Microsoft snags XML-related patent

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On a level playing field that might happen.

If all things were equal I could see that happening. But with the OEM's firmly tied to Windows, and business tied to their Windows apps. I just don't see what you suggest happening, at least not in the foreseeable future. At present, there are just to many great apps that run on Windows only with little or no competition from open source. (Photoshop, MS Office and AutoCAD come to mind.) Given that the OEM tie is not going to disappear quickly, nor are the breadth of Windows applications, it's going to take an awful good reason for even corporations to walk away from "what they know".

Couple that with Joe Average home user running the Windows client 95% of the time (Say for .net use.) corporations that do business with the public aren't going to alienate the vast bulk of their customers. That really leaves a very small percentage of corporations that can make the switch, or at least it appeals to a very small percentage of them.

Consider for a moment how many web sites are created with FrontPage. Now if web sites (via FrontPage or .net) offer services (content delivery?) that only clients running Windows or licensed, and patented Windows technology can reach, Joe Average, and in fact many businesses, are not going to be attracted to open source to save a few bucks.

My point in all of this is that by using patents as a weapon in the fight for market share, MS can effectively tell the courts that any "for-profit" company can have the license at little or no cost, and still manage to lock open source out. I just don't see any court anywhere telling them they have to give away their patented technology away for free or forcing them to put it in the public domain.

Posted by: No_Ax_to_Grind   Posted on: 02/13/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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