MS Says Software “Doesn’t Exist”

So having made some points about Vista in the last day and also about IE7, there appears to be some common memes shared by the many commenters on both stories.

They amount to this:

1)

I like Firefox, Macs whatever so who cares?

Hmm, that’s interesting since if it were not for the massive legal battle between the US and EU govt and MS, neither Firefox nor Apple would exist today.

2)

Well, your wrong because MS will destroy the competition in their all powerfulness.

Yes, exactly. They did along time ago. For more on this call the CEOs of the Anti Virus companies which are suing MS right now over Vista.

3)

There’s nothing illegal about IE or any MS products!

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Oh boy!, yes, as long as there are no laws in this country about vertical distribution and market manipulation thats true. I’m so glad we got those antitrust laws off our chest!
So, it’s false. Here’s the story you never cared about.

And why MS insists that software in the form of IE…

A product which cost it millions to produce…doesn’t exist.

When Microsoft, flooded the market with “free” IE when Netscape was charging 10 bucks a pop for its product, it was the a classic anti-competitive move of a monopolist.

It is, IN FACT, ILLEGAL in the United States to dump 50 metric tons of steel or grade A beef on the marketplace FOR FREE.

Not illegal as in “We’ll sue you and we MIGHT win!”.

Illegal as in “the govt will take you to jail now.”

These laws were created during the industrial revolution. It was patently and obviously illegal after the anti-trust laws were passed explicitly to end this monopolistic practice.

But, many decades later, when a software company feels threatened, they can dump a “free” product that cost them millions to develop to effectively destroy the market for such a product and surely the competition…and then “own” the market that really “didnt matter to them so much”, hey thats cool!

Interestingly, that SAME company now wants to create a lockbox of software licensing multiple “products” which it insisted in the first place COULDN’T be separated.

There was a version of Internet Explorer for MAC, which didn’t require Windows, obviously. But somehow I downloaded IE7 (with the Vista Look and Feel) and installed it on Windows XP only to find that IE was a trojan stalking horse for WGA..Windows Genuine Advantage not IE Genuine Advantage.

So, does IE need Windows? or does Windows need IE? Considering I have used many OSs with neither IE or Windows installed and I have used Windows for years without ever using IE. Windows clearly doesnt need IE to function. And IE doesn’t need Windows to function.

What if I tried to install this on NT or Windows 2000 or Windows ME? Would it work? Well, if it did it would be nice of MS to make things backward compatible, but it would also make useless the argument that IE and any other tool is just a part of Windows we have to live with because it suits MS needs of putting companies out of business.

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MS reps lied under oath to many courts and judges and jurors to say that IE was not anti-competitive against Netscape because IE DOESN’T EXIST. Its just a feature of Windows that we CANT TAKE OUT.

Just like Media Player.

Windows had existed for years without a browser. And Browsers didn’t need Windows, clearly. Someone goofed and spent alot of money snowing the rest of us and the justice dept.

MS is punishing its admittedly dim fans of low-tech to defend itself from the mere accusation of being a monopolist. Vertical distribution has been illegal for a long time. Don’t you wonder why McAfee and Semantec are suing MS right now over Vista?

MS wants its user base to pay for what it perceives is “unfairness” by the govt with higher prices and stifling “security” tools which will put the blame on someone else once they turn these things off.

Clever, stupid and predictable.