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Originally Posted by testacon
Um, did Microsoft at ANY time prevent you from installing ANY programs or disallowed one? No--then case closed. I admit Microsoft was 100% wrong during that time and deserved the fallout they got for "business bullying", but shame on the general public for not looking at other programs or exercising their choices. At no time during the browser regime had any issues installing Netscape or an alternative browser. Can't really say the same for Apple can you now?
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Except they did. If you'd read the provided link, you'd see that Windows 95 made installs of foreign browsers extremely unintuitive. (They falsified evidence to try and show otherwise, but were caught in the act.) Not only that, but Microsoft also forced OEMs to NOT package competitor's browsers when distributing their computers. So yes, quite literally, Microsoft did prevent me from installing foreign browsers: it exercised (illegally) market power to keep alternatives from me in a purchased machine, and also purposely designed their OS to be anti-foreign browser. You can say MS and Apple are sort-of similar on the latter; the former is a totally different category of behavior.
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Programmers spend weeks and months making programs following Apple's incomplete guidelines for FIVE years only to get denied for no REAL reason, and you're going to cry fowl because the FTC has a problem with this and investigating Apple's practices. Boo freaking hoo! I'm sure Microsoft started out just like this in the beginning.
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I at no point "cried fowl" for the FTC investigating anything. I merely pointed out that what MS did is in a completely different ozone layer than the things you're decrying Apple for.
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Now let's look at Apple's "relationship" with AT&T. After contract or buy out, can you easily take your 100% paid for phone to TMobile without hacking? No? Then again I asked what's the difference between Apple and Microsoft's practices.
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Easy. Apple is not bullying AT&T and every other carrier to not let you purchase any other phone. That difference enough for you? Apple is also not spending millions of dollars spreading false information about every other cell phone OS in the market. In short, Apple is not attempting to be a monopoly. That's the difference between Apple and MS.
If you don't like Apple, fine. Doesn't matter to me. But get your perspective straight. Apple and MS are in completely different leagues. Just because you feel more aggrieved by Apple's slights doesn't mean they're comparable to the morass of anti-competitive behavior MS engaged in. We'll never know how much innovation and creativity was stifled by MS's practices.