Time To End A Monopoly?

Yahoo!-Google deal in Japan is anti-competitive, says Microsoft.  "This deal gives Google virtually 100 percent of all searches in Japan, both paid and unpaid." Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, said in a statement.

He also refers to the expected 2008 Yahoo! Google deal which was scraped owing to anti-competitive fears.

I wonder what Microsoft thinks of its own monopoly in the PC segment where the company has exclusive deals with all major PC vendors to pre-install Windows.

This monopoly, in my opinion, is more dangerous than the fears Microsoft has about Yahoo! Google deal.

Every competition has been crushed in the PC segment. All major vendors including Dell, HP and Lenovo offers 'only' Windows pre-installed laptops and desktops for non-enterprise segment.

If you are a Gnu/Linux, BSD or Solaris user you are forced to buy Windows pre-installed PCs. Even if you format the hard-drive and install OS of your choice you end up paying cost of Windows which you will never use.

All vendors splash 'we recommend windows 7'. It is not clear to an end user if it is a recommendation from the vendor or is it a Microsoft advertisement. If a vendors is recommending Windows there should be a comparison chart as to why the vendor thinks Windows is better.

Linux has its own merits which may out-do Windows, I am not getting into that. But why are home users being deprived of alternatives is my concern. Isn't it a global anti-competitive practice?

It seems there is more than just partnerships. Dell recently changed a page on its site which said that Ubuntu is more secure than Windows. I do not accuse anyone, but anyone may assume where the pressure came from.

Dell recently said that they will not be offering Linux on their main site. Linux users can call up the company if they want a PC without Windows. The reasons Dell gave do not make much sense. Dell offers customizations. It takes users through myriad steps of choosing hardware and software which users may not have any clue about. But the company thinks offering Linux will confuse the users.  Just one additional window of Windows or Ubuntu will confuse users?

Linux is today more popular than ever before -- thanks to Ubuntu and Android. But pre-installed Windows is killing adoption of Linux in home segment.

I am not a puritan. I use mixed environment but it hurts me when I have to pay extra money for my laptops which I was going to run on Ubuntu. I ended up paying Microsoft taxes. I will buy which ever product I want  – it could be from Canonical, Microsoft or Apple depending on my needs. But I should not be forced to buy a specific Windows OS on commodity hardware like PC and laptops.

I would prefer a market where I have options to chose from. I consider this as a much bigger threat than any Yahoo!-Google deal.

What I would want is vendors 'must' offer three options
1. No OS pre-installled, a user should be free to use any OS of his/her choice
2. Windows pre-installed for those users who want it
3. Similarly, Ubuntu pre-insatlled for those who want it.

If vendors are offering support for Windows (drivers etc.) they must offer support for GNU/Linux as well.

I though that slowly the market would reach a fair competition stage. But the Dell move has washed out that possibility. I don't want a unipolar monopilistic computing world. I like some of Microsoft products, but I do not like a monopolized market. Users must have choices.

The way Microsoft is crying foul on Yahoo!-Google deal has forced me to write this article. Microsoft cry might encourage Free Software activists to start elevating the unethical business practices in the PC segment to concerned authorities.

I can see people writing to their senators to bring in a law to eradicate this evil of monopoly from the PC segment. I can see downpour of class-action lawsuit against these anti-competitive practices around the globe.

Do you think Microsoft is misusing its power to kill other operating systems on PC platform? Do you think its time for a massive class-action lawsuit? Are you writing to your senator?

Whatever you think, share your thoughts with us here or on Facebook.