The Evil Microsoft
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 4:42 pmDid you know that...
After releasing Windows 98, Microsoft raised the price charged to OEMs for Windows 95?
In the name of "combating piracy", Microsoft advised OEMs that they would be charged a higher price for Windows unless they drastically limited the number of PCs that they sold without an OS pre-installed?
When Microsoft set the price for Windows 98 they did not even bother to consider the prices of other vendors' Intel-compatible PC operating systems?
Microsoft charges a lower price to OEMs who agree to ensure that all of their Windows machines are powerful enough to run Windows NT for Workstations?
After Netscape Navigator was first announced, Microsoft tried to convince Netscape not to make a Windows version? And later they tried to convince Netscape to design Navigator to rely upon their "Internet-related APIs in Windows 95" (the Internet Explorer core?)? and perhaps be as little as a "user-interface shell"?
Microsoft made Intel stop promoting their software that exposed APIs for their Native Signal Processing hardware by pressuring OEMs not to install it, and later made Intel altogether agree to stop developing any platform-level interfaces that might draw support away from interfaces exposed by Windows?
Microsoft punished the IBM PC Company with higher prices, a late license for Windows 95, and the withholding of technical and marketing support because IBM refused to move its business away from products that themselves competed directly with Windows and Office (OS/2 and SmartSuite)?
When Microsoft managed to bundle Internet Explorer 1.0 with the first version of Windows 95 licensed to OEMs in July 1995 it also included a term in its OEM licenses that prohibited the OEMs from modifying or deleting any part of Windows 95, including Internet Explorer, prior to shipment?
That Gateway had specifically requested that Microsoft provide a way to uninstall Internet Explorer 4.0 from Windows 98?
In 1996, after Compaq removed the MSN and Internet Explorer icons from the desktops on their Presarios to instead promote AOL and Netscape Navigator, Microsoft sent Compaq a letter stating its intention to terminate Compaq's license for Windows 95 if Compaq did not restore the MSN and Internet Explorer icons to their original positions?
About the same time, Compaq announced its intention to work with Netscape for its internal Internet needs and on Internet server initiatives. In response, Microsoft insisted that Compaq support Microsoft's Internet initiatives throughout its business (MS forced them to install IE on all of their computers). Microsoft also threatened Gateway about its own use of Navigator on it's corporate network and they did the same with Apple?
Compaq's license fee for Windows are lower than any other OEMs, they do not have to meet all of the conditions for the lower license fees, and has had free internal use of all Windows products for PCs since March 1998?
Microsoft threatened IBM to make them stop promoting Netscape Navigator, but IBM Refused?
Microsoft promised to give preferential support, in the form of early Windows 98 and Windows NT betas, other technical information, and the right to use certain Microsoft seals of approval, to important ISVs, but only if they use Internet Explorer as the default browsing software for any software they develop with a hypertext-based user interface and they use IEs "HTML Help"?
Microsoft tainted its java tools in such a way that Java applications written with their tools would, unknowingly to the developer, be incompatible with other JVMs and, once written, would be difficult to port, and that they refused to change this until November 1998 when ordered to do do by a court?
Microsoft pressured Intel, which was developing a high-performance Windows-compatible JVM, to not share its work with either Sun or Netscape, much less allow Netscape to bundle the Intel JVM with Navigator?
Microsoft took steps to thwart the creation of cross platform Java interfaces by stopping Intel from helping Sun to develop class libraries that offered cutting-edge multimedia support?
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After releasing Windows 98, Microsoft raised the price charged to OEMs for Windows 95?
In the name of "combating piracy", Microsoft advised OEMs that they would be charged a higher price for Windows unless they drastically limited the number of PCs that they sold without an OS pre-installed?
When Microsoft set the price for Windows 98 they did not even bother to consider the prices of other vendors' Intel-compatible PC operating systems?
Microsoft charges a lower price to OEMs who agree to ensure that all of their Windows machines are powerful enough to run Windows NT for Workstations?
After Netscape Navigator was first announced, Microsoft tried to convince Netscape not to make a Windows version? And later they tried to convince Netscape to design Navigator to rely upon their "Internet-related APIs in Windows 95" (the Internet Explorer core?)? and perhaps be as little as a "user-interface shell"?
Microsoft made Intel stop promoting their software that exposed APIs for their Native Signal Processing hardware by pressuring OEMs not to install it, and later made Intel altogether agree to stop developing any platform-level interfaces that might draw support away from interfaces exposed by Windows?
Microsoft punished the IBM PC Company with higher prices, a late license for Windows 95, and the withholding of technical and marketing support because IBM refused to move its business away from products that themselves competed directly with Windows and Office (OS/2 and SmartSuite)?
When Microsoft managed to bundle Internet Explorer 1.0 with the first version of Windows 95 licensed to OEMs in July 1995 it also included a term in its OEM licenses that prohibited the OEMs from modifying or deleting any part of Windows 95, including Internet Explorer, prior to shipment?
That Gateway had specifically requested that Microsoft provide a way to uninstall Internet Explorer 4.0 from Windows 98?
In 1996, after Compaq removed the MSN and Internet Explorer icons from the desktops on their Presarios to instead promote AOL and Netscape Navigator, Microsoft sent Compaq a letter stating its intention to terminate Compaq's license for Windows 95 if Compaq did not restore the MSN and Internet Explorer icons to their original positions?
About the same time, Compaq announced its intention to work with Netscape for its internal Internet needs and on Internet server initiatives. In response, Microsoft insisted that Compaq support Microsoft's Internet initiatives throughout its business (MS forced them to install IE on all of their computers). Microsoft also threatened Gateway about its own use of Navigator on it's corporate network and they did the same with Apple?
Compaq's license fee for Windows are lower than any other OEMs, they do not have to meet all of the conditions for the lower license fees, and has had free internal use of all Windows products for PCs since March 1998?
Microsoft threatened IBM to make them stop promoting Netscape Navigator, but IBM Refused?
Microsoft promised to give preferential support, in the form of early Windows 98 and Windows NT betas, other technical information, and the right to use certain Microsoft seals of approval, to important ISVs, but only if they use Internet Explorer as the default browsing software for any software they develop with a hypertext-based user interface and they use IEs "HTML Help"?
Microsoft tainted its java tools in such a way that Java applications written with their tools would, unknowingly to the developer, be incompatible with other JVMs and, once written, would be difficult to port, and that they refused to change this until November 1998 when ordered to do do by a court?
Microsoft pressured Intel, which was developing a high-performance Windows-compatible JVM, to not share its work with either Sun or Netscape, much less allow Netscape to bundle the Intel JVM with Navigator?
Microsoft took steps to thwart the creation of cross platform Java interfaces by stopping Intel from helping Sun to develop class libraries that offered cutting-edge multimedia support?