__/ [ Robert Newson ] on Friday 15 September 2006 20:43 \__
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
> ...
>> Here's a thought that I have. Think FrontPage and Internet Explorer. What
>> Microsoft intends to do here, which is also what Adobe argued against
>> Microsoft at the time (in court/Commission?) is that portability of PDF's
>> is what Adobe thrives on. Microsoft could corrupt the format as it has
>> always done. It could 'extend' PDF in a way that only permits its own
>> software (Metro, Windows-only) to read those 'extensions'.
>
> Surely then, MS would have to write a "corrupted PDF" generator - one which
> does not generate proper PDF. Doesn't Adobe licence the PDF format (surely
> they could complain that it's not proper PDF and so shouldn't be so called?
> just like these protected audio "cd"s don't meet the Phillips defn of an
> audio CD and so can't be called as such, ie can't have the CD logo) or is
> PDF an open, free to use and extend as one wishes format?
I suspect that not so long ago Microsoft proposed an alternative to PDF (I
could try to find the link I blogged about), just as it worked/s on a
Photoshop killer and a Flash alternative called Sparkle. One thing is for
sure: Microsoft wants Adobe out of its turf (platform). Adobe helps opening
the Web, as well as facilitates communication across platforms in general.
Interoperability hurts Microsoft cash cow (Office), among other products
whose revenue potential is lower. Anything that does not help Microsoft's
agenda, as benevolent to end-users as it may be, is perceived as evil that
ought to be eliminated. Think Netscape or Linux. But industry is not a
person. It has no feelings and in a world that promote oligopoly it will
have no 'ethical' barriers either. A law needs to be ratified which is
somehow of a surrogate of ethics. I suspect that the European Commission can
see that. But Microsoft is clung up on the American dream and the mottos of
extreme capitalism (like republicanism/nationalism).
Best wishes,
Roy
--
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