USA Today: Questions haunt Microsoft’s future

[ Thanks to George
Mitchell for this link. ]

“Here’s how Justice reasons it, according to people close to
the case. The applications company, no longer married to Windows,
would want to sell to the broadest market possible. So it
would create versions of its applications to run on other operating
systems, such as Linux or Sun’s Solaris. By making popular
applications available on competing operating systems, those
operating systems would be strengthened and could challenge
Windows….”

“The scenario is supported by research company IDC. In fact, IDC
says Microsoft’s pieces would fare so much better after a breakup,
IDC proposes Microsoft break itself up. One example from IDC’s
report: If 10 million Linux users buy Office rather than a
competing product, the new broken-out Microsoft applications
company would pull in an additional $350 million to $450 million in
revenue. “Most of Microsoft’s competitors exist quite happily on
less revenue than that!” the report states.”

Complete
Story