SJ Mercury: Still defiant, Microsoft showing no hint of remorse or compromise

[ Thanks to George
Mitchell for this link. ]

“Microsoft’s insistence that it can make any software a part of
Windows, no matter what the intent as long as even one consumer
finds it useful, is an arrogant claim. And while some kinds of
Internet services do belong in an operating system, an operating
system should be modular enough to allow competition for things
like displaying Web pages.”

“Gates insisted Friday that Windows would never have been
created if it weren’t for the close ties between the company’s
applications software and operating systems units. The Windows
standard has, on balance, boosted the computer industry. Maybe,
instead, we’d have had a leaner, faster, more secure operating
system than the bloated, unstable mess that Windows and its kissing
cousins in the Office software suite have provided.”

“The most offensive part of the Microsoft news conference
was the company’s continuing arrogance. When Gates, Ballmer et al
rail that any of these court-ordered modifications to their
behavior or structure would cripple innovation, they’re telling us
that Microsoft defines innovation. Oh, please.”

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