I have been struck more than once by the parallels between MS business practices
and the Stalinist regime in the USSR earlier in the century: both brutal autocracies
brooking nary a hint of dissent; both with gulags where competing points of view go
(in the MS case it's called "licensing the other guy's software then burying it"); and
so on.
I've also noted the MS penchant for rewriting history a la Stalinists, as it suits
their
devious purposes; so I wasn't especially surprised to find the following on the MS
Liquid Motion download page:
* * *
/Try & Buy - Convenient Free Trial/
Microsoft is pleased to announce a new free trial method for customers who are
interested in Liquid Motion version 1.0. The product is only available from the
following participating resellers. Select a reseller to download your free version of
Microsoft Liquid Motion today!
/About Try & Buy/
The Try & Buy process is a new method of obtaining software on-line that lets you
download the full featured product, try it for up to 45 days, then purchase it if you
choose. In fact you can purchase the product at any time before, during, or after
the trial process. You purchase the product by entering your credit card into a
secure payment processing program right on your computer.
etc etc
* * *
Now, I'm just a kinda low-key Canadian fellah from a small town, don't get out too
much, but I'm pretty darn sure I've heard of such a thing before -- think I've even
bought software this way before -- what's it called? Ummm... wait, I've got it...
yeah, *shareware*. That's it. Shareware.
Sheesh.
-----------
Brent Eades, Almonte, Ontario
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Town of Almonte: http://www.almonte.com/
Business Web site: http://www.almonte.com/brent/
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