Forbes: Breakup Could Help Innovation–Microsoft’s

[ Thanks to ken chaney
for this link. ]

http://biz.yahoo.com/fo/000428/mu2638.html “By separating the
Windows operating system from the rest of the company, the
government hopes to re-ignite innovation in the software industry.
Without a giant monopoly to bully competitors out of business, the
thinking goes, smaller companies will be free to develop products
able to challenge Microsoft Word, Excel–even Windows itself.”

“That’s probably not going to happen. Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT –
news) has such a lock on the market that its products have become
industry standards people can’t live without. Windows 98 comes with
virtually every new personal computer, and that’s not about to
change, even with the growing popularity of Linux. Moreover, Word,
Excel and PowerPoint are used by so many people in so many places
that the Microsoft Office suite, which includes those programs, has
driven competitors into the ground. And splitting the folks who
make Office off from those who make Windows won’t change that. The
damage is already done.”

“However, a breakup could prompt Microsoft to revive its own
creative spirit–something that’s been lacking since the
introduction of Windows 95. You don’t need a degree in computer
science to know that the latest version of Windows 98 is nothing
more than a tuned-up version of the operating system that hit
stores five years ago. The story’s the same for Office, which
has undergone no major changes in recent years. Nor has Microsoft
delivered any exciting new software for the consumer. It just keeps
updating the old stuff, like the Encarta encyclopedia, Publisher
and Flight Simulator.”

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