Microsoft must share code, pay EU fine

[CBC News]

Microsoft lost its appeal of a European antitrust order Monday that obliges the technology giant to share communications code with rivals, sell a copy of Windows without Media Player and pay a $711 million fine (497 million euros) — the largest ever by EU regulators.
The EU Court of First Instance ruled against Microsoft on both parts of the case, saying the European Commission was correct in concluding that Microsoft was guilty of monopoly abuse in trying to use its power over desktop computers to muscle into server software.
European Union competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said "The court has confirmed the commission's view that consumers are suffering at the hands of Microsoft".
The ruling showed that handing over key interoperability code that helped rivals make compatible products was required in the software market, she said.
Full Story
Will this decision change Microsoft's dominance over computer operating systems?


More...

 

[karrie]

I wonder what the ramifications of this will be here?

 

[#juan]

I wonder what the ramifications of this will be here?

If Microsoft is forced to sell Windows without Media Player, it seems to follow that Windows would have to sell cheaper without it than with it. This is thought to be giving the competition like Real Player and others a chance to get into that OEM market but I will have to see it before I believe it. If Mac comes down in price a bit more, it could change the whole landscape.

 

[lone wolf]

I know they can shove that new MSN right up their collective caboose. I'm going Yahoo Messenger....

Wolf

 

[Cosmo]

Neelie Kroes said "The court has confirmed the commission's view that consumers are suffering at the hands of Microsoft".

It's certainly taken the industry a long while to find a legal position that could possibly affect Microsoft's domination of this arena. I don't begrudge anyone their billions of dollars if they have worked hard and behaved ethically to acquire it, but dayammm .. Gates stole the original item then proceeded to monopolize the industry.

It would be a blessing for consumers if there were a wider choice in operating software. Mac makes a great graphics machine, but I learned (after using them for a few years) that not having access to DOS doesn't work for me. If something goes awry, I was pretty much screwed when it came to using my Mac.

I agree, Karrie ... it's going to be most interesting to watch the fallout from this. I use Windows Media Player simply because it works well with XP and came with the software. It's easy and I don't have to fuss with anything. If I had to choose a media player I would have done the usual research and avoided anything Microsoft. I always do when I have a choice, simply because I hate the monopoly.

You're right , Juan, about Mac having the potential to change things in a big way. It's started already. In the graphics design world, the majority of designers and printers use Mac. If the price becomes competitive, I bet a lot of home users would switch to Mac as well. It really is a very simple OS to use. If I were buying a computer for someone who was not computer literate (such as my elderly parents), I would go with Mac.

Of course if I were mud wrestling a Mac yesterday instead of my good ole Windows, I would have definitely flung the whole thing off the balcony. Mac makes it all but impossible to look behind the curtains and see what the hamsters are doing on their little wheels in there!

Yep, I'll be watching this story.

 

[Cosmo]

I know they can shove that new MSN right up their collective caboose. I'm going Yahoo Messenger....

Wolf

LOL ... I agree, Wolf. Now MSN has instituted a forced upgrade. I was using 7.5 and was happy with it, but recently it refused to launch and I had to go to 8. It's pretty, but it doesn't offer me any advantages. I don't need anything more than a program to allow me to chit chat with friends. All the bells and whistles are useless to me.

I also noticed that Hotmail upgraded at the same time. I haven't bothered to read what the new version does differently, but it always makes me nervous when something I use frequently changes without my requesting it.

 

[#juan]

LOL ... I agree, Wolf. Now MSN has instituted a forced upgrade. I was using 7.5 and was happy with it, but recently it refused to launch and I had to go to 8. It's pretty, but it doesn't offer me any advantages. I don't need anything more than a program to allow me to chit chat with friends. All the bells and whistles are useless to me.

I also noticed that Hotmail upgraded at the same time. I haven't bothered to read what the new version does differently, but it always makes me nervous when something I use frequently changes without my requesting it.

Does your new computer not allow you to use Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird?

 

[karrie]

Since you bring up firefox juan....

This forum is TEN TIMES easier to use when you have Firefox installed. Perhaps it was just me being an idiot user with IE, but, I never could cut copy and paste text out of an open posting window. And spell check was out of the question.

Now, with firefox installed, I get instantaneous spell check, I can cut and paste all I darn well please, and I couldn't be happier. Ten times better than IE, and it's faster too.

 

[Cosmo]

Does your new computer not allow you to use Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird?
[/color][/size][/font]

Yep, I use Firefox as a browser but some stuff still is just more convenient (or requires) IE. And Messenger is the only IM program I've run across. Of course I haven't done any research on it because it's convenient. MSN is integrated with my Hotmail, etc. so I haven't bothered changing it.

I haven't checked into Thunderbird at all. Once I found Mozilla I fell in love and haven't done any further searching.

Karrie, I find that too. Firefox is way faster than IE. IE seems to bog down when I have too many tabs open (and I usually have at least half a dozen).

 

[#juan]

Karrie, Cosmo

Firefox is simply the only browser to use. Mozilla's other product, "Thunderbird" is something I've used for a few years now and I've never run across a problem with it. I guess I sound like I'm selling the stuff but I recently bought a new computer. My old Win 98 wouldn't work on the new machine so I had to buy Windows XP but still, one of the first things I did was to download Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird.

 

[Niflmir]

CBC needs to fire its editor.

Microsoft must share its specifications. Its code is protected under copyrights. The commission was quite clear in the press report that it in no way was requiring Microsoft to share its code.