“It’s no small irony that IBM is ratting out Microsoft. For
years, IBM has harbored a grudge against Microsoft for a perceived
doublecross on OS/2. Big Blue lost between $1 billion to $2 billion
trying to build its OS/2 franchise and insiders who bear the battle
scars have long memories.
Going into the antitrust trial, government investigators
couldn’t find a computer maker ready to testify about Microsoft.
That was easy to understand: why take the risk? There was simply no
upside percentage in going public, not given the asymmetry that
exists between Microsoft and most OEMs.
That equation doesn’t hold true when you consider that IBM’s an
$82 billion corporation. Perhaps that’s why Big Blue, which until
now has chosen to remain publicly silent about its often-frosty
relationship with Microsoft, is ready to publicly twist in the
knife.”