At 09:37 29/04/2000 -0400, Issodhos @aol.com wrote:
>Does anyone have a concise analysis of the benefits that would be derived
>from a breakup of Microsoft?  Alternatively, do we beneft more from a
>monopoly (if indeed it is one) or not?

Hi,

The breakup, if it happens, will allow more open access to the Windows API
which would allow all software developers writing for Win32 to hook into
the OS.  For example, Word for Windows may run faster than competitors not
because it's more compact or better written, but because there are
undocumented hooks into the OS that Microsoft developers know about and can
take advantage of, but non-MS developers can't.

Leaving that aside, MS has systematically crushed any and all
competition.  Internet Explorer was purchased from Sypglass and then dumped
"free" onto Windows users, in an obvious effort to crush its
competition.  There's more - you'll find information from
http://www.vcnet.com/bms/ which is a Boycott Microsoft site... take a look
at the "Dirty Tricks" and especially the "Hall of Innovation" links.

For my part, the best way of ending Microsoft's monopoly would be to GPL
<http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/free-sw.html> the operating system.  In
other words, make the source code completely available, freely
distributable, to anyone.  And anyone could then write applications for it,
modify the kernel, or do whatever they pleased.

Alister