11.03.08

Microsoft Blast from the Past: Compatibility Games

Posted in Microsoft, Novell, OpenDocument, Vista, Windows at 12:26 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Mines
Your application will self-destruct within 2 iterations of Windows

Microsoft has already been seen impeding and harming highly competitive software using Windows Vista. There is a long history there and Novell is a victim too.

Here is a good old story about Microsoft being pressured to play nice with competitors on its desktop platform, which is a monopoly.

Microsoft said in October that its “Troika” project, designed to ensure that competitors’ programs can run on its Windows operating system without glitches, won’t be ready until October 2006, nine months behind schedule.

Later came Vista, destroying compatibility, especially for third-party developers.

One memorable example of such technical sabotage is Microsoft’s action against DR-DOS, although ODF might be another example [1, 2, 3], perhaps even Exchange.

When will there be justice? █

“[Bill Gates] is divisive. He is manipulative. He is a user. He has taken much from me and the industry.”

–Gary Kildall

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11 Comments

Gentoo User said,

November 3, 2008 at 12:58 pm

Running out of material? Wow, this is so petty.

And you should research the DR-DOS thing, considering that code was put in to avoid support issues with Win3x and never actually shipped. I know, because I ran WfW on top of DR-DOS 5 in the early 90s without any problems.

There are enough things to criticize Microsoft about, but it seems you’re spending more and more time rehashing old crap (some of which is not even true) and rejoycing when MSFT or NOVL drop but strangely silent when they jump.

Note: comment arrived from a witch hunter that does not even use GNU/Linux.
Needs Sunlight said,

November 3, 2008 at 1:49 pm

DCOM anyone? XP SP2 torpedoed all the chumps who religiously followed MS’ guidelines.

http://databaseadvisors.com/pipermail/dba-tech/2004-March/001436.html

Cross platform is the domain of java…
Roy Schestowitz said,

November 3, 2008 at 2:05 pm

Unless Microsoft gets involved…

“Don’t encourage new, cross-platform Java classes, especially don’t help get great Win 32 implementations written/deployed. [...] Do encourage fragmentation of the Java classlib space.”

–Ben Slivka, Microsoft
Ty said,

November 3, 2008 at 3:44 pm

“And you should research the DR-DOS thing”

Strange, MS paid out on the DR-DOS issue. Didn’t even fight it in court. Sounds a bit guilty to me.
Jeremy said,

November 3, 2008 at 3:45 pm

So I’m pretty well-known for not exactly being a huge fan of the FSF and Richard Stallman, despite the fact that I obviously love the GPLv2 and use it as the license for all my projects that I care about.

The reason has always been that I don’t like single-issue people, nor do I think that people who turn the world into black and white are very nice or ultimately very useful. The fact is, there aren’t just two sides to any issue, there’s almost always a range or responses, and “it depends” is almost always the right answer in any big question. And not being even willing to see the other side makes for bad decisions.

Don’t get me wrong – I love seeing people who are really passionate about what they do, and many people have something they really care about. It’s just that when that becomes something exclusionary, it often gets ugly. It’s not passion for something, it becomes passion against something else.

This is, just to take an example, one of the reasons I try to avoid talking much about Microsoft – I’m very passionate about Linux (obviously), but quite frankly, I really find the whole notion of Linux as being “against Microsoft” to be silly and wrong-headed. Yeah, I might make an occasional tongue-in-cheek joke or two, but does anybody really seriously think that you can put 17+ years of your life and make good decisions based on hate and fear?

That was also why I didn’t (and don’t) like GPLv3 – I think many of the changes weren’t due to being “pro free software”, but more a mindless reaction against things like TiVO, and the whole black-and-white, “good vs evil” mindset.

— Linus Torvalds

This site, and Roy in particular, are exactly the “against” people Linus is talking about.
Roy Schestowitz said,

November 3, 2008 at 3:46 pm

@Ty: “Gentoo User” is a regular troll in BoycottNovell.com. Ad hominem and all..
freewill said,

November 3, 2008 at 5:34 pm

Yay for Jeremy and Linus. I drink to that.
Ty said,

November 3, 2008 at 7:52 pm

@Roy Schestowitz

Thanks. I know now not to pay him any attention.

Keep up the good work!
Gentoo User said,

November 3, 2008 at 8:11 pm

@Ty: That’s Stacker. Get your memes right.

@Schestowitz: Do point out where and how I have “trolled” your blog, so that it’s well documented. I’d like to see what you consider a “troll”. While you’re at it, please look up “ad hominem” in a dictionary.

Note: comment arrived from a witch hunter that does not even use GNU/Linux.
Roy Schestowitz said,

November 3, 2008 at 8:57 pm

Please do not rely on other people not following your activity. You’ve insulted people in off-topic comments.
Gentoo User said,

November 3, 2008 at 9:49 pm

Insulted whom?

Note: comment arrived from a witch hunter that does not even use GNU/Linux.