Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: The nonsense of removing IE
Author: Bryce Posted: 4/30/2000; 3:38:21 AM Topic: scriptingNews outline for 4/29/2000 Msg #: 16778 (In response to 16775) Prev/Next: 16777 / 16779
I don't think that a new company should be made that just does IE.I'd like to hear from others as to why an "Internet Explorer Corporation" would make sense. IMO, it makes none whatsoever.
I actually believe MS should be left as it is. I personally can't see the problems that some believe exist.
Microsoft illegally tied Internet Explorer 3.x to Windows 95 sales. They abused their monopoly power, broke the law, and they should be punished. I don't believe that a structural remedy is necessary, and I don't believe that it will provide any consumer benefit. A conduct remedy with some teeth is what's called for.
Microsoft's IE deals with ISPs and ICPs are simply agressive marketing and cross-promotion. If you want MS to promote you, which is a powerful validation of your business, you need to promote MS and promise allegiance to them. AOL's deals with ICPs are just as restrictive, if not more so, and they'll charge you tens of millions of dollars for the privelidge.
Microsoft's dominance in office applications is purely due to Lotus and WordPerfect's refusal to support the Windows platform. In order to validate the platform, MS was forced to develop their own desktop applications, and they reaped the rewards as the platform gained acceptance.
No one has ever shown that the Office group gained any kind of unfair advantage from the OS group.
Claims that commercial development efforts have been hindered by Microsoft's refusal to provide information or Beta releases are completely bogus. For the past several years, anything that you could possibly want to know about developing for Microsoft's current and upcoming platforms has been provided with an MSDN subscription. Sure, it costs money, but it's an insignificant amount for any serious developer (and a rounding error for businesses). For a few bucks extra they even throw in every current and beta platform, along with the development suite.
-Bryce
This page was archived on 6/13/2001; 4:54:59 PM.
© Copyright 1998-2001 UserLand Software, Inc.