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Chris, Mike Look, I'm not going to work out all the details for a consent order that ain't likely to happen. But let me at least clear up what I'm talking about. Day 0: You have 2 companies: M$ and m$. They both own the code base for both Windoze and Orifice. They probably share the same top management for x period of time. Day 1: Both companies gear up their marketing channels, since they have the same customer base. Day 2: They both start trying to cut a deal with Netscape (even though OSS), if not to buy out the code, at least to develop standards that their version of Explorer can capitalize on. Year 1: Bill Gates allowed to start shifting his portfolio to one company or the other. Year 2: New, probably very similar versions of Windoze, released. Sorry, postpone that to year 5...;-) Year 3: ?? Who knows, maybe the industry benefits in some ways, and loses in others. Well... no maybe about it. There will be big winners and huge losers. I'm no expert on the corporate culture of M$, but from what I've seen, it based primarily on cannabilism. Win at all costs. Destroy or buy out all competition. Does any one really believe Bill Gates is doing it for the money any more...? Whatever... The only way I can think of to tame a pit bull, is pit it against another pit bull. This may seem ruthless, but M$ coffers are so big, they can sustain a few rocky years. But if the industry benefits, as a whole, from the competition, and if the products from both companies are /open enough/ *to allow developers a common set of APIs to develop to*, then there should be more money, in total for Bill Gates and all. As the Linux movement gets larger, however, the chances of any change at M$ become smaller. And if there is a world-wide depression, there could be a downside to any settlement like this, so maybe it's best to leave everything like it is right now...;-) That's the most likely result of any kind of consent decree anyway. M$ has had consent decrees already. What did they change? Whatever... That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it...;-) I admit it's convenient that my theory can't be mathematically disproved. I'm not saying it's not worth discussing, because I've been following this thread, fairly close. But it's all theory, with little practical application. The iNation may end up being the same... Who knows for sure...? There are too many interesting threads, that's for sure. One last quick comment. Mike you wrote "Would your company give it's product away to another to improve it and sell it as a competing product? I think not, unless you are open source. " I don't know. IBM might do such a thing through the iNation, which they would own 50/50. I don't know if IBM would do that, but it /does/ make a lot of economic sense. It would do a lot to promote innovation. The problem with Open Source is it doesn't have a working business model to support it. Sure they /say/ they have one, but what it provides is a sure way to drain capital, and what it lacks is a sure way to generate profits. Minor details, of course...;-) jJt -----Original Message----- From: owner-midrange-l@midrange.com [mailto:owner-midrange-l@midrange.com]On Behalf Of Wills, Mike N. (TC) Sent: Friday, July 20, 2001 4:51 PM To: 'MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com' Subject: RE: no Java in XP Windows Importance: High The other problem I see with that is this. Would your company give it's product away to another to improve it and sell it as a competing product? I think not, unless you are open source. It wouldn't happen, MS1 would have WindowsXP, MS2 would have to build one from scratch. Granted they might be able to create a similar product quite quickly, but actually designing something new? At first I would have _loved_ to see M$ split up, but now I realize that there are problems related to that. For one, you still have Windows, the number one OS in the US, and you still have Office, the number one office product in the US. Where is the competition in that? Honestly, I think in a couple years Linux or Unix will finally have a commercial quality product for the x86 platform which will hurt MS badly. So for a punishment, I would stab MS a couple times with a knife (because slaps don't teach lessons) and let them go. "Let the best product win!" Mike Wills IT Corporate Support MNWills@taylorcorp.com -----Original Message----- From: Chris Rehm [mailto:javadisciple@earthlink.net] Sent: Friday, July 20, 2001 2:52 PM To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com Subject: Re: no Java in XP Windows > ***What I'm suggesting is two companies that start with the same code > base.*** Just split them up in two teams (ie companies). Let them > duke it > out, and given the carnivarous atmosphere at M$, you would probably > see some > amazing innovation. Therefore, more money for Bill Gates and his > shareholders. Well, I wouldn't expect to see the same philosophy as you see now. After all, both companies are Bill and his shareholders, right? So when they got into a price war with each other and shaved their margins, it wold be less money for them, right? After all, just because there are now two companies doesn't mean there is suddenly twice the market to chase after. Also, while this solution might be great for the guy who wants to buy an "all Microsoft" solution, it doesn't do anything for anyone who wants there to be a market in which other companies can innovate and make money. Netscape would not likely be able to bundle with either of the two companies. Instead, we'd just have lower cost bundles of MS products. Unless, of course, the two new companies didn't bother to drop their prices, knowing that the market still has no choice but to deal with one or the other of them. > jJt Chris Rehm javadisciple@earthlink.net If you believe that the best technology wins the marketplace, you haven't been paying attention. +--- | This is the Midrange System Mailing List! | To submit a new message, send your mail to MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com. To | subscribe to this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-SUB@midrange.com. To | unsubscribe from this list send email to | MIDRANGE-L-UNSUB@midrange.com. Questions should be directed to the | list owner/operator: david@midrange.com +--- +--- | This is the Midrange System Mailing List! | To submit a new message, send your mail to MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com. | To subscribe to this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-SUB@midrange.com. | To unsubscribe from this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-UNSUB@midrange.com. | Questions should be directed to the list owner/operator: david@midrange.com +--- +--- | This is the Midrange System Mailing List! | To submit a new message, send your mail to MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com. | To subscribe to this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-SUB@midrange.com. | To unsubscribe from this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-UNSUB@midrange.com. | Questions should be directed to the list owner/operator: david@midrange.com +---
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