No shiat. I also love that if you want the Google Add-in for IE9 you have to sort through a 1000 other add-ins before you'll even find Google. They are really pimping that loser Bing hard.

bdub77: No shiat. I also love that if you want the Google Add-in for IE9 you have to sort through a 1000 other add-ins before you'll even find Google. They are really pimping that loser Bing hard.

When I went to the Verizon store to get a phone, they were really pimping their cell service hard. What's up with that?

And then I called Comcast about my cable and they offered me internet service... what the hell?

Strange. I don't remember being offered alternatives to Safari when I installed Lion.

hamiltonjdavid: Strange. I don't remember being offered alternatives to Safari when I installed Lion.

Yeah, well, Apple doesn't have a 90% share in desktop operating systems.

In any case, Microsoft (either accidentially or accidentially-on-purpose) screwed up big time here. The EU is going to rape them in response. Whether they use lube or not is unclear.

bdub77: They are really pimping that loser Bing hard.

Google has removed a certain category of products from their "shopping" search. As a result I've been using Bing. It's probably not quite as good as Google's old search was, but it's better than nothing. Once iGoogle goes away in 2013 there's a good chance I'll be changing my home page to a Bing/Live alternative. *shrug*

if one is unable to install their own browser of choice, then there is nothing anyone can do for you

didnt give a shiat then.. and still dont.

It's a combination "you ain't from around here, are ya, boy" tax and a fee for being successful. Losers will cheer.

Not a Gates fan boy, but the man has done more good with his money than most people and he helped usher in the computing era that most people now take for granted.

ltdanman44: Not a Gates fan boy, but the man has done more good with his money than most people and he helped usher in the computing era that most people now take for granted.

If it wasn't for Microsoft's old antitrust measures with Dos, computers would be MUCH more expensive, because components would be much more expensive. Microsoft pretty much paid hardware engineers to design to their standards. One set of standards for everyone to build to. Everyone makes the same type of part, and costs go down as winners and losers are selected.

ltdanman44: Not a Gates fan boy, but the man has done more good with his money than most people and he helped usher in the computing era that most people now take for granted.

I'm not a Microsoft fanboy but I absolutely am a Bill Gates fanboy. He has given tens of billions of dollars to fight TB, HIV, malaria, malnutrition, etc., throughout the developing world. How many poor children's lives does he have to save?

Microsoft took an item (an internet browser) that everyone uses and that people once PAID FOR and essentially gave it away. Now? Operating systems are free and/or donation only non-profit and/or open source projects.

Because of that, they are never going to be able to blow their nose without the EU fining them a billion dollars.

meanmutton: ltdanman44: Not a Gates fan boy, but the man has done more good with his money than most people and he helped usher in the computing era that most people now take for granted.

I'm not a Microsoft fanboy but I absolutely am a Bill Gates fanboy. He has given tens of billions of dollars to fight TB, HIV, malaria, malnutrition, etc., throughout the developing world. How many poor children's lives does he have to save?

It's funny... people think of Bill Gates as a money-hungry, selfish, greedy thief who wishes to do no good for the world and takes as much satisfaction in destroying his competition than have a successful product of his own.

In reality, that was Steve Jobs.

To correct myself, BROWSERS are free and/or donation only non-profit and/or open source. Some OSs are, as well, but obviously not a Microsoft product.

The point really was that the business courts in the EU are as technologically incompetent as American politicians, and it's pissing me off that we have so many people who literally don't know their asses from a hole in the ground regarding technology making such judgements against big OR little guys... it's a different ballgame altogether. It's almost as absurd as Paul Allen's blanket lawsuits on every tech company under the sun because 20 years ago he claims to have patented or trademarked or copyrighted various phrases that ended up being somewhat related to internet technologies that exist today.

hamiltonjdavid: Strange. I don't remember being offered alternatives to Safari when I installed Lion.

You also don't live in the EU. Give them time.

Glad to see the EU focusing on really important things again. I was worried they'd never get off that whole "eurozone in meltdown" thing.

Geotpf: hamiltonjdavid: Strange. I don't remember being offered alternatives to Safari when I installed Lion.

Yeah, well, Apple doesn't have a 90% share in desktop operating systems.

In any case, Microsoft (either accidentially or accidentially-on-purpose) screwed up big time here. The EU is going to rape them in response. Whether they use lube or not is unclear.

The problem wasn't that MS had a monopoly on desktop operating systems; it was that others in the 90s (Netscape, etc.) felt they were being crowded out of Windows. To a point, they were right. Microsoft never said "Thou shalt not install something other than IE", but the public at the time didn't know enough about browsers to really exercise the choice. They just used IE and never thought about it.

Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly in internet browsers anymore. IE is about even with Chrome. Maybe a bit beneath it. The idea behind the selection screen was to keep Microsoft from having a monopoly by giving consumers choice. Whether or not it helped was debatable, but to think that the average computer user of today hasn't heard of Chrome or Firefox is ridiculous.

If we're going to do this for Microsoft, let's do it for everyone in everything. Apple doesn't offer you a choice in which web browser is your default on their wildly successful iOS devices; where is the EU on that? I mean, at least in Windows, I can change these things. I use Opera as my everyday browser. On iOS, you can't change it at all.

the_geek: bdub77: They are really pimping that loser Bing hard.

Google has removed a certain category of products from their "shopping" search. As a result I've been using Bing. It's probably not quite as good as Google's old search was, but it's better than nothing. Once iGoogle goes away in 2013 there's a good chance I'll be changing my home page to a Bing/Live alternative. *shrug*

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