Re: RE my XP Windows got broke in a Hailstorm

Chris,

>That does change with XP, right? The new licensing method that will require
>the OS to be relicensed for each configuration it is installed on.

And I think therein lies the real reason MS is saying "Software Assurance" is
only available to those running Office XP, and setting an Oct 1 deadline.  They
have a much better chance of controlling piracy with XP, and need to figure out
how to entice people to XP even if they are satisfied with the feature set of
Office 97 or 2000.

In the early years of Office, when I thought they were still quite behind Lotus
and AmiPro etc, they needed the market penetration of all but giving Office away
to PC distributors, etc.  And turning a blind eye to home-user piracy helps
solidify market penetration.  

I'll admit I switched to MS Office several releases ago, but I think the only
reason they got the market penetration they did was by the early bundling.  It
certainly wasn't because the early releases of Word were that good (IMHO).  To
me it is just about like the IE vs Netscape thing -- corner the market by nearly
giving it away.

Had Office been required to compete in the open marketplace from the beginning,
I don't see how they would have had the sales to get the funds to enhance it to
the point it would sell on its own merits.  Early versions of Office were like
early versions of IE -- it's a good thing you didn't pay much for it, because it
sure wasn't worth much.

But now Office is a respectable suit, just like IE is a decent browser.  Just
forcing MS to divest the applications group and/or Internet group now is like
closing the barn door after the horses are out -- so what?  They've already used
an unlevel playing field to all but destroy the competition.  Just trying to
make them compete on a level playing field from here on out does not rectify the
injustice of how they got to where they are today.

Doug

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