“A plan by Japan, China and South Korea to develop an operating system alternative to Microsoft’s Windows software could raise concerns over fair competition, Microsoft said Friday,” Reuters reports. “Japan, the world’s second-largest economy, made a proposal at an Asian economic summit this week to build an inexpensive and trustworthy open-source operating system that would be based on a system such as Linux, which can be copied and modified freely.”
“‘We’d like to see the market decide who the winners are in the software industry,’ said Tom Robertson, Microsoft’s Tokyo-based director for government affairs in Asia.”
“Microsoft prefers competition between software applications to be determined in the free markets rather than by government agencies. ‘Governments should not be in the position to decide who the winners are,’ Robertson said.” Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This is rich. Microsoft whining about unfair competition is pure hypocrisy. Let’s hope Microsoft can’t figure out a way to buy off Asian governments in order to change the Asians’ strategy of divesting themselves of the Windows hegemony. Anything that weakens Windows, breaking the stranglehold of mediocrity that OS inflicts upon the world, and promotes alternatives (any alternatives) sounds like an okay plan to us. It’ll help level the playing field for all. Could Microsoft’s house of cards finally be wobbling in the refreshing winds of change?
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Japan, China, South Korea: ‘anything but Windows for us’ – September 05, 2003
Mac users should not buy Microsoft software – May 16, 2003
Thanks, Talon. Obvious mistake in the headline now corrected.
There are WTO trade talks next year. This project may be nothing more than a bargaining chip, one that MS will likely lobby the US delegation to exchange away for some other concession. China is also developing it’s open-source alternative to avoid being penalised for piracy of Windows (which is still a massive problem there). Japan and South Korea are lining up with China because they want a nice trading treaty with Beijing. Who can blame them, that’s one big pie to want a piece of? This is part of something bigger, look for other stories like this in the coming months, not just in the computer industry.
This is bad for M$. If they are forced into competition, they might actually have to *gasp* make a product that doesn’t suck. A great quote: “The day Micro$oft makes something that doesn’t suck, is they day they start selling vacuum cleaners.”
When talking about the freemarket, Microsoft and the US government should be the VERY last lot of people to throw their 5cents worth into the discussion.
One only needs to look at the number of overt and covert bail outs. Worldcom for example won a US government contract for services NEVER NEEDED! Beoing won a mid-air fuel tanker contract for 767’s WHICH WERE NEVER NEEDED! How about Iridium? huge number of creditors who JUST so happen to be big Republican donors, then suddenly, out of the blue, the Air Force buys up a large portion of Iridium, not at a bargin basement price but close to the initial cost.
As for a quote, “If Windows didn’t suck so much, that PC on your desk would fall off” or “If Windows didn’t suck so much, we’d fall out of orbit”.
As for Dell/Microsoft winning the Homeland Security Contract, nice to see that GWB puts costs ahead of national security. Next time there is a worm and it affects national security, you know who to blame, all the morons who either voted for GWB or FAILED TO VOTE AT ALL!
I agree with Microsoft. “Governments should not be in the position to decide who the winners are.” Something is wrong in America where Americans think that governments should control the economy. That is called Communism (or Socialism if you don’t like the “C” word.)
RE: antman
Get a clue and read a book. Socialism and Communism are similar but not the same. Btw, just look at the US economy right now, personnal debt sky high, a huge budget deficit, savings rate at 3% and unemployment at +6%.
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