Unbundle Microsoft Windows from PC's-EU Commission

[praka123]

Computers in the European Union should be sold without a bundled operating system, according to this submission to the European Commission. It says that the bundling of Microsoft Windows with computers is not in the public interest, and prevents meaningful competition in the operating system market.

The submission comes after the Commission won a ruling supporting its existing antitrust action against Microsoft in the European Court of First Instance. The Institute argues that cheaper competitors are unable to benefit from their lower cost because consumers have already been forced to buy Windows. Windows’ dominant position both has slowed technical improvements and prevented new alternatives entering from the marketplace.

Operating systems, it says, are not a natural monopoly, requiring just one supplier. Instead, in a competitive market, there would be a broad compatibility between different supplier’s products. “Competition would encourage open standards and interoperability as vendors would, for competitive reasons, want their products to interact with other vendors’ products,” the submission says.

source:
http://www.globalisation.eu/briefing...-200709231241/

[Yamaraj]

Excellent decision! After the initiatives taken by Dell, Lenovo and others, along with this directive - we can certainly hope for a better future with Linux and OpenSolaris distributions making a penetration in PC market with better driver, updates and software support.

[aku]

Yeah,datz a real good decision.

[Zeeshan Quireshi]

PC Assemblers currently have a choice to bundle any OS they like with their systems(Ubuntu on Dell) .

by passing this order the , EU(which everyone knows is totally against MS) is actually restricting them to bundle an OS with their product .

[praka123]

hmm...dell or lenovo just start bundling Linux.guess who is affected by this excellent decision?-Microsoft

[kumarmohit]

Oh BTW its NOT a decision, just a proposal

[din]

Originally Posted by Zeeshan Quireshi

PC Assemblers currently have a choice to bundle any OS they like with their systems(Ubuntu on Dell) .

by passing this order the , EU(which everyone knows is totally against MS) is actually restricting them to bundle an OS with their product .

It is Customer who should have more importance and choice and not the PC manufacturers.

I downloaded the report pdf and it sounds really good for customers

From pdf -

Manufacturers would be able to bundle special hardware drivers with their computers (which might be needed to gain the very best performance), and manufacturers would still be able to recommend particular operating systems. It is likely that PC manufacturers would compete by listing multiple operating systems that their systems had been “certified” to run properly, rather than simply listing Windows compatibility.

And nothing prevents users from selecting an OS of their choise. And the consumers can always ask for installation if needed. Like if they need Win XP, they can buy PC, ask for Win XP install (of course paying seperate for the OS) and this sounds really a good decision.

Customer is the king - the decision making should be done by him and by this recommendation EU reminds us the same.

I wonder when Indian Govt will do the same here. Asking PC manufacturers to give the options / choice to customers instead of forcing them to use something.

[i_am_crack]

^^^^^No I don't think they will take any of this steps as BG is funding us for support in medical sector...(Like AIDS) to facilitate research...

eBRo

[aku]

@i_am_crack
i dun think that will be a factor in this case

[chesss]

yes! A really great proposal!!
I own an original vista home basic, simply because it came with my laptop, and neither there was any laptop available without vista nor an option to choose vista. Heck they say that this PC's bios should not be used with anything except vista

I had no desire to buy or even try piss-ta.

[NucleusKore]

If it comes through, a good decision, but one thing should be kept in mind. While Microsoft Windows will work with almost any system, as all hardware vendors write drivers for Windows, the same is NOT true for Linux, so customers will not be able to make a real choice. The only way out here is for hardware vendors to kick themselves in the arse and either start writing device drivers for linux, or opening up the routines to the developer community to write open drivers for them free of cost. Buggy drivers can be a big security risk

[kumarmohit]

@ Chesss

Wats wid BIOS & VIsta LOL

[chesss]

^^Source

This BIOS is ONLY for use with Windows Vista. Please do not install this BIOS for use with Windows XP, or other Windows versions.

[Zeeshan Quireshi]

@Chess , Piss-ta is gud dide , as is Vista , and so is Linux . just use whatever u want .

but yeah , PC manufacturers should be allowed to bundle an OS with thier PC's but with the enforcement that They Will have to prvide on option for the customer to not buy the OS along with the system if they want .

coz not bundling an OS with a system doesn't make life easier for the customer either , and will only promote piracy .

[din]

Originally Posted by Zeeshan Quireshi

but with the enforcement that They Will have to prvide on option for the customer to not buy the OS along with the system if they want

They will have to ? ? ? That sounds like they are doing something wrong !! lol

They will have to provide optoin for customer = customer is the king. And thats the right move.

Nothing prevents users from selecting an OS of their choice and asking them to install it. If the consumer think win XP will make their life easier, they can instal that. Simple.

Forcing = you have to buy a crappy stereo along with the brand new car and the car does not support any other good stereo. Car cost 5 Lakh and stereo 50,000. And you have to pay 5 lakh + 50K. No options.

Not forcing = the car comes without a stereo. If you love the crappy stereo, go for it. Else make your own choice, all car service centeres will help installing the stereo of your own choice.

Thats it

[Zeeshan Quireshi]

True .

Also , what i meant was :

"Car comes with a stereo but manufacturer also gives option of not bundling the stereo if the customer does not want it"

[din]

Thanks for clarifying it. Yes, customer get option which is good.

[infra_red_dude]

appreciate this proposal yes, customer is the thing. but what benefit is this to us indians? dell bundles ubuntu, lenovo and hp haf also decided to bundle linux OS wid their machines. but why are companies still the "King" in India? why not customers???!!! why don't we haf a choice? why should i buy vista? why can't i haf XP or linux wid the new computer???

[praka123]

XP will die with SP3 update(wth).i mean support will be terminated before June-July 2008!

[infra_red_dude]

i suppose vista be will a mature product by that time. thats how the industry moves

[Gigacore]

Hmm nice info,..... and why is this LINUX guy posting M$ news?