Originally posted by iJon
microsoft is being smart. although it really sucks for us i would do the same thing they did. buy out connectix, now they make a almost 100% profit on it and stop distributing windows to realpc. i hate to admit it but there a smart business team, you dont become the richest man overnight.
iJon
I wouldn't say smart. Shrewd and cunning is more like it. Let's not forget they were actually found GUILTY of anti-trust practices, they just weren't punished. And since none of the punitive actions had any effect, they are moving forward with their own ways of crushing competition.
Here are two examples. Linux is a threat that they have not been able to counter as of yet. So, what do they do. They buy the only company that has a decent anti-virus application for Linux and decide not to continue the product. It doesn't matter that the majority of malicious code only effects Windows, the fact that you can't get decent anti-virus software will keep many users away.
OS X is making a very strong statement. Microsoft could see this as a precusor to a new threat. Stability of Linux/Unix with as good (if not better) GUI. So, what do they do, buy Connectix, which at the time was making the only virtual machine for Windows on the OS X platform. They also discontinue IE for both platforms and will bury it in the Windows OS in the future. You wait, Office will be next.
Now, these could all be just "smart" business moves. However, they follow the general pattern that Microsoft has followed over the years. And it is the same general pattern that they were found guilty of anti-trust practices.
You say smart, I say shrewd, cunning, and just a bit illegal!