Microsoft loses landmark EU antitrust case

[Big B]

Should this apply to Linux as well?
Do you propose this apply to every single program in an OS?

To be honest, having every single function I use pop up with something asking me which product to choose would get old really fast, much like Clippy.

Think about if you were to write something. In Windows alone you start with Notepad and Wordpad, not to mention the typical add-on of Office (Word, specifically). Asking too many questions would be detrimental to any OS, plus some people just don't give a rip what program they use, so long as it does the job.
What you want would be like BP having to offer Shell, Sunoco, Citgo, etc. gasoline as well. I just want to fill up, not ask which brand I want everytime I do that.
If I want to use a specific program, I want to use it, not be given a list of alternatives beside it. Would you like it if you fired up, say, UT and were asked if you wanted to play Doom 3, Quake, F.E.A.R., Serious Sam, Battlefield 2142, etc.? Of course not. You want to use that specific game.

 

[RHochstenbach]

Should this apply to Linux as well?

No, linux is a free OS.

Do you propose this apply to every single program in an OS?

No, only webbrowsers, media players and messenger software. I don't know any other software that is bundled with Windows and OSX.

 

[Big B]

Isn't it a bit of a double standard? Linux is excluded because it's a free OS software? Does that apply to the free versions of Linux only, or the versions you pay for? Don't you have distributions of Linux that include web browsers, media players and messenger programs?

I pay for an OS and the software that comes with it. You say that Microsoft and Apple must provide links to alternatives for said software.

I pay for software outside this, it is not required that they provide links to alternatives. According to the logic you're going by, they should be either free or require you to look at free alternatives or other similar games or programs.

I just paid for something, but then I get to see advertisements for other software? Why? Isn't that second guessing the person?

 

[donkey42]

Isn't it a bit of a double standard?

:agree:

Edit:

Linux is excluded because it's a free OS software? Does that apply to the free versions of Linux only, or the versions you pay for?

i believe it should apply to all OSs, but MS usually start legal battles (weather they can win or not), which i think is the reason they are facing legal action

I pay for software outside this, it is not required that they provide links to alternatives. According to the logic you're going by, they should be either free or require you to look at free alternatives or other similar games or programs.

:agree:, it does't make sense to me either, but, M$ paying fines is good

 

[Big B]

:agree:

Edit: i believe it should apply to all OSs, but MS usually start legal battles (weather they can win or not), which i think is the reason they are facing legal action:agree:, it does't make sense to me either, but, M$ paying fines is good

Just curious, but why is it good that Microsoft is paying fines?

 

[RHochstenbach]

Just curious, but why is it good that Microsoft is paying fines?

Because they have very much money, and it was all made by deceiving their customers. And M$ has much more money that all of its competitors, so there won't be a problem to make their budget a little less :)
edit: And for Apple: When I compared their Macs with a pc that has the same specs (and a screen of course), I noticed that the Mac is €500 more expensive, because it holds the Apple logo. So they should also get a lower budget.

 

[donkey42]

Just curious, but why is it good that Microsoft is paying fines?

because the world has suffered enough by using their bad OS, they should be forced to pay for every Windoze user to take an introduction to linux, course

 

[RHochstenbach]

they should be forced to pay for every Windoze user to take an introduction to linux, course

No they should pay every Windoze user for medical help, to recover from their sudden mental illness caused by using that OS :P

 

[donkey42]

No they should pay every Windoze user for medical help, to recover from their sudden mental illness caused by using that OS :P

i was trying to be intelligent / serious, i'm not used to anybody else having a sense of humour

BTW: if it aint broke, fix it until it is

 

[RHochstenbach]

if it aint broke, fix it until it is

I totally agree with that :beer:

 

[donkey42]

I totally agree with that :beer:

thought you'd like that.

BTW: if it takes a week to walk a fortnight, how many apples in a bunch of grapes ?

 

[RHochstenbach]

BTW: if it takes a week to walk a fortnight, how many apples in a bunch of grapes ?

42 :)

 

[donkey42]

42 :)

nearly, to work it out count the number of words and take off 10, how did you work it out, because if you divide 42 by 6 you also get 7

BTW: i didn't work it out, when i was working 12 hour shifts, i asked someone that question, and after 12 hours he came up to me & said 7

 

[RHochstenbach]

how did you work it out, because if you divide 42 by 6 you also get 7

I didn't work it out. I just guessed a number between 1-100.

 

[donkey42]

I didn't work it out. I just guessed a number between 1-100.

thats cheating,

 

[RHochstenbach]

When someone wants to spank me, then I'll do :P

 

[donkey42]

When someone wants to spank me, then I'll do :P

ok, you win, i've got nothing

BTW: i've never lost before

Edit: BTW: it looks like fun though

 

[RHochstenbach]

it looks like fun though

Sure
[ot]Every Windoze user should do that to Bill Gates :P[/ot]

 

[Impotence]

its not cheating, 42 is the answer to the ultimate question (according to the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy), the only problem is we don't know what the question is!

We seem to have gotten a little sidetracked so i'm going to try and wrap this up in a way we can all agree with :)

A first glance, i don't see why Microsoft (or anyone else for that matter) shouldn't bundle any software they want with there operating system but when you look a bit closer i think the problems it causes become a bit more apparent, for example.

Windows tries to set you up with a hotmail email, msn to use Internet explorer (with live search as the default) & MSN Messenger, from a users point of view this is wonderful as everything just works (well... :P), from the point of view of another business this is a disaster and a blatent abuse of Microsoft's Windows monopoly.

For each of the programs / services which MS tries to get you to use by default there exists MANY alternatives (Using Google as an example, GMail Google Chat, Google Search and many online music stores other than the MS one in media player) most of them relying on advertising for there revenue , if the MS services are the default alot of users will never change them, some because they don't even know others exist (firefox is a good example here, many people i tell about it get very confused because they don't seem to grasp the idea that the internet is not Internet explorer!).

When Microsoft bundles services or products from other departments with there operating system they are (ab)using there monopoly to gain alot of new customers. This applies to Apple too, but they don't receive as much attention because there tiny compared to MS, however, this doesn't make them any better... personally i would say there alot worse with iTunes etc but they do less damage than MS (as they have less customers).

 

[Swansen]

Impotence just made a really going point, and it makes sense, they do have some sort of a monopoly, and it does make sense to try to control it by making Microsoft not push its product on people over everything else. To the Linux remark and if they should be charged, generally the distribution's generally don't have their own software for media player ect, and they do give a lot of other options rate off the bat.