I'd also like to point out that this invention is definitely not patentable by proper standards because of prior art in many other languages, like the C++ != operator. If Microsoft is granted a patent on something hilariously trivial as that, it's official: software developers and computer sciences in the US are really in big trouble!
BTW, it is quite imaginable that the Microsoft guys didn't invent this at all, but were inspired by listening to some former customer, like for example this unhappy guy who once made a posting to the microsoft.public.vb.discussion usenet group in 2000: http://groups.google.com/groups?q=IsNot+Roland+Hadinger&hl=en&lr=&selm=86a0qh%243th%241%40ssauraab-i-1.production.compuserve.com&rnum=1 One of the developers even admits that they implemented this feature because some customers requested it: http://www.panopticoncentral.net/archive/2003/11/17/243.aspx So this patent should be easy to fight. -- R. -- To unsubscribe from the list, just send an email to rebol-request at rebol.com with unsubscribe as the subject.
