Through the round window...

Not sure about this EU ruling on Microsoft. On the one hand, my natural reaction is to say "hooray for the underdog", but on the other hand, my experience of the relatively recent rush to widen consumer choice is that it brings uncertainty and confusion into the market place, and far from being of automatic benefit to the consumer, can actually cause stress, anxiety and disappointment. A lot of people have switched suppliers of things like gas, electricity, telephones and the internet only to find that, despite assurances to the contrary, cheaper prices mean a much inferior service. And some people have even lost money when their new supplier has gone out of business. So the idea that this judgment means that there will be more consumer choice in the computer software market does not fill me with as much enthusiasm as it might once have done. I tend to stick with what I have got, provided I am happy with it, and will probably continue to do so.