[PCWorld]

Post your comments for After Winning Patent Suit, Z4 Sues Microsoft Again here

[coastie65]

Typical Bill Gate$. Grab someone elses work and make a bundle. Wouldn't be the first time. Coastie65

[lituus]

you idiot; read up on the actual patents and you'll see that z4 is a patent troll. the court in Marshall, Texas has a long history of favoring trolls. the patents should never have been granted, it violates the "non-obvious" premise

[albrown8784]

If Microsoft used another company's software as a base for VISTA then they should not only be penalized but put out of business. I recently purchased a DELL computer that came with VISTA as the OS. This system is not compatible with any of my devices that work with XP. My next purchase will be a MAC.
Al Brown

[coastie65]

Hi Al, funny you should say your next purchase will be a Mac. I have been seeing ads of late that have a man standing at a podium. On the front of this podium is a poster that essensially says Don't dis Vi$ta. Well as it turns out, it is an ad for Mac. I guess they are alluding to the fact that now that they are running Intel processors, You can set up a dual boot system with the mac OS as well as Vi$ta. I find the whole thing surprising because I was under the impression that there was no love lost between Bill Gate$ and Steve Jobs. Maybe that has changed and I missed it. I bought a New Copy of XP MCE 2005 for just in case, as I don't plan on using Vi$ta and my next rig ( if a bought custom job ) will be sans OS and if I build one I'll have it to install. coastie65

[batres]

"recently purchased a DELL computer that came with VISTA as the OS. This system is not compatible with any of my devices that work with XP. My next purchase will be a MAC."

what does that have to do with the patents thing?

[albrown8784]

Congratulations - smart move not to use VISTA. Good luck.

Al

[albrown8784]

NOTHING - but it gave me an opportunity to vent some my anger and frustration against Microsoft and Bill Gate's mightier than thou attitude in the world of software.

[coastie65]

Hi Al, As I understand it, that is a lot of what is behind the battle between Micro$oft and the EU. Developers are having compatibility issues when trying to write to windows. The EU is demanding additional code and Bill Gate$ and company say no way it's proprietary. I believe that is the major issue in that there is not enough information regarding code getting to the developers, so they are somewhat handicapped. The US went after Micro$oft and was entertaining the idea of breaking up the company into three parts. Unfortunately, the government caved into Micro$oft. I don't see this happening with EU. I believe they will get what they want. It's already costing Micro$oft big bucks in fines because of their obstinance. coastie65

[Jdpraise]

First.
Z4 is a patent troll, having read the patents I agree with Lituus without doubt.
Second.
If your additional hardware does not work with Vista, go after the company that has not written the driver. The code was made avaible two years before actual release, it is not Ms's fault your printer company wants you to buy a new printer.
Third.
Regarding the EU and microsoft, that code should be proprietary. Why should anyone else's product rely on having access to kernal code (which is what symantic wanted).
Fourth.
Since when does being successful in a field mean a bad thing. Why would MS need to be 'broken up'?

[albrown8784]

If VISTA is so user friendly and compatible then why did Microsoft decide to provide the option for VISTA business users to convert back to XP?

[albrown8784]

To coastie65: I am glad to see I am not the only PC user who thinks MS has tried to lockup the software domain. You are correct in your observation that MS is dragging their heels when it comes to providing the necessary info for the developers. It took my ISP (earthlink) almost 1 year to get the data to upgrade their protection control center to work with VISTA. As for the government cave in, it just goes to show - money can buy anything or anybody!

Al

[ChuckEtheridge]

I don't know what sorts of devices you're talking about. Everything that I was using with XP works just fine with Vista Ultimate, and overall I've found that Vista is a much more satisfactory operating system, and a great deal more capable. I've never even heard of Z4, and they have certainly not even potentially lost any business from me. It sounds like they're classic gold diggers.