Everything has a beginning, but everything has an end as well.
Quite right, exactly the point, well have the point I am trying to get across. But lets face it, Micro$oft has been more of a victim of court cases than valid competition. I'm not saying Micro$oft would be easy to beat, I'm just saying that it would be easier if the 'competition' made a competitive product.
Every man and his dog knows that no operating system is perfect, all have good points and bad points. Hell, I still use DOS for things and when was that made? People like you and me can install things like Linux with little or no problems but Joe Average obviously cant which is why he prefers to pay for an OS that really installs itself. Market power doesn't just materialise from thin air, it comes from taking something (ripping if you like) and turning it into a product that people who otherwise have no computer knowledge can assimilate to.
When a Unix based product can:
Arrive on a boxed CD,
Come with free support from the vendor,
More or less install itself without asking the end user to find things like video card model numbers,
Automatically detect internet connections and install drivers for them,
Etc etc etc....
Then the masses will go for it and leave Micro$oft wanting.
At this time Linux and FreeBSD offerings simply cannot provide this and the only Non-Windows OS that can is OSX. It's main disadvantage though is the cost of hardware.
When you look at it from a business perspective all Micro$oft is doing is protecting an investment worth billions. If I was running the company I know I'd do all I could to achieve that end too. Large companies also play an important role in society by employing thousands of people and donating to charities and medical research.
Here in Australia our national phone carrier, Telstra, is probably on an equal footing with Micro$oft in some respects. Telstra is BIG, dominant and universally bagged by alot of people. Yet when they see someone injured and dial the 000 emergency number they are taking advantage of a service offered and supported by that company, at times without even bothering to think about it. Or if you look at General Motors and Ford, between the two they make half of the world's cars under various brands but they cop it too from the muckrakers.
People need to wake up to themselves. Lead the way and offer something better before bagging what they obviously cannot improve on.
