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New Shocking.
Microsoft is [link|http://news.com.com/2100-1001-958543.html?tag=fd_top|is accused] of 'violating' the terms of the proposed settlement, despite it's 'commitment' to 'complying' with the settlement even before it is approved.
Further allegations
ProComp said Microsoft's second violation is that Service Pack 1 neglects to provide Start Menu access to the middleware control, and doesn't include a short-cut icon to the control on the desktop.

The third violation, ProComp charges, is that the middleware control is not intuitive and comes with no Help file for understanding how to use it.

One software developer contacted by CNET News.com agreed with this assertion. The developer asked not to be identified.

"Everything about 'Set Program Access and Defaults' says consumers are unwelcome here," the developer said. "It's a barren place, compared to the rest of Windows XP, bereft of simple instructions or extended Help.

The fourth violation alleged by ProComp shifts to Windows 2000, which, with the release of Service Pack 3, was updated with a leaner version of the middleware control.

In the letter, ProComp emphasized that the middleware controls installed with the two service packs are "substantially different." The trade group contended that the Windows 2000 version "is substantially less intuitive than (the one) in Windows XP."

In the fifth alleged violation, ProComp said the updated Windows XP's My Music folder called up Internet Explorer for online shopping, even after the group had selected Netscape as the default browser and had hidden access to IE.

"We are astonished that Microsoft would so blatantly override consumer choice," ProComp stated in the letter.

The group's allegation regarding a sixth violation rapped Microsoft for failing to include in the middleware control an option to disable Microsoft's .Net Framework Common Language Runtime, an alternative to Sun's Java Virtual Machine.

Although Microsoft released the technology long after signing the proposed settlement, the Common Language Runtime meets the standard set by the agreement for determining what future middleware products would be covered by the deal, ProComp said.

ProComp concluded its letter by contending that Microsoft's compliance with the discussed middleware section of the pending settlement "is hopelessly inadequate and misleading and designed almost certainly not to help the (Justice) Department achieve its stated remedial objectives."

"We're fully committed to implementing the proposed settlement agreement," Microsoft's Desler said. "We'll work closely with government and industry to ensure its success."

Imric's Tips for Living
  • Paranoia Is a Survival Trait
  • Pessimists are never disappointed - but sometimes, if they are very lucky, they can be pleasantly surprised...
  • Even though everyone is out to get you, it doesn't matter unless you let them win.
New My favorite part
The group also noted that to use Windows Update to retrieve the file, Microsoft's own Internet Explorer is required.
Translation: "It is now possible to set something other than Internet Explorer as you default browser. To download the patch that allows this, please install Internet Explorer."
===
Microsoft offers them the one thing most business people will pay any price for - the ability to say "we had no choice - everyone's doing it that way." -- [link|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=38978|Andrew Grygus]
New I've noticed that before
If I'm using Mozilla and trying to find information on Microsoft's site then most of the time the results returned are not what I'm looking for. No errors, just bogus results.

However, if I use exploiter and the exact same search criteria, then whatever I'm looking for is readily available.

Darrell Spice, Jr.

[link|http://home.houston.rr.com/spiceware/|SpiceWare] - We don't do Windows, it's too much of a chore

New Re: Shocking.
Shocking? Just business as usual.

But most of those complaints are fluff.

Most serious: You need internet explorer to download patches. (editorial note: though given recent SP1 complaints I don't really know why you would want to do so. :=)

Opening Internet Exploder for online shopping is probably the worst.

Whether something is intuitive or not, the capability is there. I don't see where they have much a leg to stand on, with those complaints.

And the "disabling of Microsoft's Common Language Runtime"? What are they supposed to do? Disable it and make their Office suit inoperable? GMAFB.

Procomp should concentrace on the *real* Mickeywoft violations, and not clutter things up with stupid allegations that will incline any judge hearing the case to throw it out of court.

I'm not a Microsoft supporter, but I'd like to see them prosecuated (and the executive officers imprisoned) on violations of law. Not for non-violations of their Justice agreement.
The lawyers would mostly rather be what they are than get out of the way even if the cost was Hammerfall. - Jerry Pournelle
Expand Edited by wharris2 Sept. 19, 2002, 11:12:57 PM EDT
New CLR not necessary
Common Language Runtime is Micros~1's putative "replacement" for the Mighty Fucked-up Code (MFC) classes foisted upon developers when Micros~1 first pretended to support C++. They are supposedly the underpinnings for .NuT, and no comercial products (that I am aware of, at least) use them at the present time. So, if you are not using .NuT, you could disable them, regain a good portion of your swap space, and perhaps make it a little harder for post-SP1 Micros~1 "software" to phone home.
jb4
"About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead. "
-- Edsger W.Dijkstra (1930 - 2002)
(I wish more managers knew that...)
New Correct.
However, let it be known that the next version of Office is indeed being written using the .NET framework and C#. There are several other C#-based projects running internally there...
End of world rescheduled for day after tomorrow. Something should probably be done. Please advise.
New Yet more fuel for the Linux fire....
jb4
"About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead. "
-- Edsger W.Dijkstra (1930 - 2002)
(I wish more managers knew that...)
New It's a conspiracy, I tell ya.
They're in league with the DRAM makers and the CPU makers and... Oh wait. We knew this already, yah? :-)

Wade.

"Ah. One of the difficult questions."

New Then we'll have the source code.
I mean, its trivially simple to get the source code to java binaries. The utilities that decompile the source are free and very very good. So if you ship java, you might as well ship source (funny how this isn't widely pointed out by Sun).

Given CLR is a similar beast, it must be about the same level of difficulty to recover source from those bytecodes.

Although if I know MS, the product will just use C# glue to pull together vast hunks of compiled binary they will optomistically call "components".

Its really quite brilliant what Sun and MS have achived with this stuff - please use our languages so we can have your source code. Thanks.
I am out of the country for the duration of the Bush administration.
Please leave a message and I'll get back to you when democracy returns.
New Well, the same sorta thing occurs with VB, don't it?
Since VB (or, for that matter, all of MS BASIC language surogates) do the same thing. When to "recompile" them, all you get is a series of jmp instructions to various entry points in the libraries. (Looks a lot like Forth...)

I believe your assertion will prove correct for CLR/.NoT, also. (After all, there's no new thinking at Micors~1, except for the possible "how can we extort more money from our 'customers'"...)
jb4
"About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead. "
-- Edsger W.Dijkstra (1930 - 2002)
(I wish more managers knew that...)
New Not always
Particularly not if it has been obfuscated by [link|http://www.preemptive.com/|these guys].

(Reference and description of their technique [link|http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20020613.html|courtesy] of Cringely.)

Cheers,
Ben
"Career politicians are inherently untrustworthy; if it spends its life buzzing around the outhouse, it\ufffds probably a fly."
- [link|http://www.nationalinterest.org/issues/58/Mead.html|Walter Mead]
New There's a big catch
Obfuscators change method names.

This means method name lookups fail when using dynamic invocation techniques (which I do a *lot* in non-trivial programming - its what makes OO development really powerful). So any code that works well with obfuscation is going to be 100% statically bound - you might as well write it in C or maybe C++ then.

Apple ported WebObjects and their OR Mapping framework to Java then released that. An hour of machine time later and I have the source code. If you look around the code a bit you find extensive use of dynamic invocation - obfuscation would break the code.

I think this is typical of the more powerful software.
I am out of the country for the duration of the Bush administration.
Please leave a message and I'll get back to you when democracy returns.
New Good point
"Career politicians are inherently untrustworthy; if it spends its life buzzing around the outhouse, it\ufffds probably a fly."
- [link|http://www.nationalinterest.org/issues/58/Mead.html|Walter Mead]
New Nit.
It's not ".Nut" it's ".Not"
New Personal pref: __.nyet
New 'Tis my preference now - Ochin spasiba, tovarish. ;0)
New Ne za chto.. ___<0:-)
New However...
my full original was...
".Not ready for prime time"

But then, that applied to ALL their products.
New Re: Nit.
Sorry. I stand corrected!

Thanx-
jb4
"About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead. "
-- Edsger W.Dijkstra (1930 - 2002)
(I wish more managers knew that...)
New Have .net installed. Swap unimpacted..
--
Chris Altmann
     Shocking. - (imric) - (19)
         My favorite part - (drewk) - (1)
             I've noticed that before - (SpiceWare)
         Re: Shocking. - (wharris2) - (16)
             CLR not necessary - (jb4) - (15)
                 Correct. - (inthane-chan) - (7)
                     Yet more fuel for the Linux fire.... -NT - (jb4)
                     It's a conspiracy, I tell ya. - (static)
                     Then we'll have the source code. - (tuberculosis) - (4)
                         Well, the same sorta thing occurs with VB, don't it? - (jb4)
                         Not always - (ben_tilly) - (2)
                             There's a big catch - (tuberculosis) - (1)
                                 Good point -NT - (ben_tilly)
                 Nit. - (mmoffitt) - (5)
                     Personal pref: __.nyet -NT - (Ashton) - (3)
                         'Tis my preference now - Ochin spasiba, tovarish. ;0) -NT - (mmoffitt) - (2)
                             Ne za chto.. ___<0:-) -NT - (Ashton) - (1)
                                 However... - (mmoffitt)
                     Re: Nit. - (jb4)
                 Have .net installed. Swap unimpacted.. -NT - (altmann)

Hello! Woody! Do you want join in vehement athletics?
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