Comments on: Did Microsoft want to 'whack' Dell over its Linux dealings?

A 2002 e-mail exchange filed with an Iowa court during one of the last state antitrust suits seems to say so; Redmond defends the thread.

[mh20932]

I guess this explains...

why no major retailers appear to be offering Linux PCs to consumers.

[adlyb1]

Uhhh...

Wal-mart offered them with huge fanfare...

Sales were lukewarm and then HP cut a deal with Wal-mart for the shelf space and after less than a year, they were pulled.

[chort0]

No it doesn't

This exchange in particular appears to be focused solely on the
server business.

No major retailers are currently offering Linux PCs because there
isn't a single Linux distro with the breadth of hardware and
multimedia support that Windows has. Why would they offer a
product that no one wants?

Microsoft isn't innocent, that's for sure, but to blame Microsoft
for Linux distros failing to be competitive consumer desktop
platforms is just ignorant.

[lkrupp]

Microsoft is evil, pure and simple.

The company should be placed into receivership and it assets sold
off. Windows should be taken off the market and all copies
destroyed. It's the only way to fix the beast.

[Shef Seattle]

In America we do things differently

How about hanging all Microsoft employees and breaking all PCs? But I guess it is not how it works in US, is it? We have things called "laws" here in US. Everybody is bound by the laws and court rulings.

[extinctone]

Ignorant statement

It "proves" MS considered using it's weight to punish Dell but opted not to. That's not evil.

[john55440]

Dell is "whack"...

Dell is whack, as in "displeasing or undesirable" and "of poor quality".

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wrader/slang/w.html

[nateman_99]

Get with the times...

john55440,

I find your comment outdated and just hateful. I have a Dell XPS 410 that is amazing computer. I have no complaints. It's an excellent computer. Granted, they went through a tough patch, but don't just be "hating".

NateMan_99

[halfNakedPappy]

Laws

Yes, and large corporations like Microsoft are never able to buy themselves out of actually having to obey these laws... right?

Microsoft has lost quite a few lawsuits here in the U.S., and how has this affected the way they do business? The answer is, it hasn't forced them to change there ways much at all. They have great lobbyists and lawyers, and are able to successfully avoid having to compete by buying their way out of legal issues. It's a disgrace to this land of "laws".

[extinctone]

Contradicting yourself

Microsoft has lost nearly every lawsuit and as you could plainly see they *did* change their behavior. It's only the "too blind to see the truth" people like you who just blindly hate that can't see the changes.

[dotmike]

Then I can't imagine what they'd do with Dell OS X

Michael Dell has recently affirmed that he'd be more than happy to
ship Dells with OS X if it was available for OEM license (whether it
ever will be of course is an entirely other question).

I can't imagine the fury that would generate in Redmond!

Something approaching that huge eye on the top of Mt Doom in
Lord of the Rings might come close...

[gggg sssss]

Apple holds the clue

But Apple wont sell OSX to Dell - in the same way that MS might have withheld the MS OS from Dell to punish Dell. So where is tha outrage that Apple is withholding an operating system that Dell customers might want to buy? Why is no anticompetitive furor unleashed against Apple? Where are the class actions against Apple? Why should Apple be allowed to restrict the sales of its OS?

Anybody?

[Penguinisto]

I for one would love to see that happen.

But - Apple is a Computer company (that is, hardware + software), and I doubt they'd peel off OSX from the equation.

/P

[ralfthedog]

People who use Linux are the people who make there own computers.

I can't see many people who run Linux (Or BSD) wanting to buy a prefab computer.

[Penguinisto]

I bought an Inspiron 8100 specifically for Linux.

...because laptops aren't so easy to simply fabricate at home, y'dig?

Also, the metric you stated is changing - servers now come with RHEL or SLED pre-installed. Finally, home users w/ Ubuntu or similar easy-to-use distros don't really have to do anything on the tinker-level anymore.

/P

[hellsyes]

$MadCheap$

Some prefabs are cheap and perfectly suitable to run linux, being as linux supports pretty much anything. I don't see the connection between people who build their own computers and linux users.

[dev1in]

You are very assuming

I don't know where you get such an assumption. Yes, I built my Linux system but not because I prefer too but due to the fact that when I bought it pre-fab systems from the top tier vendors weren't available in standard consumer configurations.

It actually costs more to build your own PC than to buy a pre-fab one using the same hardware specs. In the reason I don't just buy a Windows based one and convert it is many have some hardware (especially modems) that are Windows only not to mention I don't want to have to pay for an OS I'm not going to use.

[Knight21024]

What if every crass memo you ever sent was published out of context?

I think making out of context dramatic internal emails public is a bad prescendece and only helps fuel FUD into a court case. It may be entertaining but its pure bubble headed bleach blonde news at 6 junk. I bet if you got Oracle internal emails about Microsoft you would find a lot more juicy entertainment.

[lcromwell34289]

Not one of them would show me plotting...

something that I know is an illegal anti-competitive action. In fact, you wouldn't even find me plotting something legal but unethical. But you might see that I have some harsh words for those that I'm required to deal with who don't share my ethical standards.

[Knight21024]

What if every crass memo you ever sent was published out of context?

I think making out of context dramatic internal emails public is a bad prescendece and only helps fuel FUD into a court case. It may be entertaining but its pure bubble headed bleach blonde news at 6 junk. I bet if you got Oracle internal emails about Microsoft you would find a lot more juicy entertainment.