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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated

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To: LindyBill who wrote (94354)	1/9/2005 4:10:09 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) of 793883

Microsoft Rolls Out Free Software? By Steven L. @ Poliblog Microsoft annonuces plans to distribute free anti-virus software and pop-up blocker. An article discussing the plan is here. (Motley Fool) While the company claims that the antivirus software will simply enhance existing premium products by McAfee (NYSE: MFE) and Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) in order to provide a more pristine computing experience, let’s not be naive. That’s how the dance starts. That certainly has to be a concern of the two companies. To my memory, Microsoft’s early ventures into practically every niche market had clunky first generation programs that were inferior to the primary competitor. Wordperfect in word processing and Netscape in browsing come to mind – probably spreadsheeting and a host of others, too. Only after 4-5 versions had been generated – each gaining functionality to mimic the functions of the front-runner – did MS manage to put out something truly comparable. Most companies could not afford to wait that long before putting out a decent alternative, but MS has the funds to do so. Likewise, it has the funds to send out these programs for free - if it helps boost their other sales, especially. If the free product ever does away with all the competition, however, you have to wonder if it will remain free.

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