Slashdot Mirror
Time For Anti-Trust 2.0?
An anonymous reader writes, "PC manufacturer Acer is complaining that Microsoft has jacked up the price of Vista, and that the basic versions are so basic no one will ship them. Since the collapse of the Microsoft anti-trust case under the Bush administration in 2001, manufacturers have no choice but to accede, adding hundreds of dollars to the cost of each PC. With Gates now proclaiming victory over European regulators, Microsoft once again seems unstoppable. But Microsoft had drawn itself
close to the Republican Party.
With the Republicans now evicted from the House and Senate, is it time to
look at the Microsoft anti-trust suit?
Could Microsoft be compelled to lower its inflating Vista prices,
or to open their tech or even supply funding
to Linux-flavored Windows such as Wine? What do Slashdot readers think about the likelihood of another go at breaking up the Windows monopoly?"
Very true. One is not required to use Windows. But looking at the devices like my smartphone (runs windows mobile), my mp3 players (which both interact easiest with windows), my printer (which I conveniently didn't have to search for drivers, they came included on a CD), and other devices that I use on a daily basis I can see that life is somewhat easier by choosing products that interact on the same platform "nicely."
That having been said, all my programs are here in Windows. It came installed on my thinkpad, and it runs. I don't have to compile things, I didn't have to find drivers for the wi-fi card.
Isn't it enough that something works right out of the box? Sure, I could buy an Apple/Mac and it would work, but I'd have to live without right-click.
I don't have much against Linux. Maybe I'm not sufficiently informed, maybe my entire life could be made simpler by a switch to Linux. But for now, Windows works.
I like your Macs, but I don't like your Mac users. (with apologies to Gandhi)
I agree. There is nothing wrong with MS charging more for their product. They are not a complete monopoly seeing how Linux and OSX are both alternatives. Acer is just bitching... because they want to have higher profit margins and MS is cutting into it. Acer is also doing pretty badly and maybe this is just setting up a reason for them to say to the shareholders ... "See. It's not our crappy products, its MS's fault we are losing market share'. Seriously, with all the delays and code re-writes MS certainly can claim the development costs for Vista were much higher than they were for WinXP. No judge would disagree.
It's really too bad our society is moving away from the free-enterprise capitalism market that made the US so great so quickly and moving towards a feel-good socialistic system.