In the news today: "Microsoft to remove CALC from Windows"

Published 26 March 04 04:11 PM | despos

I was a teenager and, for a time, crazy of a particular song. Once, I caught myself thinking that if I were the author of the song I wouldn't have permitted some people to get a long-playing of it. (No CDs yet--I'm not that young <g>) 

What people? Guys I didn't get along with and girls who didn't like me for example.

I would have liked the author of that song to sell the LP in various versions: with my favorite song and without it. And maybe one with a recorded message in lieu of the song stating "You are not permitted to enjoy the pleasure that this song transmits."

Likewise, some people want MS to sell Windows with WMP; some not. Today is WMP; tomorrow it can be Calculator, or Paint, as in this nice story from Christian Nagel. And if the model works, why not the whole .NET thing?

 

Comments

# Jerry Pisk said on March 26, 2004 11:57 AM:

I'm actually waiting for Microsoft suing Sun forcing them to include IE with Solaris :) Sun started this whole thing so they should eat their own dog food (wonder why Microsoft pulled IE for Solaris from their site).

# AntiTrust said on March 26, 2004 12:06 PM:

Of course I suppose you are kidding. "Some People" are expression of the LAW, wich states that "no man/company should alter the market leveraging it's position". I don't pretend that a techy guy understands "ALL" about law, but at least try to be easy on subjects you don't know.

Leaving WMP unbundled from Win means nothing but to give an option to the user, to install WMP or another player. Can you understand this?

# Techy Guy said on March 26, 2004 12:23 PM:

>>I don't pretend that a techy guy understands "ALL" about law, >>but at least try to be easy on subjects you don't know.

LAW? Is that the acronym of something related to software? :-)

# AntiTrust said on March 26, 2004 12:35 PM:

>>LAW? Is that the acronym of something related to software? :-)


Yes, it stands for Linux Against Windows :D

# AntiTrust said on March 26, 2004 12:44 PM:

Ok, that was an easy joke. Too easy. Shame on me. :-P

# paul said on March 27, 2004 11:53 AM:

Is FreeSell (solitaire) safe?

# TrackBack said on March 28, 2004 09:50 PM:
# TrackBack said on March 28, 2004 09:53 PM:
# Wolfgang said on March 29, 2004 02:52 AM:

Really, why not just unbundle everything? I mean, in the early days you could make good money selling tcp/ip stacks, memory managers, disk managers, file explorers, command shells, simple games, notepads, calculators, et cetera. Oh and let's not forget about the whole windowing system. I mean, surely Microsoft should allow for Sony to bundle Gnome with its Vaio systems instead of the standard windowing system. That's misusing their monopoly!

Okay, I think it's pretty clear I don't agree with the view of the European Commission. I think Microsoft delivers a service to its customers and that service is not some HAL or microkernel, but a fullfledged system that can do just about anything straight from the box. If OEMs want to install other software, they can, and God knows they do. Just look at all the garbage the average OEM puts in its systems. If the end-user wishes to use RealJukebox instead of WMP, they can. I don't see their choice being limited anywhere. Yes, Microsoft is using her platform to leverage her own protocols, standards, codecs and middleware. So is RedHat, Novell, Sun, IBM, Apple and so on. Just because governments and competitors have failed to limit Microsofts growth (which, in the end, is the responsibility of the customer, not government and competition), they need to be punished now? Punish Microsoft for unfair market practices, but not for delivering the product the consumer wants. Think Microsoft owns the desktop market? Just look at Apple and know you're wrong. Think Microsoft owns the server market? Look at IBM, Sun, RedHat, Novell. You're wrong again. Yes, Microsoft dominates the market, but it doesn't own it.

# Wolfgang said on March 29, 2004 02:59 AM:

Just thought of this: in a way, it is the competition that is limiting consumer choice, because they won't accept it if the consumer chooses Microsoft. If we all stop using ICQ and start using MSN, it's not because ICQ became a buggy lame piece of bloatware, but because Windows Messenger is bundled with Windows (that it's really MSN Messenger people use and that they do need to install that, is easily forgotten). If we stop using Real and demand online content providers to provider WMA/WMV streams, it's because WMP is bundled with Windows, not because it's a superior app to Real's. It's about time that the competition starts to compete, starts to innovate, starts to create what consumers want. Stop battling Microsoft in court, take her on in the marketplace. If you deliver the right app, the customer will come. Like I said, look at Apple. They are doing a mighty fine job at it.

# Mike Schinkel said on March 29, 2004 11:25 AM:

I couldn't agree more with you, Wolfgang.

# TrackBack said on April 7, 2004 09:54 PM:
# TrackBack said on April 7, 2004 10:33 PM:

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