Microsoft Prospectus

Microsoft Antitrust

Prospectus

Section One

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Microsoft, is it 'trustworthy'?

A little background information on Microsoft.

The history of Microsoft and (only a few of) it's operating systems.

1982, MS-DOS -

Simply a renamed version of 'QDOS' (Quick and Dirty Operating System) which was purchased by MicroSoft from IBM.

MS-DOS is based on QDOS which was written by Tim Patterson (working under Seattle Computer Products). MicroSoft

bought the rights to QDOS for $50,000, keeping the deal with IBM a secret from Seattle Computer Products.

1998, Windows 98 -

Essentially an upgrade from Windows '95. Microsoft planned to discontinue it's support for Windows '98, but due

to it's popularity, Microsoft extended support until June 30th, 2006.

2001, Windows XP -

Why is Windows XP so popular? With more bugs and security holes than ever, it's a wonder that people aren't

throwing their copy of windows out the window and switching to a more secure operating system. The fact of the

matter is, that Microsoft's marketing strategy is "Tight integration" and "Easy to Use". Their programmers are

hired right out of college, with no network experience. Management is quite aware of it's security "issues",

and they also know that security doesn't sell. Features, however do.

The more I read about Microsoft and its' software and practices in general, the madder I get. On the other hand, however,

the more I read about Bill Gates (One of the Founders of 'Micro-Soft'), the more intrigued I am. He didn't start out to

"rule the world". He just wanted to survive. Being the savvy business investor he is, I'm sure you'll agree,

he did more than just that. It's how he got there, that seems to be a big issue, though.

I'm not setting out to write a paper on Bill Gates, but to address the trust issue behind Microsoft. To do that however,

you have to look at not only Microsoft itself, but who's behind Microsoft, and what they've done.

Bill Gates - Co-Founder of 'Micro-Soft' (1975)

-"The Internet? We are not interested in it." - 1993

Paul Allen - Co-Founder of 'Micro-Soft' (Left in 1983)

Karen Worstell, Chief Information Security Officer

Scott Charney, Vice President of Trustworthy Computing

It's not exactly going to be easy, in my opinion, researching anything about Microsoft. There's just too much information

available. Especially on the internet, what can you trust? I'm doing my best not to be biased, so I won't

say: "Not Microsoft". There, I didn't say it.

Section Two

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With that said, if I'm careful enough, it shouldn't be too hard to find plenty of information on Microsoft on the internet

alone. It's just a matter if discerning reliablity. Interesting side note however (again trying not