[MW Forums]

Microsoft has filed an appeal against the latest antitrust fine imposed on it by the European Commission. more

[jmincey]

Kroes has said she is confident that Microsofts foot-dragging is over. They are making constructive efforts now, she said, adding: Its a shame they didnt do so two years ago.
A shame, yes, but certainly not a surprise.

[mdawson]

If Microsoft is genuinely trying to comply with the EU it is only because it has taken them two years to realize that there is no neo-con Administration in Europe that is going to take their side and let them off the hook. It is unfortunate that a certain contingent of politicians in the US is more interested in lining their pockets with laissez-faire funding from corporations than curbing a company that is incorporating practices that will trivialize and therefore threatens the United States current top position in the computer technology sector.
As one economist stated about Microsofts monopoly several years ago, if left unchecked Microsoft will completely kill consumer choice and leave the door wide open for some Asian/Pacific Rim firms to provide better, cheaper alternatives. It is that type of myopia that has allowed the Pacific Rim nations to dominate just about every other facet of electronics. Televisions, VCRs, etc., were invented in the US, but now the best of these products typically come from Asian companies.

[jmincey]

"...if left unchecked Microsoft will completely kill consumer choice and leave the door wide open for some Asian/Pacific Rim firms to provide better, cheaper alternatives."
I agree with you for the most part but this statement above (which you quote) wrongly applies a "widget" model to computer operating systems. There are no dependencies regarding VCR units so the Japanese could easily offer an alternative product on the marketplace and consumers could make their choice. But operating systems are wholly different. One cannot simply offer an alternative and expect consumers to migrate because of the all the constraining dependencies involved.
Microsoft knows this, of course, and it's precisely why it seeks to control those dependencies.

[mdawson]

With products like Wine, et al., that permit users to run Windows applications without Windows, such a lock-in by Microsoft is will loosen whether Microsoft chooses to recognize it or not. As such technologies mature, the widget model can more so apply. There is little of anything to prevent some Asian company from developing a new platform built upon UNIX or Linux that uses technologies similar to Wine to run legacy Windows apps until adequate replacements can be obtained.
Cross-platform compatibility is one area that has grown along with processing power. In the 1980s, the plethora of desktop computing platforms could not talk to one another. By the mid-1990s, some Macs included PCs on PCI/NuBus allowing users to run an x86 system inside their Macs. Hardware implementation was eventually supplanted by software emulation and not that Macs are on the x86 platform, virtualization is the preferred method of cross-platform operation; dual booting is also an option. It is not infeasible to think that in another decade API implementation will not provide what emulation/virtualization currently provides.
If that is the case, the widget model can definitely apply. The fact that the US has been putting less and less stock in its intellectual potential over the past few decades while developing nations, particularly those in Asia, have done much in order to build up their intelligentsia is another factor. While we are getting dumber by placing greed for the few ahead of education for the masses, the rest of the world is bolstering its best and brightest.

[Grapho]

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While we are getting dumber by placing greed for the few ahead of education for the masses, the rest of the world is bolstering its best and brightest.

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Very good point. No child left behind, right?

[lantzn]

WINE is a godsend! I've had to use the first versions of SoftWindows and then every version of VirtualPC for years just to run a very important library that only ran on Windows. For the first time I was able to load the beta version of CrossOver and the library ran flawlessly without even having to load the Windows OS. It also runs circles around VPC in the speed arena. I have numerous associates that also run this library and we no longer need to buy Windows. We are all very happy now. Thanks Codeweaver!

[Machound]

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Microsoft has warned that Vistas launch could be delayed in Europe due to problems with European regulators.

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Oh, what a shame that would be! EU companies won't have their arms twisted to adopt Vista at great personal expense and with no visible bottom line benefits. That sounds exactly like what the EU needs to give it a boost in the world economy.

[djgamble]

I'm not nearly so worried about Windows as I am about the Xbox and the Zune. Both seem blatant attempts to dominate the market by using the financial advantages that they have. Losing 4 billion to get into the console market was ridiculous. And then directly saying that their aim of the Zune is to break the iPod's dominance in the market is insane... how can they get away with saying that their biggest motive is to make sure people don't buy what is currently out there? And also how is it a competitive practice to lose 4 billion dollars cracking into a market?
They might as well just give Zunes away for free so that no one bothers getting an iPod and then crank up the price once everyone is locked into their proprietary system. Who cares if they lose say 10 billion? It's a future investment...