Comments on: Windows Reduced Media Edition Redux?

By: mwendy

mwendy — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:27:42 +0000

I think the EC is having a Lindsay Lohan moment - you know, she doesn't produce any good movies any longer, so she has a "rehab incident", or a trip-and-fall to get her back on the cover of People, US and Star Magazines. Kind of pathological in a certain sense.

The T3 complaint against IBM should at the EC should thus be realized using similar reasoning.

By: mwendy

mwendy — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:27:42 +0000

By: mwendy

mwendy — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:27:42 +0000

By: MikeRT

MikeRT — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:49:13 +0000

This just sounds like sour grapes from Opera. Their browser, despite being a good product, really has no future in the mainstream desktop market. Even Google Chrome will probably exceed its marketshare among desktop users within a year.

By: Ryan Radia

Ryan Radia — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:08:38 +0000

Good point. It wouldn't be surprising if the EC were to order MS to unbundle IE entirely or, alternatively, sell a browserless version at a steep discount. Forcing MS to strip IE from Windows would be quite the spectacle. Leave it to regulators to order a company to reduce the functionality of its products in the name of consumer welfare.

I also wonder how the EC would figure out how much to force MS to discount a browserless version of WIndows, given that IE has always been free. If MS were to price a version of Windows without IE lower than the regular version, then users would simply purchase the cheaper version and then acquire IE for free.

By: DB

DB — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:34:47 +0000

I think your prediction gives these regulators too little credit. They almost certainly learned from their last experience, and will adjust remedies accordingly. For instance, I doubt it will be sufficient to merely offer a version of Windows lacking IE–they will likely be required to strip IE from all versions of Windows sold in the EU. Alternatively, they will exercise their ability to set prices, and ensure that Windows -IE sells for a deep discount over traditional Windows.

By: Tim Lee

Tim Lee — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:01:34 +0000

Great post Ryan.