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Breaking Microsoft's Stangle-Hold
by
Robert Betts
(Age: 61)
copyright 11-17-2007
Age Rating: 7 to 127
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For those of you who are Windows users and are not aware, Microsoft has decided to void their licensing agreement with you. Instead of an agreement to use Windows, a right which you paid for you now have a rental agreement which Microsoft can void at any time it wishes. In fact, they may very possibly charge you a monthly rental fee in the future. If you search the web you'll find more than one horror story where Microsoft has voided this rental agreement. Yesterday I had to reload Windows because it had failed yet again. Trying the internet activation I was told that I had installed Windows "too many times", begging the question, "How many installs of a defective operating system am I allowed?" It took four calls to Microsoft to get it activated. To show their belligerence, they hung up on me three times of the four times.
This has basically come about because Microsoft now requires that you call them to activate your windows installation. They now have the freedom to refuse to activate your installation, leaving you with a useless product. They have used this right to refuse activation to many people who's installation is suspicious in their opinion.
So what is your recourse?
Microsoft has, for all intents and purposes, a monopoly. in the United States, the Sherman Anti-Trust law declares this illegal, which makes Microsoft a criminal organization. Nonetheless you can wait until a very hot place freezes over before you will see anyone in our government enforce these laws. You can be certain that for a price, most of the congressmen and senators have their own "agreement" with Microsoft. If your representative doesn't have such an agreement you can bet that he will bend to the huge lobby that Microsoft exerts long before he pays any attention to your concerns.
Well, what about Linux?
Completely fed up with Microsoft, for the last day I have been trying to install Linux on an extra computer I have... with no success at all. The best I get is a screen which resembles a very smeared Picasso with areas of it that blink and change color... and I have a very good understanding of computers! For the novice Linux is quite simply a nightmare to be avoided at any cost, even if one has to grovel at the feet of Microsoft. Linux is Open-Source which means that anyone can get the source code and modify it any way they wish. This is both a blessing and a curse. Since no one "owns" the code then it is not possible to charge the exorbitant fees that Microsoft charges because anyone can copy it and make a similar version. The curse is that at least 50 people/programming groups have. These people are fiercely independent so Microsoft has 50 dysfunctional competitors who actually cannot muster any sort of competition. This is the living proof that Microsoft has a monopoly. Monopolies invite the sort of abuses that Microsoft uses against its customers, you and I.
What about Microsoft's copyrights?
Copyrights are quite obviously a very mixed blessing. Yes, a person should have rights to his work and should be able to profit from his work. But there should be limits. Companies that are engaged in criminal violation of Anti-Trust law should not expect that their copyrights be honored. It is absurd to enforce copyright law at the expense of creating and endorsing monopolies. Nonetheless you can also bet that Microsoft also owns many judges so their desires are quite likely to be honored.
The solution:
Since anti-trust laws are not likely to be enforced, and the competition is impotent, there is only one possible legal solution. Some company with sufficient financial backing needs to clone Windows. We need a modern day Howard Hughs to finance this. Microsoft will most certainly scream "foul" when they are forced to compete so the clone must be sufficiently different so that it can stand up to the lawsuits that Microsoft will undoubtedly lodge. With their billions of dollars they will fight tooth and nail so the company must have strong financial and legal backing to break Microsoft's monopoly to allow consumers the freedom of choice which is a cornerstone of our society and the right of every American.
The other solution:
It is clear that Microsoft is violating anti-trust laws. It is also clear that they will never be taken to task about this. Should a company engaging in criminal violation of Anti-Trust law be allowed to hide behind Copyright Law? Should they be allowed to use the laws to keep us prostrate at their feet? This begs questions about the validity of hacking or cracking Windows. Yes, it is illegal, but is it immoral? I leave that to the reader's judgment.
This is a "call to arms." I can only hope that it will be read by the right people.
bob
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02-06-2008 Eric Gasparich
There's an old joke that goes "what do you call Microsoft 2000? Mac '89."
I'm currently running Windows XP Home Edition (w/ Service Pack 2) and I have not had any real issues, but perhaps I have been fortunate.
Nevertheless, my next computer is probably going to be a Mac. I am impressed with the strides the Unix based systems have made. They can now actually open a Windows platform to run Windows based programs from within that window. The security of the system is also a big plus. This isn't an ad for Macs or anything, but I think that getting a Mac will have to suffice as the extent of my protest against the very real anti-trust behaviors you describe.
Personally, I don't see anything changing this until there is some sort of internet Götterdämmerung, possibly from a terrorist attack, in which the security failures can be laid squarely at the feet of Microsoft's monopoly.
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12-10-2007 Leigh G.
Hmm. I was lost for half of this due to my own lack of knowledge on the topic. It doesn't surprise me though, Microsoft has been spewing faulty products out like it's a new fad. *points at extremely slow Windows Vista computers and the Xbox360's Red Ring of Death*
I had a 2004 Dell Dimension series crap out on me shortly before Thanksgiving. I pulled my seven-year-old HP Pavilion Desktop out and used the virus-infested thing for a few weeks before it stopped functioning and gave me the Blue Screen of Death saying there was a hardware error. Tttthhhheeennnn, my dad's doctor friend gave us a Windows 2000 Dell...I'm still recovering from using that poor excuse for a computer.
I also have a HP laptop that I purchased in 2006 that isn't on line but has served me well. It's Windows XP. I had trouble with the disc drive when it froze up on me about a month before the warranty wore out but in the year since then I haven't had any problems from it. Currently, I am operating on new HP laptop that has Windows Vista Home Premium.
What I think of it? It's cool. They redid a lot thing so there's new stuff for personalization and color schemes. The menus have been changed but I'm (though it's embarrassing XD) unable to transfer documents from one user to another as of now. I do have one gripe about Windows Vista Home Premium, it takes FOREVER to turn on sometimes. Strangely, it's been speeding up since getting it but if I ever needed to get a computer on fast I'd go for my old internetless HP laptop. I'm determined to keep it a virgin from the internet. My old laptop boots up faster than you can memorize the pronunciation and spelling of einherjar. This Windows Vista one? Like I said, it will suddenly take forever to turn on sometimes with no explanation.
All in all, Microsoft scamming doesn't surprise me. I'll probably go to Wikipedia and read about "Linux." I've never used a Mac, but I love my iPod, so I'm no flat out against Apple anymore. XD Although, out of all the computers I've had (four plus a Windows 2000 I used for a few hours) my absolute favorite is my Windows XP laptop. Windows Vista is too new...I'd like to see it in another year or so.
Interest story you've presented! Not only had it freed me from some of my technological ignorance, it brings awareness to Windows users.
Leigh of the Commenting Community
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12-04-2007 Lauren T.
Really?!
Wow.
Thats strange......
I never knew this.
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12-02-2007 Robert Betts
Ubuntu was one of several varieties of Linux that gave me a garbage screen which prevented me from even installing it. I did manage to get OpenSUSE to install since it did function with my graphics card, a NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti4200 w/ AGP8X. Have you ever heard of Windows giving a garbage screen when you try to install it? I haven't.
If you REALLY want to see how horrible Linux is check out these instructions on how to network a Windows XP computer with one running OpenSUSE 10.3
Networking with Linux Open SUSE
I defy anyone to figure that out on their own without that guide ! Yes, the guide does work. I got the two computers networked.
Here's another challenge: Get midi to work with Linux so you can enjoy the PnP Musicbox. All I have been able to get is a horrible sounding Musicbox that hiccups and stutters. And trust me, that involved installing a number of programs and their dependencies.
Which is another problem. It is seldom that you can install a Linux program without having dependencies. There are programs that resolve dependencies for you... if you're lucky enough to find yours listed. Otherwise dependencies can have dependencies that also have dependencies, ad nauseum. In some cases you simply will not be able to resolve this and you won't be able to install a program that you want to use... Ever see that in Windows ? No, Windows programs are complete. Nothing else has to be installed.
Any of these Linux problems simply don't exist in Windows.
At present Linux sux big time and as long as the various flavors remain independent from each other, it is not likely to improve. Getting them together is about as likely as the sun burning out tomorrow.
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12-01-2007 Buddy Ales
Silly Bob,
Do you want me to come install Linux for you? :P It can be tough, seriously. Linux isn't much fun to install these days.
Microsoft is just a bunch of stuck up.. well.. you catch the drift.
Apple? Yeah, right. Apple is the most useless software I have ever seen! Microsoft is getting more and more overwhelmed and, as Bob put it, a monopoly. Linux? No one can claim rights to it, it is open source. Can be used, can be installed.
Bob, have you tried Ubuntu Linux? That seems to be the best distribution I have seen in a long time.
Anyways, I do not know what to do about the Operating systems, I do not know how we can get around this issue. If I had more programming knowledge, believe me, I would be working on an alternative myself. (But I sadly only know some C++)
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