European Power
The EU is actually dictating to Microsoft. Wow.
Thanks to controversy and anti-trust allegations from (among others) Adobe and Norton, the new Microsoft Vista operating system will be shipping to Europe without the new features that these companies objected to (built-in security features, xdf document format, etc.)
Personally, I am of two minds on this one.
On the one hand, I'm not a Microsoft fan just on principle. Despite years of arguments to the contrary they do their utmost best to stifle all competition and make themselves the only solution. This is just wrong and never good for consumers. In this, I applaud the EU.
On the other hand, I live in Austin, mid-nation geek central and have plenty of access to free/cheap (can you say Taco Bell & a giant Mountain Dew?) computer support if I need it. If I was anywhere else, or not surrounded by a circle of friendly geeks Microsoft's all-inclusive solutions would look pretty good: they're guaranteed to be compatible, there's only one place to call for support, etc.
The EU has required Microsoft not to offer the stripped version of Vista for a higher price to discourage consumers from buying it.
If Microsoft really wants to be as fair as they say they do, they'd strip down the cost of Vista for everyone (not just Europe!) and price the additional features, browser, security, document stuff, and media player separately and equivalent to the competition.
But that'd be too logical, right?
Thanks to controversy and anti-trust allegations from (among others) Adobe and Norton, the new Microsoft Vista operating system will be shipping to Europe without the new features that these companies objected to (built-in security features, xdf document format, etc.)
Personally, I am of two minds on this one.
On the one hand, I'm not a Microsoft fan just on principle. Despite years of arguments to the contrary they do their utmost best to stifle all competition and make themselves the only solution. This is just wrong and never good for consumers. In this, I applaud the EU.
On the other hand, I live in Austin, mid-nation geek central and have plenty of access to free/cheap (can you say Taco Bell & a giant Mountain Dew?) computer support if I need it. If I was anywhere else, or not surrounded by a circle of friendly geeks Microsoft's all-inclusive solutions would look pretty good: they're guaranteed to be compatible, there's only one place to call for support, etc.
The EU has required Microsoft not to offer the stripped version of Vista for a higher price to discourage consumers from buying it.
If Microsoft really wants to be as fair as they say they do, they'd strip down the cost of Vista for everyone (not just Europe!) and price the additional features, browser, security, document stuff, and media player separately and equivalent to the competition.
But that'd be too logical, right?
posted by Dy at 5:45 AM
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