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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!metro!metro!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!news.wildstar.net!news.ece.uc.edu!babbage.ece.uc.edu!news.kei.com!uhog.mit.edu!news.mathworks.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in2.uu.net!news.alt.net!news1.alt.net!news.aros.net!usenet From: jbrush@aros.net Newsgroups: alt.fan.bill-gates,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.win95.misc,comp.os.os2.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,alt.org.team-os2,alt.destroy.microsoft,comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: Is Microsoft's Internet plan more about its love of power than about users? Date: 8 May 1996 18:47:52 GMT Organization: ArosNet Inc. Lines: 46 Message-ID: <4mqq8o$6js@news.aros.net> References: <4mlpnf$d4p@sidhe.memra.com> Reply-To: jbrush@aros.net NNTP-Posting-Host: anp36.aros.net X-Newsreader: IBM NewsReader/2 v1.2 Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au alt.fan.bill-gates:22046 comp.os.ms-windows.nt.misc:105222 comp.os.ms-windows.win95.misc:135806 comp.os.os2.advocacy:200422 comp.sys.mac.advocacy:104981 comp.os.linux.advocacy:48582 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:18996 In <4mlpnf$d4p@sidhe.memra.com>, michael@memra.com (Michael Dillon) writes: >I couldn't help thinking of Winston's querulous incredulity when I was at >Internet World in San Jose, Calif., last week. When it comes to >Microsoft's Internet strategy, I understand how, but I don't understand >why. I understand how Microsoft hopes to use ActiveX to keep developers >slaving over the Win32 APIs and you and me joylessly wedded to Microsoft's >massive platforms. That part's easy. But I no longer know if Microsoft's >resistance to thin clients goes much beyond the desire for things to go on >as they are. Imagine Windows booting up in your face forever. > > This is an excellent observation which supports the much bandied about theory that competition breeds excellence, monopoly breeds Microsoft software. Yes, OS/2 has quirks that make it hard to set up, and the preconceived notion of no applications exist causes people to shy away from it. Problem is, when someone buys M$ products, they are contributing to the problem in a big way because that decision tells M$ that everything is okay and no matter how badly you screw me over, I will always come back for more. Standing up for what you want, revolutions if you will, are always painful for a time, but if done correctly, the outcome justifies the actions. If someone wants M$ to get better at what they do, they might consider taking their business elsewhere to show the head guy that he needs to consider the requirements of his users if he is to survive. Hey, if the M$ stuff were to get better, you could always switch back to it :-) Imagine the results if football fans had decided to not go back to the NFL for a year, following the strike? Do you think things would have changed for the better for the fan? You bet. Costs would have have to be adjusted, and it would have been a win for the fans. However, the fans could not endure a little suffering to prove the point. They just went back in droves because they could not live without a "fix" Same thing happens in computers. M$ has problems in their software, just like all companies do. Problem is, M$ users don't get what they need cause BG thinks they won't dare switch for fear of having to do something a little differently, and history has shown that although he is a lousy software developer, he is a good judge of his customers attitudes. John