they arent currently much of a monopoly, linux is doing a good job of offering up competition... i think my original post included something along the lines of the junk being so entrenched now it's just going to take a long time for it to all go away.



throughout their existence though they have had monopoly status and exploited it quite a bit.



they do have exclusive control of the operating system api still and always have, and have used that control and the closed nature of it to put companies out in the past. If the company develops software for your platform, and you see them as a potential competitor, and as a result of that you restrict access to important documentation on api's used in a future release of your product which this software is developed to run with from the developer... after they refused to accept a buyout from you, you're being anticompetitive and exploiting monopoly power. It's been done before by MS, more than once.



If everyone knows whats good for them they will stop using MS products, I don't care if you steal it, buy it, borrow it, whatever, stop keeping it entrenched in our society, there are alternatives, many are free, as in both free beer and free speech. I primarily refer to & support the free speech type, closed software is similar to companies selling automobiles with hoods welded shut and the addition of the DMCA makes it illegal for you to even cut that hood open and taking things apart to find out how it works and how to improve it.



How many of you would like it if you could be arrested for dismantling your 13B? This is the equivalent of what is happening in computing TODAY, DMCA is bad law, MS is an example of a company that utilizes closed software to generate alot of revenue, and COULD utilize the DMCA to make alot of freedoms taken for granted disappear should they choose to. Stop supporting it, before we start wishing we were at the days where we were only breaking EPA laws by modifying the engines in our cars.



theres a quote @ http://unamerican.com I really like and think is quite accurate in general:







since generally I find most americans do actually care about their freedoms they just are unaware of how much they lose on a daily basis because most of them don't even utilize many of them so they don't notice when they are taken away. Since this is very related to the subject at hand wether you realise it or not... i'll plug this site.



http://www.eff.org/



they work to preserve our freedoms, especially on the internet, check em out. Now everyone will know me as the crazy hippie libertarian nutball on nopistons.

 

Way to go, you crazy hippie libertarian nutball!

 

By the way, I say again, Im running Windows 98SE and I have ZEROOOOOO problems, thank you.



On 2 different computers no less.

 

yah, i mean i see room for improvement, but both of my computers run fine, and i like to abuse them



mike

 

I can crash linux just as efficiently as I crash windoze. I don't have any preferences....it's like Ford and Chevy to me.



As for the Hitler/Gates comment....I'd say cornering the market with questionable business practices and bug-ridden products is a little more forgivable than genocide.

 

i started to like penguru and then he posted a link to some wacko left wing liberal website. i would evven go so far as to call it UnAmerican.

i am kidding i still like you just not your views on politics but that is a whole other discussion that i dont wanna get into.

 

Don't get me wrong. I'm definitely a believer in "less is more" when it comes to government. But I do enjoy inciting a firestorm of debate in a certain forum.



Yes, Gates' "genocide" has consisted of corporate entities, not people. Still, it's an apt comparison.



Travisty...Let's see... New Jersey. My old home state. Isn't that where the residents voted in some "wacko left-wing liberal" named Lautenburg? Time for you to move to Virginia, where we all tote guns around on our hips 'cause we can!

 

Not by much...



Of course I am in software development, and have to deal with the damn thing 12 hours a day. (Developing PowerPC code thank god!) My opinions are thus a little different from (and IMO more realistic than) most consumers...



Take an Operating Systems class in college, you'll see all the places where Windows misses the mark...



Ryan

 

I can't believe you ******* think MS is as bad as TRYING TO KILL ALL OF THE JEWS! Get a ******* grip on reality, please.