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wyliecoyoteuk

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6998272.stm
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Dark · Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2007 3:49 am Posts: 84

I being from the US might have a different background from you all in the EU/UK but really what difference does it make if MS stops putting WMP in? Seems more like just not including a media player doesn't stop its monopoly.... No one gets a Windows machine for the media, its just an added bonus so really what is it but another hassle to download a media player for Windows? It doesn't stop anything, the Media business isn't what MS is having a monopoly on, if anyone has that its Apple and Patent Trolls, not MS. Sorry because Im not from the EU, but it seems pointless to simply stop the inclusion of WMP, it doesn't help competition just makes it yet another task to install Windows.

Dutch_Master · LXF regular Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:49 am Posts: 2353

Hey, it's a start! Any war won started with a first victory. And so does any fallen empire, losing the battle, one at a time. (SCO anyone? Wink

)

Besides, the important thing was what wasn't so clear in the media ('cause they don't care/know/understand*): M$ is forced to open up the inner workings of it's OS for 3rd parties. I.e. the nitty-gritty of NTSF should be opened up, for other companies to write defrag-tools and such. Yes, that means that Red Hat can offer NTFS defrag tools for Linux as well! But so do Novell, Mandriva and Debian, to name a few...

*choose any applicable Mr. Green

pootman · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:44 am Post subject:

nelz · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 10:15 am Post subject:

If having a superior product was all that was needed, there wouldn't be an MS monopoly in the first place.
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wyliecoyoteuk · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 11:56 am Post subject:

The media player is only one part of the puzzle.
MS has regularly eliminated competition by deliberately breaking their APIs to give their own software an advantage, stifled innovation and competition.
Often companies that become "Microsoft partners" suddenly find themselves in competition with a new MS product based on their process model.
Others suddenly find their apps or clients start having problems they end up consumed, diminished or bankrupt.

some examples:
Netscape, Novell, Lotus, Pegasus, etc.

It is as if Ford gained a monopoly on roads and only Ford cars ran correctly on them.

Microsoft now have network client, browser, email, antispyware, antivirus, media player, search engine, etc integrated into the OS to eliminate competitors who might take even a small share of the software world. Their aim is to own it, lock stock and barrel.

Thing is if they succeed, and they do eliminate or consume all the competition, who will suffer? All of us. Evil or Very Mad

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mrguitarmann · Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:09 pm Posts: 32

I think the EU should take Microsoft back on now IE7 has (partially) been seperated from the OS, it has it's own interface now Smile

nordle · LXF regular Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2005 10:56 pm Posts: 1497

GMorgan · Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:46 pm Post subject:

The noise from the EU is this is the start of a concerted anti-monopoly campaign. It isn't designed to destroy MS, it's part of a continual series of measures they hope will eventually just make MS toe the line. The difference here is the EU won't get a Republican government and the EC be told to back off like the DoJ was.

candy · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:33 pm Post subject:

I installed winamp the other week and love it. Making it easier for people to add the programs they prefer and to avoid conflicts with windows API's is a good idea.
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pootman · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 3:15 pm Post subject:

Winamp is great, but the interface is overkill for video, so I still use WMP for that.

Anyway, since this thread is rising from the grave again, who's heard about the plans for Microsoft working on a standards-compliant IE? Trying to dodge future nooses by the sound of it.
Anyway, lets all revel in the thought of all those web pages not rendering properly on any browser.
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Diagmato · Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 2:51 pm Post subject:

EU fines Microsoft $1.4 Billion

It seems Microsoft didnt learn from being grounded, and now has to do the chores for a month. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

The comments to that article goes to show how rather ignorant the population can be - comments such as "This isnt fair on Microsoft, they have done the world all this good, and they got there themselves - why should people be slated for achieving something".