Microsoft goes down against EU!

[Rubber Duck]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6998272.stm

[jacksonm]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6998272.stm


Microsoft is a bit like Saddam, but killing them without an accepted replacement (by big business) will only throw the world into chaos. That's the sad reality.

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[touchring]

Microsoft is a bit like Saddam, but killing them without an accepted replacement (by big business) will only throw the world into chaos. That's the sad reality.

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That maybe so 10 years ago, but not now. Lots of critical business apps have been ported to web based.

[jacksonm]

That maybe so 10 years ago, but not now. Lots of critical business apps have been ported to web based.

The most critical ones have not been ported. Big business is tied so tightly into MS Office and Outlook that it ain't funny. Outlook Web Access doesn't even come close, either, so don't try.

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[Rubber Duck]

Microsoft is a bit like Saddam, but killing them without an accepted replacement (by big business) will only throw the world into chaos. That's the sad reality.

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No, but they have more or less been aided and abetted by the US Administration.

This is big and there is more to come. UK is not happy about paying twice the US rate for everything. The EU is already looking at establishing more grounds for attacking Microsoft.

There is also much talk about using open source software in Governments across the EU. If that happens a critical mass for alternative software will quickly develop. MS has seriously pissed off a lot of people. It will prove very expensive!

Microsoft think they can walk over the EU, but they cannot. In terms of the number of consumers that can afford to buy computers it is still easily the biggest market in the World. The Chinse, India and others will also look to the way the EU deals will monopolistic US Companies before deciding their own policies.

[jacksonm]

No, but they have more or less been aided and abetted by the US Administration.

Heh, they were created by the US Administration, right at the point when the Administration made a rule that every government desk worker must have a computer. This was about 1 million employees who instantly needed hardware and an operating system.

This policy alone was responsible for the economy of scale which allowed personal computers to become commodities, as well as converting the internet from an obscure research project into what it is today.

The mistake was not keeping patent legislation current with advances in civilization, and that has severely throttled us. The only way to break Microsoft's death-grip on the computing world at this point is with serious and sensible international patent reform.

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[Rubber Duck]

Not necessarily. The EU could quite easily give instant critical mass to an alternative, as indeed could the Chinese and Indians.

If MS carry on floating EU rulings, that is probably exactly what will happen.

It could be that within a decade Americans are waiting expectantly for the English Version of the latest operating system!