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Of course not all of those are necessarily "windows applications" but most of them certainly are. Of course, we're dodging the essencial question. Does the body of applications that have been developed for MS-Windoze present a barrier to entry for other operating systems? The answer is tricky, obviously many of us here on /. use non-MS operating systems. Clearly there is no significant barrier to entry for the technically proficient portion of the computer market. However, to the other 99% of computer users MS applications present a totally insurmountable barrier to entry. It is not possible for any alternative operating systems vendor to develop applications that would draw a significant portion of end-users away from MS products. This impossibility was created by MS and is vigerously maintained by MS through predatory buisness practices. The problem is inherent to the buisness model of MS. It cannot be 'fixed' with less than the most dramatic of methods because the factors which created the MS model forged modern software/OS development. The only way to remove MS's abuse of it's monopolistic position is to fundamentally alter the way software is developed and sold. Shattering MS into pieces might do the trick. It could also turn Sun or Oracle into the same kind of monster in another 20 years.
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oops..
Of course not all of those are necessarily "windows applications" but most of them certainly are. Of course, we're dodging the essencial question. Does the body of applications that have been developed for MS-Windoze present a barrier to entry for other operating systems? The answer is tricky, obviously many of us here on /. use non-MS operating systems. Clearly there is no significant barrier to entry for the technically proficient portion of the computer market.
However, to the other 99% of computer users MS applications present a totally insurmountable barrier to entry. It is not possible for any alternative operating systems vendor to develop applications that would draw a significant portion of end-users away from MS products. This impossibility was created by MS and is vigerously maintained by MS through predatory buisness practices.
The problem is inherent to the buisness model of MS. It cannot be 'fixed' with less than the most dramatic of methods because the factors which created the MS model forged modern software/OS development. The only way to remove MS's abuse of it's monopolistic position is to fundamentally alter the way software is developed and sold. Shattering MS into pieces might do the trick. It could also turn Sun or Oracle into the same kind of monster in another 20 years.