3 ms·

Holy shit that's gross. I haven't used Windows as my main OS in a really long time -- 20 years? -- and crap like this is one reason why. I thought that, with B

Holy shit that's gross. I haven't used Windows as my main OS in a really long time -- 20 years? -- and crap like this is one reason why. I thought that, with Ballmer gone, they'd stop doing deeply wrong stuff like this, but here we are.

nivenkos 5y ago
They've always been a fraudulent company. They lied when they licensed QDOS to use as the foundation of Windows, hiding the fact that they were working with IBM. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/86-DOS#Creation_of_PC_DOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/86-DOS#Creation_of_PC_DOS They cheated the license with Spyglass Mosaic for Internet Explorer - making it based on software purchases and then bundling it for free with Windows so they didn't have to pay any royalties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer#Internet_Explorer_1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer#Internet_Exp... Then there's the Halloween documents, and the attempts at forcing ActiveX (and IE) on the early Web, etc. - the whole company is rotten.
- pedro2 5y ago
  Don't worry, the market forces will force Microsoft into oblivion. They'll obliterate all competitors and become so profitable they'll force Oracle to take them out. Tada! Market forces at work once again!
- ubermonkey 5y ago
  That kind of behavior stems from leadership, though, and the MSFT we've seen post-Ballmer has been dramatically more aware of its position in a diverse marketplace (vs. attempting to own the entire market). This kind of thing is especially apparent in interoperability -- Office on the Mac is currently as good as it's ever been; I never need to switch to Windows to get something done. Sharepoint (which is awful) now works properly on non-Windows platforms. There are excellent iOS builds of the Office tools. None of that was conceivable under Ballmer. So yes, I'm old enough to have lived through all the things you mention, but I have also noticed a distinct change in MSFT's behavior in the last 7 years. I see this kind of browser tomfoolery as a return to the bad old days, for sure.

nivenkos 5y ago

They've always been a fraudulent company. They lied when they licensed QDOS to use as the foundation of Windows, hiding the fact that they were working with IBM. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/86-DOS#Creation_of_PC_DOS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/86-DOS#Creation_of_PC_DOS They cheated the license with Spyglass Mosaic for Internet Explorer - making it based on software purchases and then bundling it for free with Windows so they didn't have to pay any royalties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer#Internet_Explorer_1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer#Internet_Exp... Then there's the Halloween documents, and the attempts at forcing ActiveX (and IE) on the early Web, etc. - the whole company is rotten.

pedro2 5y ago
Don't worry, the market forces will force Microsoft into oblivion. They'll obliterate all competitors and become so profitable they'll force Oracle to take them out. Tada! Market forces at work once again!
ubermonkey 5y ago
That kind of behavior stems from leadership, though, and the MSFT we've seen post-Ballmer has been dramatically more aware of its position in a diverse marketplace (vs. attempting to own the entire market). This kind of thing is especially apparent in interoperability -- Office on the Mac is currently as good as it's ever been; I never need to switch to Windows to get something done. Sharepoint (which is awful) now works properly on non-Windows platforms. There are excellent iOS builds of the Office tools. None of that was conceivable under Ballmer. So yes, I'm old enough to have lived through all the things you mention, but I have also noticed a distinct change in MSFT's behavior in the last 7 years. I see this kind of browser tomfoolery as a return to the bad old days, for sure.