Michael Robertson, CEO of Lindows.com, handed out leaflets to students at UCSD prior to a speach hosted by Bill Gates. " I started to think about the young people who would be in attendance though, and that they were in diapers when Microsoft started. They've grown up in a Microsoft-only world, that's the only thing they know and few have any perspective about how Microsoft came to dominate the PC business. In the absence of information otherwise, they'll assume that it was through healthy, free enterprise -- which I don't believe is true." Says Michael.

This is interesting reading for both pro and anit MS guys out there.

here's (http://www.fragnastika.com/nuke/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=23&mode=thread&order=0&thold=2) the full flyer.

I'm not tyring to direct people to my site, but I formatted it to be easy to read, unlike the source I got it from. So bugger off. :evilgrin:

It's nothing I didn't know already. Unfortunately the huge financial power of Microsoft can sway even the democratic legal system of the US. Think what will happend if they actually get a hold of China !

On a sideline, I do admire Bill Gates for his determination. Under those geeky glasses there hides a vicious predator. That doesn't mean I plan to upgrade to Windows XP any time soon... ;)

I agree. You have to admire him for getting away with what he has, but at the same time who knows how many superior products he's pushed out of the market. And now with the Pallidiam thing, a lot of us will be looking for alternatives.

:vomit:

What a load of crap. Microsoft dominates the market because Bill Gates was the only one in the race that understood the importance of creating a network and externalities which benefit the first one there. In the 'superior product' is the first one that achieves a mass user base, not the one with the best functions. The two markets Microsoft dominates aren't friendly to a competitive model, since most users don't want to learn multiple systems, and most people who can use computer skills have to use it on multiple platforms.

Its a sore loser syndrome.

Graedius, don't all democrats use Macs?

Originally posted by Greadius
Its a sore loser syndrome.

You mean, "competition is good unless someone wins"? ;)

Not Southern Democrats. We barely know how to use computers :confused:

Usually nobody is supposed to win in competition, but that depends on the type of market. Since skills are involved on the part of the user, it can only be expected that a dominant market type would emerge. Its kind of like with the qwerty keyboard set up. So why doesn't someone compete by producing abcdef keyboards? Because people and business' don't want two ways of typing.

So we have an industry standard. The same way Windows has become the industry standard, not because its the best product, but because its the most commonly used.

No, Microsoft is evil, it's goal is to control every single computer market. For example it killed off netscape just because they wanted more control over the internet, it's now becoming an huge issue if we have a large portion of the economy riding soley on their back and the could leverage that control in a number of ways that stifle technological development

The reason MS is so powerful, is what Perfection mentions. They make as many programs as possible unable to run correctly in Windows. The MSN site appears in a broken version in Opera browsers. I recently heard MS is going to challenge Google. They claim they will do it by offering something better. That's wrong, they will challenge it by making it impossible to use with Windows. It's legal, of course.

But that is not why I believe Microsoft is evil. The reason for that is called Microsoft Word. I mean, it's just a writing program! Puts down letters and saves them! Why do have I got 4-5 different nonsense error messages in such a simple program? Why can't the program accept my "no" when asked whether I want to install grammar check, just keeping asking over and over? :mad:
Why do I risk my writing suddenly being turned into smaller fonts just when pressing Enter? Why does Insert turn itself on from time to time, so that I overwrite where I meant to put in? Why is my written work incompatible with WordPad? Why do I have to select .doc files manually in the program, why can't I just open them from desktop?

Coincidence? Don't think so. Somewhere in a bunker, deep under ground, B. Gates sits, maliciously laughing to himself.
:aargh:

Netscape is the same as an OS... there was going to be an industry standard, and Microsoft naturally wanted it to be explorer so they didn't have to pay Netscape royalties if they wanted to include browser software with their OS. Network competition is different than the type of market competition where they could co-exist and compete for users, since they're not substitutes (people won't jump from one to the other without a learning curve that the average user doesn't want to incur).

That's why I'm an Apple Fanatic!

Go and chech this site:
The Microsoft Eradication Society (www.windows-sucks.com)

I think it is a legitimate right of companies to try and rn their competitors out of business. It's not like Microsoft forces poor, 10 year old Asian kids to build its software with a whip in hand:whip:

Besides, it is admirble that a company has made such progress in such a short time. They have'nt cheated their investors and if people get sick of Windows there is always Linux and Mac. :p

Personally, I like microsoft programs. Much better than Claris Works and OSX :vomit:

Ahem, CW doesn't exist anymore, it's AppleWorks 6.2.7. And what do you have to say against OS X.2?

Moved to Computer Forum

Originally posted by allhailIndia
I think it is a legitimate right of companies to try and rn their competitors out of business. It's not like Microsoft forces poor, 10 year old Asian kids to build its software with a whip in hand:whip:
You're right. It's the hardware they put together.

Originally posted by Greadius


What a load of crap. Microsoft dominates the market because Bill Gates was the only one in the race that understood the importance of creating a network and externalities which benefit the first one there. In the 'superior product' is the first one that achieves a mass user base, not the one with the best functions. The two markets Microsoft dominates aren't friendly to a competitive model, since most users don't want to learn multiple systems, and most people who can use computer skills have to use it on multiple platforms.

Its a sore loser syndrome.

It is and isn't a load of crap. Microsoft got into the position it did becuase its would be competitors didn't take advantages of opportunities to thwart Microsoft early on. For instance, when IBM was looking for its PC OS, Gates actually sent them to Digital Research. As I understand it, DR didn't want to enter into a nondisclosure agreement with IBM, so the deal fell through, and IBM went back to Gates.

Another example (2 actually): If Sun had developed an office suite for UNIX in the mid-late 80s, IMO they could have competed effectively with IBM/MS.

And if Steve Jobs opens up the Mac for third parties, the Mac could have benifited from all the extra innovation that the PC did.

But they didn't, leaving the field open for Wintel dominance. (BTW Greadius, this was long before networking).

So Microsoft's rise is something I don't have a problem with since its competitors handed Gates their heads on a silver platter.

What I think is evil and illegal is the tactics MS has used to stay on top, especially the Rockefeller-esque arrangement with the PC manufacturers to only install Windows at no additional cost.