I think my main concern is that MS seems to be slipping back into bad habits having cleaned up its act somewhat in the post-Ballmer years. I'm all for regulators stepping in at least in theory, but also mindful of their intervention with e.g. IBM in the 1970s where they took an arguably not ideal situation and turned it into a terrible one; which ironically gave Microsoft traction to become the monster it is, as Gates knew how to play the system (not so much talent but in the right place at the right time and already known for pushing his luck; also having a lawyer for a father and a mother who was very friendly with IBM execs helped too...) And even more ironic that IBM had no clue how to exploit the very thing whose outcome they'd apparently contrived to their own advantage in a classic case of "be careful what you wish for".
Edit: not "brought about themselves", obvs., but they seriously dropped the ball after it could've ultimately worked out in their favour.
Last edited by vometia; 21/01/22 08:21 AM.
