their own TVs?

Re:Nothing will change.

[mrbcs]

The main problem with Microsoft is that they have also locked in the file formats. It's absurd that a closed, proprietary format should become the defacto standard. They use this to force upgrades that people don't need and keep the competition out of the marketplace. Yes Adobe has pdf, but many programs can also make pdf files. The .doc and .xls should have been made open in the DOJ trials. They did nothing, and nothing will change until the viruses and spyware hit critical mass... then maybe people will try alternatives.

Re:Nothing will change.

[Brian Kendig]

And when Microsoft steals your idea anyway, how many years can you stay in business without any revenues until Microsoft runs out of courtroom appeals?

Re:Nothing will change.

[krunk7]

1. It's fairly cheap
2. It's well supported
3. There's lots of software for windows
4. There's a lot of hardware compatibility
5. It's good enough for most people, despite obvious flaws

I think you forgot a few:
6. It's bundled with damn near every OEM pc made.
7. OEM's are required to purchase a windows license for every cpu sold as a result of Microsoft extortion tactics.

Combine that with the fact that 1, 2, 3, and 4 are a direct consequence of my 6 and 7 and you may begin to understand the meaning of monoply. . . probably not though.

Re:Nothing will change.

[vsprintf]

Are there any grandmothers out there who said, "Oh, I'd rather use Firefox than IE"?

There are some grandmothers out there who wrote programs before MicroSoft was incorporated. Yes, my mother, the grandmother of my child, knows that IE is a bad thing. Stop being so sexist and ageist. Who do you think invented the systems you're using today?

Re:Finally

[korba]

Not for the first time, and not for the last time. It's all about exchanging. They're rich enough to be sued over and over.

Ergh

[celeritas_2]

I hate the evil empire I really do, but I've got work to do here. Really, people are getting much too excited about this, Microsoft will eventually die, but not yet anyway. It just depends on how much Longhorn sucks.

Will it matter?

[nurb432]

Even if its proven they lied/committed perjury.. I don't think its going to really matter much.

The government already has proven they aren't interested in doing the job that was needed, and gave Microsoft a 'pass'.

Sure they might pull out some token fine to make the people feel better, but it wont amount to anything more then a blip on the books...

Unlike ATT, when they were attacked, Microsoft has managed to take control of the situation and will in the end, win, regardless of the outcome.

Odd isn't it...

[Cylix]

If this were Joe nobody, they would come and take the relevant hardware from him. If this were Small Business Nobody... they would still take their equipment away from them.

However, because they are mega-huge corp... they ask for the information.

It's silly to think they are going to make it easy to screw themselves.

yeah so did the nazi deathcamp guards

[SmallFurryCreature]

Or the guards or those who feed the guards or who provide a home for them or those who deliver the prisoners to the deathcamps.

Evil great and small can happen because people turn their back because it is to inconvenient to deal with it right now.

But microsoft is an easy evil. You are not going to be shot for going after ms or any other cooperation that has gotten out of control. Yet.

But leave it like this and the common american Sci-Fi theme of evil cooperations controlling the world, odd that in capatalist america hollywood movies often have cooperations as the evil enemy, will become true.

Your strategie seems to be that Longhorn will suck. I got news for you. Every fucking windows release ever has sucked. Note that all the MS apologists are saying stuff like "Well this new release is less crap then the old one" but mostly are pointing out how good the next one will be and that all your current troubles are your fault anyway.

So go right ahead and keep supporting MS with your computer tax and blind obedience. Others are fighting by not giving MS a penny and supporting those who help break out, (Have you bought your copy of Doom3 and Opera yet?)

For those objecting to the nazis being brought in to this discussion lets not forget that they and their kind (what is the difference between "gein juden" and "whites only") were in power and doing their petty hatred and corrupting long before the famous "final solution" was put into effect. All those years people cried out in protest and people like the above poster silenced them by saying they shouldn't make a fuss and let people get on with their jobs and that it all would work out okay.

I am not saying that MS will be rounding up people or anything similar. I do foresee a future were cooperations like MS but also like media have such a huge amount of control that being critical about them becomes impossible. Already controversial movies are being boycotted and tv series cancelled because the powers that be don't like them.

MS will not be the evil but may easily be an instrument. Just as radio tv and the newspapers have become controlled by a tiny handfull of rightwingers (the same families that gave contributions to the nazis) we might loose the net as the last bastion of free expression that can be heard.

Why else should MS be pushing to make DRM into every piece of media made? Exactly why should my home movies have DRM? To protect my interests or to make sure a protest movie can be easily traced?

Tin foil hat time or not but MS was caught recording what DVD's people watched. MS said it was a mistake when people found out and asked questions. It was a mistake alright. People never should have found out or am I just paranoid?

But that is the weird thing about paranoia isn't it. Your only paranoid if your wrong. Like those people who warned of the nazis and the many other horrors before until it is to late people like you have the majority. Afterwards you cry out, why did nobody do nothing.