“So how has Microsoft abused consumers in a way that is
blatant, yet was somehow missed by the Department of Justice? The
example I gave Geraldo was the technical precision with which
Microsoft has taken control of the PC hardware standard. Yes,
hardware. IBM used to control it, then Intel, but now it’s all
Microsoft. Here’s how they do it, and why.”
“According to hardware developers who want to keep their jobs
and businesses, and who therefore choose to keep their names the
heck out of this column, Microsoft uses hardware certification as a
part of their marketing strategy. Redmond deliberately sets
unreasonable standards for new hardware that has the result of
requiring customers to purchase new Windows operating system
versions where they might otherwise not have had to.”
“Have you noticed how each version of Windows seems to require
more memory to do essentially the same functions as the previous
version? In part, this is because the Microsoft Hardware Design
Guide says that’s the way it has to be. So we add more DRAM or,
more likely, we buy a new computer that much sooner than we really
need to. Microsoft makes most of its profits from OEM sales, so
forcing us to buy a new PC every two years instead of every three
costs us all money without giving us much in return. Now that’s
“innovation,” and it’s just one example of what the Department of
Justice missed in its case.”