Where would we be without Microsoft?


Who can say? Microsoft has contributed a great deal to the computing world in which we currently live. It is impossible to accurately envision the current state of global computing had Microsoft never existed. The development of an operating system standard (or at least a set of standards on which an operating system would be based) was an inevitability. The determination of whether that operating system would have been better or worse than the current Windows version is futile. However, it has to be accepted that there is a possibility that our current computing environment would be more advanced without the existence of Microsoft.

While such a debate is useful, it does not detract from the fact that Microsoft does indeed exist and that Windows has become the de facto consumer operating system standard in the industry. So, the issue becomes, where will be in the future with Microsoft?

Once again, no one can say. However, an examination of the current market environment is not only possible, it is mandated if our goal is a future beneficial to all consumers. In today's environment, venture capitalists won't even listen to, much less consider, a business proposal that lists Microsoft as a potential competitor. This is not due to Microsoft's ability to compete in the marketplace. It is based on the company's history of subduing would-be competitors before they ever have an opportunity to reach mass-market appeal through any means possible. Without government intervention, years of innovation, effort, and support can be wiped away easily through Microsoft's efforts to mimic, integrate, and then license your market away. As a result, the only solid business plan is one which terminates in being purchased by Microsoft. This is hardly the American Dream. Government intervention is not to hinder Microsoft's ability to compete, far from it. Government intervention serves to ensure that an entrepreneur with a vision of a better way of life has an opportunity to see it through to fruition without fear of being driven under by a market dominator using questionable business practices. Government intervention is mandatory to allow all of us to experience the best future possible.

Without it, Microsoft's tactics will continue. Microsoft will be allowed to dominate any market in which it can leverage its operating system. Not only will they eliminate all current competition, they will eliminate any possibility of future competition.