Anti-trust committee checks out Windows 7
,----[ Quote ]
| A landmark US anti-trust case against Microsoft was settled under the consent
| decree in 2002 after it was found to have guarded its monopoly over its
| Windows operating system.
|
| The committee said it was now examining Windows 7 (code-named Blackcomb then
| Vienna) to see if the company has complied with the original settlement,
| which required that Microsoft make its products interoperable with those
| created by its competitors.
|
| [...]
|
| The "Vista Capable" labels row blew up in Microsoft's face last month. US
| judge Marsha Pechman gave consumers the go-ahead to file a class action
| lawsuit against Microsoft for providing misleading information about Windows
| XP computers being able to run Vista.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/11/microsoft_windows_7_vista_capable/
Microsoft will, as usual, try to play dirty. It has already tried this against
Google (Desktop, Web search) in Vista and also broke compatibility with a lot
of third-party software.
Related:
Google calls for greater Windows Vista openness
,----[ Quote ]
| Seattle PI has quoted David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer,
| saying: "These remedies are a step in the right direction, but they
| should be improved further to give consumers greater access to
| alternate desktop search providers."
`----
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/06/20/google_windows_vista_search/
Time for Anti-Trust 2.0?
,----[ Quote ]
| PC Manufacturer Acer is complaining that Microsoft has jacked up
| the price of Vista, and that the basic versions are so basic no one
| will ship them. Since the collapse of the Microsoft Anti-trust Case
| under the Bush Administration in 2001, manufacturers have no choice
| but to accede, adding hundreds of dollars to the cost of each PC.
| With Gates now proclaiming victory over European Regulators,
| Microsoft once again seems unstoppable. But Microsoft had drawn
| itself close to the Republican Party. With the Republicans now
| evicted from the House and Senate, is it time to look at the
| Microsoft Anti-trust Suit? Could Microsoft be compelled to
| lower its inflating Vista prices, or to open their tech or
| even supply funding to Linux-flavored Windows such as Wine?
`----
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/11/0918235&from=rss
Does Google Have Another Move in Vista Chess Game?
,----[ Quote ]
| Google's protests over the way desktop search is handled in Microsoft's
| Vista OS have so far fallen on deaf ears. A U.S. district judge denied
| Google's request to extend Microsoft's antitrust agreement with federal
| and state governments, essentially saying the matter was none of
| Google's business. The judge suggested that Google appeal to DoJ,
| which has shown no sympathy for the search giant.
`----
http://technewsworld.com/story/ekZ8GFQxbGgXwd/Does-Google-Have-Another-Move-in-Vista-Chess-Game.xhtml
Microsoft Finds Legal Defender in Justice Dept.
,----[ Quote ]
| Nearly a decade after the government began its landmark effort to break
| up Microsoft, the Bush administration has sharply changed course by
| repeatedly defending the company both in the United States and abroad
| against accusations of anticompetitive conduct, including the recent
| rejection of a complaint by Google.
|
| [...]
|
| In the most striking recent example of the policy shift, the top
| antitrust official at the Justice Department last month urged state
| prosecutors to reject a confidential antitrust complaint filed by
| Google that is tied to a consent decree that monitors Microsoft's
| behavior. Google has accused Microsoft of designing its latest
| operating system, Vista, to discourage the use of Google's desktop
| search program, lawyers involved in the case said.
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/business/10microsoft.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Software rivals say Microsoft's Vista illegal in Europe
,----[ Excerpt ]
| Software manufacturers, citing 2004 European Commission finding,
| contend the operating system violates server laws in Europe.
`----
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/26/news/international/bc.vista.microsoft.eu.reut/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote
Microsoft publishes list of compatibility problems with Vista Service Pack 1
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft has published a list of programs that may "experience a loss of
| functionality", if they run at all, once Service Pack 1 has been installed on
| Windows Vista.
`----
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/103815/from/rss09
Microsoft tries to stop more ‘Vista-capable’ e-mails from going public
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is trying to put the kibosh on more of its internal (and
| embarassing) e-mail messages around its Vista marketing plans going public.
|
| [...]
|
| With every version of Windows, Microsoft has worked with hardware partners to
| find new ways to try to convince users they need more and more powerful
| machines to take advantage of more feature-rich software. If Microsoft and
| its partners were/are successful, it means more money in the PC makers’ and
| Microsoft’s coffers. With Vista, this pact really back-fired, as the already
| published e-mails around Vista-capable — and more, as-yet-unpublicized
| messages — will make evident.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1254
They Criticized Vista. And They Should Know.
,----[ Quote ]
| Act 1: In 2005, Microsoft plans to say that only PCs that are properly
| equipped to handle the heavy graphics demands of Vista are “Vista Ready.”
|
| Act 2: In early 2006, Microsoft decides to drop the graphics-related hardware
| requirement in order to avoid hurting Windows XP sales on low-end machines
| while Vista is readied. (A customer could reasonably conclude that Microsoft
| is saying, Buy Now, Upgrade Later.) A semantic adjustment is made: Instead of
| saying that a PC is “Vista Ready,” which might convey the idea that, well, it
| is ready to run Vista, a PC will be described as “Vista Capable,” which
| supposedly signals that no promises are made about which version of Vista
| will actually work.
|
| The decision to drop the original hardware requirements is accompanied by
| considerable internal protest. The minimum hardware configuration was set so
| low that “even a piece of junk will qualify,” Anantha Kancherla, a Microsoft
| program manager, said in an internal e-mail message among those recently
| unsealed, adding, “It will be a complete tragedy if we allowed it.”
|
| Act 3: In 2007, Vista is released in multiple versions, including “Home
| Basic,” which lacks Vista’s distinctive graphics. This placed Microsoft’s
| partners in an embarrassing position. Dell, which gave Microsoft a postmortem
| report that was also included among court documents, dryly
| remarked: “Customers did not understand what ‘Capable’ meant and expected
| more than could/would be delivered.”
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business/09digi.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin
Microsoft knew of Vista shortcoming prior to release
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsoft-knew-vista-shortcoming-prior/story.aspx?guid=%7B75BE59C7%2DEFA1%2D48B5%2DB4A4%2D90F5E01A52A0%7D&siteid=yhoof
Microsoft dropped Vista hardware spec to raise Intel profits
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/03/01/microsoft_intel_vista_capable_emails/
Microsoft 'Caves' To Intel
http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/28/microsoft-vista-intel-tech-ebiz-cx_wt_0228vista.html?partner=yahootix
Has Vista lost all credibility?
http://apcmag.com/8344/has_vista_lost_all_credibility
|
|
