4 ms·

"funny" fact: they also did not respect the punishment EU gave them, so they were punished again over it. Microsoft has serious problems with let the competito

by yulaow 13y ago

"funny" fact: they also did not respect the punishment EU gave them, so they were punished again over it. Microsoft has serious problems with let the competitors a chance to compete. edit to add data: http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/6/4069126/eu-fines-microsoft-for-windows-7-sp1-browser-ballot http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/6/4069126/eu-fines-microsoft-...

revelation 13y ago
the general caution about antitrust that then pervaded the Microsoft culture Thats certainly wrong. They at some point just stopped shipping the browser choice utility they had been forced by the EU to ship, and it took a year for anyone to notice: The Windows 7 SP1 retail release was initially missing BrowserChoice.eu functionality, affecting 28 million computers. The error remained unpatched for 14 months, and as a result in March 2013 the European Commission fined Microsoft €561 million.
- Argorak 13y ago
  It didn't take a year for anyone to notice, it took a year until the investigation was finished and another fine was announced. Concerning that Microsoft is a test-obsessed company, failing to test properly for an error that could cost you multiple millions is also a huge blunder. This was failing to live up to a legal oblication, not a mere bug.
  - rbanffy 13y ago
    It was failing with a legal obligation and trying to get away with it, hoping nobody else would notice. Do you really thing they forgot to bundle the browser selection tool?
    - Argorak 13y ago
      Quite the opposite, I find it highly unlikely that they would gamble on an amount that equates to that size, especially as there are a number of competitors watching out. And yes, I can imagine such a failure with a build matrix as big as the one of windows. A very simple explanation would be: * QA department sits outside of europe * Department is improperly briefed (not that unlikely to happen) * Automatic tests fail (happens to the best of us)
CaptainZapp 13y ago
I don't even think that was intentional. It may have just been a (very expensive) mistake. However, if you're convicted of a crime you should tread very delicately and carefully in order to avoid being busted again. Maybe it's arrogance, maybe it's carelesness, maybe it's even an honest mistake. But they sure as hell violated their "probation" and that comes with a price.
hga 13y ago
Echoing the other two sub-sub-thread commentators right now, this sounds like yet another (half-)billion dollar failure to execute. Still, it's rather telling.
winter_blue 13y ago
> Microsoft has serious problems with let the competitors a chance to compete. When you come down to it, there's a lot of circumstance involved. For instance, take iOS -- it doesn't allow any other browser engine WebKit/UIWebView. And no one is suing Apple over it.
- yulaow 13y ago
  That's because the marketshare of ios on mobile systems (13,4% worldwide [1]) is not comparable with the marketshare of windows in pc systems (90% worldwide [2]) Microsoft windows is in a strong dominating position, ios not [1] http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/screen-shot-2013-08-07-at-11-36-54-am.png http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/screen-s... [2] http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0 http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share....
- rbanffy 13y ago
  > For instance, take iOS -- it doesn't allow any other browser engine WebKit/UIWebView. Get back to me when 90+% of smartphones from all major manufacturers are sold with iOS. It's not just being anti-competitive - it's being an anti-competitive monopoly.
  - winter_blue 13y ago
    I don't think anything will change even if/when iOS has 90%+ of the market share. Thing are going to remain the same, and Apple will get what it wants.

by yulaow 13y ago

revelation 13y ago

the general caution about antitrust that then pervaded the Microsoft culture Thats certainly wrong. They at some point just stopped shipping the browser choice utility they had been forced by the EU to ship, and it took a year for anyone to notice: The Windows 7 SP1 retail release was initially missing BrowserChoice.eu functionality, affecting 28 million computers. The error remained unpatched for 14 months, and as a result in March 2013 the European Commission fined Microsoft €561 million.

Argorak 13y ago
It didn't take a year for anyone to notice, it took a year until the investigation was finished and another fine was announced. Concerning that Microsoft is a test-obsessed company, failing to test properly for an error that could cost you multiple millions is also a huge blunder. This was failing to live up to a legal oblication, not a mere bug.
- rbanffy 13y ago
  It was failing with a legal obligation and trying to get away with it, hoping nobody else would notice. Do you really thing they forgot to bundle the browser selection tool?
  - Argorak 13y ago
    Quite the opposite, I find it highly unlikely that they would gamble on an amount that equates to that size, especially as there are a number of competitors watching out. And yes, I can imagine such a failure with a build matrix as big as the one of windows. A very simple explanation would be: * QA department sits outside of europe * Department is improperly briefed (not that unlikely to happen) * Automatic tests fail (happens to the best of us)

CaptainZapp 13y ago

I don't even think that was intentional. It may have just been a (very expensive) mistake. However, if you're convicted of a crime you should tread very delicately and carefully in order to avoid being busted again. Maybe it's arrogance, maybe it's carelesness, maybe it's even an honest mistake. But they sure as hell violated their "probation" and that comes with a price.

hga 13y ago

Echoing the other two sub-sub-thread commentators right now, this sounds like yet another (half-)billion dollar failure to execute. Still, it's rather telling.

winter_blue 13y ago

> Microsoft has serious problems with let the competitors a chance to compete. When you come down to it, there's a lot of circumstance involved. For instance, take iOS -- it doesn't allow any other browser engine WebKit/UIWebView. And no one is suing Apple over it.

yulaow 13y ago
That's because the marketshare of ios on mobile systems (13,4% worldwide [1]) is not comparable with the marketshare of windows in pc systems (90% worldwide [2]) Microsoft windows is in a strong dominating position, ios not [1] http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/screen-shot-2013-08-07-at-11-36-54-am.png http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/screen-s... [2] http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0 http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share....
rbanffy 13y ago
> For instance, take iOS -- it doesn't allow any other browser engine WebKit/UIWebView. Get back to me when 90+% of smartphones from all major manufacturers are sold with iOS. It's not just being anti-competitive - it's being an anti-competitive monopoly.
- winter_blue 13y ago
  I don't think anything will change even if/when iOS has 90%+ of the market share. Thing are going to remain the same, and Apple will get what it wants.