Digital Home Thoughts: Microsoft Antitrust Case: 10 Years Later

"It was 10 years ago this week that Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered Microsoft split in two as a remedy for abusing its Windows monopoly. That judgment was tossed out on appeal, but the eventual antitrust settlement has had plenty of repercussions. From crapware to insecurity, here's ... what 10 years of antitrust regulation has really accomplished."

Columnist Ed Bott, at ZDNET.COM, finds four "significant developments" that he thinks have resulted from the now over 10-year-old United States v. Microsoft antitrust case. Two of these are mentioned in the above summary (increased "crapware," and decreased security); read his article for the other two, along with additional interesting thoughts, including his assessment of the three technology companies that exercise "effective monopolies" in specific market areas. For more background on the case, the Public Broadcasting Corporation's Online NewsHour makes a good reference - or you can go directly to the source: the US Department of Justice "Current Case" site, which shows eleven case related documents in 2009 alone! In theory, this was a major antitrust settlement: How well did it work? (Are "we" - the computing public - better off because of it?) Do you agree with Ed Bott's assessment of the fallout?