Microsoft is at it Again

I try not to get too worked up about it, but if there’s one thing that really bothers me about our corporate America, it’s how giant companies like Microsoft can and do use their immense power to influence everybody else. Big companies like M$ have been applying for and stockpiling patents on ridiculous things like double-clicking or a context-sensitive menu. I don’t know how our system lets them get away with this sort of thing, but they certainly do. Microsoft wants nothing more than to dictate how all of technology is used on our planet and just keep getting bigger and bigger and destroying anybody in its path.

And here they go at it again. I was just reading slashdot, as I religiously do, and came across this story at PBS. In it, Robert Cringely examines one of Microsoft’s latest strategies in “dealing with” the competition. He explains how in the beginning with 286’s and 386’s, we had the “IBM-Compatible” standard (obviously defined by IBM), but after a few generations, we ended up with “MSDOS Compatible” and now “Windows Compatible” machines. What does this mean? It means that Microsoft now defines the standard, and if you don’t adhere exactly to this standard, your hardware might not be Microsoft certified - or worse yet - might break with upcoming versions of Windows.

Microsoft can’t just tell the world that they’re going to break all backward compatibility and proceed to roll out products that only hurt users, so they have come up with a good reason. Oh, I know… have you seen those portable USB thumb drive devices? They come on key chains, in watches, in the form of MP3 players, etc. When you plug these devices into a windows machine, a new drive letter pops up in My Computer. Just open it up and now you can drag and drop files to and from it. Easy, isn’t it… perhaps a little too easy.

Enter Microsoft’s upcoming “fix-a-quasisecurity-issue-while-crippling-the-competition” plan. The new USB standard Microsoft will propose is going to implement a sort of DRM that will stop users from copying (read stealing!, M$ says) data to these devices. Not only will outside software/hardware makers be alienated from the market, but M$ will earn royalties on every device sold with the new standard! Go Gates Go! It will, of course, be incompatible with older devices so when you buy a new computer, you get to buy a new MP3 player and the rest.

We still have until 2006 before Longhorn ships, but a whole lot can happen before then. Microsoft plans to have most of our USB devices replaced in time for Longhorn. It sucks, but what can you do… I just hope enough people on this planet have the sense to avoid this new hardware before it’s too late and M$ already has them in their icy grip.