Defining "PC" categories -- was Walmart PC's are gone

[Craig White]

Why would they 'give' away an OS that they already have the power to
make everyone buy in the US and Europe whether they want it or not?

There are countries in Asia that have been 'unwilling' to pay for copies
of Windows and Microsoft has created categories of Windows software at
neglible costs (close but not completely giving it away) to stem the
spread of Linux.

Craig

On Fri, 2007-11-16 at 08:42 -0800, keith smith wrote:
> Okay, however other than limited academic programs I have not seen M$
> give away the OS.  I think if they did that would be proof that they
> are using their monopoly power to keep and gain even more market
> share.
> 
> So lets hope they do give away the OS.
> 
> 
> Craig White <craig at tobyhouse.com> wrote:
>         On Fri, 2007-11-16 at 09:50 -0600, Josef Lowder wrote:
>         > .
>         > On Fri, 16 Nov 2007, keith smith wrote 
>         > > I'm not aware of MicroSoft giving away anything. 
>         > > Can you provide an example? 
>         > 
>         > 
>         > Oh, and leave us not forget that Bill Gates, the great 
>         > philanthropist, has personally given away some percentage 
>         > of the gargantuan fortune that he has amassed. 
>         > 
>         > Let's see, if my calculations are right, I believe that 
>         > the proportion of his total beneficence would amount to 
>         > approximately the equivalence of a family with an annual 
>         > income of $50,000 giving almost $20.00 per year in total 
>         > charitable giving. 
>         ----
>         the sarcasm really begs the entire issue as I'm quite certain
>         that Keith
>         was asking a sincere question.
>         
>         The issue of Microsoft 'giving away' something has been
>         documented many,
>         many times. For years, they have subsidized substantial losses
>         on
>         products such as their XBox just to obtain dominant market
>         share, or
>         even worse, gave away software such as Internet Explorer when
>         Netscape
>         dominated the market and was selling for $29
>         
>         Under previous administrations, this type of practice would
>         have brought
>         substantial legal scrutiny and probably anti-trust,
>         anti-competitive
>         litigation from various governmental agencies.
>         
>         The framework of this was largely created by the 'Sherman' act
>         - which
>         Alan Greenspan dismissed and the current administration has
>         picked up
>         that mantle which is why we have absurd marketing issues such
>         as not
>         being able to purchase a computer without a copy of Microsoft
>         Windows on
>         it, idiocy such as the DMCA, etc.
>         
>         So in the areas where Microsoft is dominating the market, the
>         price of
>         their software, though fully mature and without any apparent
>         justification, versions of Windows and Office keep rising in
>         price and
>         in areas where the lack in market share and seek dominance,
>         they either
>         substantially subsidize their losses or just give software
>         away (i.e.
>         Internet Explorer to 'suck the oxygen' from Netscape).
>         
>         Craig
>         
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> ------------------------
> Keith Smith
> (480) 584-4772
> PHP Programming
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