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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?"
While I imagine that the increased cost of Vista will not make a huge impact on OEM computer sales, it's still an impact. And right now, any loss in the Windows marketshare is a bad thing.
I'm not trolling, I'm dead serious- and I'm no windows fanboy either. Sadly, Linux still isn't quite ready for Joe Desktop. It's come a long way, and is certainly getting there, but it's just not ready yet. I'm a Linux user myself, and it is definitely poised to hit the (non-enthusiast) desktop scene in a big way, but not just yet. Be patient.
So, if Microsoft drives anyone away from Windows, where do you think the displaced users would go? Apple. And frankly, the thought scares the shit out of me. If they get a hold on the market, Apple will enslave the industry more than Microsoft ever has or ever will. M$ at least knows their place, and generally sticks to software.
So please... just hope that M$ does not shoot themselves in the foot, for a few more months at least! If a Microsoft backlash were to happen now, it would only benefit Apple!
One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces.
Since when did the United States qualify for the title "Modern Society"?
If the US was a modern society then MS wouldnt be getting away with it would they?
The only reason the EU is constantly suing Microsoft (and, for that matter, VISA and MasterCard) is because of their jealousy that they don't have any home-grown computer industry whatsoever. Why do you think Microsoft even has a monopoly in France? Where is France's OS? (Ditto with the major credit card companies.)
Sorry, Europeans, if you completely sleep through the 70s and 80s and don't bother to get involved in even the most basic economic development, you shouldn't be suing the companies that did. You know, Microsoft wouldn't even HAVE a monopoly right now if you'd have come up with EuroOS back in 1993 or so when the network effect was small. It's not Microsoft's fault that you were busy sitting on your ass.
If I were Microsoft, I'd just say "fine, you fine us and we stop selling Microsoft products in the EU." They'd be begging for new copies of Windows in a matter of days. (Of course the PR hit would be too huge, but wouldn't it be great if they had the balls?)
Comment of the year
So lets see, the cost the of the OS went up? Wow?!?! I'm soooo shocked. You mean I can't buy a Camary for $14,000 anymore? What it's now $22,000? Whine, Whine Whine. But I should sue Toyota for making me pay more for what I want.... .NET developer so I'm loving Mono right now.)
.NET... oh, sue them for not supporting .NET installs. And sue them for making an OS that doesn't work with my PC programs without an emulator!
Come on guys, get off it. An increase in cost is associated with any new technology, this isn't a suprise, the manufacturer doesn't like they can install SuSe or one of the other OS's. But guess what, if you do, you'll sell less machines and then you'll be screaming that it's Microsoft's fault that you're not willing to increase the cost of your PC's by $50 to $100. I think if your approach to business isn't abosorb cost or pass cost along to consumer, which EVERYONE is going to do, then you should go back to remedial economics because you just failed the class.
Costs go up. You don't expect to buy the new Geforce8800 for the same price as the 6800 do you? It's new technology, it's a new OS, and yes, it costs more. Don't want it? Use XP or try Mono. (I'm an
As for no one shipping with Basic, they will. The $399 PC will come with it, and as soon as you start it up, Dell will ask you if you want to upgrade to Premium. If so, enter your CC number here, and place your DVD in the drive and in 20 mins you'll have Premium. Did people forget that the idea of a teired OS is to allow you to only install what you want? Let's sue MS for giving you a choice instead of cramming Ultimate down everyone's throat. Which if they are a true Trust, they would have done. They gave options, and yes the options cost more, that's inflation, that's change, that's 1st year economics. Want to file an Anti-trust suit? Good, here's where you start. File a suit against Macintosh for bundling software with their OS and use their own commercials against them, (They do more out of the box, because they come with all the stuff you normally have to buy!) That's unfair competition! I can't sell my software to Mac owners because Apple installs it and they don't give them an option to use my programs! Wait.. I program in
You guys get it? The idea of sueing someone for a trust based on monopolistic software goes both ways. The suit against MS was allowed to fall apart for a reason, if you succeeded completely and tried to break up MS, you'd A) Cripple the nation... 84% of US households use MS and would now have to purchase copies of every type of program you can imagine. and B) You'd set precident for other companies to file suit against Apple and Novell, etc anytime they include something that only imporoves the end users experience, but in doing so limits the likelyhood of purchasing another product. (See Symantec trying to sue Apple because the OS is virus resistant...wait arn't they trying to sue MS because of that?)
Within a few years you'd have to buy EVERYTHING on your PC ala carte. You'd plug your computer in, and then have to go to a store and buy a web browser, because your computer wouldn't have one. You'd have to go buy a media player, because your computer wouldn't have one, then you'd have to buy an email program, and FTP program....etc..etc.. and you're basic PC would now cost you $500 more because of the software you had to go out and buy...which brings us back to Acer.. Okay, I'm done ranting now...
No, if that dipshit weren't there we would probably have nationalized health care. The lack of that IS seriously hurting our ability to compete internationally and in the future may make it impossible. Why is it that you republicans never want us to compete on level playing fields with other nationals or to enjoy even their low standards of living when we should be living longer and better than any of them?
How about when you stop hating America you can talk again. Until then, let the adults who love their country do the talking.
The Farewell Tour II
Since the Democrats didn't run on any substantive issues other than "We're not Bush," I am completely unphased by the Democrats victory. I'm even more entertained by the liberals I hear and read thinking this is the end of the conservative movement and a huge event when, in historical terms, this sixth-year mid-term resulted in an almost precisely average number of losses for the president's party. Rather than a watershed event, this is a perfectly average sixth-year mid-term.
The great thing is that with the president being GOP and the Democrats holding only +1 in the Senate, the Democrats won't be able to actually do anything except make noise and launch investigations. So their liberal agenda is D.O.A. but they have the power to make Congress spend all its time on a bunch of wild goose chases.
2008 is going to be fun. Without the pent-up Bush hatred (which was released last week), and without the ability to pass any substantive legislation, and without being able to complain about supposedly-rigged elections, the Democrats aren't going to have any easy way to convince voters to vote for them in 2008.