@charliebrownau @LukeAlmighty @applejack I use Brave myself.

@mactonite @applejack
Literally the dumbest anti-trust I have ever heard of.

@LukeAlmighty @mactonite NINETY FIVE!

@LukeAlmighty @mactonite @applejack >anti trust laws for daring to provide a media player and web browser out of the box.
The reason they were hit wait anti-trust laws was because they did far more than just that.

When it came to "internet explorer", microsoft criminally manipulated their position to ensure that many sites only worked in ie and surprise, surprise, all the suckers ended up using it.

I don't know much about the case when it came to the media player, but I believe that media player does implement digital handcuffs for numerous purposes, including anti-competitive reasons.


Unfortunately, nothing happened to microsoft in the end, aside from a trivial fine that was passed onto the suckers, when the court should have ruled to execute the business.

@Suiseiseki @LukeAlmighty @applejack microsoft doesn't make every website so that doesn't make sense

@mactonite m$ pretty manipulated and bribed web developers and companies into using their proprietary web server (IIS), web "design" software, web "interface" and plugin systems (i.e. silverlight) and the end result was endless websites, including non-optional government ones that only worked in "internet explorer", due to a complete lack of standards-compliance and bug-dependent functionality.

Pretty much, microsoft's rent for their software is so extremely high so that suckers who have fallen into their lock-in tarpit will gladly do almost anything in exchange for a discount and will gladly proceed to make webpages with microsoft software if commanded so (one more recent example was when microsoft offered a steep discount for some "product" (the name I can't recall) to any "sysadmin" sort if they went and voted for their "OOXML" "format" instead of a real format like say ODF in standards body format polls and suddenly there was huge "support" for "OOXML").


This is a distant memory that many people will claim never happened thanks to how m$'s tentacles no longer strangle most websites, but it seems they're trying it again with their "remote attestation" schemes (for "security" reasons, only clients that attest that the client is running only approved versions of certain proprietary OS's and the user hasn't modified can access this website).

@Suiseiseki @LukeAlmighty @applejack so you're describing selling a service which still isn't unfair. what would be really bad for competition is increasing government regulation as it always hurts newcomers in every industry.
i have noticed that in the public sector they are totally dependent on microsoft software. ms offers various free services that are highly integrated to windows and most people don't know how to use other operating systems. then their other pricey suites of software look like an easy pick because nobody can see through the scheme. it would be better for them to use free software.

@mactonite >so you're describing selling a service which still isn't unfair.
I just described criminal anti-competitive, unfair behavior rather than a legitimate service.

>what would be really bad for competition is increasing government regulation as it always hurts newcomers in every industry.
The government regulator finally started doing its job in ensuring that it would be possible for newcomers could actually join the industry, rather than being completely blocked out by microsoft - unfortunately the didn't even get halfway through.

>i have noticed that in the public sector they are totally dependent on microsoft software.
Yes, due to microsoft's criminal behavior and the lack of government action, that has occurred.

The government is giving microsoft regular handouts instead of carrying out its duty, which would be to dissolve the company, put the executives in prison (there's endless things a prosecutor could prosecute over) and release the source code of all of their software as free software (although all of it would only be useful for reverse-engineering and re-implementing purposes).

>ms offers various free services that are highly integrated to windows
The services are never free or gratis - you pay with both your freedom and your money.

>most people don't know how to use other operating systems.
This is only because microsoft gets children hooked on their proprietary cigarettes in school by offering a slight discount to educational institutes and ensure that children are taught only how to use their billycart's controls, rather than general computing skills.

All of these people could learn how to use other operating system if they had the will to or bossman told them that the computer system has been changed and they're getting paid learn how to use it.

@mactonite @LukeAlmighty And before those IE gained 95% market share and killed Netscape which had 90% peak market share

You're sharing both parts of the story as if they have no relation to each other

@applejack @LukeAlmighty well consumers value convenience so if windows comes with ie and chromebooks/smartphones come with chrome then that's likely what they'll stick with. that's not unfair on microsoft's part.