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> In the end Microsoft's OS gained proper competition through the paradigm shift of FOSS, specifically with Linux. Are you sure? Microsoft's monopoly was mostl
by pgcj_poster 7y ago
> In the end Microsoft's OS gained proper competition through the paradigm shift of FOSS, specifically with Linux.
Are you sure? Microsoft's monopoly was mostly on desktop PC operating systems, and almost all desktops are still running Windows. Most people have never heard of Gnu/Linux and wouldn't want or even know how to install it if they had. MacOS is exclusive to one luxury brand, and I really don't see it much outside of developers and college students.
- igravious 7y agoAt least there's genuine-ish choice now. Chromebooks, Apple desktops and laptops, Linux desktops and laptops. Not to mention that Windows has stiff competition in the server space. But I take your point.
- basch 7y agoI think its a correct statement if you see Android/Chrome as having displaced Windows/IE as the way the majority of the word consumes the Internet/Web.
- pgcj_poster 7y agoSure, but the fact that the desktop became less important compared with mobile/web doesn't actually solve the problem of Microsoft having a monopoly on PC operating systems. Gnu/Linux is almost unusable for non-techies, not because it's deficient, but because almost all third-party software and hardware is built with Windows in mind, because that's what people get when they buy a computer. In a well-functioning market, all you would have to do to beat Microsoft would be to make a better operating system. In the current market, to beat Microsoft, you have to make a better operating system, target a new category of device, and own one of the biggest companies and several of the biggest websites in the world.