At 02:06 PM 7/20/01 -0700, Don Rowe wrote:
>It just seems to me the fact
>that fundamental control of 95% of the world's
>computers resting in the hands of a single company,
>and dependent on that company's flagship product, is
>inherently dangerous
Hi Don,
I'm not sure where you got that figure...95 seems a bit high to me. In any
event, if one is concerned about a scenario where a company, namely
Microsoft, could "pull the plug," and begin some chaos, one should consider
that most of the world's computerized infrastructures (government, private
corporations, utility companies, etc.) use a mainframe that is operating
with something *other* than a Microsoft product.
The dominance of Microsoft applications in the marketplace has caused other
OS (Operating System) companies to open up their own programs so that they
work in tandem with Microsoft products, but if MS didn't develop damn fine
products in the first place they wouldn't be where they are today.
As a daily user and administrator of various Windows OS's and applications
like Word, Excel, and Access, I am *continually* amazed at how productive
these programs are. Let's give credit where credit is due. Microsoft has
changed the world for the better. We now have a more universal
standard...that works. It wasn't many years ago when the transfer of
information between simple word processing files was horribly muddled. Now
you can import any number of different formats into your own
application...seamlessly...incredibly.
If you feel strongly about it, it is possible to eschew Microsoft products
in your own home or office. There *are* working alternatives
available...but IMO they're not nearly as good as MS.
Scott
