The weather is starting to get a little nippy outside.

Microsoft... Win or Loss?

This last week, the U.S. Department of Justice made an announcement that they would not be seeking to split Microsoft into two companies as remedy for monopolistic and anticompetitive business practices. Many pro-Microsoft and pro-business people were pleased and hailed the DOJ's decision as a major step forward for Microsoft.

Many people have asked me what I think. I'm opposed to almost everything Microsoft produces. Their software is junk - usually bloated, buggy, and, of course, closed-source. They offer no support for their products - which is really the only reason to pay a software company.

But... I really don't care what happens between Microsoft and the DOJ at this point. I never really thought it would make a difference what the outcome of the trial was. The trial itself was all I could hope for as it did the following:

• The trial exposed Microsoft's business practices to the jury of public opinion.
• Microsoft's last-resort defense tactic of calling Linux a competitor got a lot of people interested in what Linux was.
• Consideration of opening Microsoft's source code as a potential remedy got a lot of people looking at the benefits of open source development.

So... I got what I wanted before Judge Jackson's remedy was thrown out and before the DOJ decided not to pursue company division.