Microsoft wants to emphasize the consumer role in this suit. Please understand that the Antitrust laws were NOT written to protect consumers. The law is about competitors. The first major Anti-trust suit broke up Standard Oil. The problem with SO was that they kept gas prices so low that competitors could not get into the market. Consumers were happy. Basically, the SO and MS cases are similar in this respect. MS has been giving away product in order to keep competitors from taking control of "the desktop" or even having a presence there. I don't think that consumers have a legitmate stake in the lawsuit, only the competitors. As long as Microsoft can deceive people (Judge, DOJ, citizens) into focusing on the consumers, I think that MS will win. The only chance that the states have to win their cases is to get the Judge to focus on the anti-competitive nature of MS's acts.
My rule (I've been doing this for 15+ years): Try to evaluate how much it will cost to keep the crappy code working over the next 12 months. If you can spend less than that in doing the rewrite, it is probably worth it. Also, talk to an employee or senior contractor and see what they think.
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Microsoft wants to emphasize the consumer role in this suit. Please understand that the Antitrust laws were NOT written to protect consumers. The law is about competitors. The first major Anti-trust suit broke up Standard Oil. The problem with SO was that they kept gas prices so low that competitors could not get into the market. Consumers were happy. Basically, the SO and MS cases are similar in this respect. MS has been giving away product in order to keep competitors from taking control of "the desktop" or even having a presence there. I don't think that consumers have a legitmate stake in the lawsuit, only the competitors. As long as Microsoft can deceive people (Judge, DOJ, citizens) into focusing on the consumers, I think that MS will win. The only chance that the states have to win their cases is to get the Judge to focus on the anti-competitive nature of MS's acts.
My rule (I've been doing this for 15+ years): Try to evaluate how much it will cost to keep the crappy code working over the next 12 months. If you can spend less than that in doing the rewrite, it is probably worth it. Also, talk to an employee or senior contractor and see what they think.