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6 Comments
- inactive, on 11/08/2009, -1/+6no...
- UnterDenLinden, on 11/08/2009, -0/+4Net income: $3,574,000,000 for Q1 '09.
No. - jrm125, on 11/08/2009, -1/+5No.
- doshindude, on 11/08/2009, -1/+3Buried as sensationalist article.
It's NOT a monopoly, quit QQing because your precious Mac doesn't have more market share. - jrm125, on 11/08/2009, -1/+1I thought that was already Activision.
- Topher06, on 11/08/2009, -2/+1Near monopoly on what? Hardware? Hardly, PC's can run almost anything you want on them. Sure buying any new PC comes with Windows, but that is not a monopoly. Microsoft does not explicitly deny the ability to run another OS on a PC, the people making Linux just haven't made an OS people are willing to invest the time and effort to replace Windows with.
Near monopoly on software? No. Again people choose Windows OS, not just because its the default OS on their computer, but because its the only OS that works well for them without tying them into specialized hardware. Sure, people can switch to a OS X, but it comes at a $1000 - $2000 premium only to replace the same PC hardware they already have with more expensive hardware with the same specifications. Also Microsoft doesn't limit what software can run on Windows. In fact I would suggest that Windows is the easiest and most widely available platform to develop on. Their development software Visual Studio is excellent for building apps on and is available for free, the developer community for Windows is extremely active and there are examples on how to do almost anything you want on windows. Don't like C++, develop in VB, or C#, or Java, or Perl, or Python, etc. Don't like Visual Studio then get any one of a number of development platforms. Open source is just as widely available on Windows as with any other platform. Sure Microsoft might be the most dominant OS out there, but they are the most widely supported OS by software vendors and hobbyists, and yes, more so then on *nix.
If you are talking about the IE that gets thrown in with every Windows install, how about Safari on every Mac, or Chrome pushed with every Google app you install, or Firefox made default in most *nix distros. Every OS needs a DEFAULT browser, why should Microsoft not use their own homegrown browser? Why should Microsoft have to offer a choice in 3rd party software when Windows is installed? It doesn't make sense, and once IE is installed feel free (and nothing stops you) from installing safari, chrome, firefox, etc. I don't believe that in this day and age ignorance and apathy is what keeps IE installed on Windows, even my Dad that doesn't know a lot about computer had a newer version of FireFox installed before I did.
Also GM doesn't run a monopoly. They might offer the most models of any car vendor, but that doesn't mean a monopoly. The fact they almost went under proves that GM has no monopoly on anything.
I think most people are making the ignorant claim that the largest company in competition means its a monopoly. Success != monopoly. Size != monopoly. Microsoft's success did not come from establishing a monopoly, it came from offering people what they already wanted. I have yet to find a single competitor to Windows offer something that the masses want. Linux lacks software and hardware support, OS X comes with $1000 premium on the same PC hardware, and... well there are no other OS choices worth noting. IE might be installed on every Windows but it does not have 100% marketshare. In fact considering that IE does not equal the number of Windows installations proves that Microsoft does not run a monopoly on browsers.
I get tired of the PC vs Mac wars, or Windows vs Linux battles. Its all moot. The competition might think they are great, but they are not, and for two reasons:
1) They are arrogant and assume simply telling people they are better will help them gain marketshare, yet the almost exclusively ignorant of what the market actually wants, such as good value. This is Apple's biggest flaw.
2) They are disorganized and not presenting a single front to compete with Windows. They claim that a community based approach to OS design builds a stronger OS, yet the OS created suffers from schizophrenia and continuously suffers from the "too many cooks in the kitchen" syndrome which produces an overall weak product that the masses do not want. This is Linux's biggest flaw.
Sure, Microsoft might gain or lose market share from time to time, but there is no real competition to Windows. Apple chooses to remain an expensive niche market product, and Linux chooses to be built and distributed by a million monkeys begging for donations, Google's web app approach will not win over the corporate market who values security and control. Customers are choosing Windows because its the only product that comes with good value but is not a nightmare to install or maintain ( regardless of what the Digg masses claim ). Extraordinary customer demand != monopoly, it means doing it the right way.
