http://blogs.technet.com/b/jamesone/archive/2007/09/18/europe.aspxIt was interesting to watch peoples reactions to the findings of the European Court of First instance yesterday. Whilst I'm the first to admit that Microsoft is not the most popular institution in the world, it was clear that the European Union (hereen-USTelligent Evolution Platform Developer Build (Build: 5.6.50428.7875)http://blogs.technet.com/b/jamesone/archive/2007/09/18/europe.aspx#2040868Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:49:51 GMTd5e57398-b9ef-4490-9955-07cbb4e4a80d:2040868Wolfie<p>Much how I am usually critical of the EU I think they were right in this case.</p> <p>The point that you seem to have really missed in this post and seems to be only dimly acknowledged by Microsoft itself is that an operating system is a specialist case in point. Its like a utility provider to interface between software and the hardware and therefore cannot have secrets, it needs to publish its inner workings as transparently as possible to those clients so that they can utilize those services efficiently. Microsoft's reluctance in this sphere has done considerable harm to the software industry over the years and done a lot towards tarnishing its image with those who work in the industry. Doubly so when having done this they release competitive products by themselves, such as anti-virus.</p> <p>You can't build roads and expect to keep the design of your surface materials a secret from the tire manufacturers - that's just stupid. </p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://blogs.technet.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2040868" width="1" height="1">