On Wednesday 08 May 2002 23:04, you wrote:
> On Wed, May 08, 2002 at 12:24:46AM -0400, bpreece1@tampabay.rr.com wrote:
> > A few things though here.
--SNIP--
>
> Maybe, but... Microsoft has continually whined about being unable to
> strip out X, Y, and Z from Windows. This proves it _can_ be done. Second
> thing is that Microsoft (even as recently as billg's testimony) has
> proven that it has been consistently untruthful and misleading. Having
> this strike against them, then having the judge see this demo... it
> could work. You take this version of Windows (with the guts stripped
> out), and make Microsoft publish its APIs, and someone else (Netscape?)
> can come along and code a replacement for something like IE.
>
> Perhaps a more pressing question in the end is: If Microsoft does come
> out with a stripped down Windows and publishes its API, who's going to
> want to fill it out with their applications? Is Dell going to put a team
> of programmers on fleshing out this version of Windows? I could be
> wrong, but I just don't think so. In which case, the judgment against
> Microsoft would _sound_ good, but ultimately be impractical.
>
> Anyway, it all depends on whether the judge buys it or not. And so far,
> she's got a pretty good poker face.
>
> Paul
I think the idea behind a stripped-down (unbundled) Windows is to make it
more like the old Win 3.x, KDE, Gnome, etc, etc. All the applications are
seperate and the user gets to choose what browser, whose media player, etc,
to use. Like a rack mount stereo, you add the applications you want and don't
buy what you won't use.
An unbundled Windows ensures that all applications compete on more equal
footing. It also keeps apps out of the OS, where they don't belong. Building
IE into Windows is what killed Netscape, and M$ has their eyes on doing the
same to RealPlayer and other guys who had the audacity to invent a better
mousetrap.
I believe Microsoft would be free to continue selling what once was their
middleware, but now as regular applications, unbundled from the OS. At a
minimum, M$ would fill the gap, but this also opens the gates for a lot of
savvy software guys to offer competing apps.
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