Microsoft settlement analysis

An analysis of the Microsoft settlement in regards to California can be found at pseudothought.com site. The actual document can be obtained here. Yes it is in .doc format, and is large (280K) but is viewable in Lotus Word Pro 1.6. Essentially Microsoft's only penalty is to donate old pcs and software to schools, something they do anyway, and which is more of a benefit to them (tax write-off, eliminates competition, binds young people to Microsoft only software, Microsoft gets rid of old software they can't sell anyway) then any possible penalty and will actually cost the schools money to support this. Who ever wrote this proposed settlement should be deeply ashamed. It's really just a marketing ploy for MSFT.

Since I am breaking my own rule in mentioning the Microsoft case on the list I may as well also mention Tom Nadeau's take on the USDOJ settlement as well "Microsoft on Truth Serum: The Antitrust Settlement Line-by-Line".