| Some guys underestimate the EU. |
No we don't...most of us see the EU's leaders as fascist arsewipes trying to dictate to the world's manufacturers/developers/traders what they can or can not include in the products/services they're offering. Vista is MS' intelectual property and it should be free to distribute the OS as it sees fit...not as some pencil pushing bureaucrat thinks it should be shipped.
Put another way....if you were a shoe manufacturer, would you have the EU deny you the right to sell your products with laces, because your matching laces shut out your competitors similar but not quite the same laces? And would you want millions of dollars in fines inflicted upon you for wanting to sell your
complete product, as it was intended to be sold to the WW market?
The EU has got it all wrong and needs to get a grip....MS has never prevented 3rd party developers from creating viable software for any Windows OS, in fact, MS even has provision for some Apple/Mac programs to be installed in Windows....Quicktime Player and iPod technologies being just a couple that come to mind. Simply put, if these whinging 3rd party developers can't come up with/market competitive and viable software alternatives, then they need to be seeking another line of business and quit bugging the EU's pencil pushers to champion/plead their petty causes.
| They won't lose customers. Whenever MS brings Vista to market in Europe, everyone will jump at it. MS owns the desktop OS market, and despite all the claims by Mac and Linux users, that hold isn't going to be shaken anytime soon. |
Precisely! The EU might think it has MS by the short n' curlies, but I tend to think it's the other way around. Microsoft has the resources, marketing strategies and ability to tell the EU to get stuffed and indefinitely withold Vista's Eureopean release, yet still offer its European consumers which ever version of Vista they may desire (with or without WMP and IE) via direct shipping and/or alternative market outlets. Quite frankly, I hope that's exactly what MS does to circumvent the EU's Gestapo tactics.
I mean, if you were able to ask the average European PC user if they care whether or not Windows ships with a media player and browser, etc, I believe the resounding response would be that they really don't give a hoot so long as the OS is stable and works. Essentially, it comes down to a matter of personal choice/preference, and the EU is trying to legislate on that, then enforce restrictions on companies like MS when it should be the consumer who decides if he/she wants IE/WMP and/or the 3rd party alternatives on offer.
Everyone else in the world can install 3rd party alternatives to those additional programs included by MS, so what is it with the EU...don't they think they have constituents who are capable of free choice....setting aside WMP/IE if they would much rather use Winamp/Firefox or some other media player/browser? Given the European culture has been around for quite a few millenia now, you'd think those pompous twits who sit around the EU's round table would have much greater faith in their subjects than that....but oh, silly me, it isn't about the people, is it!!! Sorry, I forgot, it's really about the flagging EU economy, high unemployment and its inability to compete fairly with the U.S. and Asian markets. So with a few pen/keyboard strokes, a mouse click here and there, they're attempting to create a fairer playing field (but only for themselves).
It might look good on paper, you effing dipsticks, and on paper it might look like it'll work, but in the real world it's hard work, effort and innovation that cuts it. Sadly, you're stifling all that with your lame legislation....and suing MS millions per day isn't gonna drag yer arses out of the economic gutter.
WinCustomize Forums
Maybe they ship it with SP1 or 2. This would be fine 
