AlbinoRhyno - 5:25 am on Apr 25, 2002 (gmt 0)

Man, I have to start coming in to these discussions so late... I forget some of my comments by the time I get to the bottom!

seth_wilde - Do you honestly think MS would drop support for either the Mac or Dell if they supported another browser? MS is facing an increasingly harder task of getting people to pay for new software. They are so desperate, that they are risking alienating businesses with their crazy new licensing scheme. How could they afford to lose the business they get from Apple. Worse yet, how could they afford to lose the number one pc manufacturer? If Dell was spurned by MS and switched to Linux, it wouldn't be long before the market was 50/50 Windows/Linux.

And even if MS cut lesser companies like Apple, there are Windows emulators that Mac users could install (and most businesses do, I would think) to run the MS software...

And speaking of unfair business practices, why does everyone gang up on MS and ignore Intel? If anyone is guilty of strongarming suppliers, it is Intel. When AMD was making up marketshare (before the low-quality, high hype P4's started widening the Mhz gap), Intel penalised any chipset manufacturers who were making AMD chipsets. They went as far as to occasionally deny Intel chipsets, and often delayed shipments.

I agree wholly with cyril_kearney - if you don't like it, don't use it. There are plenty of competitors out there for any product, and you get to vote for your choice with your dollars. That is what capitalism is based upon.

AOL - They have nothing to complain about. They are doing everything they can to become MS's biggest competitor. In the next 5-10 years, desktops will virtually disappear, as seen in the plans of .NET etc. AOL, with it's huge parent co. and user-base, is in a great position to compete with MS. If they can kick MS in the shins early on with this lawsuit, they can have a headstart in the race.

Sun - Come on. No one needs to support your product if they don't want to. This company whines more than Bengal fans on draft day (although Bengal fans have a right to!) For Sun to first get a court order over how MS distributes Java, then whine when MS says, "To hell with it then, we just won't bother with you since you're suck a pain in the neck," is not only laughable but pitiful. No company echoes society's sense of entitlement more than Sun.

In summary, let the market decide what is right. Let the consumer vote with his/her money.