Microsoft's days numbered?

[Officer Dibble]

So, what do you think the verdict will be?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6994631.stm

[cmat]

All these regulations put on Microsoft are stupid. Not that they are necessarily my most favorite company but because it goes against a free economy.

[karellen]

it won't make much difference

[lisati]

There will always be someone with enough know-how and patience to find work-arounds.

[Lord Illidan]

All these regulations put on Microsoft are stupid. Not that they are necessarily my most favorite company but because it goes against a free economy.

The problem is that it is not a free economy. Not when a company owns >90% of the market. That is a monopoly, and it's not even illegal in itself. The illegality lies in the fact that the practices they are using to maintain a monopoly are illegal, and closing out competition.

And in this case, for example :

The technology that Microsoft doesn't want to share with its competitors is secret computer code with the less than catchy name of "server interoperability protocols". These are vital in any modern office, where computers need to talk to each other and share files or printers.


This is important. Basically, it is referring to file and printer sharing...we might know it as the smb protocols. Basically, if Microsoft refuses to open up, then it becomes either impossible or very hard to share files with other computers using different operating systems.


Also, what about standards? Microsoft often doesn't adhere to any standards already laid down. It invents its own to lockdown people. Why create wma when mp3 existed? Why persist in making Internet Explorer non w3c compliant?

[stinger30au]

MS has been doing this for years, why...cos they are so big with ssssooooo much money to throw around. i cant wait to see them get pounded in court like a tennis ball, its been a long time coming.the sooner, the better

[Officer Dibble]

Well, here's the European Commission's verdict...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6998272.stm

[darksong]

No its not numbered - linux is not ready to take the riengs yet - apple is but the idiots in charge keep it to their own hardware (the could of killed of MS year and years ago but they kept os/x or whatever it was called back then on macs)

Linux needs standard formating, an easy format such as .exe (to be usable across the board of linux distros and with ease - you can't expect programmers to write it for 100's of different cores) everything needs to be build-into linux, not in modules of sort like it is now - i feel linux is all over the place and if one thing fails everything does.

[nvteighen]

They are numbered but just because they won't be able to mantain the Vietnam war Linux is giving them. MS can beat one distro, but not all. These veredicts, the clear increase Linux is having and FOSS in general, their failure at ISO Committee and Apple's comeback are forcing MS to compete, something they have forgotten how to do.

I'm convinced MS is condemned to not be able to improve their software because it's obsolete. They're keeping it alive with marketing and not-too-honest-maneouvres, but that can't last for too long. They are lost and they know it; that's why they attack Linux, Google and everyone.