Re: Boycott Microsoft

%% "Aaron Bertrand" <aaronATwaterworksiaDOTcom> writes:

Please don't email me messages that you've also posted, without noting that somehow... thx...

  ab> Paul D. Smith wrote in message ...

>> IE-specific sites, on the other hand, cannot be used unless you're 100%
>> Microsoft, including operating system _and_ browser

  ab> There are IE sites that let you in if you're using IE on MacIntosh   ab> or IE on a couple of Unix platforms, so that's not totally true.

"A couple"? You mean one: Solaris 2.5. At least that's all that's available on the Microsoft web site.

  ab> And the ones that are restricted to 32-bit platforms only have a
  ab> reason to be... Mac, Unix, even some of the Windows platforms
  ab> don't have the capability to run ActiveX, VBScript, DHTML etc.

As has been pointed out on this thread, not all of the restrictions are because of a lack of these "features". Some people have "spoofed" the site into thinking that it was talking to an IE browser, and it worked well afterwards.

  ab> This is the price we pay for advancement.

These are "advancements"? Yikes.

Besides, technology advancement isn't the point. Bundling of software with another, dominant software package in such a way as to drive your competition out of business is the point.

Check out the allegations made in the DOJ antitrust case just announced today:

  http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,22227,00.html

Obviously, these memos are still alleged... but it seems unlikely the DOJ would claim they had actual documents if they didn't.

People who simply view the case as whether or not Microsoft has a right to put whatever they want on their Windows98 CD are missing the bigger picture.

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Paul D. Smith <psmith_at_baynetworks.com>         Network Management Development
 "Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     These are my opinions--Bay Networks takes no responsibility for them.