Todd Walton wrote:
Not to beat the drum or anything, but "Microsoft is a monopoly". Haven't you heard?
Yes, they are. When the only thing which can compete against someone is something which must be *given away* and even then will only dislodge it *slowly*, that pretty much defines an entrenched monopoly.
And, by the way, OpenOffice has only been a viable alternative in the last year. Until then, it didn't cut it. Especially on the PowerPoint clone.
However, you assume that Microsoft's sin is that it is a monopoly. Monopolies don't automatically provoke the reaction that Microsoft does.
It is the fact that Microsoft uses its monopoly to then engage in anti-competitive behavior that is the big crime. See their behavior in Massachusetts vs. open standards.
Only a monopolist could get away with what they pulled. Any other vendor that tried to pull that would get dropped from state contract bidding altogether.
-a -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
