This is part of The Pile, a partial archive of some open source mailing lists and newsgroups.
Subject: RE: MS Breakup From: Doug McGarrett <dougmack@i-2000.com> Date: Fri, 09 Jun 2000 14:05:38 -0400 Ed Foster reported several weeks ago in InfoWorld that MS is not permitting vendors who bundle Windows 98 to ship the OS CD-ROM with the computer. (So be warned!) Not only that, it has not made any big public announcement, so a lot of people are going to be rudely surprised, when some new installation says, "Place Windows disk in CD drive!" I quote from Ed Foster's column in InfoWorld for June 5th: "...a number of readers believed Microsoft's real intent is to discourage customers from trying alternative operating systems. "[One reader wrote]'The lack of a CD-ROM will clearly serve as a disincentive to anyone wishing to experiment with Linux.'" "An IT manager at a large manufacturer says that's exactly what Microsoft officials told him. 'I spoke to some of my contacts there, and found out that the medialess format is primarily designed to be a firewall against competitors like Linux,' he wrote, explaining it will make it harder to have a back-out strategy in place if an experimental Linux deployment gets in trouble. [...] 'To discourage corporations and consumers from changing, they are no longer distributing CDs with every machine, in hopes that the fear of change without any practical possibility of return will discourage most users from even looking at other systems.'" Now even as the judge has determined already, MS certainly does not play fair! Neither with competitors nor customers! You can follow the complete thread in InfoWorld on the web at www.infoworld.com. Ed Foster's column is called "The Gripe Line." The thread started about 3 weeks ago. ===