Microsoft behind $12 million payment to Opera

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Would have agreed a few years back....

Six to ten years ago I used to praise MS and BillG for bringing personal computing to the many. I saw his efforts and success as a democratizing influence in a world that had been dominated by IBM mainframes and centralized (i.e. totalitarian) IT organizations.

Today, however, Microsoft shows little interest in "where do you want to go today?" or in "users' feelings". MS' "customer focus" is a ridiculous sham. MS is obviously as interested in preserving its market domination as IBM was.

In case you've failed to notice, the principal democratizing influence (not to say competition) in personal computing is now provided by Linux and the Open Source movement, and is (news flash!) opposed by MS. Further, MS opposition is expressed largely by financial payoffs, secret deals, predatory bundling, FUD and other sub-rosa maneuverings instead of through offering compelling products at attractive prices.

As to "users' feelings" and "tech-oriented people associated with Unix", you're perpetuating a static view of history that is no longer valid. Even you must have noticed the improvements--in terms of response to users' feelings, ease of use, etc--in Linux distros over the past 2-3 years. Even you must have noticed that IE development and features (e.g. the absence of a popup blocker) lag behind Mozilla and Opera.

Your posts show little evidence that you've tried a contemporary Linux distro, say RH 9 or Suse 9.1. If you have, why not offer a thoughtful evaluation of your experiences? Such a post would be far more rewarding to read than your perpetually lame defense of and excuse-making for MS.

Posted by: FederalistPaperBoy   Posted on: 05/24/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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