Until the people put Microsoft back into it's place (OS Development only) and also break the DirectX sharecropping the whole point is moot.
But look at who's gotten sharecropped.
Winzip Realplayer/MusicMatch Netscape I can go on..
It's true anytime someone comes up with a good idea MS goes ahead and builds it into their OS. Look at what they did to Java when it came out you had Sun Java and MS said nope.. lets make MS Java and make it work better with windows than Sun Java..
They took HTML and did the same thing.. Now many people have to program for IE and then the Other browsers as time permits.
Basically the inability of the US courts to stop Microsoft from doing what they continue to do is the same as the south winning the civil war.
If by "make it work better with Windows" you mean "crashes Internet Explorer every 15 seconds and makes Sun's Java look like a joke in an effort to devalue the Java programming language" you're dead-on.
You mean like how if anyone has a good piece of software out there, the linux world makes one for free and it ends up in a major linux distribution?
And it costs the end-user nothing. But when Microsoft rips off a program and embeds it into Windows and charges the users more for the functionality, that's a good thing?
You are changing the subject.
This is about developers, not end users.
I don't think I changed the subject. The original developers lose in either case. If MS *embraces* your app's functionality, they get paid for it. If OS duplicates your app, at least the users don't have to pay for it. I consider it the lesser of two evils. Just because Dan Bricklin wrote the first spreadsheet, it didn't mean no one else could write one. If your stuff is really that innovative, then you should patent it (I can't
Basically the inability of the US courts to stop Microsoft from doing what they continue to do is the same as the south winning the civil war.
I'm sorry, would you care to explain this a little better? Are you trying to say that the courts failed to stop Microsoft just like the Confederacy failed to break away from the Union? Or are you saying something about how the Confederacy would have functioned if they had won? This analogy really doesn't parse well.
Actually I'm alluding to the fact that the courts cant keep MS doing what they're doing. It's the same if the North was lazy and never pressed the issue against the south.
first off, Red Hat can add a program to their distribution that is better than a 3rd party's version just as easily as MS or Apple can, so the whole argument is mis-directed towards Microsoft (which is typical of many people here), but to specifically answer your list of 'victims':
Winzip: Winzip is still used by anyone that wants features that are worth paying for (password protection, etc), but most people don't pay for it anyway. Those who do pay need those features and Windows XP's Compressed Folder
It's such a vile piece of adware these days it can't be ripped out fast enough. IMHO if someone installed it on your PC you should be able to take them to court for a tresspass to chatels.
Winzip, Real Player, and Netscape all started off as niche applications and became incredibly popular. They were "sharecropped" not because Microsoft has evil intentions, but because by providing these things to users within the operating system, they create a greater value proposition for their customers. That's what businesses do: try to enhance their product so customers keep buying it (or new versions of it). Is Microsoft a huge, hulking, capitalistic corporation that wants to make money? Yes. Ask
Until (Score:5, Insightful)
But look at who's gotten sharecropped.
Winzip
Realplayer/MusicMatch
Netscape
I can go on..
It's true anytime someone comes up with a good idea MS goes ahead and builds it into their OS. Look at what they did to Java when it came out you had Sun Java and MS said nope.. lets make MS Java and make it work better with windows than Sun Java..
They took HTML and did the same thing.. Now many people have to program for IE and then the Other browsers as time permits.
Basically the inability of the US courts to stop Microsoft from doing what they continue to do is the same as the south winning the civil war.
Re:Until (Score:1)
Wow. (Score:1)
Re:Wow. (Score:2)
You mean like how if anyone has a good piece of software out there, the linux world makes one for free and it ends up in a major linux distribution?
And it costs the end-user nothing. But when Microsoft rips off a program and embeds it into Windows and charges the users more for the functionality, that's a good thing?
Re:Wow. (Score:1)
This is about developers, not end users.
The end user is free to stick with what they had before, and use whichever product they want.
Re:Wow. (Score:2)
You are changing the subject. This is about developers, not end users.
I don't think I changed the subject. The original developers lose in either case. If MS *embraces* your app's functionality, they get paid for it. If OS duplicates your app, at least the users don't have to pay for it. I consider it the lesser of two evils. Just because Dan Bricklin wrote the first spreadsheet, it didn't mean no one else could write one. If your stuff is really that innovative, then you should patent it (I can't
Lotus, Netscape, Real (Score:0)
Of course, we all know what happened to Netscape....
And of course RealPlayer was one of the 'original' streamers (the founder used to be an MS employee), and now there's Media Player streaming. Hmmm...
Re:Until (Score:2)
I'm sorry, would you care to explain this a little better? Are you trying to say that the courts failed to stop Microsoft just like the Confederacy failed to break away from the Union? Or are you saying something about how the Confederacy would have functioned if they had won? This analogy really doesn't parse well.
Re:Until (Score:2)
sharecropped? (Score:2)
Winzip: Winzip is still used by anyone that wants features that are worth paying for (password protection, etc), but most people don't pay for it anyway. Those who do pay need those features and Windows XP's Compressed Folder
Re:sharecropped? (Score:2)
It's such a vile piece of adware these days it can't be ripped out fast enough. IMHO if someone installed it on your PC you should be able to take them to court for a tresspass to chatels.
Re:Until (Score:3, Interesting)
I invoke Colonel Sanders' Corollary to Godwin's Law! [catb.org]
You must now eat fried chicken 'till doomsday.
Re:Until (Score:1, Flamebait)
Gimp is trying to sharecrop Photoshop.
Apache sharecropped Netscape Web Server.
and the list goes on...
Re:Until (Score:0)
Re:Until (Score:2)
Maybe we've finally found a GOOD use for software patents? To stop M$ doing just that?