Microsoft, Standards, and Incompatibility: 1991-2010 — And a Novell Smoking Gun

“Another gruesome exhibit is now finished as text in our
collection of Comes v. Microsoft exhibits, Exhibit 1116 [PDF].

“It’s a Microsoft memo from 1991, regarding a suggested attack
plan to beat out IBM’s OS/2, written by Joseph Krawczak, currently
group program manager for Outlook at Microsoft. Here are just three
damning sentences from the confidential memo:

“Pursue a product development strategy that prevents IBM from
claiming Windows compatibility. Prevent Windows applications from
running correctly on OS/2….

“Reposition OS/2 as impractical and incompatible in the minds of
customers.

“Nice. First quietly create incompatibilities to make sure that
Microsoft applications wouldn’t run right on OS/2. Then tell the
world that they shouldn’t buy OS/2 because Microsoft applications
wouldn’t run right on OS/2.

“But 1991 is a long time ago, I hear some of you say, and there
is a new Microsoft. Oh? Let’s see if that’s so by highlighting one
of the recent Novell filings with the SEC, its work agreement with
Microsoft titled “Improving Microsoft-Novell Interoperability
through Open XML” and dated March of this very year.”

Complete
Story