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Microsoft Busting Its Own Browser+OS Myth
An anonymous reader writes "Longtime Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley used her Redmond magazine column this month to point out that after years of arguing that the browser is 'inextricably linked' to the operating system, the company's current push to get users to drop IE 6 for newer versions, plus IE's separate release schedule, are disproving its own argument. From the article: 'Microsoft has insisted that its browser is part of Windows, and, ironically, that's coming back to haunt the company. Customers can mix and match different versions of IE with different versions of Windows. ... But Microsoft has done very little to get this message out there. I'd argue this is because it makes plain the absurdity of the company's claims that IE is part of Windows.'"
It doesn't matter anymore. The argument was only important long enough to bamboozle the court system. After that, Microsoft could scream the truth from the highest mountain top with impunity. It's not like the court system is going to admit to its own incompetence, and punish Microsoft for lying.
Which breaks lots and lots of software that expect windows to come with the browser to display stuff and add text processing and other useful benefits.
What a novel idea. Too bad there isn't a well established system for taking your ideas and protecting them from being stolen by others for use in their own products.
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
Not according to the FSF.
http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html#osvskernel
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Actually in the classic sense, an "operating system" is a system that has what you need to do your daily work. Not just the base layer, but the applications too. When you freshly install Windows it is hardly suitable for everyday work, and is therefore not, in the classic or traditional sense, an operating system because it doesn't really operate yet. It just sits there.
I realize the terminology has changed over time, but there should be some term to denote a system that is suitable for work or play, including all the applications and libraries that are not included by default.
In this sense, any default Linux install is much more of an OS than Windows is, as you are able to use it to do work right off the bat. After all, most of them include the gimp, OO.o, emacs, browsers, calendar, email apps, and so on.
Linux is a kernel. All sorts of OSes have been created that use the Linux kernel. They are commonly referred to as 'distributions.' Many/most of them use the GNU tools as part of that distribution.
a lie? hardly, said like this : "Everything that was ever said about Trident being necessary for the operating system to work was a lie. Simple as that." I would rather call it an judgment error from the developers --or management--. The rendering engine (Trident) and the application (IE) are tow different entities. While assuming that indeed key system component depends on the rendering engine --thus they had to ship it--, I fail to see the mandatory presence of IE (the application).