[Sussex] Improving on UNIX

[Geoff Teale]

Steve wrote:
------------
> Only in part.  I was also trying to say that the policy they 
> are using to 
> grow there share of that market, while successful in the 
> desktop market,
> won't
> work for servers.

I sincerely hope you are right.

<snip>
> I hadn't see that report.  And yes it is worrying.  But if 
> they are doing
> that
> then, my limited legal knowledge, it suggests that they leave 
> themselves
> open to
> another "Anti-trust" case from the DoJ.  I would expect the 
> DoJ to take a
> much,
> much dimmer view of Microsoft if they were found to be still 
> playing the
> same
> old game a second time around.

Well, you could say that about many, many things they have done.  The point
is that you have to make specific charges, and in the USA at least Microsoft
have shown that even if you are guilty you can buy political influence and
turn the whole thing around in your favour.  I also think that the DOJ would
be less than keen to repeat the whole excercise.  Hopefully the European
Commission will be less open to influence.

On top of that, it turn out that the new Office XML formats don't actually
provide any information about formatting, so they are effectively useless
for most modern documents (they are very useful for document management
though).  Unfortunately it means Microsoft can market its product as having
open XML file formats (just like starOffice) but without really opening it
up at all.

Slippery sods..

-- 
geoff.teale at claybrook.co.uk
tealeg at member.fsf.org

"make music like mercy that gives what it is and has nothing to prove"
 - Ani DiFranco "Up Up Up Up Up Up" 


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