Hi Pete, At 19:12 28/11/01 -0800, you wrote: (PV) <<<< I think there's a good case for suing for their constant disregard for even trivially obvious safety issues, but with infinite amounts of money and armies of legal thugs, Gates owns the courts in the US, and even the government couldn't afford to sue successfully, as the pathetic results of the antitrust suit illustrate. >>>>
To be realistic, I think you've got to regard this as a lost cause. It always was. But comfort yourself that even the mighty Microsoft can stumble and fall. If its new OS doesn't sell as well as Gates is hoping (and I suspect it won't), and if its new games box doesn't immediately smother Sony or Nintendo or both (M's success really only depends on perhaps two or three games only) then it could be in serious trouble. If, then, Linux takes off for ordinary PC users with enough applications and gives us a decent crash-proof experience, then that will be the end. I think the next two or three years, particularly if there's a full-blown recession, are going to be fascinating for Microsoft-watchers. It might be yet another example, of which history is replete, that even the mightiest monopolies fail. Keith Hudson ___________________________________________________________________ Keith Hudson, Bath, England; e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________________
