| [unpopular opinion]I find most of the flak that Microsoft gets to be irrational, unwarranted, and a kind of phony "all the cool kids hate Microsoft so I do too" thing. It's every bit as obnoxious and annoying as Linux and Apple evangelicals (not that there's anything wrong with those OS's but OS as fashion statement makes me want to vomit) and the Free Culture "I hate copyrights because I can't have what I want for free" drones. It's all superficial and intellectually vacuous. This suit by Opera, and those brought by Google are without merit. Microsoft's inclusion of Internet Explorer in its OS in no way prevents anyone from choosing a different browser and using it. I personally use Firefox. If Opera's product isn't compelling enough to put a dent in the browser market I don't see that as anyone's fault but theirs. Microsoft is no saint but that doesn't mean they should have to put up with these constant shakedowns which are motivated by greed, not by fairness.[/unpopular opinion] |