RE: Return Economics

[claribba <claribba@jps.net>]

  I am finding it difficult to compare Microsoft to any other type of
  business so perhaps the old laws won't work.
  
  Two examples  concerning Internet Explorer: 
  
  	1. IE downloads six copies each of 2 files on my hard drive [and
                 yours?] while net surfing:   Mm2048.dat & Mm256.dat
                       MS tech support says I should not know these files
  exist and I                          am not allowed to delete them [I have
  news for them!].  They
                       will regenerate if deleted through DOS mode as long as
  IE                                 resides on the hard drive.  Some web
  sites will generate them
                       even without IE present.
  
  	2. Other companies, i.e. CYBERMEDIA, bundle IE with ActiveX as
            part of their FIRST AID 98 upgrade.  First Aid is advertised as a
  	   program to "fix Windows problems automatically".  This makes
                       no sense to me as IE and ActiveX are really buggy and
  pose                             security risks, and First Aid is to be
  used at all times, not just                            while connected to
  the internet.  What kind of deal making is                            going
  on between MS and other vendors?
  
  Maybe MS is more like a municipal water district that adds flouride whether
  you want it or not.  But a water district is usually government regulated
  entity, with disclosure procedures and customer input.  Or, maybe it's more
  like a food processor which once was free to add whatever.  
  
  I would like to get a small, hand held computer with no Microsoft products
  on it, but to do that I'd have to buy from England, because there is
  nothing left here that isn't connected to MS.  
  
  And the future the WINDOWS 98/IE bundle which probably means one won't work
  without the other, and more "deals" with software producers which require
  them both.   It didn't take long for Windows 3.1 support to fade out of the
  picture.  Win95 will have the same fate. 
  
  Too bad Katy can't bar the Gates instead of the door.  
  
  Will Linux run all MS-DOS &/or MS-WIN95 programs?  Without requiring a lot
  of technical know-how to install like OS/2 does ?
  
  
  Claire Macdonald