Microsoft Settles Iowa Antitrust Case

ForestRangerBob writes "Comes v. Microsoft is over after Microsoft agreed to a settlement. The class action lawsuit alleged that Iowa consumers had been overcharged for Microsoft products for a decade owing to Microsoft's monopoly of the market. Predictably, the lawyers are about to get a big payday and 'the software giant will certainly be on the hook for millions of dollars, some of which may end up helping Iowa school kids. Average consumers will probably end up with a few bucks or a coupon for a free operating system upgrade, but the real winners will no doubt be the lawyers — the team prosecuting the case has already earned $60 million in legal fees from a 2004 case in Minnesota that charged Microsoft with similar offenses.'"

Comments

Re:Stop and think for one second...

[westlake]

This would be a valid point were it not for the fact that Microsoft uses its vast market power to exclude alternatives from being visible at the point of sale.

Windows is visible at POS because Windows sells.

Walmart tried to make a go of every OEM Linux distribution known to man. Not one caught fire. Not one significantly undercut OEM Windows on price, even with Walmart's enormous purchasing power behind it.

OEM Linux at Walmart.com has shrunk to a lone Xandros box.

Walmart.com had thirty Vista systems ready for sale on January 31st, starting with a no-name Vista Basic laptop at $500.

You can't just go pick a PC and then choose between Windows and Linux, which is how it would work were there a level playing field.

The Windows PC went mass market no later than Windows 95. Linux arrived late to the party. There has never been a level playing field for Linux in the home. There will never be a level playing field for Linux in the home.