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Breaking Microsoft's hold on the PC software market.

It may be time to consider breaking up the stranglehold Microsoft has on the PC software industry.

Before I go any further with this, let me first say that Microsoft has never published a software program that I didn’t like. Even PhotoDraw, which Microsoft discontinued in 2001, was a program with features and ease of use I found compelling. But I also have to say that I never used a Microsoft product that I didn’t think could be better.

Microsoft has put a great deal of emphasis on making programs easy to use. This goes hand-in-hand with the corporate philosophy, established by Bill Gates, to get a computer on the desktop of every person in the world. Take, for example, Microsoft Publisher. Publisher is simple to learn, simple to use and can get a small business up and running with business cards, brochures and letterhead in nothing flat. Publisher is not just a good program; it’s a great program. But no one in the professional graphics industry would seriously consider using Publisher. Nor would any business that is serious about doing big business. When it comes down to things like true color management and serious graphic art, Publisher has reached well beyond its envelope. Publisher is strictly for start-up businesses or a quick flyer for the company picnic.

The same is true of Microsoft Word. Word is by far the dominant word processing software in the world. These very words are being created through a Mac version of Word. But on many occasions, I and countless other Word users have come to a point where we ask ourselves: “Why can’t this program do this?” Or “Why can’t this program do more?” Eventually, we all have to ask ourselves: “Why isn’t there a program out there that can do more?”

In fact, there are better programs out there than some of those produced by Microsoft. There are better operating systems than Windows and better web browsers than Internet Explorer. But despite this fact, Windows resides on the vast majority of PC’s in the world and Internet Explorer is by far, the dominant browser in the world. If you purchase a PC, chances are you will have Windows installed on it from the manufacturer. Start up the PC, and chances are Internet Explorer will be your default browser and Microsoft Outlook Express your default mail program. Sure you can change all that; but hardly anyone does.

And this is exactly why Microsoft has found itself in court, defending itself from charges that it has monopolized the PC software market. This is also why we seem to be stuck on a computing plateau defined by Microsoft products. If you have the ability to create a better program than one offered by Microsoft, your real challenge is to market that product in a world saturated by Microsoft. You may be able to reach that ten percent or so of computer geeks who recognize the value of your product and are computer savvy enough to load it onto their PC. But the other 90 percent are basically untouchable.

Now, despite all this, I have never supported penalizing Microsoft for their alleged monopoly of the software market. To begin with, I am one of those ten percent who find, try and adopt alternate software programs on my computers. I also know how to work around the limitations of programs and use the right program for the particular job at hand.

There is also a part of me that thinks that Microsoft earned their way to the top and so long as they play by the rules, we shouldn’t change the rules just to punish them for being successful. So, no, it isn’t this monopoly thing that is making me now consider it time to put the brakes on Microsoft’s dominant position in the marketplace. What it is, is that I have come to believe that Microsoft’s “monopoly like” hold on the software industry is a clear and present danger to our national security.

Over 90 percent of the computer viruses created in the world today are created to attack Microsoft products. If you happen to be one of the few people out there that operate an Apple computer or run a PC with Linux or a Unix-based operating system, chances are pretty good you never had a computer virus in your computer. That isn’t to say that there aren’t people out there creating viruses for Apple, Linux or Unix-based operating systems, it’s just that there are far more people out there using Windows and far more people out there creating viruses and worms and other malicious code that attacks Microsoft Windows-based systems.

The problem now arises that with 90 percent or so of American enterprise, including government agencies, hospitals, police departments and other “first responders” using Microsoft-based products, a virus created to attack Microsoft products and unleashed in a coordinated attack, has the very real potential of taking down the information technology infrastructure of 90 percent of our country.

Just last year we witnessed millions of computer systems throughout the world grind to a halt under the onslaught of a single computer virus unleashed by a lone, out-of-work, 16-year-old nitwit in the Philippines. Can you imagine what would happen if a hostile government or terrorist group made a coordinated attack on computer systems with a new form of virus or worm?

Computer operating systems are vulnerable to hackers who can attack with worms, Trojan horses and viruses. That is simply a statement of fact. And the fact that 90 percent of our homes, government and industry rely on the same operating system makes us far more vulnerable to becoming the victims of a catastrophic attack.

There are better operating systems out there than Windows. And I can’t think of a better reason for us to find them. And I can’t think of a better reason for us to do what it takes to break the hold Microsoft has on the PC software market.

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