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Microsoft returning Windows to 'the digital dark ages'? (Mozilla argues Windows 8 bans Firefox)
Fox News ^ | 05/10/2012

Posted on 05/10/2012 9:29:59 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

The biggest lawsuit in Microsoft’s history dominated the 90s, when the company battled accusations that it was stifling browser competition. Rival Netscape couldn't survive, but the Windows giant was ultimately forced to strip Internet Explorer from its operating system in a landmark ruling.

That conflict may be brewing up again.

Mozilla, the developer group behind the popular Firefox browser, argued Wednesday night that Firefox is being banned from certain versions of Windows 8, the forthcoming tablet-centric OS from Microsoft -- returning Windows users to the dark ages before competition.

“The upcoming release of Windows … and Microsoft’s browser practices regarding Windows 8 Metro signal an unwelcome return to the digital dark ages where users and developers didn’t have browser choices,” wrote Harvey Anderson, Mozilla General Counsel, in a Wednesday night blog post.

A Microsoft spokesman declined FoxNews.com requests for more information. But the competition had plenty to say.

Anderson argued that Windows RT -- a version of Windows rewritten from the ground up to support the ARM processors powering nearly every tablet and smartphone today -- prohibits any browser but Internet Explorer from running the classic Windows desktop.

“This means that only Internet Explorer will be able to perform many of the advanced computing functions vital to modern browsers in terms of speed, stability, and security to which users have grown accustomed.”

“Given that IE can run in Windows on ARM, there is no technical reason to conclude other browsers can’t do the same,” Anderson wrote.

His words were emphatically echoed by Google, maker of the Chrome browser.

“We share the concerns Mozilla has raised regarding the Windows 8 environment restricting user choice and innovation,” a Google spokeswoman told FoxNews.com.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: firefox; microsoft; mozilla; windows8
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1 posted on 05/10/2012 9:30:05 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
THE WINDOWS 8 SCREEN:

2 posted on 05/10/2012 9:30:48 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

I like the looks of it but I won’t do IE.


3 posted on 05/10/2012 9:38:24 AM PDT by BipolarBob ("Oh no, I'm not sick, well I'm not physically sick anyway. Mentally I'm sick beyond any doctor's abi)
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To: SeekAndFind

I detest Internet Exploder, only time I use it is to go to Microshaft.

I should have bought an Apple!


4 posted on 05/10/2012 9:40:34 AM PDT by FrogMom (There is no such thing as an honest democrat!)
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To: SeekAndFind

Microsoft has been guilty of this stuff in the past

In the 80’s under DOS operating system you had to load a memory manager to access memory over 640K

A company called Quarterdeck made a memory manager competing against Microsoft’s own memory manager

I found that Quarterdeck’s QEMM.sys would NOT load under DOS... but when I changed the name from QEMM.sys to XEMM.sys it loaded and ran perfectly.

I did a binary search through the executable file and found the string QEMM hard coded into the file. (command.com, I think)... Microsoft was purposely making DOS fail to load it.

Microsoft should have been sued for $Millions. Quarterdeck also had a multi tasking GUI first- before Microsoft came out with Windows. It was a shell that ran on top of DOS and let you run multiple programs at once. (In the olden days, Under DOS you could only run one program at a time)


5 posted on 05/10/2012 9:40:52 AM PDT by Mr. K (If Romney wins the primary, I am writing-in PALIN)
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To: SeekAndFind

Mozilla is finding that they are going to need to seriously adapt to how things are going to be.

iOS doesn’t allow for FF either. OSX is going to become desktop iOS within a few years if not months so they might get hamstrung there too.

FF on Android has never worked well. Far too buggy.

Besides, on the x86 Win8 machines FF should run just fine.


6 posted on 05/10/2012 9:42:21 AM PDT by VanDeKoik (If case you are wondering, I'm STILL supporting Newt.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into Windows 8. I use a computer as a tool - not as a front for socializing.


7 posted on 05/10/2012 9:47:17 AM PDT by alancarp (Liberals are all for shared pain... until they're included in the pain group.)
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To: SeekAndFind

The only way to get software into the Win8 RT OS is via the MSFT store. However, MSFT is not allowing developers access to the software in order to write browsers - thereby prohibiting Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and others from competing.

They were successfully sued in United States v. Microsoft for monopoly, preditary practices and violation of the Sherman Act. The initial ruling ordered them split into 2 separate companies (OS and Applications); however in an appeal this requirement was dropped.

MSFT agreed to share their API’s and allow third party developers to write code using these “hidden” and undocumented APIs in 2001 - however this expired in 2007. MSFT voluntarily extended this for 2 more years.

Now, MSFT is back at the same old game. Rack up bazillions in exclusivity, dawdle in court, get a slap on the wrist and do what it should have done from the get-go.

Perhaps MSFT needs to be forcibly broken up, as this behavior is definitely seeking to create a monopoly, is anti-competitive and violates the Sherman Act - just like before. This sort of behavior is simply “evil”.

Win8 RT is going to start in the low-end laptops, but will propagate to tablets and low-cost computers. It’s really hard to be a friend to MSFT when they pull this crap.


8 posted on 05/10/2012 9:47:52 AM PDT by Hodar ( Who needs laws; when this FEELS so right?)
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To: SeekAndFind
I have a question: Just how many gazillions of bucks does Microsoft and Bill Gates need?

I'm writing this on a XP machine, but made the mistake of buying a laptop with Vista. I had to destroy the hard drive and throw it out (it wouldn't accept an install of XP after even formatting the hard drive). I now have a laptop with Windows 7. While it's an improvement over Vista, it's still not as user friendly as XP. Now, Windows 8? Aaargh! Wish I had switched to Apple years ago.

9 posted on 05/10/2012 9:51:19 AM PDT by A Navy Vet (An Oath Is Forever)
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To: Hodar

>> Now, MSFT is back at the same old game bla bla bla Perhaps MSFT needs to be forcibly broken up &etc &etc &etc

Perhaps *you* need to occupy a chair in front of a Mac. Or a Linux box. Or any of the other half-dozen competing operating systems. Monopoly, my ass.


10 posted on 05/10/2012 9:56:03 AM PDT by Nervous Tick (Trust in God, but row away from the rocks!)
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To: VanDeKoik
iOS doesn’t allow for FF either

Partially true, while Firefox has option to be in the Apple Store; other browsers are there (360, Cloud Browse, Atomic Browser, Firefox Sync Pro, Mecury Web Browser, Flash Web Browser and a bunch of others - like 40 more in iPad and 60 in iPhone Aps).

11 posted on 05/10/2012 9:58:29 AM PDT by Hodar ( Who needs laws; when this FEELS so right?)
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To: Nervous Tick
Perhaps *you* need to occupy a chair in front of a Mac. Or a Linux box. Or any of the other half-dozen competing operating systems. Monopoly, my ass.

Just because you are not the sole purveyor of an OS, does not mean you are not a monopoly.

Judge Jackson issued his findings of fact[11] on November 5, 1999, which stated that Microsoft's dominance of the x86 based personal computer operating systems market constituted a monopoly, and that Microsoft had taken actions to crush threats to that monopoly, including Apple, Java, Netscape, Lotus Notes, Real Networks, Linux, and others.

Source

12 posted on 05/10/2012 10:02:00 AM PDT by Hodar ( Who needs laws; when this FEELS so right?)
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To: Hodar

Yeah, I’m familiar with the case. Prosecuted and tried by a bunch of socialist pr!cks with the vigorous approval of the ninety-nine percent.

Being a conservative and all, I’m not on their side.

Anyhoo, Apple’s market cap is TWICE that of struggling MSFT. Apple dominates the market for Apple stuff. Should we break up Apple? ROFL


13 posted on 05/10/2012 10:07:50 AM PDT by Nervous Tick (Trust in God, but row away from the rocks!)
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To: rdb3; Calvinist_Dark_Lord; Salo; JosephW; Only1choice____Freedom; amigatec; stylin_geek; ...

14 posted on 05/10/2012 10:11:20 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: Nervous Tick
Anyhoo, Apple’s market cap is TWICE that of struggling MSFT. Apple dominates the market for Apple stuff. Should we break up Apple? ROFL

Is Apple preventing anyone from developing software to run on their OS? Nope. Apple not only provides development software to anyone who wants to become a developer, they also offer free college level courses via the iTunesU app to teach you how to do it.

15 posted on 05/10/2012 10:12:11 AM PDT by Hodar ( Who needs laws; when this FEELS so right?)
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To: Hodar

And what about Google? Talk about a company with a tight grip on the balls of the world. Break ‘em up?

But I guess they’re OK because their motto is “don’t be evil”. Whereas, Microsoft simply IS evil. Right?

ROFLMAO. You’ve got your boot on the throat of yesterday’s go-to villain — who is flat on its back — while today’s more skillful and ambitious (and leftist!) villains plunder your house and rape your family while you cheer them on. What a joke!


16 posted on 05/10/2012 10:12:35 AM PDT by Nervous Tick (Trust in God, but row away from the rocks!)
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To: Nervous Tick
Do you think before you write? Seriously. Chrome is Google's OS and they also provide tutorials and access to the extensions you need to write code for their OS. Wanna write a browser to run under Chrome? No problem, have at it. How are they restricting you, in any conceiveable way?

You are free to write software in Chrome, iOS, OSX and Windows XP, Visa and Win7. However, you cannot write software for the upcoming Windows 8 RT. Why? Because MSFT has decided that you can't.

17 posted on 05/10/2012 10:22:54 AM PDT by Hodar ( Who needs laws; when this FEELS so right?)
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To: SeekAndFind

[shrug] Guess I’ll go to Linux when my Vista machine finally ceases to meet my needs. That windows 8 looks like the dumbed-down menu GUI that came with Packard Bell PCs back in the wee 90’s. No thanks.


18 posted on 05/10/2012 10:24:02 AM PDT by Trod Upon (Obama: Making the Carter malaise look good. Misery Index in 3...2...1)
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To: Nervous Tick
Apple dominates the market for Apple stuff. Should we break up Apple? ROFL

No kidding! Apple is far worse than Microsoft, as far as restrictions... For instance, try running MacOS on non-Apple hardware, I dare you! If you do so and publicize it, be prepared for visits from lawyers.

Mark

19 posted on 05/10/2012 10:24:43 AM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: FrogMom
I detest Internet Exploder Agreed

I accept IE because it's there. It works poorly, looks clunky, and has more holes in it than swiss cheese. If presented an alternative I use it. Prefer Firefox to all others so far.

20 posted on 05/10/2012 10:25:19 AM PDT by Ouderkirk (Democrats...the party of Slavery, Segregation, Sodomy, and Sedition)
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