Comments on: Week in review: Microsoft in the crosshairs

Microsoft feels heat from the European community and software companies, and Intel makes a power play. Also: Space fight takes flight.

[FutureGuy]

They failed to understand..

..the MS thrives under competition, just ask Sony. MS didn't climb to the top of the console market (in terms of console games sold www.vgchartz.com) because it had any kind of monopoly in that market. EU's dicision is political, MS is a US company.

[Penguinisto]

Eh?

Actually, no. MSFT (in the case of Xbox) climbed to #2 (still quite a distance behind the Nintendo Wii) because of two factors:

1) they could throw a shedload of money at Xbox, take losses the whole time, and not have to worry about it (yet).

2) Sony screwed up. The PS2 was a raging success due to decent pricing, good games, and solid performance. The PS3 flopped because it was over-priced, had few games going for it, and can't seem to compete with the (Still selling) PS2, let alone the Xbox.

3)Halo, which MSFT bought and made Xbox-only for a very long time. w/o it, the xbox would've went the same way as the Zune a very long time ago.

Neither is innovation, but a combination of luck and money. Meanwhile, Nintendo is beating the crap out of MSFT in the console market.

Try again? ;)

/P

[olinz]

American Incompetence

I am no big fan of Microsoft either,what with everything they've pulled over the years :-)But this is simply a case of more American Incompetence!
Why in the world should Americans be helping foreign entities(legal or not)rip at segments of our biggest economic exports?Perhaps this helps explains why the trade deficit is slowly approaching the trillion dollar mark(and why Canadian and American dollars will soon be equal).
This is just another example of why America is decling in general;we are basically tearing ourselves apart!
I hate to be pessimistic,but it sure seems this way!One day in the future,people will view this time in American history as the generation('s) that sold America out!

[bcroner]

I applaud the EU

The EU upheld law and order, as opposed to the US system in the same circumstance upholding corruption and deceit. The EU has proven its lands to be more inviting to those who wish to live a life where there is no breakdown of law and order on behalf of corruption and deceit. You can't buy off the EU. This is a lesson and a precedent. No money is big enough to bribe off the interests of the regulators of the economy of Europe. I wish I could live out there.

[Too Old For IT]

MS Should Have Made Euro-only Products

While the new OS / Office / whatnot is in beta, take it and their checkbook to Neelie Kroes, ask her what she needs to make her happy, and make a Euro version. No Media Player? Not a problem. No browser? Sure, no big deal. No slick APIs that actually work. Absolutely! Office suite that doesn?t' integrate with itself. Outstanding! Leave behind a few million for Neelie's slush fund? Just the cost of doing business overseas.

Then sell MS-Whatever/Euro for the same price as the real deal, and see just how many get sold. No, wait: Neelie probably would want only the Euro version forced on European consumers. Can't have any freedom of choice in her socialist worker's paradise.

[balonga]

MS should be stopped

I quote from your article
<<<to protect its local technology companies against any international competition through law, instead of quality and innovation, the same way they do with agricultural products, chemicals, etc.," wrote one reader the CNET News.com TalkBack forum. ">>>
but the reader to be fair should have added THE SAME WAY THAT USA DO WITH for example SOUTHAMERICAN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

But the main thing is that MS should be stopped in pretending to own the world an be over the rights and laws : just look their privacy invading software inserted in their products.

Also MS software policies should be revised in order to get better universal standards in computing and not the childish bug full staff that MS imposes and sells.

USA consumers should learn from CE to defend themselves.