Countless people complain about Microsoft having too much power and that they have a monopoly on the software business. Microsoft only has as much power as we give them. If we refuse to use their products for one reason or another they will be forced to improve or change them. One example of this is Microsoft Office. Many people feel locked in to using it. If using their program rubs you the wrong way morally, then don't use it. There are other options such as OpenOffice, AbiWord, or even Google Docs. If you are tired of Microsoft having so much influence, then don't feed the fire! There may be some disadvantages to using OpenOffice or Google Docs instead of Word, but you need to stand your ground. Start using open document formats such as odt and encourage others to do the same. If enough people would accept and use an open document standard, then Microsoft would be forced to be more accommodating or risk losing a significant amount of profit. If you wish that Microsoft had less of a monopoly then, instead of complaining about it, do your best to change it.
Here are some articles and opinions about Microsoft's monopoly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft
http://www.zaimoni.com/George/MicrosoftMonopoly.htm
I definitely give me vote for using .odt - I have been annoyed one too many times by the idiosyncrasies of Microsoft's "office suite" tools.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel qualified to speak definitely about Microsoft's current role in the software market, but I sense intuitively that the term "monopoly" is misapplied. After all, the world of software is pervasively open, even harmfully so. True ethical problems in this area derive from piracy, whereas no player has enough power over the infrastructure to act restrictively enough to be considered a monopolizing force.
What is your personal opinion about Microsoft Office? I use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint because I think they're superior to the competition. If another company made programs that I felt were better Microsoft's, I'd make the switch.
ReplyDeleteI tend to use OpenOffice because its free. I don't mind using Microsoft Office, but OpenOffice does everything I need it to and it comes at no cost to me. I think Microsoft has a more finished product, but I don't even know about (let alone use) all of functionality that Microsoft Office has. I don't have the money to spend on an office suite that I rarely use, and I don't feel right pirating it if an open source alternative works perfectly well for my use.
ReplyDeleteI don't use Excel very much, and I only use Word to write papers. Honestly, I could write a paper in lots of different programs. I don't need all of Word's functionality to type something and print it off. So personally, I don't want to pay for something that I don't have much use for.