Thread, From EETimes' column "WINTEL WATCH":
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January 22, 1998
Leave Microsoft alone
Now that the U.S. Department of Justice has extracted its pound of flesh from Microsoft--in the form of an agreement by the software giant to more or less unbundle its Internet Explorer Web browser from Windows 95--it's time to put to rest the relentless Microsoft-bashing that's consumed Attorney General Janet Reno and her minions.
Reno's plan to beat Microsoft into a bloody, corporate pulp has been a bad idea. For all its arrogance, Microsoft remains the stellar example of what entrepreneurial spirit can accomplish in America. Remember, here's a company that filled real needs with real products. That stands in stark contrast to the dozens of high-tech startups that have floated initial stock offerings during the past decade and then crashed back to earth once their founders' pockets were stuffed with dollars.
It's true Microsoft hasn't shown much grace under fire during its time on the Washington hot seat--company executives who knew better reacted with petulance and stupidity when U.S. District Judge Thomas Jackson directed Microsoft to demonstrate how to delete the Explorer icons while retaining Windows 95. Knowing better, Microsoft said it couldn't be done without "breaking" the operating system.
In one notorious incident, Microsoft executive vice president Steve Ballmer went so far as to proclaim, "To heck with Janet Reno"--a comment that was quickly retracted by cooler corporate heads.
So, what have we learned from this legal tussle? Nothing we didn't already know. Yes, Microsoft is arrogant. Yes, they have often used a little too much marketing muscle in pushing their products. And, yes, some of their cadre of cookie-cutter product managers seem like they must have sisters who are wives in Stepford.
But here's the essential point to remember: there are alternatives. Competitive software--both applications and operating systems--is readily available. Many are dirt-cheap and fun to use. Don't like Windows? How about FreeBSD, a fully compatible Unix clone that can be had for less than $40. Can't stand Internet Explorer? Then try the tried-and-true NCSA Mosaic or that old standby Netscape Navigator.
I could go on and on, but you get the point. Indeed, in the software world, there's just no case to be made that users are locked into Bill Gates's vise grip.
Contrast that to the situation on the hardware side of the desktop-computing business. There's the Intel architecture and there's the . . .uh, Intel architecture. As an alternative, of course, there's the Intel architecture. (Sparc, MIPS, Alpha and PowerPC are among the competing microprocessors, but I would argue that they are mainly factors in workstations or embedded applications, not the desktop.)
The upshot is that the Justice Dept. should declare victory, beat a precipitous retreat and let the software industry get back to the two things it does best: 1) writing code and 2) bitching and moaning about big, bad Microsoft.
There really are bigger fish to fry.
Alexander Wolfe is EE Times' Managing Editor for computers and communications
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