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EU Think Tank Urges Full Windows Unbundling
leffeman writes "An influential Brussels think tank is urging the European Commission to ban the bundling of operating systems with desktop and laptop computers. The Globalisation Institute's submission to the Commission says that bundling 'is not in the public interest' and that the dominance of Windows has 'slowed technical improvements and prevented new alternatives entering from the marketplace.' It says the Microsoft tax is a burden on EU businesses: the price of operating systems would be lower in a competitive market. This is the first time a major free-market think tank has published in favour of taking action against Microsoft's monopoly power."
Answer: I can't. What, you don't have independent computer stores in the US? Every time I see one of these stories about people not wanting Windows with their PCs, I get all confused. You see, here in Australia, if I want a new computer, I can call any one of my local (or interstate/online) retailers and ask for precisely what I want. That is, I don't ask for Windows, then I don't get it.
Which is good, because I've never asked for it.
.... but I do believe that making it illegal to bundle an OS with a computer .......
While we are at it, make it illegal to install engines in automobiles. After all why should I not have the freedom to have a Honda engine in my Ford? Isn't that freedom of choice? Software, especially the OS, is the engine that runs a computer. Without it, a computer is less useful than a car without an engine. A car without an engine will still keep you dry in a storm.
Apple is the ONLY manufacturer who builds a complete computer, like car maker build cars. Why is there is this obsession around here and in certain governmental quarters, to divorce the software from the hardware? The two go together. The better integrated they are, the better the user experience. I don't want some two-bit bureaucrat or paid for politician to take that wholeness of Apple's computer systems away, nor do I think they should force Apple to sell their OSX (engines) to others for installation in foreign hardware.
All theory is gray
Answer: I can't.
You can.
Yes, there's some places to get one but they cost the same, or more, as a computer with Windows.
How can this be when a retail copy of Windows costs {$hundreds}?
Because you don't understand basic economics.
It doesn't need to inconvenience anybody. It just needs to remove Microsoft's automatic inclusion in the sales loop.
It always has been, and remains, trivial to buy a computer without Windows.