Re: Pirates of Silicon Valley

[sheercon@earthlink.net]

Bruce Baker wrote:

> I didn't see this movie but people who poopoo Bill Gates are missing a lot.
> Gates obviously does a lot of things right or his company wouldn't be where it
> is.  This is the pure and simple fact.

That's Machiavelian reasoning that works fine if you happen to believe that the
ends justify the means.

> Now you may not like the man, or you
> may be jealous of the man and his wealth.  But the fact is he has kept quality
> very high and he has satisfied his customers.   Otherwise people would have
> bought other software.  Now they may not have a choice about operating systems,
> but they do on software.

Ahem... "quality" on Microsoft products is non existant. Microsoft software is
poorly written and bug filled - so much so that it is has been seriously questioned
whether or not the bugs were purposely put into their programs to keep people
upgrading. The average person does not have a choice when it comes to an OS; 95% of
all software is written for Windows - so if you or your company needs a particular
piece of software in most cases you have to buy Windows. Microsoft has even bought
software companies to insure that the software would not be written for any other
platform. They have monopolized the software market - and you will end up the
loser. Technological advancements are sacrificed for the sake of backwards
compatibility and to keep Microsoft's hefty monopoly in place.  And incidentally,
Microsoft has just now got around to putting features into their OS that Mac's have
had since the mid 80's.


>  I have always refused to use internet explorer but I
> am about to at least not totally avoid it.  It is a good product, perhaps
> better than Netscape (which I always use when I can).
>

Bundling Internet explorer with Win 98 is a prime example of how Microsoft is
attempting to crush any competition and shove their software down your throat. They
are even putting that crap on Mac's now. Internet explorer comes already installed
on most computers and if you try to run Netscape it causes it to crash in some
instances - coincidence?  And removing Internet explorer is no easy task for novice
users.

>
> Word is also very good.
>
> I think Win98 and Win 95 are very buggy, but that is probably because they have
> had to become maclike.  MacOs was always more buggy that Win 3.1.
>
> There is plenty of competition out there.

That's the thing - there isn't any competition. Microsoft destroys or buys out any
company if there is even a hint that they might be a competitor. They don't play
"fair"; and by that I mean they break the law - as this current anti-monopoly
lawsuit the Government has filed against them will show. Remember what happened to
Standard Oil and Rockefeller?

Brian