Filed under: Internet, OS Updates, Microsoft
Dogpile on Microsoft! Adobe, IBM, Oracle join EU anti-trust case
Are you kidding me? Did a whole group of major companies just jump in to the Microsoft-EU brawl?
Yep. Adobe, Oracle, Sun, Corel, and RealNetworks - who are members of the European Committee for Interoperable Systems - have joined up with Mozilla, Opera, Google, and the Free Software Foundation Europe in the fight to prove that consumers are too stupid to make their own choices.
Thomas Vinje, spokesman for the ECIS, said "This is an important case to ensure that browsers can compete on the merits and that consumers have a true choice in the software they use to access the World Wide Web." That's odd. I'm pretty sure that I just finished installing Windows on my wife's laptop and used IE to download the Firefox installer so I could exercise my "true choice."
And what about other software, Thomas? Wordpad in Windows 7 is pretty sweet. Is Corel going to cry foul over that one, too? Windows 7 can even burn ISO images, so perhaps Ahead Software should sue?
And what about other companies, Thomas? No one is lining up to harangue Apple about Safari on OSX. No one wants to take on Dell or Acer for bundling McAfee's antivirus software on all the PCs they ship. Heck, maybe Google should have to suggest Opera, Firefox, Maxthon, and Safari in addition to Chrome!
Pointing fingers at big, bad Microsoft is much easier to justify - and a lot more profitable. Though I'm sure everyone involved is really much more concerned about consumers being able to make informed choices than lining their pocketbooks. Mmm hmm.
(and yes, that is a scrum - not an actual dogpile.)
Yep. Adobe, Oracle, Sun, Corel, and RealNetworks - who are members of the European Committee for Interoperable Systems - have joined up with Mozilla, Opera, Google, and the Free Software Foundation Europe in the fight to prove that consumers are too stupid to make their own choices.
Thomas Vinje, spokesman for the ECIS, said "This is an important case to ensure that browsers can compete on the merits and that consumers have a true choice in the software they use to access the World Wide Web." That's odd. I'm pretty sure that I just finished installing Windows on my wife's laptop and used IE to download the Firefox installer so I could exercise my "true choice."
And what about other software, Thomas? Wordpad in Windows 7 is pretty sweet. Is Corel going to cry foul over that one, too? Windows 7 can even burn ISO images, so perhaps Ahead Software should sue?
And what about other companies, Thomas? No one is lining up to harangue Apple about Safari on OSX. No one wants to take on Dell or Acer for bundling McAfee's antivirus software on all the PCs they ship. Heck, maybe Google should have to suggest Opera, Firefox, Maxthon, and Safari in addition to Chrome!
Pointing fingers at big, bad Microsoft is much easier to justify - and a lot more profitable. Though I'm sure everyone involved is really much more concerned about consumers being able to make informed choices than lining their pocketbooks. Mmm hmm.
(and yes, that is a scrum - not an actual dogpile.)
[via PC World]
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They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dave said 2:16PM on 4-16-2009
Working for a tech savvy site like Download Squad, you may not realize that there are many computer users who NEVER install anything if there is a MS app for that function already on their computer. Not everyone is as computer oriented as you or I. (Our parents might fit that bill)
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Lee Mathews said 2:18PM on 4-16-2009
I absolutely realize that, Dave. But is it Microsoft's job to provide the alternatives?
I don't see Rice Krispies boxes telling me that I might want to try Cheerios.
Dave said 2:33PM on 4-16-2009
True, but when you're in the grocery store in the cereal aisle, your choices are readily apparent. If the store clerk automatically gave you Cheerios when you really wanted Grape Nuts, it would bum you out.
Unless you buy a naked system and install Linus or your choice is Apple, you're pretty stuck with IE, WMP, etc.
bernie16wb said 2:35PM on 4-16-2009
If the user is unsatisfied with the bundled Microsoft product then they will likely look elsewhere to fulfill their needs. Most people don't bother switching out a lot of software because the basic bundled software does what they need.
Should McDonald's be forced to provide Pepsi products in addition to Coca-Cola to be "fair?" Of course not, but if enough people demand that Pepsi be served at McDonald's then I'm sure they'd offer it. Just like when Dell finally started offering PCs with AMD processors a few years ago, people were clamoring for them.
cmsb55 said 2:39PM on 4-16-2009
Yeah and the people who know how to install alternatives probably don't see why Firefox is better than IE. They simply don't care. So all this is going to do is make it so that new computers are either loaded with all kinds of software that most users want nothing to do with or Microsoft will have to make it very easy to install alternatives. If that happens, I bet many people will still pick IE because they don't know the difference. Windows is Microsoft's operating system so it should be up to Microsoft to decide what goes on it.
jimjobe said 3:53PM on 4-16-2009
@Dave
I totally know what you're talking about. The other day, I bought a new car (made by Ford), and when I got in there, I realized those jerks had installed a Ford branded stereo system! I was like "but what if I don't want this piece of crap Ford stereo?" and the guy was like "oh, no problem, you just go to the store and pick out whatever stereo you want and install it." But I knew he was just a greedy scum bag.
So I called my congressman and demanded that he force Ford (but not Dodge, they don't have a big enough market share) to only sell cars that don't have any stereo installed, but instead include all the options out there that I could choose from in my trunk (even the Dodge brand, should that be my preference) so that I could pick one and install it myself.
Also, I think Pioneer, Sony, and any other stereo manufacturer should sue Ford (but not Dodge, again - market share, people!) for these blatant anti-competitive practices.
Roman Taycher said 7:46PM on 4-16-2009
Its true that these days it is more uncertain about bundling a web browser , but wordpad is not a proper document editor(more like a bloated text editor w/ document reader) and most importantly microsoft is an abusive monopoly(90%+ pc's =monopoly which the goverment is supposed to regulate).
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kartik-shankar said 3:52PM on 4-16-2009
Your headline is misleading. Did you know Dogpile is also a reasonably well-known metacrawler? So I thought what is IT doing here? until I read the article and saw the photo, that is... :-)
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Farine said 4:03PM on 4-16-2009
Personally I am glad to hear about anything limiting Microsofts monopoly. But the whole thing seems a bit strange: why does the EU come along with this now, and not years ago, when MS bundled IE with Windows to bring down Netscape? Today Firefox market share is near 40% in Europe, and it`s already most used browser in some European countries. So there`s much less need for anti-trust actions compared to lets say ten years ago. I just can`t figure out, whats the real interest behind this campaign.
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Scuba Steve said 4:30PM on 4-16-2009
See I know about & use alternatives as a lot of people do and usually I would say that this sort of case is going a bit far, and if u hit up Apple over Safari or most Linux over Konqueror or Firefox I would say it was too far but on the other hand IE is pathetically shit, its slow, ugly, unsecure, and has issues complying to standards if IE was a decent product then yes they would be going too far but its not, it is another buggy inferior product pushed onto users from M$ and as pointed out too many people are too stupid or companies have "locked down" the ability to change browsers. Either M$ make a decent product or they should be forced to allow options.
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BiggusDiccus said 5:39PM on 4-16-2009
By this logic since GM makes a crap car they should be forced to sell a Malibu with a Honda engine.
Obvious said 5:42PM on 4-16-2009
@Biggus: Steve will not listen to you. He is too busy trying to find more CLEVER, CLEVER ways of spelling Microsoft with money signs.
//Happily written on Vista, via IE7
minibar said 6:28PM on 4-16-2009
microsoft is a market hegemon, and any market agent who wields such commanding influence is held to a stricter standard particularly when there is a high bar to entry.
that said, i take no position.
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alf said 9:20PM on 4-16-2009
I can completely and entirely remove Safari from Mac OS during, and post, install. I cannot do the same with IE on Vista or XP.
Hell, I remember the days when XP would change my preferred browser back to IE every time I launched it, without so much as asking.
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WL said 9:55PM on 4-16-2009
I agree and I think this case is totally absurd, where do they draw the line? If people don't bother to find the many free alternatives to the basic programs that come loaded with windows its because they don't need or want them. I guess the next step is to force Microsoft to ask users if they'd rather boot into Linux instead of Windows.
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supernova_hq said 11:22PM on 4-16-2009
As much as some of your guys' points make sense, if you've ever done web development you will quickly realise that having 90% of people dumped with the flakiest, least-standards-following piece of shit browser known to man is a serious pain in the ass.
When web developers (good ones anyway) make a site, they code it to the standards and check it with almost any browser (FF, Opera, Safari, Netscape). There next challenge (which ironically takes about 30% of the time) is making it work in ie. Not only that, but every version of ie (6, 7 & 8) all render completely differently from the standards AND each other. You basically end up maing 3 or 4 sites, one for ie6, one for ie7 and one for EVERYTHING ELSE.
Microsoft used their OS monopoly in order to gain market share in a separate market (browsers/websites).
@BiggusDiccus:
If GM had a 90% market share and their engine took a special type of fuel (that no other car could use) and made the engine a pain to remove, then yes, there would be a strong possibility of this happening to them as well!
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Brad Jensen said 11:49PM on 4-16-2009
Personally, I really liked this blog for it's software related news, but when you're putting your own views or weird and unimportant sarcasm into the post, like you did with this one, I have a feeling that you're really going to turn this blog into nothing but crap.
People usually read these kind of blogs for their updates, or at least that is why I read downloadsquad.
Hopefully this kind of stuff will end soon. The person who wrote up the post should also have a good talking to, or be fired..
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Chriss Cazayoux said 10:28AM on 4-17-2009
Jimjobe - decent analogy but wrong. Auto industry is exactly like Dodge/Apple. I would say Porsche/Apple. The industry i would compare is high end bicycles. Trek makes most of the components end-to-end with the exception of the drive train groupo, Bontrager/Trek this Bontrager/Trek that. (Bontrager is Treks component brand) And, exclusively with Shimano Drivetrain because they have a deal. It is a MF to get Rolf Wheels, SRAM drive train in a Trek. But, if you buy and Felt, Cervello, Orbea, Bianchi, etc (Dell, HP, Acer, Alien, Acer,etc) for your frame you pick the parts ala carte.
The others let you pick what you want. Once you pick the DRIVETRAIN/OS the DRIVETRAIN manufacturer doesn't dictate the wheels, saddle, etc like a MS does in PC's. I picked my manufacturer and the OS company dictated all of my remaining options. Trek like Apple odes and some would argue it is the best ride out there, 7 TDF's is hard to argue with.
So Trek makes it easy to go in and buy a bike like Lance Armstrong rides. Cool factor included.
I am a hypocrite, I am a Apple fan boy and ride an Orbea but the similarities end at the analogy.
Simply the MS OS dominance in PC's and the bundling for end user software into the OS is the problem. It is also the integration of end user into the OS that coused the issues but that would require a rehashing of where this all started.
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hnkelley said 7:11PM on 4-17-2009
Adobe? Real? Does anybody see the irony in this? How can these two companies really paint MS as anti-competitive and monopolistic? Adobe has loosened the reins a bit, but still makes it difficult to make (not read, so much) PDFs, which were supposed to be a big standard. You know, PORTABLE document format. Real has, luckily, shot itself in the foot so many times that even good, tried-and-true methods of locking out competitors hasn't made them the big-boys they so want to be, but their formats get used and have been a pain in the posterior for ages. Their ownership of Shockwave and Flash has made things even worse. So they want to join this fight against MS? Get real!
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tayker said 12:26PM on 4-22-2009
I agree with Lee. I think it's pretty funny that other monopolistic companies are against Microsoft when it would be in their best interest to help defend them.
With Firefox logos all over the Internet, wannabe computer literate people throwing in their worthless knowledge pining over Firefox in forums, and Flash being the prominent method of delivering multimedia content and being overused by crappy web designers for making bloated web sites that pimp Adobe Flash Player (especially with updates that giving warnings about a users outdated player and links to Adobe's site to update), a web surfer will have to be pretty blind and ignorant not to see other browser options and the hypocrisy over the situation.
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