By Will Sturgeon, 26 March 2004 16:20
NEWS silicon.com readers have panned the EC ruling against Microsoft, with a staggering 42.4 per cent of respondents to a poll calling the decision "pointless".
A further 28.6 per cent said the penalties against the software giant are too lenient, while only 15.1 per cent said it was spot on and only 13.8 per cent think the ruling is too lenient.
On Wednesday, the EC ruled that Microsoft had to pay a 497m fine and also imposed measures upon the Redmond behemoth that would see it offer a stripped-down version of its Windows operating system without the Media Player application.
However, it is likely that the two version of the operating system will be priced identically and as such it's unlikely that, given a choice, consumers will opt for Windows-lite.
That ruling has led to accusations of pointless political posturing on the part of the EC and the fine, which many believe is pitiful for a company with Microsoft's revenues, has done little to placate those who believe the EC should have thrown the book at Gates and co.
And the reader comments have been pouring in. One reader wrote: "Although I think the fine is too lenient, I believe that the status quo will remain in Microsoft's favour. Not many manufacturers will bother to supply unbundled Windows when it costs the same as the bundled version."
Comments
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1. James smith
Shame the OEMs that don't provide an alternative to Microsoft.
They are just as corrupt as Microsoft.
Praise the OEMs that DO provide an alternative. Buy their products. I do.
2. W.VANDENBERG
The EC verdict is not pointless but it is decidedly incomplete; the fine is like pocketmoney for MS.
The EC order should force Windows to revert to the same status as the once very popular PCTOOLS menu program, with stand alone programs from any source to be selected by the pc user.
In the meantime I shall expect the LINDOWS, and other open source programs, to displace the MS-Windows associated impositions.
Note to Bill Gates:"This is MY pc"
3. Graham
Almost right...largely pointless. The beef here seems to be with OEMs, tin shippers and small-time businesses. Can anybody imagine rolling out a national (or bigger) network infrastructure to be as integrated as easily as a Microsoft one? Does nobody realise the work this great company have done to drag the world kicking and screaming (and how!) into an integrated 21st century. Active directory, exchange, et al - they have picked up the ball which, in my opinion, Netware dropped many years ago.
Sure, put a hotchpotch of freeware open-source rubbish all over your PC and take 5 hours to rebuild it but I need PC images to work without any messing around and one supplier to be accountable for all my needs.
Get with the bigger picture, people, and thanks for making my life potentially more complicated, EU buffoons. Since when was the direction of large corporates decided by pimple-faced teen nerd mentality anyway?